Slowing Down

Volleyball is over and I can't believe how much slower the pace is around our house. We are still busy with the normal stuff-Damon still watches the kids in the morning while I'm at work and I watch them in the evenings while he's at work. I just don't have to stay late for practices and games anymore. I'm usually home by about 2:30 every day. It's nice being able to take the kids to the park and really enjoy the time with them. Damon is still not getting lots of sleep but more than he was. It is so nice! We've just been enjoying the time together.

Last weekend, Sarah and Adam watched the kids overnight so Damon and I could head up to Park City for a little time away. It was good to have some time just the two of us. Thanks Sarah and Adam!!!

We also had some of Damon's work friends and Sarah and Adam over for the Utah-BYU game on Saturday. We were stressed when we turned on the t.v. and no cable. I guess someone had cut the main cable to Riverton and Herriman so nobody was able to get the game. We turned the radio on and listened to the first quarter-they got it fixed and back on a few seconds into the second quarter. Go Utes! It was lots of fun having friends over-I told Damon we'd have to have another party soon. Who knew? I like having people over. I certainly didn't realize how much fun it could be. Maybe again for a BCS bowl game?

Happy Halloween!

The kids were so grossed out carving pumpkins. Cole actually dry-heaved a little bit at first when he had to grab the pumpkin guts. Ellee daintily touched the pumpkin with her spoon and thought she was done. Luke actually started crying when we told him to scoop the insides out. It ended up taking a little longer than we had planned since Damon and I got to clean everyone's pumpkins out and carve them. Cole did his and then drew a picture on it so we could cut it out for him. Ellee just kept telling us that she wanted a princess pumpkin and Luke wanted a Shrek pumpkin. We finally just asked them which shapes they wanted on the pumpkin. It was crazy, but lots of fun.

Halloween was tons of fun this year. Cole wanted to be a mummy so bad-I am still impressed with what Damon and I came up with for a costume-even if it was a pain in the butt. Luke was so excited to be a ghost. He kept walking around with his arms out saying "ooooooooooo". He had lots of fun trying to scare people. Ellee was a black cat. She loved meowing and crawling around like a kitty.

I took the day off at West. Our volleyball season ended on Thursday night and so I was ready for a break, plus I wanted to watch Cole in his kindergarten Halloween parade. It was fun. All the kids came into the gym and walked around it twice, proud as can be. We were all there cheering on Cole. Mama surprised him and came over from work to watch. He thought that was pretty cool.

When Cole got home from school we started getting ready for our Halloween night. Damon's dad and Tonya stopped by to see the kids and visit. After they left we went to make the rounds. We stopped at my parents' first. Some of the cousins were there. It was fun to watch them play with each other and giggle at each other's costumes. Ellee immediately began following Whitney (Belle) and Ruby (Cinderella) around. She thought they were so pretty. She wouldn't let us call Whitney or Ruby by their names-they were Belle and Cinderella. Luke and Cole just got a kick out of roaming around and trying to scare everyone. Luke and Ellee were both a little scared of Courtney's scary costume. All the cousins trick-or-treated around the circle before we headed out.

After visiting Mama and Papa, we headed up to the Bell's home. We got there and immediately headed out the door to go trick or treating. Ellee latched on to Teagan, wanting only her. Cole and Luke were all about the candy. They ran from door to door. Poor Luke kept tripping over his ghost costume on all the big steps, so I ended up tying knots in it to help hold it up a little higher. They were doing great until the rain started, so I headed back to the Bell's house while Damon finished up with Cole. We now have so much candy I get sick just looking at it. It was a fun Halloween and the kids were so worn out they didn't even fight us at bed time.