November 2010

nov 3- This doesn't happen as frequently anymore, but when it does it's pretty cute! Love the stink bug pose while she is puzzling.

nov 4- When it's 80 degrees in November you go to the pool!
nov 8- Auzi is such a good sport. She is honestly the most kid friendly pet I've ever seen. She is the neighborhood mascot. Multiple people/kids walk by our house almost every day just to pet her and she loves it!
Such a pretty kitty.
nov 8- Celebrating mid-thirty with this hottie tottie.

nov 12- Children are always watching and wanting to repeat. Also when you find children quiet for too long you know they are either asleep or into mischief. Sarah found Kai's hair product during one such quiet period and this was the product when I found them. She may have her mother's talent. :) Kai seems pretty happy with it.
He looks like a rockstar!
She did a pretty good job.
nov 13- Family bike ride minus Mommy.
nov 14- For practice Thanksgiving at Kaylynn's I made this turkey appetizer.

nov 15- Kai is pretty much climbing into anything and everything these days.

nov 17- Ed worked his whole birthday weekend and birthday so a couple days later we made sure to get away for a night. Kristen was so kind to watch our kids and allow us this freedom. We went to Half Moon Bay at first, but then had a change of plan... (another story) ...and ended up in San Fran instead. :) We went to a nice dinner, a movie, did some shopping and stayed in a hotel. I love getting away with my honey.
nov 20- Some things never get old. I think it's so cute to see the kids sitting in their chairs watching a show together. nov 23- The picture doesn't really do it justice, but the leaves in CA are breathtakingly beautiful!! I love driving down the neighborhood streets and seeing the fallen leaves everywhere.
nov 25- Thanksgiving Day! We spent it with the Katzs and then later the Laytons and McPhies came for dessert. Grateful we have friends to celebrate holidays with. They are great family fill in's. They really feel like family.

^Me & Kristen

^The gals

^Some of the kids

Our family minus Sarah. :(

The fabulous host

^ The cute cookie table settings. :)

nov 26- The day after Thanksgiving we decided to take the kids to Disneyland for the first time. The drive went well and apparently both of our kids like to sleep with blankets over their faces. Sarah found a way to keep the sun out of her face to fall asleep. :)

Kai and his usually pleasant self.
nov 27- D Day! HAVE to get the typical picture in front of the Mickey flowers!
We started the day out at California adventure. We took the kids on the Mickey ferris wheel and Sarah rode on the big swings. The kids met Mickey...
...and Pluto
Sarah loved the Bugs Land in California Adventure! Drivin' bumper cars with Daddy!
We went to Ariel's Grotto for lunch and met all the princesses for a small fee. :) Sarah is loving princesses these days!
We have pictures of them all, but Cinderella seems to be her favorite these days.

Kai took an extra long nap while we took Sarah on some of the rides he couldn't go on.

Dumbo and the Merry-go-round were Sarah's favorites. She was scared of most of the other rides. Too dark. And I suppose Splash Mountain was a little fast for her. ;) She was pretty brave though.
Any time Sarah didn't want to go on a ride she would tell us she had to go to the bathroom. Trickery! I learned her scheme after we got out of one line and she suddenly didn't need to go anymore. :)
We had front row at the night parade. We ate pizza dinner as we watched. Then went on a few more rides. The kids liked the tea cups.
As always Disneyland was magical! The kids liked it. The weather was pretty good. The crowds could have been fewer (70k I think?) but all in all it was a great family trip.
When we got out of our last ride- Small World- it was pouring rain! It stopped just enough that we decided to watch the fireworks at the castle but it was pouring just after the show started. We stayed anyway and got soaked!!! Memories. :)
We had tickets to the Color show in California Adventure, but opted out because of the pouring rain and lack of umbrellas. The kids were good sports as we ran through the rain back to our hotel.
Showing our soakingness
Drenched!
But nothing a nice warm bath couldn't take care of.

I sure love singled out time with my family!

I DON'T love the bad planning of traveling home the Sunday after Thanksgiving!!! What was meant to be a 6 hour drive...turned into 9.5 hours!! Yikes!

Nov 29- The frost we had one morning after I got home from running. Probably the closest/coldest we'll get to snow. :)

A day at the park

Can you tell Sarah watches Little Einsteins? I love that she is telling me she is pushing Kai at speeds- presto, adagio and allegro! ;)

Disneyland on the Ferris Wheel

We're not sure if Sarah was shivering from excitement or from being cold, but I love the excitement/look on her face! :)

Harman Halloween

We partied a lot and got to put our costumes to good use and dress up a lot!

10/29/10- It started with Sarah's preschool parade and potluck.

^Her teachers and class

10/30/10- Then on Friday, Maren threw a Halloween get together for the kids.

^the large crowd

^We matched the Smith's kids.

Then we move onto the evening. We had our ward trunk or treat. I'm just noticing all the pictures that we forgot to take. Oh well! You spend so much time planning these kinds of things, I guess pictures unfortunately sometimes get forgotten. :) Such good intentions. Ed decorated the the yard really nice for Halloween. At the ward party (no pictures) Ed's costume was that he wore a ball and chain on his ankle that had the name "Lindsey" on it. It probably would have been more appropriate if it said "work" though. :)

After the ward party, we had our own adult costume party for the second year in a row. I used a lot of ideas from my friend Kari Nash. She throws some great Halloween parties! Ed and I have been party throwers our whole lives. My party planning began in 9th grade I believe?

The party started with some good food...

^I made this yummy 7-layer dip that Morghan told me about.

^Tierney made these cute mini cupcakes.

^?

^Amy made witch fingers
^Mikila made this yummy treat

^Morghan made these creative treats

^Kim made this gooey eyeball rice krispie cake- best creepy food winner. 5$ giftcard

And then the games began...

We split into 3 teams with 5 couples on each.

Vampires- Aufdermauer, Layton, Thomander, Parker and Katz

Witches- Cheney, Kirk, Sharp, Young, and Maginot

Werewolves- Simmons, Harman, Bankhead, Duke and Bond

There were so many pictures and video taken that I only put one picture for each game.

Game 1: Doughnut on a string

Each team picked a person to see who could eat a doughnut the fastest.

^Duke vs. Christian vs. Ed
^Christian won.

Game 2: Pass the pumpkin.

To keep everyone comfortable- this was a ladies only game. Girls had to pass a pumpkin with their necks. No hands.

Game 3: Spider Web (no pic)

Each team stood in a circle and grabbed random hands. The first team to unwind themselves won.

Game 4: Bat, Cat & Witches Hat (similar to rock/paper/scissors).

Just the boys played this one.
^Ed showing his cat

Game 5: Ice Fishing

A person from each team had to dig 5 marbles out of ice cold water with their toes.
^Pat, Jennie and Jaimi

Game 6: RELAYS-1 Evil Twin Relay

Couples had to link arms back to back and run to the end of the driveway and back.
Relay-2: Suck it up

One person from each team had to successfully suck an eraser up with a straw and without dropping it, run it to the end of the driveway and drop it in a bowl
Relay-3: Mysterious Balloon

Each person ran the the end of the driveway where they popped a balloon and did the action written inside. (each person got to make something up and blow up a balloon.)

Relay-4: Fill the cup (no picture)

One person from each team had to transfer water from a spoon to a cup at the end of the driveway until they filled the cup to the line drawn on it.

Relay-5: Monkey Race

Each person from each team had to run to the end of the driveway and back while holding their ankles. (Or their knees since 6 girls were prego :) )

Relay-6: Broom Twirl

Each person had to run to the end of the driveway and put their forehead on the top of a broom and spin 5 times, drop the stick and jump over it.
Relay-7: Balloon Head

Each couple had to run to the end of the driveway and back holding a balloon between their heads with their heads.

Game 7: Kiss of Death (only video)

A person from each team (Lindsay Y., Paul, and Ryan) had to dig their face in a pan of applesauce to find 5 hershey kisses. No hands. ;)

The Vampires won! Each couple received a large box of candy.

The Witches took 2nd place and each received a regular sized candy.

The Werewolves came in 3rd place. No prize. :(

We also had a costume contest and voting:

^Parkers as retired golfers
^Katzs as a punk rock couple
^Bonds as Ketchup and Mustard
^Bankheads as Dwight and Angela
^Kirks as snowboarders
^Youngs as Giants baseball players
^Dukes as toothbrush and toothepaste- most original costume winner
^Simmons as farmers minus their chick
^Cheneys as Marge and Homer Simpson- Funniest costume winner
^Sharps as Evil Knievel and fan
^Thomanders as Ken and Barbie- Best Costume Winner! 10$ gift card.
^Laytons as Clark Kent and Lois Lane
^Aufdermauers as bee and mauled zoo keeper- scariest costume winner

^Harmans as Sandy and Danny from Grease- sexiest costume winner
^Maginots as Cinderella after the ball and upper-level bureaucrat

^Spooky party favors I made. :)

10/31/10- Halloween

We live in such a fun neighborhood for trick or treaters. In years past when we lived in apartments we didn't really get any kids, but now that we're living in a neighborhood we have run out of candy each year. (No picture of our carved pumpkin either)

^Cinderella Sarah and Monkey Kai before a little trick or treating
^Sarah gets Halloween now! With the multiple parties she has PLENTY of candy...still. Mom and Dad help eat it of course.
As a Halloween tradition now we make homemade chili and cornbread (and we're also supposed to do doughnuts). Kaylynn and Brook joined us this year for dinner and helped with the kids. SO fun to have them along.
^Brook was a very good helper.
^Later that Katzs joined us again for a quick run down the street and back. Fun to spend the holiday with some friends.