Halloween 2011

I figured I'd better post about Halloween before Thanksgiving snuck up on me.  We had such a fun Halloween this year.  We grew roughly 12 pumpkins in our front yard and it was the topic of conversation around the neighborhood....(Okay, I doubt anyone was really talking about it, but I prefer to think that because it was pretty cool).  :)

Carving our own-grown pumpkins.....

Cute Kyle....so intent on carving....

Jacob is always up for a "posed" picture.....just like his mother!

Eric spent Halloween with friends this year, but this is what he looked like (same as Monster Mash, Fred from Scooby Doo).....he actually stayed up at school until around 6:00, then went to his first haunted house, yes, on Halloween night.  He and his friends had to wait "forever" in line, but he said it was lots of fun.  I don't like haunted houses, personally, but I've got to admit, I did go to one as a sophomore, so I couldn't tell Eric he wasn't allowed to go....you couldn't pay me to go to one now.  I just can't run away as fast as I used to be able to.....

Brandon came home from school and announced that he was going to be a "princess."  Umm, what did you say?  (that's what I said too)....Yea, some girls told him he could borrow one of their dresses if he wanted and a tiara also....and Brandon went for it!  These next two pictures are totally "blackmail" pics, for when he's older.....so funny!  You've got to give him credit for being "unique."  (In the end, the girls' dress didn't fit Brandon, so he's actually wearing some of my clothes....sadly they look better on him than on me.  :)  I wish I could say that the tiara was mine, but it wasn't....neither was the scarf. 

What a good-lookin' princess!

At least Brandon wasn't with ALL girls....there was one guy who went with them (Zach Park).  He didn't agree to dress up as a princess.....I can see his point though, ya know?  And notice how Brandon is standing in this picture....just like a guy.....hilarious!  (I guess that's a good thing, isn't it?) 

Sweet Dallin, who wanted to be dracula this year, but without the scary teeth....or blood.....or any make-up of any kind.  That's my kind of dracula!

Kyle and Spencer (Bigelow) had to be Pokemon characters.  Spencer was a pokemon trainer, and Kyle was Ash.  Sadly I didn't know Kyle wanted to be Ash until 10 minutes before trick-or-treating, so we did some serious, fast-paced improvising....seriously I've never seen Kyle happier....funny kid!

And little Jacob was Harry Potter.  He even wanted to dress up in "church" clothes, so he would look just like Harry.  And in case you're wondering, I DID used my mad skills to draw that lightening bolt on his forehead.....I know, it's amazing!  :)

Even Grandma Johnson got in on the act.  She's not going to be happy that I put this picture up, but I'm an adult....and this is my blog, so I guess I'll do what I want to do.  And she doesn't really have a mustache.....(I love you mom).  :)

The night was perfect in temperature....so warm and enjoyable.  We had friends stop in and visit and it was such a fun night. 

Happy Halloween everyone!



Halloween party with my brother and his family

It's a tradition to have a Halloween party with my brother and his family each year.....at least, it's turning into one. And we love it!  Seriously, they are soooo fun!  We played this amazing game this year called, "the gadianton robbers."  I think my brother found ideas for it on-line, and it's similar to the murder mystery game. 

He handed out a card to each player (face card).  If you drew the ace of spades, you were the detective.  If you drew the Jack of spades, you were the gandianton robber, who essentially was the murderer.  You couldn't tell anyone what card you got.  As the game started, the gadianton robber would go around very quietly and sneekily (is that a word?) whispering "you're dead" to the person, or poking him/her in the back.  A "dead" person couldn't talk, but if someone asked him/her if he/she was dead, he/she could answer "yes."  Then whoever found the dead person would yell, "There's been a murder." 

Everyone would then go to the designated spot and all the "dead" people would go to one side of the room.  It was the detective's job to find out who the robber was, by asking questions to the others and then making a final decision.  I swear we could have played this game all night.  It was such a blast.  It was dark, so it was hard to see, which made it a little creepy.  Hit of the night! 

The first round we played, Jacob ended up on the "dead" side of the room.  After we found out who the robber was, my brother said to Jacob, "who killed you?"  He pointed at him and said, "You.  You touched my arm."  That was one of the ways you could kill someone in the beginning, but we quickly learned that we had to be a little more specific....it was so funny!  And just for the record, my brother "killed" me one time too, and I swear I got a bruise!  :)

After 45 minutes of the game, we decided to make spider cookies.  I didn't get a lot of pictures of this evening, and now I'm sad.  It was such a blast being together....

Josiah, Dallin, Eric (background), and Michelle

Notice the spider cookies on the table.  They were actually really fun to make.....and easy!

Who says teenagers can't make spider cookies?  Way to go Brandon!

Even Eric got in on the festivities!  He's always such a good sport to do activities with the little cousins.   It was such a fun night and now I can't wait for next year..... 

Happy "spider" Halloween!  :)

And yet another dance....

Eric got asked to go to Monster Mash (girls pref).  A few weeks ago, we came home to this waiting for us on our front door.  (Oh, and the buckets are our's...not sure why I included them in the picture)...

This is what the poster said:

"I don't want just any BODY but you'd be the perfect somebody!  Will you go to Monster Mash with me?"

Do you see all those body parts?  ickky.....

The little skeleton head had batteries in it and each eye flashed a series of different colors....cute, actually.

This is what Eric did to answer her back....

"My mummy says I can go to monster mash with you."

And then Eric baked her a "Mummy" pizza wrap/thing.  I wasn't even home when he did this, but it has really made me wonder WHY he doesn't make dinner for our family, on occasion at least.  He's holding out on me....I'm not going to fall for it anymore....

The group he dressed up with went as the "Scooby Doo" group.  Eric was Fred....

And Meghan was Daphne....so cute! 

This is most of the people in his group.....the couple on the right were Rapunzel and Flin from Tangled.  Thelma is in the orange.  I think they had a scooby and scrappy too, but I'm not sure where they were during this picture.....The two boys on the left (in the back) didn't have dates....they did originally, but then the girls backed out in the end, so they decided to go together....I'm not exactly sure what to say about that, so I guess I won't say anything....except that it's a little weird, if you ask me.....(oops, I couldn't help myself).

Eric had a blast at Monster Mash.  They went to dinner at "The Pie," hit the dance for a short time, took pictures, then went bowling.  And he was safely home by midnight, roughly 11:40, which wasn't bad at all.  I'm glad he had fun!  Enjoy it, Eric.  It's going to be over before you know it....sad.

Eric's Homecoming Sept 2012

Eric asked Jayme Loveland to Homecoming this year.  The night before he asked her, he asked me if I had any post-it notes he could have.  I thought they were for one of his classes.  So I got him out a pack with different colors.  That day, after school, he said to me, "Well, I asked Jamie to the dance today."  HUH?  I'm telling you.....teenaged boys don't give many details to their mothers!  Apparently he had used the post-it notes to ask her to the dance.  He placed them all over her madrigal chair during class.....I must say that it was pretty creative.....and cheap!  :)  Maybe frugal is a better way to put it.  Whatever happened to the candy bar posters we used to make?

This picture was taken at Jamie's house.  I don't know why her dress looks blue.  It was purple....

And these were taken at our house.  Of course I make Eric bring the girl back so I can take pictures.  It's a mother's right, after all! :)

If you look real close, you can see a picture on the left side in a sunflower frame.  That is mine and Todd's engagement picture.  If you blow it up, you will find that Eric and Todd look almost exactly the same.....crazy!

So cute!  And I love my smiley cups in the background.  I love smileys!

This is a picture of her corsage.  See how it's purple?

During the day, a big group of Eric's friends (and their dates) went to Boondocks.  This ritual of "all day dance activities" is common place now.  It's not enough just to go out to dinner and to the dance, you have to be together for roughly 5.7 hours beforehand.   I don't know why Eric is the only one in this picture.  Jayme was there, I'm sure of it.

At dinner....Buca di Beppo's (what kind of a name is that, anyway?)

This picture was taken at Cottonwood high school.  It was during spirit week and this was 70's day.  This is what Eric does at school, when I'm not watching.....actually I would probably join in for this fun!  (It would be so embarrassing for Eric.....ooohhh, I would love that)!

The dance was a success and everyone had tons of fun!  Sometimes I just wish I could be a fly on the wall to these activities.....I wonder if there is a way to rig that.  If there is, I'll find it!  :)  Oh happy day!

Dallin turns 12!

Dallin turned 12 on the 2nd of this month.  I am a little behind in blogging about it (sorry Dallin).  But the day was a great one.  He decided not to have a friend party this year, but a family party instead.  So that night we watched Hoodwinked Too and had snacks and goodies.  Dallin is such a sweet kid and always so thankful for what he gets.  He didn't ask for anything specific this year, so he got a few "surprise" presents.

With his birthday money from his grandparents (both sets), he got a ball called a Fushigi.  It's a special ball that looks magical, like it's floating in the air.  It's pretty cool.  It'll takes some practice, but he'll get it.....I have no doubt!

In this picture, he's holding a bouncy ball.  It's cool because it bounces really high.  Fun stuff!

Dallin loves "moon pies."  He savored these for many days, taking only a few bites at a time.  And he also got a lego/creature/thing to put together.  He loves those too.

I found this cool glow-in-the-dark sand art kit.  He was very excited about that.  He loves to create!

The fancy birthday cake.....that only I could make.  :)

Grandpa Johnson and Brandon.  Grandma came too, but I didn't get any pictures of her.  What's up with that?  Sorry Grandma.....  (Grandma and Grandpa Jones are on a mission right now, so they couldn't come for the birthday festivities).

Jacob wouldn't hold still for this picture, so we just had to snap it "as is."  Silly boy!

This picture is very blurry, but I wanted to include it because there aren't many pictures of Todd.  I should change that in the future, shouldn't I?

Eric, eating some cake and ice cream, posing for the camera.....sort-of.

Kyle and Ziggy.  Ziggy won't ever sit still long enough for us to get a good picture of him, but we always try anyway.  You can see how Kyle is trying to force him to look forward.....kids and dogs....what do you do?  :)  But I love Kyle in this picture!

On Sunday, Dallin was ordained a deacon in our ward.  We now have 3 children old enough to bless the sacrament.  I can't believe it.  How is that possible?

Last Sunday was his first time passing and he did such a good job.  And I've just got to say that I've come a long way too.  When Eric started passing the sacrament, I was a nervous wreck.  I was a little better with Brandon,  but I was quite calm with Dallin.  3rd time is the charm, right?  But there is nothing like seeing my boys pass the sacrament.  It is such a sweet thing to watch.  And so far, nobody has dropped a tray...my biggest fear.  I know I'm only jinxing myself now, so I'd better stop talking about it.... :)

Dallin also got his temple recommend the Sunday he was ordained.  Then Todd and I took him to the temple to do baptisms for the dead 4 days later.  It was a very neat experience.  Dallin was so excited to go.  I know he felt the power of the Holy Ghost that night.  After baptisms, we took him to dinner at the temple.  That's a tradition for each child's first time.   Eric and Brandon couldn't come with us that night, so we need to plan a time to all go together.  It was cool to hear Eric and Brandon ask Dallin how it was for him and they were truly interested in how he felt.  Brotherly love!  We'll take it when we can get it, right?

Happy Birthday Dallin!  We love you and are so glad you are a part of our family!