200

This is my 200th post. Why not make it a big one?! :) Actually, just thought I'd share that I saw this movie...

I saw the midnight showing with a friend. We actually did the double feature where we saw Twilight first & then New Moon. As we all know, I'm a fan. I've kept myself pretty well contained lately. Here's Bonnie & I before it starts.... (I'm not good with the one arm pictures, so it is what it is.)

Well, I loved it! It was way better than Twilight & I'm not usually a huge sequel person. You could definitely tell the budget was "beefed" up. I'm a little bit closer to being a Jacob fan, but not quite! It was a blast & I'm glad I got to go. I told myself I wasn't going to do a midnight showing, but I'm glad I went. Bonnie cracks me up & it was fun seeing it with her! Thanks again Bonnie!!

RJ's FAREWELL

Today was our nephew RJ's farewell. I'm still trying to wrap my head around that one. Especially since he was only 5 when Erik & I started dating!! I can't believe he's that old & going on a mission. He's been called to serve in the Guixaquil, Ecuador Mission. He's been ready to go for a LONG time now. He was hoping to have his call before he graduated in May, but due some circumstances (Hmm, hmm... his papers being lost in the Stake President's office for a bit) it's been a little longer. I can't remember the last time I've seen a young man so ready & worthy for this calling. He's an amazing kid! An awesome example of how everyone should be! Here's Erik with RJ. RJ calls Erik Uncle Rico.

His talk was wonderful. All the kids, cousins sang "I Believe in Christ". Kylie & Jadyn didn't hesitate. They were ecstatic to do so. It was beautiful to watch all of the kids sing. My brother-in-law Ron spoke as well & did a good job. But, what took the cake was something I've never seen before. The closing song was "Called to Serve". A real tear-jerker in itself at a farewell right? Well, all (& I mean ALL) the priesthood holders were asked to come up to the front to sing. What an AWESOME sight to see all of the men, young & old, in the audience stand up at the front & sing that amazing song!! Then, I saw my friend Sarah's dad standing behind RJ (he was RJ's Young Men's President in his previous ward) singing & lost it. I miss that man so much & his daughter even more! There really are no words to describe how beautiful that was. What a tremendous idea for a farewell. Supposably it has become a tradition in that ward.

At the "Open House" Edwin (my friend Sarah's dad) serenaded RJ. It was great! Again - I miss this man! He had served his mission in Ecuador & came to tell some stories. No one tells stories like Edwin. Here's a picture of me with Edwin & Sarah's youngest sister Ashley. Ashley was born at the end of our Junior year in High School. She was only 3 when Sarah was killed. Ashley was also the flower girl at our wedding when she was 4 since Sarah couldn't be a bridesmaid.

In watching all that this family has done in preparation for RJ I have found myself a little sad. I'm quite jealous that I don't have a boy to send out & have that experience with. I've told Ron & Nikki numerous times that I will have to live vicariously through their boys. Lucky for me, I also have many boys to live vicariously through on my side of the family. So, I'll be covered. As sad as it makes me - I can't help but be extremely excited as well. I can't wait to hear his stories & all about his adventures! I can't think of a young man that was more prepared than RJ. He will be an amazing missionary! We're so proud of him & the choices he's made.

RACE

Today I did something I NEVER thought I would do. I ran in a race! I'm not sure I can legitimately say that since I did a Family Fun Run at a race, but for me, it counts! As I've said a million times before - I DON'T RUN! I despise running & always have. Even when I was in the best shape of my life & dancing for hours everyday - I still could not run. It takes a completely different endurance to run. Well, I'm changing my ways & am now slowly becoming obsessed.

Today didn't help. I found out from a friend in my ward about this race & quickly signed up. It was great for me to kind of understand how things worked. Even though it was a family thing (& there was a lot of kids) it was an adrenalin rush for me. It was suppose to be a 1.5 mile, but I"m not sure it was that far. It went by so fast! I just kept thinking - that's it? I didn't get overwhelmed. Maybe it was the running outside and seeing different things, as opposed to running laps around a track. Or maybe just the sheer excitement of doing it. But, I loved it & can't wait for the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving! (I'm doing the 2 mile run their.) Then, I'm going to train for a 5k in Sedona - I hope!

Getting ready to go.....

At the end I got an AWESOME medal!! My cute sister Allison came running up & put it around my neck. She & my other sister Stephanie brought it for me. They were my cheering section with my girls! I loved it! They made me feel so special to take the time to come see this silly women racing with kids.

This is the main reason for doing this.....

I want to be healthier & be a good example for my girls. I hear Kylie say all the time that she hates running & hates when she has to do it in PE. I don't want her going down the same road as me. I want her to be active, healthy & happy. What better way to achieve that than by teaching by example. We had a talk today when we got home about how I said I hated running for 30 years & now after some hard work I actually enjoy it. Hopefully, it will help in the long run. (No pun intended!)

MEXICAN

Kylie's full of them lately! Here's her latest silly quote...

Erik & the girls were watching "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader" the other night while I was making dinner. In the catagory 1st Grade Language the question was: What language is the word Fiesta (meaning party or celebration) that is spoken by 1/3rd of the world.

KYLIE: "Oh! That's so easy!!! I know that one!"

(**I have so many exclamation marks on purpose. She's yelling as she says these things because she's so excited.**)

ERIK: "Oh yeah, what is it?"

KYLIE: "It's MEXICAN!!"

I about fell over I was laughing so hard. Silly girl! She quickly realized the error of her ways once Erik & I couldn't talk from laughing so hard.

FALL FESTIVAL

Last weekend was the girls Fall Festival. This is the school's one fund raiser they do each year. They don't sell cookies, wrapping paper, etc. They have this carnival. Since I'm on FPAC this year I had a committee to help with. I, luckily, had a partner with me - Kris. She's the best ever!! We were over the games. It was A LOT of stress & a lot more involved than I thought, but it actually went pretty smooth. I'm glad it's over! Here's a few pics from the day....

Kylie didn't feel very well at the end. She ended up spending most of the time helping with the Prize Booth & hanging out with me.

Kylie with her teacher, Mrs. Kunda, and her boys...

A sign that my daughter loves me so. ;)

Jadyn told me this today - as well as a couple of days ago.

"Mom, you're getting old. You have lots of white hairs."

My how I love that kid! I'm just not quite sure how to respond to that.

HALLOWEEN 2009

Erik loves Halloween. He was dying to carve pumpkins this year. We usually do, but for some reason we haven't the past couple of years. We did this year. Only I didn't take a bunch of pictures. Nor did I have candles to put in them. Therefore, we don't have pictures & the pumpkins rotted fast before I got candles to light them. Oh well! We still had fun.

This year for Halloween we headed down to Arivaca, AZ for the second year in a row to hang out with Luke & Rennie's family again. We had such a blast last year that we figured we needed to do it again this year while we still had the chance. If you've never heard of Arivaca don't be shocked. It's definitely a small town. Which is what makes events like this all the more fun! Small towns know how to do holidays.

Everyone gathers at a church for dinner (aka hot dogs & such) & mingling. Then, you jump on a hayride. Lucky for us, my brother Luke drives one of those hayrides as a representative of the boys ranch, so we get to reep the benefits. All the hayrides caravan through the town making various stops to trick or treat to booths rather than doors. After about 3 different stops everyone ends up on the main street to "trick or treat" to all the booths up & down the street. It's great! No doorbells, wondering if people are home & just lots of fun. This is more than likely our last year doing this, so it was fun to go one more time. One of the booths...

My poor girls have the worst mother when it comes to these kinds of things. I'm not good at going all out for a one night deal. Nor am I creative at all in this area. Kylie actually had her costume planned all year. She was dying to wear her pirate costume she wore for a dance last year & there was no changing her mind. She told everyone she was Elizabeth from "Pirates of the Carribean". And we let her.

Jadyn wanted to be a vampire. We went to Wal-Mart to look for a black dress. When we went to buy it the cashier asked Jadyn if the dress was for her & what was she going to be. Jadyn replied that it was for her & that she was going to be "Victoria" from "Twilight". That took me by surprise. I looked at Jadyn & asked her how she even knew who that was? Not only that, but why am I buying you a costume when she could just wear regular clothes if that's who she wanted to be! Silly kid! I guess I forget how observant she is. I'm a huge "Twilight" fan (as I'm sure you already know), but I've never let my kids watch it. I just don't know how that came about!

Here's our scary group of pirates & vampires on the hayride.....

Only in a small town would you see this I think....

I love how the parents are COMPLETELY decked out & their daughter is in a cheasy, crummy, some kind of princess costume. Isn't Halloween for the kids?!

This old guy was awesome zipping around on his TINY electric scooter...

His name was "Little Mike". He was trick or treating himself & didn't even get off his scooter. He'd just zip up to the tables & hold out his hand. HILARIOUS! Another thing you would probably only ever see in a small town.

On the drive home (about an hour to Luke & Rennie's) I think the kids were a little tired...

Thanks again Luke & Rennie for the fun time!