Emmy's Sewing Skills . . .

Emmy is really enjoying her sewing machine, she loves to make outfits for herself and her friends. Yesterday I was taking my Sunday nap and she came in to tell me that her bobbin was jammed and she needed help. I told her she had to wait for me to get up and low and behold I wake up and she had fixed the bobbin on her own and had finished sewing herself a nurses outfit to play in. Unfortunately she hasn't learned to sew sleeves or anything but a tube skirt yet, so her nurses costume is a little cliche, if you know what I mean =0)

Ashton just had to jump in the picture. . . he is being "Super Ashton".

Halloween Party 2008

So this years Halloween Party was a little different. We couldn't have it at our house because the basement is a disaster due to a little flooding problem. Nicole and Kurt Williams, our awesome friends from the ward were kind enough to let us have the party at their house. I think everyone had a good time, and as with all big events that take planning and effort, it was fun, but I'm glad it's done! This blog is basically going to be tons of pictures from the party of all of our friends that came. We played lots of games and had pinatas for the kids. Kurt did an awesome magic show earning himself a place in all of our future Halloween parties ;0) Enjoy!
mummy wrap game

Cookie decorating

Eating!

Sarah Palin and John McCain (Nicole and Kurt)

The Williams Family (thanks for sharing your home!)

The Miller Family

The Simonson Family

The Rasmussen Family

The Johnson Family

The Colin Wright Family

The Vowels Family

The Mad Scientist

Randi Wright and Sarah Palin =0)

Susan Vowles as Cruella DeVille

Souper Supper

Our ward had a "Souper Supper" tonight. It was really fun. I swear more women in the R.S. know Lilly than me! So many women came up and loved on her since they see her smiling at them every Sunday at church. The bishopric did a hilarious sketch that was a bishopric meeting set 20 years in the future. At one point they were going over the sacrament meeting agenda and said that for sacrament that day they were having the Hamblins talk before they left on their 14th mission to Baghdad, Iraq. It got very loud laughter and applause. I thought Grandma and Grandpa would like to hear that.

Stuff

Jaron and I received new callings in the ward as the ward photographers. This will help us get to know the people in the ward better. Our first assignment is to update the "Bishop's Board"-where the bishop has a picture of each child and which class they are in. This Sunday I took 75 pictures of the primary kids and I still have 3 more classes to go. Next up we are going to make a picture directory.

Lilly and Daddy lounging around. . .

Lilly had her first "hair-do" today, she got her hair in a ponytail, so here it is.

And THIS is a zuchini for all those doubting grandmas out there =0)

Miscellaneous

I wish I were better about blogging more often, but I have to admit the paper route wipes me out pretty good. I used to blog after I got the kids to bed, but now I go to bed as soon as they do. Anyway, the last couple of days were fun. Jaron met one of the co-owners of Cafe Rio at work and he gave Jaron two "Gold Cards". They entitiled us each to one free meal and drink, so we took the kids out, got them a burrito to share and some desserts and the whole family ate for $11! I love cheap stuff!

Then we took the kids to Lagoon to see Frightmares. There was a little Spook-a-Boo alley for the kids to go through and get candy. It was really mild, not scary at all and they loved it. Jaron and I got a babysitter and went back later on our own. We went through one of the haunted houses which ended up being really lame. The fun part was the hypnotist show. Jaron was one of the chosen volunteers and he was pretty funny, he was told he was Barney and he sang the "I Love You" song and went through the audience hugging people. CREEPY! LOL Anyway, I remembered more of the show than he did, so I probably had more fun than him.

Here is a picture of the kids at Lagoon and then one of Ashton with a giant cucumber.

sNoW DaYS!

So we got some really heavy wet snow over the weekend and the kids made their first solo snowman ever! They were pretty darned excited about it! I also have a couple of videos of the kids playing around in the evening.

Barbie needed a haircut. . .

Every time Emmy sits down to practice piano Carter is close by watching intently, and then asking her to teach him something, so this morning I decided to start him with some basic stuff using Emmy's old books. He took to it like a fish takes to water. He is amazing me with how quickly he can learn things, and he REMEMBERS EVERYTHING I teach him! He wanted to learn how to play guitar like Emmy is, but when Jaron tried to show him a chord, we saw that his hands were still too small to even get around the neck of the guitar. I guess he will just have to wait till he grows a little bit.

I spent a good part of the day while Carter was in school trying to figure out the best courses for me to take at the U and how I can finish up in the most timely manner. Blarghhh. Frustrating to say the least.

Tonight I trimmed Emmy's bangs up for her and when I finished she asked, "Mama, can I please cut a Barbie's hair? I promise I won't make a mess! (She always does anyway) And I will clean up everything! (She always doesn't)". My first instinct was to say "no", but then I remembered how badly I had always wanted to cut a Barbies hair, but never did. So I thought, what the heck, at least she asked permission! So I told her to find one of her yucky, old Barbies and then to make sure her brothers didn't see her doing it. You would think I had just handed her a million dollars! She was so excited and she actually DID clean up her mess. Anyway, here is a picture of the newly styled Barbie. Oh, and for those of you who know me and my hair-cutting skills, don't worry. . . Emmy's bangs turned out just fine (but I did wait until AFTER school pictures just in case I totally screwed them up =0)

Emmy decided this was definitely an improvement!

Garbage is so fun!

Lilly is turning into quite the handful. We have a garbage can next to our computer desk in the living room and now everytime we put her down in there, she heads straight for it. I usually stop her before it gets too bad, but last night we were distracted by daddy and Emmy playing music together and Lilly got some good scrounging time in. I had to take her picture, and when she saw the camera she waved at it.

She also has developed a strange new ritual when eating. She twists her body in her seat so that she is almost sitting backward in her chair and then between bites she sucks on the back of her seat. She usually does it between every bite, but once I pulled the camera out she was a little distracted, but you can still get the general idea.

8 Things Tag. . .

8 TV shows I love to watch. . . (in random order)
1. Grey's Anatomy
2. Desperate Housewives
3. America's Next Top Model
4. Survivor
5. House
6. Eureka
7. Star Gate Atlantis
8. Medical Mysteries

8 of my Favorite Restaurants
1. Buddies (in Pocatello)
2. Rodizio's (a newly acquired and EXPENSIVE favorite)
3. Carino's
4. Chapala's
5. Cracker Barrel =0) (It pays my husband, how could I NOT love it?)
6. Cheesecake Factory
7. Mandarin House
8. Fazoli's

8 things that happened yesterday. . .
1. I did my paper-route in the pouring rain (yuck)
2. Jaron and I ate lunch at Cafe Rio (yum)
3. Umm, it rained. . . all day!
4. I traded in a bunch of Lilly's old stuff (toys, clothes, etc) at Kid 2 Kid and got her a new car seat for $0.86, she is really out growing that infant carrier!
5. I started my Christmas shopping list so I can start to watch for bargains
6. I found out that it is a Slurpee not a slushy that Jaron likes to drink, I don't really even know what a slushy is
7. I worked out for 1 1/2 hours at the gym

8 things I'm looking forward to. . .
1. Our annual Halloween party
2. Christmas!
3. Lilly learning how to walk
4. registering for my spring classes at the U
5. my next pay check
6. my friend Anna having her baby
7. the next good book I am going to read
8. Carter turning 6

8 things on my wish list. . .
1. A cruise to the Caribbean and lots of Xilkan Mexican Vanilla
2. to get skinny again without dieting or exercising
3. to get into PA school
4. to have all my teeth fixed
5. to buy/build a house that is our own and not too big and not too small, with a nice kitchen and a big garden, oh, and a maid to clean it and do all the laundry for me!
6. to not be allergic to cats
7. that my children will grow to realize all of their amazing potential!
8. that the delicious roast I can smell cooking will hurry and get done so I can eat it!

I tag everyone who reads this!

Ahh, it feels good to have a quiet moment to sit down and blog! Lilly is taking nap and Jaron and the kids are downstairs playing Wii between conference sessions. Jaron has had 3 days off in a row and it has been so fun having him around for a weekend for a change. We had some friends from our ward over on Friday night and we had an easy dinner and played games. Our kids ran around and had a great time. It is always such a wonderful blessing to find friends that you both (husband and wife) have a lot in common with, and an even bigger bonus when you have kids roughly the same age that get along well. I have loved this ward since we moved in, but I do miss having my closest friends nearby.

Friends have always been really important to me. I have a theory that this is because I don't have a sister and that every girl needs a really close girlfriend in whom they can confide, plot and plan, and share joys and dissapointments. I have been so lucky my whole life to have the best group of friends a girl could wish for, and I have been especially lucky to live next to at least one of them for the first 8 years of my marriage. This is the first time I haven't lived next to someone that I know I can call at ANY time of day and that they won't be bothered, and even if they are, they will forgive me for it. That being said, the sisters in my ward have been very warm and kind and even though I don't have a bosom buddy yet, I do feel comfortable and welcome here.

I really enjoyed President Monson's talk at the end of the Sunday morning session. I think we all need to remember to enjoy the moment and love the life we are living a little bit more. I know I certainly need to. A couple of years ago it was this same time of year when for a brief period of a few weeks, I honestly believed that I was dying from cancer, I didn't feel sick, but just knowing that my time was limited, and really BELIEVING that completely changed my perspective on life and what is important. Due to what I honestly believe was a miracle from God, I have my whole (hopefully long) life ahead of me and I think it would do me some good to remember those feelings that my time was short and how my priorities suddenly shifted.
Jaron and I both like to talk about what our hopes and dreams for the future are, knowing that most of them will never happen, but this was a good reminder to enjoy what we have now.

The Curse of Mutton Hollow. . . and a new car

So I have decided that Mutton Hollow is cursed. When we first moved here I was almost to the house and I made it to Mutton Hollow and the transmission fell out in the van. Well, Mutton Hollow happens to be on my paper route and on Sunday morning as I was delivering papers on Mutton Hollow, the transmission went out in the car. Needless to say we bought the stupid thing for $900 almost 2 years ago, so we feel like we have gotten our money's worth out of it. We thought about just being a one car family, but it would be extremely difficult with Jaron's work schedule being so sporadic and with 4 kids who need transportation during the day, so we bought a new car. We got a 2006 Ford Taurus with 45,000 miles on it.

I was going to post some pictures of Jaron's birthday, but I forgot to take pictures and I haven't had much time to blog lately, I have been so busy! So this is just a quick update.