Fall Fun and Halloween

Jason was excited to have his mission president who is from Mexico in Utah this fall.  One of Jason's mission companions arranged a reunion while he was here.  It was a fun time for Jason to catch up with some of the people he served with over 20 years ago!  Jason's mission influenced his life so much and the Espinoza's are a couple that he looks up to so much.  It was wonderful to see them again.

Our family with Pres. and Sis. Espinoza

When the kids were off for fall break we took a trip to Black Island Farms.  Skyler loved the hay ride on the trailer that was pulled by a tractor.  He was so excited to pick out his own pumpkin from the pumpkin patch!  It's sad for me to see the older kids out growing some of the fun activities they have there but they had fun playing with Skyler.  And they aren't too old to enjoy a corn maze.  Unfortunately we really got lost in one and that was about the time Skyler got tired and was ready to go home!  We finally managed to find our way out!

Kaitlyn and I enjoyed going with her cousins, aunts, and grandma to Gardner Village for breakfast with a witch.  It's a fun girls outing that we get tickets to every year.  Kaitlyn loved the show the witches put on and all of their fun costumes.  She also had fun getting her face painted.

Skyler loved carving pumpkins!  Every time he looked at the pumpkins on our porch he would point and laugh.  Our neighbors made totem poles out of jack o lanterns and he spent half the week looking out his window across the street laughing at their pumpkins!

Halloween was unusually warm.  It made it nice for trick or treating.  Skyler wanted nothing to do with his costume.  We forced it on him and tried to get him to cooperate for a picture.  As soon as they went to the first house and he realized he was getting candy he didn't mind the costume anymore.  I didn't get a picture of Andrew, although he just wore the same morph suit he wore last year.  He spent the evening helping his friend with a haunted house since he's too old for trick or treating.  Another sign he is growing up too quickly.

Jason's costume needs a bit of an explanation.  He came home from his hair cut with his hair looking just like this minus the orange hair color the day before Halloween (and two days before family pictures.)  He claimed it was his barbers idea for him to dress up as Beaker from the Muppets and he promised he'd fix it before pictures.  He went to work looking like this on Halloween and I'm not sure if his patients thought he was crazy or if they just got a really good laugh!

Jared's 12th Birthday

Here it is Christmas Eve.  All my plans for today were put on hold when Skyler woke up throwing up this morning.  So while everyone else is out playing and Skyler is busy watching Thomas the train movies I can finally catch up a bit on my blog.  Jared turned 12 in October.  I felt like a terrible mom because I had to fly to Chicago on his birthday.  We celebrated the night before with cheesecake and presents.  He actually didn't mind celebrating early since he's one that hates waiting for his presents! I eased my guilty conscience a bit by making him french toast (his favorite) for breakfast and taking Dunkin Donuts to his class before we left for the airport.  At least I was the favorite mom out of his peers that day!

What else would Jared want for his birthday than a new Lego set?  Hobbit is his new favorite since he is really into the Hobbit movies right now.  So even though I had to leave on his birthday he had a fantastic time building his Lego set as soon as he got home from school.  We received numerous texts with different views of the finished project while we were in Chicago.

Here's a look at Jared at 12.

Things he likes: cheesecake, Legos, playing with his little brother (he is so good with him and Skyler loves the attention he gives him!), pasta, football, basketball, baseball, Star Wars, The Hobbit, reading Heroes of Olympus,skiing, xbox, Minecraft, scouts, camping, and hanging out with his friend, Max.

Things he doesn't like: practicing piano, homework (although he has become much more responsible about getting it done!), milk, eating breakfast, and doing his chores.

Turning 12 in our church means that Jared graduated from the primary and moved to the young men's program and received the priesthood.  I was sad to see him move on since I had recently been called to serve in the primary presidency but Jared was so excited and ready to leave.  He was ordained a deacon by his dad and we enjoyed a day with lots of family here to support him.  It has been so fun to watch him with his new responsibilities in the priesthood.  He takes them very seriously and does such a good job passing the sacrament and collecting fast offerings.  This is one of those years that Jared has amazed me by how much he has grown up, not just physically, but in how much more responsible he has become.  He is a joy to have as part of our family and I'm so proud of the young man that he is!

Not a bad picture of the whole group taken from the timer.  On the wagon was the only way to get Skyler smiling!