Halloween Weekend 2016

Halloween came way too fast this year. It felt like October was over in a blink of an eye. But it really could have felt that way due to how much I was trying to accomplish for these Halloween costumes. Friday the 28th was my Due Date of having to get everything done. The boys had their Halloween Parade Friday morning. Then we had our ward Trunk or Treat that night. And much to my surprise I made it happen and got everything done.

As I was getting the boys all ready Friday morning I was getting quite giddy how awesome their costumes came together. They exceeded far beyond my expectations.

After the parade I went to work for a little bit and then came home to cook a quick dinner before we went to the Ward Trunk or Treat. They were serving Hot Dogs and I just didn't really want that. So I scrambled some eggs. Haha.

Anyway we got all dressed up. Unfortunately Jesse was on duty, so we were missing our Wizard.

I love this picture of Ryker and Cyrus. They both took on the rolls so perfectly. Every year the boys ask me what we are going to be as a family for Halloween. And I have had a lot of people ask me how I get everyone on board with it because their kids all want to do their own thing. Which I tend to run into that problem a little bit, so I have to do a little bit of persuading. Ryker was on board with the Wizard of Oz idea but Cy wasn't so sure. Not sure when, but Ryker had seen the movie before so he was excited about it and call dibs on being the Tin Man. So I told Cy that he would be the Scarecrow and he wasn't so sure.

So I rented the Wizard of Oz movie and we watched it together. After that Cyrus was on board with it. Success. Check out how he's holding his finger to his head. He was getting into character along with Ryker.

And cute little Fynnie let me paint his nose for the lion, which just made the whole thing. We later found out that we won best costume from that night. A $10 gift card to Spanky's.

The 29th we went to Mike and Heidi's ward Trunk or Treat. Originally only the boys were going to go, but then I wanted to go because of all the time I put into these costumes I wanted to wear them as much as possible.

Mom and Dad were cute and joined in on our theme and dressed up as the Lollipop Guild.

I was glad to get a picture with our WIZARD!

I think Jesse should wear a Top Hat everyday because I think he looks so handsome in it. Haha.

We had to leave the party a little bit early because Jesse's friend, Dave was taking us out for their birthdays for the 3 year in a row. To Ruth's Chris! So yummy. This dinner is beyond delicious. Worth every penny and calorie.

This morning my mom's new neighborhood was putting together a mini carnival and she asked me to bring the boys up. So I did.

They had little games and treats. It was perfect for the kiddos. They had a blast.

Tonight we hung out with Kris and Keya. We went to the same neighborhood we went last year where this family friend of theirs decorates her garage and hands out tons of candy and toys.

I was happy that the weather was still so nice. It got a little chilly as the sun went down, but I only needed a light sweater. The boys were all warm in their outfits.

Of all the years that I have done this themed Family costumes this year was by far my favorite.

Jesse's Birthday Weekend

Yesterday we started out the celebration of Jesse's 36th birthday. Since we went to Cross E Ranch last month and we still had the wrist bands we were able to bounce back for half price. Plus Kris and Keya had wanted to go before October was over. So they came with us as well. We were loving the fact that it was SO WARM! Almost Hot! It's the end of October and we were all wearing short sleeved shirts. Love it so much! I'll take all the warm weather I can get.

Always fun hanging out with this crew.

And these kiddos just love being together. They had a hay day in the corn pit.

And riding in the tractor train.

This time they had goats just wandering around. And Fynn got a kick of out them. Thankfully they were really tame and were not bothered by Fynn patting him.

After spending a few hours at the Ranch, buying more ground beef, carmel corn and candied nuts, it was time for us to go. I had big plans for the rest of the night for Jesse. He had no idea what I had up my sleeve for the night except the fact that I was taking him to dinner. Can you guess where we went? Mikado of course. Haha. It's still our favorite.

Back in May I was driving to work and I heard that Pentatonix was coming to concert in Utah on Oct 22. And right then and there I knew that's what I wanted to get Jesse for his birthday. I recruited Jesse's parents and siblings to join in on the tickets so we could get good seats.

So if you can imagine how keeping this secret since May has been killing me. I knew he would be so excited and there were so many times that I just wanted to say to him(while we were listenting to one of their songs) "Oh I can't wait until their concert" or "Their concert is going to be so GOOD!" But I had to keep it to myself.

So once we finished dinner, I still hadn't told him what we were doing. Since he was driving I gave him directions to go to Salt Lake. And to give him a clue I turned on a Pentatonix song. After about 30 seconds he asked "Are they in concert tonight?"

"Yes they are!"

He just chuckled. I knew he was happy even though he doesn't show it very well. When we arrived I told him that we were on Row ONE and was shocked!

We sat through the first 2 opening bands and really enjoyed them. Our favorite was "Us is Duo". It's a married couple that sings together. That's it. No backup band. Just their voices and whatever instruments they play themselves. They were AMAZING!!!We are new fans.

When Pentatonix finally came out we were totally giddy. At least I was. It had been so long since I had been to a concert and I was excited to share this opportunity with Jesse. He loves Pentatonix so much. He's the one that actually got me into them. And they did not disappoint! It was a FANTASTIC concert!

To continue the Birthday Celebration we had everyone (both of our families) over tonight for dinner and birthday dessert.

And of course Jesse wanted Pumpkin Pie for his "Birthday Cake". I used 9 candles total to make a set of 3 and 6 for turning 36 years old.

We all love Jesse so very much. I swear he is the one that keeps the peace in the family. He is always the comic relief. He is one that everyone looks up to as an example of how to be. He is always missed when he isn't around. He is the Best!

Happy Birthday Jesse! Love you more than I could ever express.

Wizard of Oz in the Making

Every year for Halloween I have a hard time coming up with a new Family Theme for our costumes. This year I came up with the idea to do the Wizard of Oz. I originally started looking at buying all of the costumes, but was feeling like that would cost too much. So after talking to a client who sews a lot she got me excited about the idea of sewing a Dorothy costume. I went to Joanne's and bought everything I needed and was shocked at how much the total came to. I learned quickly that making your own costume isn't always cheaper.

After having a fire lit under my butt about this I started to wonder what have I gotten myself into? Never before had a purchased pattern and fabric to create something. I almost took everything back, but then there was something that I wanted to prove to myself. So I started on the sewing project. There was a definite learning curve, but a lot of the sewing lessons I took from my Grandma Goodrich when I was young, were all coming back to me.  Decrypting the pattern instructions were quite the challenge. There were a few times that Jesse and I were talking it through until we figured it out.

Over the course of the next few weeks, several late nights and many hours at the sewing machine I finished the Dorothy Costume. It wasn't perfect but for my first time sewing something I am very proud.

The zipper ended up being a little bit crooked. But that's it. So I'll take it. It's just a Halloween costume right?

Now that that was out of the way I could then start on the Tin Man costume. I looked online for some ideas and I just wasn't liking anything that I was finding. I really wanted something that would hold it's shape but still be flexible. It wasn't until I went back to Joanne's and talked to one of the workers there that she gave me the idea of this Foam Interfacing. It is sewable. So that's what I went with and I was finally feeling inspired and knew how to put it together. Even though I was flying by the seat of my pants on this everything I was doing, it was coming together quite nicely.

After the first day of working on it I made this much progress.... 

Ryker was so excited as he stood in as my mannequin that he couldn't sit still.

Once I got it all together I spray painted it Silver.

I didn't get any progress pictures of Cy's scarecrow costume. But his was really simple. Afer purchasing a green men's sweater and brown girl pants from the DI, I cut, sewed and glued the sweater into a jacket. Glued raffia around to look like straw.

I'm borrowing the Lion costume and got everything for The Wizard at the DI as well. So thankfully I only need to work on 3 costumes instead of all 5. Makes things more doable.

I won't lose them

At the start of the school year. Actually let me back up a little bit further. several months ago  I was feeling like I needed to make time for some personal scripture study. Slowly but surely I started to establish the habit. And around the time that school was starting that I had an addition feeling that I needed to do it with the boys. So every morning before we get ready for school. I get up first to do my own personal scripture study for a half hour or so (depending how long it takes me to wake up). I then get ready for the gym and then wake up the boys to ready the Book of Mormon with them until 6:45. 

Some mornings are better than others, but all in all I can tell that it's been truly blessing our family. I have found myself having more patience with them and the power from the book is permeating our (currently messy) home.  

2 weeks ago was the Primary Program in our ward. The Primary Theme this past year has been on the scriptures. So they sang and talked a lot about the scriptures. By the end of the program I felt so spiritually uplifted. The Spirit confirmed to me that my efforts of waking up early every morning to study the Book of Mormon with them was good. My heart was full and I had to fight back the tears. 

Then last week was General Conference. I hadn't ever been this excited about it than ever before. Is it because I had been spiritually feeding myself and my boys? Lets go with that.

I got out these Conference Bingo cards for Ryker and Cy. I gave them large marshmallows to use as markers for every time they heard a word or topic mentioned. And once they got a Bingo, they could eat a marshmallow. I have expected it to work for the first couple of talks. But to my great surprise and pleasure, they sat just like this for the full 2 hour session. BOTH TIMES (Cy did fall asleep the 2nd Sunday session, but that's ok).

I loved hearing Ryker mention to me how much he loved a talk after it was over. Matter of fact that night after coming home from Grandma's house he asked me as we were driving up Val Verda...
 "Mom, is there more Conference tommorrow?"
"No, it's all over."
Sigh from Ryker and expressed that he was sad.
"Why are you sad?"
"Because I really liked it. I was surprised how much I liked it. All the talks were so good."

He went on to share a few of his favorite moments and stories with me. My heart melted. I told him how happy it made me feel to hear him say all of this.

This kid is truly Special. I thank Heavenly Father all the time for blessing me with Ryker. He's meant for greatness and I look forward to seeing where he'll be going in life.

 To share my favorite moment of conference came from Elder K. Brett Nattress. His talk hit me with such conviction that he had me in tears. One of the parts that was answers for me was this...

"When I was a boy, I was my mother’s most difficult young child to raise. I had an overabundance of energy. My mother tells me that her greatest fear was that I would not live to see adulthood. I was just too active.

I remember as a young boy sitting in one particular sacrament meeting with our family. My mother had just received a new set of scriptures. This new set combined the entire standard works into one bound edition, and in the very center was lined paper for note-taking.

During the meeting, I asked if I could hold her scriptures. With the hope of promoting my reverence, she handed them down the pew. As I perused her scriptures, I noticed that she had written a personal goal in the note section. To provide context for her goal, I must tell you that I am the second of six children and my name is Brett. My mother had written, in red, just one goal: “Patience with Brett!”

As further evidence to help you understand the challenge my parents faced in raising our family, let me tell you about our family scripture reading. Each morning, my mother read the Book of Mormon to us during breakfast. During this time, my older brother, Dave, and I would sit quietly but irreverently. To be completely honest, we weren’t listening. We were reading the print on the cereal boxes.

Finally, one morning, I decided to square up with my mother. I exclaimed, “Mom, why are you doing this to us? Why are you reading the Book of Mormon every morning?” I then made a statement that I am embarrassed to admit to. In fact, I can’t believe I actually said it. I told her, “Mom, I am not listening!”

Her loving response was a defining moment in my life. She said, “Son, I was at a meeting where President Marion G. Romney taught about the blessings of scripture reading. During this meeting, I received a promise that if I would read the Book of Mormon to my children every day, I would not lose them.” She then looked me straight in the eyes and, with absolute determination, said, “And I will not lose you!” "

When I heard this I made a promise to myself that I will continue this goal of mine to read to the boys every morning. Because like Elder Natress' mom said to him, I WILL NOT LOSE MY BOYS!!!

The gospel of Jesus Christ is TRUE! I love it and I love these boys.

That's a wrap

This week has been Tournament Week for these boys. Ryker's age bracket is much bigger than Cy's, so he had more games to play to get to make their way to the Championship Game. So his first Tournament Game was on Tuesday of this week. They were #8 seed and played against #9 seed. They were much better than a #8 seed team would be. They were playing really good and tied almost all their games but end up losing at the last second. But they've improved over the course of the season and they were proving it in the Tournament.

Tuesday's game was unbelievably good. They won 22-0!!! Major shut out. They played so good on both ends of the field. They were pulling flags like made and running the ball like crazy. 2 of the touchdowns they made were by Ryker. And one of them was from one end zone to the other (Which I was so sad that I didn't catch that one on video. Jesse was working and I had been sending him play updates, so my camera wasn't ready when this play happened). But it was Unreal. Then he also caught the pass in the end zone for the 2-point conversion. It was one of his best games. 

I can't help but feel so proud of him. He's truly an athletic kid that is so much fun to watch. The coaches have been great as well. They have helped these kids really work together as a team. The head coach told us in private that if he could have a team of all Ryker's he'd love it. Ryker is great at pulling flags, running the ball, he's fast, great sportsmanship with his teammates and opponents and he listens to the coach. He's right where he needs to be in the games putting 100% into it. 

With the first round under their belts, they played round 2 this morning at 8am. They played against the #1 Seed (Packers) who were undefeated in their season. And the Dolphins brought the Packers to their first loss by beating them 20-7. 

And again Ryker scored 2 of the Touch Downs. This time I was able to catch one on video. And he ended up running right past me so I got a great video of it. This picture was a snapshot from the video of him right before making it into the endzone. He was so fast. I really like this picture. It shows how much he loves these games.

Because the won, they were scheduled to play again at 10am. If they won the 10am game, they'd play again at 1pm. I had to text/call my clients to put them on hold to wait and see how the day was going to play out.

Cy's first Tournament Game was at 8am. So he was playing at the same time that Ryker was. I caught the first half of Cy's game and the second half of Ryker's. It's tough when they are both playing at the same time. I hate having to miss one or the other. While I was watching Ryker I heard from Mike that Cy had caught a flag. So that was way exciting to hear. He has moments of really putting effort into it.. And other moments of not.

Cy's team won. Yay!!! I ever caught the final score. But they won and were playing the in the Championship Game at 9am.

They played the Lions in the Championship Game and they were little guys next to these huge Lion's. Come to find out they had like 3 or 4, seven year olf boys on their team. So it just wasn't fair to the 5/6 year olds. We didn't stand a chance. I think our team felt a little nervous against the big guys.

However, they made it so far and had such a great season. I loved how much Cy's coaches worked with him this season. He definitely learned a lot from them and I'm grateful for them sacrificing the time, effort and patience for these boys (Especially my boy).

10am and Ryker was up against the 49ers. Unfortunetly they were a tough team to beat and they took a loss against them. Bringing the Dolphins season to a close. Ryker was bummed out by it because it's natural to want it all. I wanted it all for him too. However, it's said that it builds character, right?

This brings the fall season to a close. And it's been a good one. Kinda glad it's over because I'm hoping I can catch up on stuff. It's been hectic to dealing with 2 footbal schedules. But I'd do it all over again for them. Love these boys and I love watching them do something that they are passionate about.