11•12•13

Happy 11-12-13!  Three generations have lived during some fun numerical dates.  Can you think of them all?

Veterans Day & A Movie

Veteran's Day has been a day to remember those who serve and with Instagram and Facebook, it has been a day for public thanks and posting of loved ones' photos.  I enjoyed seeing photos this year, and I put this one out there.  It hangs in my hallway and is a photo of my maternal grandpa, Clement Spencer, with some of his buddies in the Navy, WWI.  There were other photos I could have posted, and perhaps I will when I gather them all.  We have uncles on both sides who have served, and my cousin's son, KC, is currently serving.  Heather asked me why these men (and women) serve in the military.  It seems scary to her like it did and does to me.  My best answer is that there must be some added measure of Divine strength to the men and women who serve our country.  I don't know if I would be strong enough?  They are so brave and valiant, and I am continually grateful for their service.

The girls and I wanted to do something fun on their day off, so we headed off to an afternoon showing of Thor 2.  It did not disappoint.  Kelly and Heather went on Friday when it opened (11/8), and they saw it in 3D (cha-ching!) They said it was amazing in 3D. Heather was happy to go again even if it was just a plain old boring 2D movie screen.  Haha. We are such Marvel comic nuts, and we really enjoy these movies.  Okay, the actors (and actresses) are nice to look at too.  I'm glad we got to go do something fun in the middle of our hectic school and life schedules.

Kelly Turns 50!

We had dinner at Marie Callendar's for Kelly's birthday.  No, that isn't his favorite restaurant, and yes I may have blown that part, but the choice was well-intended.  I reserved the dining room that seats 10-12 and is very secluded.  Then I secretly invited four couples who I thought Kelly would enjoy spending time with, and the surprise dinner was on.  Unfortunately, one of the couples couldn't make it, so I invited a two other couples just in case.  Those last two are very busy families, but I did what I could to fill the party.  We arrived at dinner and saw one of the couples walking to the door which kind of looked suspicious.  Then the waitress wouldn't seat us until "more of the party" arrived.  Ugh!  Surprise much? The cat was out of the bag.  If they had just taken us back to the dining room, the girl would have seen that there our friends were already seated.  Oh well.  We lost another couple right after that via text, and just as I was contemplating giving up the dining room for a larger party (and feeling bummed that my surprise flopped), one of the guys from the last set of couples I invited walked in.  Yay!  He left his wife to hold down the fort so he could run over.  About ten minutes after that, another guy from the last set of couples invited walked in.  He left his event for a few minutes so he could run over and say hi.  Then the couple that canceled via text was able to send her husband over.  Our table ended up being full, and I was so thankful to these guys who left their busy evenings to come and show Kelly he was important to them.  My husband IS important, and I hope he felt the love.  Now I'll have to spend a few weeks planning date nights at his favorite restaurants to make up for my restaurant blunder, but that's fine.  We need some more date nights anyway.  As for presents, Kelly has a new iPhone that he digs, so the girls and I got him a couple of funny gifts.  We're Duck Dynasty watchers and have laughed over the antics of the crazy uncle, Si, so I picked up his book.  The t-shirt was a find in our hotel gift shop in Zion.  Perfect for an "old guy" who's young at heart.  We hope to have him around for another 50 years.  Happy Birthday honey!

The Bell Game FVHS vs. Edison

Okay, so this picture doesn't have anything to do with the Bell Game. It is Parent/Teacher Conference and Red Ribbon week at Fulton, so Jenna has been getting out at lunch every day.  This particular day was sports jersey day, and it was also a good day to get lunch at Subway.  MacKenzie and Jenna decided to sit on Sarah for some reason.  They thought it was fun, I don't think Sarah loved it.  These three are too much.

 When I picked Heather up, she had me come on campus to see all the decor for Bell Week.  It was pretty insane.  All the walls were covered with posters, and all the windows had artwork too.  Lots of spirit here.

 We got tickets to the game for our whole family, and we thought it would be pretty good.  Fountain Valley was tied for 1st in the Sunset League under a new coach, and it looked like this year was the first year in ten they would take the bell home.  It was not to be.  While it was fun to be at the game, the game itself was painful to watch.  Still glad we went, but sad for our school.  Heather said they had the "Bell Game Jitters" which may have been true.  Hopefully the next game we get to will be more exciting.  Jenna still thinks we're crazy because we promised her excitement and tons of fun.  Next time, Jen!

Halloween! A lot of Pictures!

Halloween usually warrants a lot of pictures, but since we tried to cram so much in on the actual afternoon and evening of Halloween, there are a lot more photos this time.  Captions below...

My attempt at dressing up...hey, it was festive!

Jenna, MacKenzie and Sarah after school

Bought this cute chalkboard and had yet to use it. MacBeth looks good don't you think?

 The pumpkins were purchased three weeks ago, but our busy schedules kept us from visiting a pumpkin patch or carving them ahead of time.  Thanks to Daddy, we got the clean out and carving accomplished just before dark.  Heather even carved a grapefruit.  Not sure why, but we went with it.

 Jenna left the carving so she could work on her culinary masterpieces. She picked out a couple of desserts from a magazine I had, and I gathered all the ingredients for her.  I wasn't allowed to help, and she did a great job putting everything together herself.  We took her Halloween pizza cookie and graveyard pudding trifle over to her friend's house so she could share it with them.  Well done Jen!

 Our completed creations and their little newcomer.  Grapefruit works.

 MacKenzie, Madi and Heather ventured out into our neighborhood unsupervised.  Fortunately, we know these are good girls, and they were up for the solo adventure.  They were out for TWO hours and have candy enough to last all year.  Our neighborhood has been a little slow, but it's sentimental, and I'm glad Heather's friends came to join her in the festivities.

Jenna joined her friends to visit another neighborhood.  The whole group decdied to do this at school, and it was a huge group in the end.  We ran into our soccer team friends (the cowgirls) which was a treat.  Back at Sarah's house, MacKenzie, Sophie and Grace ate Jenna's desserts and did one last candy trade.  Jenna was sad not to go around our neighborhood, but she gave this new thing a try.  All-in-all, I think the kids had a great time together.  It's sad to think that we only have a couple more years of trick-or-treating before our girls outgrow it.  Heather thinks this was her last year.  Where does the time go?  It goes too fast!

Final Activity Day and Monster Mash

Jenna had an unexpected invitation to an extra Activity Day for this month.  Her leaders helped the girls decorate cupcakes and taught them how to make decorations out of chocolate.  Jenna took her friend, Sarah, and they had a great time.  Little did the girls know that our ward boundaries were changing that very weekend, and that these leaders would no longer be with us.  The plus side is that the girls will be in the same ward.  More blogging on that later...

The church youth had their annual Monster Mash dance.  Heather's friend, Madi, was able to join her, and Kelly threw together a quick costume.  It's so fun when the leaders dress up too.  Luckily for us, he's an outdoorsman and had the pants and the shirt.  Heather got the hat from a white elephant party, and Kelly used her bag as his satchel.  Indiana Jones looked pretty authentic, don't you think?  Heather didn't duplicate her Shadow Hunter costume because of the heat.  She was already limping from her knee pain, so I had the thought that she could use crutches and say she was run over by a car.  A little paint, an old t-shirt and a couple of rags and bandages created the girl that got run over.  She didn't use crutches, and most people thought she was a French revolutionary from Les Miserables, but it worked.

Trunk-Or-Treat

 Our Shadow Hunters from City of Bones

 Our lovely Red Riding Hood

 The girlfriends from church/school

 The girlfriends' reunion

 The younger girlfriends from school

And last, and most important...the candy trading.  It's serious business folks.  Trunk-or-Treat was fabulous once again, and it really is a great way for the friends to all gather and have a great time.