HALLOWEEN TRADITIONS

Pumpkin Carving was so much fun at our house this year. Trevin and Cheyenne picked out their own pumpkins and designed their own jack-o-lantern faces. The best part was getting to light the candles and blow them out every night!

 We had lots of chances to wear our costumes this year. We went to a pumpkin walk, had our preschool party, went to visit grandma and then had Halloween. So we were in our costumes 5 different days!! The kids loved it.

Trevin decided he wanted to be a fighter pilot. So we looked at lots of costumes online before he found teh perfect one. "Green and a hat!" He loved it and was the toughest fighter pilot I've ever seen. 

Cheyenne originally wanted to be Little Mermaid. No surprise there. We started looking at costumes on line to get some good ideas (I was planning on making hers). This is where the surprise comes... She saw a  picture of Pocahontas and decided that's what she wanted to be instead. I didn't mind. Pocahontas sounded easier to make and Cheyenne was so excited with with finished costume. Isn't she a beautiful Indian Girl. 

Visiting Grandma Nicholls. Picking up nuts from her yard. One of my kids favorite activities at her house. 

Our little preschool had a Halloween party. They all had so much fun. We played pin the nose on the pumkin, pass the ghost, bean bag toss. Then we decorated cupcakes and drank "blood juice." Preschool is always entertaining, but it was especially fun this time. 

A picture of our Halloween decorations this year. Trevin saw our neighbor decorating her house at the beginning of October and came inside to tell me "Laura has awesome Halloween decorations. Do we have any?" That's when we decided to break out the Halloween box. We made ghosts out of milk jugs this year that turned out way cute. I forgot to take pictures while they were lit up, but the kids loved it.

Kami and her family were here for Gerin's mission farewell. Which means they got to be here for Halloween. It was so much fun to go trick-or-treating with them. Here is our little crew before we headed out. we lasted about and hour and a half. Then the kids decided they were tired and that their buckets were HEAVY! So we headed home and passed out candy.

I REALLY, REALLY HOPE THIS ONE DOESN'T TURN OUT TO BE A TRADITION!!! Two years ago (almost to the day) Trevin fell off the stool while he was brushing his teeth and cracked his tooth... We ended up at the Dentist, then sedated to have it pulled. Well this time was a little different. Trevin and Cheyenne hit heads. I didn't see it, but this is what they told me. I rubbed Chey's head better and then rubbed Trevin's. That when he told me that his teeth hurt too! A quick look revealed that he had cracked the front half of his tooth off. Janae stopped by to look at it that night and we were at the dentist office early Friday morning. Xrays and a quick exam showed that he had cracked it down to the root. (The dentist was surprised that I hadn't had to pull the front piece off.) This time they were able to pull it out right away. It was nice that Trevin was old enough to not get fully sedated, just some laughing gas. What a champ!

Cheyenne was very good at the dentist too. The thought it was fun to wear their costumes (The whole dentists office dresses up for the week before Halloween). 

I'm just glad it was on the bottom again!! 

I told Trevin all about the tooth fairy on the way home from the dentist. He was pretty excited about the whole thing. We took his tooth with us everywhere on Friday and he told everyone that the toot fairy. He ended up falling asleep early on Friday night and woke up Saturday morning and said "Oh man, the tooth fairy didn't come! I forgot to put my tooth under my pillow!" We reassured him that if he did it tonight the tooth fairy would still come. He got his tooth out right then and put it on his bed so he wouldn't forget again.
That night he put his tooth under his pillow and fell right asleep. Then at about 4:30 in the morning woke up throwing up. We were sitting in the middle of a mess on his bed.  I was telling him not to worry that I would clean up his bed, when he asked, "But Mom, did the tooth fairy come?" Let's just say he was very excited to check under his pillow and find out that YES the tooth fairy did come.

So that definitely seems like that's all that could have happened this weekend but there is one more thing I have to add. We got in a car accident. We were stopped at a signal and got rear ended. Trevin was holding my phone at the time and it flew out of his hand. When it happened I told the kids, just a minute, someone ran into our truck with their car, I'll be right back. Trevin quickly responded with "Yeah, that car almost broke my hand right off!" It wasn't very bad. The lady that hit us had only had her car for 8 days, and wouldn't be driving it home. Our truck didn't show any signs of getting hit. The officer that came to the accident asked if she could talk to my kids and get their information. I helped them answer her questions. Gage showed up just then. So I talked to him for a minute then I heard Trevin ask, "Do you have a gun?" I turned around to see the officer showing Trevin that yes she had a gun. Then he started pointing to the other things on her belt and she was very patient and told him this is my tazor and my radio, etc. I think this was the highlight of his day, even more than getting his tooth pulled. Cheyenne was so excited to tell everyone she saw that day "A car crashed rigth into us, like BAM!" All in all it was a very eventful day.

SICK DAYS

It's official we have been hit with our first winter sick days. Chey got a cough on Saturday, which meant no sleep at our house. Even pulling out her humidifier didn't seem to make breathing any easier for her. She threw up a couple of times because of how hard she was coughing. Which meant lots of laundry for mom, since it always happens in the middle of the night. Sunday Trevin really wanted to go to primary. This is the first time I've had a sick child since Gage was put in the high council. So we all got ready, I took Trevin to church and Cheyenne and I sat outside in the grass while he enjoyed primary. I'm not sure that arrangement will work out when the weather gets cold. 

I caught Cheyenne's cough/cold/body aches on Monday. Tuesday I declared a "SICK DAY." Trevin asked me "What's a sick day?" I told him it was when we stay in our pajamas and watch movies on mom's bed all day long. The kids thought it was pretty cool. 

It's been two weeks since Chey got sick and we all still have coughs. Hopefully they don't last all winter, we are just happy to all be feeling good enough to go trick or treating.

FISHING...

This year for Labor Day I had to work which meant our regular Bear lake trip wasn't going to happen. So we decided to take the kids fishing... at the fish farm and then they could help dad eat whatever they caught. 

 We helped them pick out some fishing poles and dad taught them how to carry them so they didn't hook anybody. Trevin and Gage picked out a good fishing spot and we got to work.

 They kids waited patiently with their lines in the water for a few minutes, then we took the cheater method and threw in some food.

 Trevin fished while Chey threw in food. Trevin was so excited when the fish bit and he pulled up his pole and there was actually a fish on it! You can see it in his face.

 He caugth a nice rainbow trout and was very interested in how dad took out the hook and then smacked this fish's head on a rock.

 Showing off his catch! I can't wait to send these two out fishing for real.

 By this time Cheyenne knew how this worked and told Trevin to throw food so she could catch a fish too. She was just as excited when she pulled her fish out of the water.

 The difference... she kept her distance while dad unhooked the fish  (she let Trevin help).

 Then it was time to take a picture with her tiger trout. I told her to help dad hold it and she immediately said no. Then she came up with a great alternative. I had said to help dad... which in her mind didn't have to include touching the fish. Why is Gage smiling so big??

 This is how Chey helped dad hold the fish. She is just like her mom... so she can stay home with me when the boys go out fishing!

OAKLEE

Yes another beautiful niece arrived in September. The boys in our family really are quite out numbered.  My parents have 2 grandsons and 8 granddaughters. 

Lindsays whole crew... Thats' right they have FIVE girls!!!

We love baby Oaklee. 

JENTRY MCCALL

My beautiful kind of new niece.....Jentry made her entrance into the world on JUNE 21st and is a doll!

We don't get to see her very much... Her dad took her with him to MED school, don't worry he took her mom too!

Saying farewell to our Arizona bound family!!!

A couple of fun updated pictures from Sierra's blog, that she is way better at keeping updated than I am.

A picture in front of their tree at their new house. Can't wait to go and visit!

Just cause I really love this one of Jentry. 

OUR SUMMER

I wish I had been better about blogging all summer. It just isn't the same when I put together a massive caught up post, but here it is any way... OUR SUMMER ADVENTURES. ( to be honest we had a very laid back summer. Nothing too adventurous and I didn't have my camera the majority of the time anyway.

First up... GIRLS NIGHT OUT/IN. This year we decided to make 72 hr kits. None of us really had one and with Sierra moving out of state (and adding a little girl to her family), plus Lindsay might be moving too, we decided to get prepared together. We did the traditional Homemade mac and cheese for dinner. Then put our kits together and did some toe and fingernail painting for all the little girls. The best part... "Hot Wheaties" for breakfast. A Canova family odd food that I think needs to be a tradition at Girl's night out.

A couple of this summers birthday cakes. Cassidy made Taylor a caterpillar cake, while I made Cassidy a Zebra cake. We love birthday's at our house and don't get very many during the summer months. 

This year we signed up for the kids bowl free program. I was a little worried that T and Chey would be too small, but I figured if we don't use it then we really aren't out anything. They did love it and we have a blast!!! We started out using the ramp, but it didn't take Trevin very long to look around and see that most people just threw the ball, so we advanced our skills to bowling like the adults. This did result in the ball stopping before it reached the pins a couple of times, but it was a lot of fun to watch! Trevin got a special pass for his bowling shoes and loved them. Plus it worked out great that the child's size ball was green (T's favorite color). Going to the bowling ally was a favorite activity.

By the end of the summer never even had to get up, because Trevin wanted to be the one to help Cheyenne. Chey would line up the ramp (she didn't mind the extra help getting the ball to the pins) then Trevin would bring her the ball and help her push it down the ramp. Chey was always excited to watch and then she would jump up and down when it hit the pins. 

 My little bowler.

BEAR LAKE... Always a highlight of the summer, unfortunately with all of the new high tech cameras in the family I didn't pull my camera out very often. Our day on the boat was very memorable though. T and C both got new goggles and loved them. Trevin wouldn't go out on the tube until Chey proved to him that it was fun first. Then, after they both had a ride, they did what the usually do on the boat.  

Took a NAP! Trevin was out first and Chey decided to join him, but first she found the only shade available... right under our chairs. There are some great pictures that I will eventually make a whole post out of, but until then. This is it. We went and LOVED IT!

My aunt and uncle and kids came to UTAH!!! They live in Arkansas and we don't get to see them very often. We had lots of fun hanging out in SLC with them. 

 THE TREK. Gage was recently called to serve as the 2nd counselor in the stake young men's presidency. I was excited for him because he loves working with the youth and a little jealous because it meant that he would be going on fun outings all summer! After lots of asking (and luckily the medical team ended up short handed) I got to go on the trek with him. Yay! He was a company captain and I worked with the Medical team. We weren't together all the time, but I did get to see him more than I expected since I was assigned to his company. We had a great time and yes our feet survived the 33 miles of walking in 3 days. 

The school year started... Trevin has been so excited about school. I think it was because his older cousins were talking about school starting. So he started asking and I decided that we would have our own preschool at home. We invited his cousin and one of the girls from our neighborhood. We have a blast twice a week playing preschool and even if they don't learn a lot they are learning social skills and having fun. I'll add a new picture and do a whole post on this one because, another cousin joined in the fun bringing our number of participants to 5!!!

THAT'S OUR SUMMER IN A NUTSHELL!!!

A couple of funny things...

I am so awful about writing down the funny things that come out of Trevin and Chey's mouths. Here are a couple of them...

One night for family night we decided to talk about bearing your testimony. Trevin had noticed in church that different people got to go up to the mic and talk and he wanted to as well. So the next night we talked about Abinadi sharing his testimony, and being brave, etc. Then we each took turns bearing our testimony to each other. Trevin did great and so did Cheyenne. At the end we reviewed the Abinadi picture and let the kids tell us the story. Cheyenne pointed to King Noah and said "That's a bad guy." Then she pointed to Abinadi and said "That's Abina guy!" Close enough right!?

Trevin loves to be on the boat and pays close attention to all of the rules. The kid remembers everything. A couple of weekends ago we were up at the lake for "family camp" (I'll make a separate post about that). We were enjoying breakfast and watching the boats dock at the marina and head out on to the lake. Trevin turns to Gage and said "Look Dad all those boats are going slow past the boobies." We all jerked our heads around and were a little surprised. Gage was the one to ask Trevin what he said. Trevin looked a little timid and said "They go slow by the boobies." We all wondered what Trevin could see that we were missing down at the marina. But after a minute Trevin said "They have to go slow past them, then they can go super fast!" That's when we realized that Trevin meant BUOYS. We have gone to the lake a couple of times this summer, enough that Trevin recognizes the buoys and  knows that when you are inside the buoys you have to go slow then when you pass them you can go fast. We went boating with a friend last week and Trevin told the husband, "You see those boobies, when we pass them we can go fast!" He looked really confused and so I told him he meant buoys and everyone had a good laugh. It makes for an awkward situation, hopefully with a little more practice Trevin will be able to say "bouys" until then, we'll enjoy the laughs!