Lots of people frequently comment on Asher's hair so I just wanted to post a recent picture of him. He is definitely our blondest child and I don't think anyone else's hair grew this quickly. We cut it once pretty short when he was about 2 months old and looks like he is about ready for another one.
He really gets a lot of attention when we go to the assisted living place every week. The residents there always talk about how handsome he is and there are a couple in particular that want to hold him and hug him every time we visit. They usually just cuddle him and squeeze him until he starts crying. He is a pretty good sport about it and I can tell that it makes those ladies so happy.
Agnes' birthday was on Wednesday. Luckily, I didn't have to go in to work that day so it was just me, Agnes, Rebecca, and Asher at home together all day long.
Agnes had been sick the previous day, but she woke up feeling pretty good. For breakfast she ordered chocolate chip pancakes. Then, while the other children were away at school she took a bath in the big tub, we played Spot It and Mousetrap, she had pizza for lunch, we watched Snow White, and we read a few books.
Then, once the rest of the children got home she opened up her presents. She had been excited for that and asking about it a lot all day long. For dinner she ordered Macaroni and Cheese and then she got another movie (Frozen) that night.
She seemed really happy all day long and was loving the extra attention. We are so lucky to have her in our family. When she got her baby blessing I remember that she was blessed that she would bring joy to others. I really think that is true - at church everyone always comments on how cute she is and how happy she makes them when they see her and then at home she just seems to get along great with all of her siblings (they all love playing with her especially when they are having a conflict with a different sibling). She has also started helping more in playing with Asher and trying to make him laugh.
(None of the pictures turned out very well, I just couldn't get the lighting right that day)
We had another great Halloween this year. Rebecca and the children decorated the house with our Halloween decorations and cut out ghosts and black cats early in October. Rebecca and I also tried to watch some scary movies all through the month. Unfortunately our library does not have a very good selection of scary movies, so we probably only got in 2 or 3 semi-scary ones.
One of our first official Halloween activities of the week leading up to Halloween was going to a free movie for faculty and their families on campus. In addition to the movie, they had a raffle and a costume contest. Rebecca won an ISU hoodie and two of our children won fidget spinners in the raffle. Then, for the costume contest, Agnes won best overall costume (snow white) and I won the dead last prize (I just put my sombrero on). Both prizes came with a bag of candy and a McDonald's gift card.
The next day the children wore costumes as we went to the assisted living center to visit with the residents. They loved that and some of them even had candy to give out.
On Friday graduate students from my work came over. They have a yearly tradition of going to the faculty members' homes and the children get to pick their favorite costumes. We didn't give out any candy, but we did have donuts to share.
Then on Saturday the trick-or-treating began. We went to an indoor community event put on by businesses in the area. There was a huge line to get in, but once it started it all went pretty quickly. The highlight was seeing R2-D2 and a black similar looking robot.
On Sunday afternoon we carved our pumpkins. These were the huge pumpkins that we grew in our garden this year. Ethan knew for sure that he wanted to do a pumpkin that had eaten a kid again. Julia also knew that she wanted to do a cat. After some searching online, Elliott decided on a monster/angry looking pumpkin and Christian decided on a pumpkin that was taking his head off. I think they all turned out pretty well. On Halloween night a group of younger kids came to our house trick-or-treating. Our bowl had run out of candy and while I was filling it back up I overheard them talking about the pumpkins. When I came back one of them asked me why we always do scary pumpkins - he had told the other kid that we had scary pumpkins last year too.
On Monday our ward did a trunk or treat at the church. We put teeth and eyes on our van and folded a red blanket so it looked like a tongue. All of the children went around the loop once and got a lot of candy, but all of the cars had a lot of candy left so they sent the children around the loop again. They also had donuts, cotton candy, and apple cider. It was a fun activity, but it was really really cold that evening so no one stayed for too long.
Then on Tuesday we went around our neighborhood. We first went to all of our neighbors on our street. Since there are not very many children on our street many of our neighbors had special little bags prepared just for our children. After we did our street we met up with another family in our ward who carries children around the ward in a trailer hooked up to their truck every year. When we started there were probably 10 or so children on, but by the end there were probably 20 or so children all crowded in. It was a lot warmer that night and so it was more enjoyable being out. I don't think any of the children said they were tired the entire night, which is different from all the other years they have gone out. Instead, they just ran from house to house all night long. One of the favorite houses is a couple who does donuts for the families that they know. They invite us all in and we get to pick out a donut and then top it with whatever topping we like. This is really making me hungry writing about it while I am fasting. Another favorite house was one where they converted their garage into a haunted house. The children had to wait in line a bit, but it was worth it. They had several rooms with people hidden that would jump out with chain saws or blood dripping out of their mouths. There was a ton of screaming!!! But all of the kids in the neighborhood still loved it. When we got home at the end of the night we did our tradition of the children watching Charlie Brown and the great pumpkin and eating as much candy as they wanted.
Now we have a ton of candy to help fatten us up for winter. Rebecca already has some fun recipes planned, like these ones:
Yesterday we went out shopping for some Halloween costumes. Everyone had ones already except for Julia, who really wanted some type of princess dress. Our first stop was DI (Deseret Industries) and they just happened to be having a big customer appreciation day. They had balloons for the children and hotdogs, chips, and pop for everyone. They also had a shopping spree drawing. You had to be there for that drawing and it was going to be held in about an 1 hour from when we got there, so we weren't going to enter. But we decided that with the lunch and trying on costumes and everything we could stick around for that long. So Rebecca filled out entry tickets for both of us.
For the shopping spree the winner would get one cart and then have 60 seconds to fill it as full as possible. Anything that was in the cart at the end of 60 seconds, the individual got to keep. The whole time while we were waiting I kept thinking "I hope they do not call me." It just seemed like it was going to be really stressful to try to pick out good things and 60 seconds really isn't very much time and I would probably just end up with a lot of stuff that we don't need that we would have to donate back to them anyway.
When it came time for the drawing they called everyone in the store to gather around the cash registers. There were at least 100 people there. Then they drew out the name and read it over the intercom. Fortunately, it was not me. I breathed a sigh of relief. But, the individual was not in the store. So they pulled out another and read over the intercom - Joshua Swift. Everyone in the store started cheering as I made my way up. It was really embarrassing. I asked if I could consult with my wife first and so they drew out names for five $10 gift cards. While they were doing that Rebecca told me a few things to go for and I had her get some of the costumes and things that we were going to buy anyway and put them in a spot that would be easy to get.
Then it was time. Everyone was asked to clear out of the isles. Then the whole store started counting down from 10. When they said go I took off running. There were a few things that Rebecca set up that I ran to first. Rebecca said it was really funny because I would leave my cart in the main isle and duck down a row and come back with a huge pile of clothes/shoes that I would throw in. I dropped a few things and had to pick them back up, but after I got all the clothes that Rebecca had planned I ran off to the electronics. I picked up the biggest TV that they had (a 32 inch) and threw it in. Then a sound bar. Rebecca thought that was hilarious too because it just fit her stereotype for someone running through the store frantically for a shopping spree, throwing all of the most expensive things into a cart. I also grabbed a sombrero that looked pretty cool and then Ethan had found a banana chair that I knew he really wanted. I think I had about 10 seconds left, but everything in the isles just seemed blurry and I couldn't focus on any one thing that I might want to get. I did make it back to the main isle and was headed for the collectibles, but time was up.
After it was all over and the frantic stress was all done, I thought it all was pretty funny. And our children were super excited! I got to push my overflowing cart up to the front and everyone in the store was congratulating me and patting me on the back. They rang me up and it was $230 worth of things. I know that doesn't sound like much, but everything at the thrift store was really cheap to begin with and it was only 60 seconds. In the end we got the TV and sound bar that I will try to sell or give away or something, the banana chair which the children love, the sombrero that I am going to wear for Halloween, about 6 or so pairs of shoes, about 5 Halloween costumes, and maybe 10 or so other items of clothes. Thinking back on it now all sorts of different strategies come to my mind of things I should have went after first, but overall it was just a lot of fun. And even though I was hoping it wouldn't happen at first, I am really glad that they called my name.
Nothing much new going on here. Just the usual activities - school, work, and spending time together as a family. We did have Tianna and Amery come visit for a night and my mom and Caleb for a day. It was nice to see them, but they were all here for other things (Amery moved to Utah and Caleb had a job fair up in Rexburg), so we didn't get to do much with them when they came.
Even though we do not have any major things to report, our days have been pretty busy. I have been getting home later on Mondays and Tuesdays, so we have been spreading Family Home Evening across those two days - lesson and everything on Monday, activity on Tuesday. On Thursdays we have been volunteering as a family at an assisted living facility. We basically just talk or play games with the people there. We also get in a trip to the library while we are out. On Fridays we get in an afternoon trip to the pool at my work. Even though it is free at that time, the pool is never crowded, so it has been nice. I usually do lessons with them all for about an hour and then they have 30 minutes to just play around.
Here are a few of the other fun things that we have been doing:
The museum on ISU campus had a free day. I wouldn't recommend this museum to anyone who visits - there really wasn't much to it. They did have one room with skeletons for four or five different animals. They also had a dinosaur section with this T-Rex head and then four game machines. In the game you got to pretend like you were a dinosaur and then hunt for your different type of food and water and everything. This was our children's favorite part. In total, I think we were in the museum for about 15-20 minutes is all. Nothing like our nice museum that we had in Anchorage or the amazing ones that they have in Washington DC.
We had our first parent-teacher conferences of the school year. Their teachers all had very positive things to say about the children and Rebecca and I are very proud of how hard they work, how they help others, and how they represent our family while they are at school.
Elliott's self-portrait
Christian's About Me owl. Check out what he wants to be when he grows up.
I didn't get a picture of Ethan's hallway work so he posed for a picture outside.
Julia's newspaper. Check out the story about her hero. It is hard to believe that this is her last year in elementary school!!!
Here is Agnes at Idaho Falls. This is just the walk that we do when Rebecca goes to the temple. We go on Fridays, and now that Elliott is in school it is pretty calm with just the four of us. Notice all of the different colored leaves!
We got our first real snow. It had snowed briefly twice before, but nothing that really stuck. On Saturday we woke up to just about 1/4 of an inch on the ground, but it did cover everything and there is still some of it around.
The children sold coupon books for their school. Because they (Julia, Ethan, Christian, and Elliott) each sold two, they all received a bunch of free coupons for various activities around town.
Here they are at a jump place. At this place they have 10 or so inflatable jump houses, slides, and obstacle courses. They also have a section with these foam pits. I think the children spent the most time in the foam pit section practicing their climbing and flips.
This last week Christian had a check up for his broken bone. It had been a whole month since he got it on and he was excited to switch to a smaller cast. The original plan was that he would have a half length cast on for a couple more weeks. However, they did some x-rays and they said his arm looked great.
When Rebecca asked him what he was most excited about now that his cast was off his response was that he would be able to go swimming. He really missed out on that this past summer. We did swimming a few times at the lake where we go fishing, there was the swimming pool at the hotel when we went to DC, and there was a lake at the family reunion. Even though he missed out on all of those things, he never once complained about his cast. He didn't even once say that his arm itched or ached and I remember when I had my cast on those things bothered me a lot! He didn't hold any grudges toward Ethan for pushing him off the couch. And, he even kept it clean enough that it never got smelly. We did end up all going to the swimming pool on Friday.
The next day we went to the tailgating party for the first football game of the season for ISU. They had some bouncy houses and I was sure Christian was going to get another broken bone the way he was jumping around.
