White Out

The other morning we woke up to this...
The kids were pretty excited to get out and shovel the snow. Hope that excitement is still there come January / February.

Luckily, we got JUST enough snow in the back yard to make this snowman. Becca and Nicky had to use every last flake to get it done.

BLACKOUT!!

Last night was a very unforgetable night if you are a Utah Football fan. The Utes had a "blackout" and asked all the fans to wear black to this game instead of red. The team was wearing black uniforms for the first time ever. There were a few fans who didn't get the memo, but for the most part everyone wore black - it looked pretty cool and everyone was pumped up for a big game with #11 ranked TCU (the Utes are #10).

For most of the game it looked like the blackout might turn into a funeral for the Utes hopes of getting into a BCS bowl game. TCU scored 10 points right off the bat and things seemed pretty bleak for the Utes as they struggled to move the ball on offense. But the Utah defense buckled down after the 1st quarter and shut down TCU the rest of the game.

Up 10-6 deep into the 4th quarter, TCU missed 2 short field goals. With under 3 minutes left in the game and after the second missed field goal, you could feel it in the air that Utah was going to go do something they hadn't done all game - score a touchdown. They drove 70 yards and scored the winning TD with 47 seconds to spare. The crowd went crazy. We were high-fiving and hugging people we didn't know. That was the loudest and craziest I have ever seen it in Rice-Eccles Stadium.

After games like these, they let fans go down onto the field (they have no choice because the student section storms the field as soon as the clock shows 0). So we went down on the field to take in the fun atmosphere and bask in the glow of being 10-0.

The U might want to find out who these two houligans are - because I believe they pulled down the goalpost. I hope they don't make their parents pay for that!!!

WHAT A FUN NIGHT!! Unbelievable win by Utah. Now we just have to take care of that pesky team down south.

Historic Day...

Yesterday the USA elected it's first African American President. As I walked up to the the voting machine I still wasn't sure who I was going to vote for. A very tough decision. I usually align myself with the Republican Party, but am pretty unhappy with the position our country is in right now with the wars and the economy in the toilet. I won't say who I voted for but I will say that I hope now that Obama has been elected that everyone can get behind him to pull our country out of this mess. I hope his leadership is as dymanic as his speeches are.
I think both he and McCain gave great speeches last night and both were aware of the historical significance of this election. McCain was gracious in defeat and vowed to be an American first and foremost and to support Obama. Obama praised McCain as a great American war hero and worthy opponent.

My only regret is that "Superdell" didn't get elected as Utah's governor. What a wild ride that would have been... Maybe instead of calling Jon Hunstman the anti-christ, he should have promised everyone a ride on his Ultralight or whatever you call it. That probably would have gotten him more votes.

Halloween Part 3

Friday, for the third day in a row, we were celebrating Halloween. This time it was actually Halloween. My work always likes to have employees' kids come in and trick-or-treat at the office - its' s a chance to take in a large amount of candy in a short time. The kids are always very eager to come.

Here is the Princess, Batman, the Hobo, and the Hip-Hop farmer after the first round of trick-or treating of the day.

Just as we were leaving this guy showed up at my work. I think we left just in time. He did look at Nicky in his Batman costume and say something like..."Why would I want to kill you? You...you complete me." Whatever that means...

Well after getting a good amount of candy at my work it was time to get down to the main event - MORE TRICK-OR-TREATING late into the evening. After all the candy-getting was done the haul was counted and we got... A LOT of candy. There goes my diet or (any resmblence of being on one) for the next couple weeks.

Halloween Part 2

On Thursday night, we had a little Halloween / October B-day party at our house. Grammy, Jake and Raini all celebrate their birthdays in October. The weather was incredible - the temperature reached almost 80 that day and it was pleasant in the backyard late into the evening.

What's Halloween without a rousing game of Halloween Bingo? Candy corn is perfect to play Bingo with - nobody wants to EAT those nasty things.

" Eat the donut off the String" is a challenging game we like to play at Halloween time. The mini donuts can be eaten in one bite if you line your mouth up just right. Maybe next year we will try bobbing for french fries.

Josh has grown his hair out a bit since we saw him last. Maybe he's waiting to cut it until his Dallas Cowboys win a playoff game. That may be a while - can you say Rapunzel?

Here are all the kiddies in their costumes. 1 hip-hop farmer, 1 lacross player, 2 princesses, 2 batmans (or is that batmen?), 1 Witch, 1 Tigger, 1 Dorothy, 1 Hobo, 1 Nerd, 1 Little Mermaid, 1 Peapod, 1 Ladybug, and 1 JJ.

Halloween Part 1

Wednesday night there was a primary Halloween party at the church hosted by the Youn Men and Young Women. There was a lot of different things to do at the party...

For example, Becca played super-sized game of "Whack a Mole" (or maybe it was whack a deacon with a painted face).

Nicky, I mean Batman, did some "pumpkin bowling". Those things don't roll very straight. After a few tries he was able to knock down some pins.

Taylor and a few of her fellow Mia Maids hosted a pumpkin patch for the little kids to find treats in. A hip-hop farmer, a bee, a lacrosse player and spider girl can be found in many pumpkin patches I guess.

Out with the Old...

Taylor spends a fair amount of time doing homework. Not much time playing with barbies. So a little trip to IKEA a week ago was a great time to get a desk to replace the barbie house that has been in her room forever. The only time the Barbie house got any action is when Becca and some of her friends play with them.

Here is Taylor doing homework at her new desk. Her room is quite large... she now has a desk, full size bed, dresser, fish tank and still enough room for ballroom dancing in the middle.

The barbie house has been relocated to the play area in the basement. Probably a better place so Becca and her friends don't have to hang out in Taylor's room anymore.