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Strictly Ornamental Christmas

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What is Up With This?

My little Addy is quite the character!  The other night after dinner I found her doing this . . . 

I think she may have developed some of my OCD's.  YIKES!!!!!!  After she finished laying out the towels, so lined up all of my hot pads.  I found it interesting that she ordered them with the 2 silicone ones in the front, the 2 black ones at the back, and all the others in the middle.  This little one cracks me up and certainly keeps me on my toes.

First Snow of the Year

As per typical Utah style, we went from 70 degrees to Snow in less than 24 hours for our first Snow storm of the season.  And it was a doozy!  We got about 6 inches over night, and Ethan was thrilled about going out to play in it.  Addy on the other hand wasn't too thrilled, but I managed to get her dressed and outside.  She sat in her stroller for the majority of our playtime, but eventually ventured out in the snow.  

Miss Sara's Engagement

A few weeks ago my sister-in-law called up and let me know that her daughter's boyfriend had asked for Miss Sara's hand in marriage.  I was thrilled for her.  Rachel let me know that she'd seen a Pin that Sara had posted on Pinterest informing folks that she'd like to have a photographer at the engagement to document the event, and asked if I'd snap some pics!  Of course I said yes, and had the great opportunity of witnessing one of the happiest moments in a persons life.

It all was pretty funny.  I had on a black hoodie sweatshirt and black pants with my camera and HUGE lens.  Rachel walked me out to the spot where he would pop the question, and we looked around for a hiding spot so that she wouldn't notice me.  I totally looked like a stalker! :)

Anyway, it was a beautiful setting, with 2 beautiful kids, on a beautiful day.  I'm so happy for them.  Here are some of the pics that I snapped for them.

Andy's Birthday

This year Andy let me know he'd like a fishing trip to Flaming Gorge for his birthday present.  So, he spent his b-day weekend out of town with his buddies Matt & Roy.  They had a great time and enjoyed fishing, and I was thrilled that Andy brought home some yummy fish to eat.  

I should have taken some pictures of the birthday dinner I guess.  I made him some meatloaf (his favorite) as well as a Key Lime Pie (as per request).  After our meatloaf dinner, I opened up the fridge to get the pie and the whole thing landed upside down on my kitchen floor.  UGH!  So, the next day I made him some delicious Key Lime Pie Cupcakes to make up for it.  

For the next month, we will actually be the same age . . . why is this important, because technically I'm 11 months older than he is and he NEVER lets me forget! :)  I love you babe, and am so happy that I have you in my life.  I hope your birthday was exactly what you needed.

Cowdell's Annual Halloween Party

This year, we went to Kim's Annual Halloween Party and had SO MUCH FUN!  In fact, I don't think I've laughed as hard in years.  Andy agreed to go, but that meant that he had to dress up for Halloween.  He wasn't too thrilled about this but an awesome Halloween app for his phone that came with a wound that could be taped into a shirt.  So, we decided we'd go as zombies.

We started out our evening at Bucca!

And had dinner with this fantastic and fun group of people.  You can see the costumes were AMAZING!  We decided that we needed to step it up a bit for next year.  Our favorites included the Deer in Headlights, Frankenstein and his Bride, and Napoleon Dynamite and Deb.

 Once dinner was over, we split up into teams and loaded up into cars for our scavenger hunt.  I don't have all the pics of the fun things we did, but here are a few of them . . .

First, we had to do some pole dancing. 

 While at the park pole dancing, and going down the slide, we ran into this police officer, which was lucky, because if you got a picture of someone in your group handcuffed, you got special bonus points! :)

 Then we had to pump gas and wash windows for someone.  I think we almost gave this poor lady a heart attack when we jumped out of the car and let her know we'd like to pump her gas.  She told us she thought we were going to mug her.

 Then we went off to walmart.  Our next chore was to get our picture taken with a walmart greeter.  Katniss kindly asked the greeter, who said it was against policy.  I was too far away to hear this conversation, and was just thinking about snapping a picture.  Luckily she was savvy enough to engage him in conversation long enough that he didn't notice.

This is me finding out that he said we couldn't take his picture.

 Next we had to push someone's groceries out of the store and to their car, and got extra bonus points if that person would get in their shopping cart.  So, we talked this nice man into helping us, and his cute son got in the cart!

We also had the task of all getting into a shopping cart, so here we are! :)

Here is our Chinese Fire Drill on 126th S. and Redwood Road.  What were thinking doing a Chinese Fire Drill at such a busy intersection.

 Our last stop was to the cemetery to find the pumpkins that Kim had previously hidden there.

 And back at the house, we learned we got bonus points if we changed outfits with others on our team.

Of course, we won, and we had SO MUCH FUN!  Thanks to Kim and Craig for hosting and arranging everything.  It was a night to remember.  On our way home from the party, Andy began planning our outfits for next year!  He's hoping to win the best costume award next year!

Halloween

Andy LOVES halloween.  I think that may actually be an understatement.  Anyway, we usually have the best decorated halloween house on the block because of Andy's efforts! :)

This is something new that I added this year to my indoor Halloween decor.  The fun jars are recycled pickle jars.  I glued skulls on the lids, and spray painted them black.  Then I purchased the books from the DI and painted them.  It turned out to be a fun little addition.

We took a trip to Peterson farms, a local farm near our house to pick out our pumpkins for the year.  They had a fun little petting zoo this year that the kids loved.

 Miss Addy was fascinated by the pumpkins, and just enjoyed walking around taking a little look at all of them.  We probably picked the WORST day of the year to go to the pumpkin patch.  I think it was the only day in October that was less than 60 degrees.  They froze, but they had a good time, and we brought home 4 great pumpkins to carve up.

 Grandma and Grandpa T had a fun halloween party this year while Colby and Suzanne were in town. The kids dressed up and we played fun carnival games, and had a halloween dinner.  The kids had a ball together, and it was so much fun to have the them in town.

We also took the kiddos to Cornbelly's at Thanksgiving point.  Ethan had a ball playing in the bouncy houses and all of the wooden play sets.  He also had the opportunity to get his face painted, which was the highlight for him. :)

 On the 30th, we had our Ward Halloween party, which yours truly had to plan.  It was a night of craziness.  We had dinner and a carnival.  Over 250 folks showed up.  How do I know this?  I purchased 250 bowls for soups, and we ran out of bowls.  I think people had a good time, but who knows.

For Halloween night, miss Addy was snow white, Ethan was a Power Ranger, and so I decided to dress up as the evil queen.  Andy stayed home and manned the house for the trick or treaters, and I took the kids out to see the Grandparents, and through the neighborhood.  They got way too much candy, but had so much fun.

Grandma A gave the kids donuts while at her house, and Ethan had eaten half of it and left the other half on his car seat when we went into Grandma T's house.  When Grandma T went to buckle him in his seat, she accidentally put her finger into his donut.  She picked it up and handed it to him and he made a strange gesture and said "Grandma, I don't eat things that other peoples hands have touched."  I don't know if he recently had a lesson on germs at pre-school or what, but it was too funny.

Andy and I also went to a FANTASTIC Couples Halloween party, but it was so much fun, it'll have to be a completely different post.