Friends and Family

We have had the wonderful problem of being inundated by guests this autumn. We've had fun and excitement about every other week at our house since October, and I have been the official tour guide, which I looooove!
Here is a little overview of what's been going on:

We went with Dean and Margaret to the Great Pumpkin Blaze near Sleepy Hollow, New York. It was an awesome display of thousands of carved pumpkins on the grounds of an old Dutch Manor. Very cool.

This photo is of a beehive and swarming bees made from pumpkins

A sunflower

The fam in front of the manor house

A tour of Fenway was a hit with the Sox fans!

Our next great adventure was when the Labrums came for Thanksgiving. We got really brave and decided to go to the Macy's Parade. I was a little bit nervous of the disaster this undertaking could possibly be, but it turned out awesome--no rain, not too cold and honestly, the crowds were not bad! A bonus for us!

Dang! Our camera battery was dead and so I do not even own one photo from the parade. Fortunately, Chantel and Barrett took about 200! Chantel has posted one measly photo on her blog so I stole it for mine!

Dennis turned around to look at the people on the balcony above us just as Spidey passed over his head. He looks terrified!

The Grandma Margaret gingerbread house tradition lives on! Unfortunatley, Max and Morgan were not allowed to take theirs home in the suitcase!

Hammocks at the USS Constitution Museum


Oh, look! It's Dolly and James Madison. Not really--it's Max and Em at the museum.
The Labrums trying not to freeze.

Our most recent adventure was the Blotter girls. Jill surprised Jenessa with a trip to our house/NYC. The girls' trip was awesome. We had a lot of fun--Christmas decorations, delicious pizza, 2 trips to Magnolia bakery, a trip up into the crown of Lady Liberty and Wicked! It doesn't get much better than that!

The 16-year old and the 15 1/2-year old. They are lovely young ladies!

Jill, Ness and Chi on the subway

The giant Christmas lights on 6th Avenue
Looking down on the statue's tablet

In the crown--the only photo we took of the four of us together!

Well, I'm pretty sad about the fact that no more visitors are scheduled to come so it's a long way until July. Someone get busy and book a visit!

Turning Twelve

Just a year or two ago Cardon turned eight and was baptized. So for some strange reason he's already twelve and was ordained a deacon on his birthday! Grandma and Grandpa Elwood came and stayed with us and were here for the big day, and Grandma Nance made a whirlwind trip to be here also. Cardon has a lot of people who love him and are cheering him on. Congratulations, Bud, we're all so proud of you!

The big morning. This is one handsome boy!
Two handsome Elwood boys!

Three handsome Elwood boys!

It was a camping cake this year.

We had a birthday dinner and birthday cake on Sunday, and then Cardon took two friends to an indoor water park later in the week. Turning twelve was a success!

What Can I Say?!

OK, so my excuse for not blogging on a regular basis has already arrived. Who knew it would come so soon? (me) Grandma and Grandpa came for a 10 day visit and Grandma Nance even popped in for a day. We had a great time, but it sure pushes blogging to the bottom of the list.
Here is a run down of our Halloween! (photos are in backwards order and I ain't changin' em'!)
As you know, Halloween was a on a Sunday so we stayed in and had fun as a family. Saturday night was our ward's Trunk or Treat, which was a lot of fun, and we came home with bags full of candy and a few new goldfish, who are already no longer with us.

The kids trying to eat donuts dangling from a string.
We feasted on guacamole "oozing" from a jack o' lantern.

Chiara and Casey in their Best Friends costume (psst. Don't tell anyone that they are wearing a costume meant for dogs!)

A very cute little witch

A desert soldier, a big witch (I go as myself once a year), and a little witch

Excuses

It seems as if I have disappeared from the blogging world once again, however, I do have two very good excuses. Let me explain.
Excuse number one. My walls and carpet have been crying out to me for years to give them a makeover, but in my craziness I have ignored their pleas for help. Once Em started kindergarten, however, I could no longer ignore their cries so I have spent the last 6 weeks repainting, recarpeting and refurnishing parts of the house. Yay! My walls and floors are happy and so am I!
Excuse number 2. The Count of Monte Cristo! Our book club chose this book as our first book of the reading year not knowing that it has 1400 pages! The Count has wreaked his vengeance on me and my family by making me useless! Every spare minute I have had has been spent trying to get to the end, and seeing how I am actually posting on my blog, this means I have been successful!
Now that these two excuses are out of the way, I hope to stay a little more current--at least until I come up with another excuse!
To catch you up on the Elwoods:

My baby rode her scooter out to the bus for her first day of kindergarten!

Sophomore year! No! Stop! It's going too fast!

First day of middle school!



Dad and Em had a Daddy/Daughter night at the Red Sox





Chiara and Dennis attended Kim's lovely wedding



Cardon had a great week at Scout Camp









Em and Cardon made twenty bucks selling lemonade!

The trees in our driveway giving way to autumn

My dear friends, Tony and Becky, came to visit!

What I Did On Summer Vacation

Tomorrow is our last day of summer vacation, which is bad and good all wrapped up into one. In addition to going on trek---which I never have posted about---here is the bulk of the excitement I experienced this summer:

1. Attended the Palmyra Pageant in a rain storm.

2. Visited Kirtland for the very first time.

3. Drove to Utah

4. Rescued a 3 week old kitten from a garbage can on garbage day.

Isn't he so cute? He has a little milk moustache from drinking out of a teeny tiny kitty bottle.

5. Visited with many dear friends and family members.

The Griffin cousins

Em, Macie and MaKinna

Silly Elwood cousins

6. Ate out at 322 different restaurants. (OK, not quite that many but close!)

7. Gained 5 pounds (see number 6)

8. Went boating/tubing on Hyrum Dam with the Blotters.

Em seems to be having the most fun!

8. Spent 3 days at glorious Bear Lake with my sisters and brother and all of the kids.

9. After a 16 year hiatus, I got up on water skis again while boating on glorious Bear Lake.

Ok, I must confess. This isn't me, but no one took my photo, dang it, and I was good! :)

I think water skiing on Bear Lake when it's sunny and calm is as close to the Celestial Kingdom as you can get!

10. Attended "The Bandito Rides Again" at the Pickleville Playhouse.

11. Left our beach bag with all of our swimming suits in it at the condo so I drove BACK

to Bear Lake.

12. Because we were already as far as Bear Lake, we visited the Oregon Trail Museum in

Montpelier, Idaho.

13. Helped make a Wii float for the Elwood grandkids for Hyde Park's 24th of July celebration.

The big kids sat in chairs and acted is if they were playing Wii. The little kids were in Mario Karts. Clever, aren't wii?

14. Watched the kids take swimming lessons.

15. Went swimming numerous times at the Logan Aquatic Center.

16. Walked at 7:00 every morning with my lovely Hyde Park friends.

17. Drove to St. George to visit my grandma.

My kids with my lovely grandma, who turned 90 in March!

18. Had a cookout in Logan Canyon. (It rained a total of 10 minutes the whole month we were

there, and 8 of those minutes were during our cookout!)

Chi, Ky and Mugs in the rain.

19. Drove to Idaho Falls to visit my sister.

20. Drove back to Connecticut.