It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas!

We usually always decorate our tree on the 1st Sunday in December and make gingerbread houses on the first Monday, but Dennis ruined our schedule by having to make a trip to England on Sunday evening so our December traditions were moved to Saturday night. It was nice of Mother Nature to cooperate with us and send us a couple inches of snow to put us in the Christmas mood. We had fun making houses with the Victorinos on Saturday and playing in the snow after church on Sunday.

Update: I typed this up but did not get it posted, and since then we've had another snow storm, and.....drum roll....our first snow day! #@*!. So check out our photos of Frostine, the snowgirl we made yesterday afternoon.

This One's For You, Kylie!

If you asked our family what the top five things we missed about living in Cache Valley, watching Aggie basketball would be somewhere in that top five. There's nothing quite like an obnoxious crowd cheering on the Ags in the Spectrum! So when we found out USU would be playing Northeastern in Boston a few weeks ago, we jumped at the chance to watch them again. The Aggie cheering section was small but loud--a few navy-blues in a sea of red (there were quite a few other families there decked out in USU shirts and hats),and we had great seats because the game was played in a hockey arena. The darn Ags had to go and blow a 15 point lead a lose! When the man at the MassPike tollbooth gave Dennis a Utah quarter, we were sure it was our lucky day, however, it was not mean to be! We had to console ourselves with dinner at The Cheesecake Factory in the Prudential Center!

Look Who's Eleven!

My baby boy turned 11 on Saturday. How can that be?! He opted for a small party that included a sleep-ver this year. The boys ate pizza and cake and ice cream, went to the arcade, and then played Wii and made farting noises with their armpits all night. Let me tell you what, they are a lot less work than a house full of girls!

Cardon wanted a fishing cake this year, so here it is. Elwoods and Griffins--I hope you can see my tribute to "the log" at Tony Grove!

Halloween

I've found Halloween to be a little anticlimactic this year. Em dressed up for our ward Trunk or Treat, dancing, Music Maker's, Tolland's city office trick or treat, and preschool before the 31st ever arrived! Halloween this year was strangely warm, humid and windy--no jackets needed! This year Em was an angel with purple wings and a black eye--we called her the Avenging Angel! Cardon was some kind of creature whose eyes glowed pink intermittently(cant spell this word!), and Chiara and her friend Elyse were Thriller zombies. We always go to the Victorino's neighborhood, and let me tell you what, that neighborhood knows how to do Halloween! One family gave out an 8-pack of Reese's peanut butter cups AND a juice pouch (along with some religious tracts--quite a combo, if you ask me!) Another family, who lives at the end of a long driveway, gives out a huge bag of candy to their tenth visitor for the night, and Emmy happened to be the lucky winner! She got enough candy just from those two homes to call it quits! It was a fun night!

Preschool Fun

Yes, I knew when I started out on this blogging venture I'd never stay on top of it, so here are a few posts to catch all of you up on what's been going on at our house. Em's preschool is a lot of fun. She's been on a field trip to an apple orchard (forgot my camera), a pumpkin farm, and she's had a Halloween party.

Columbus Day

Columbus Day had the kids and I off on a new adventure. We drove down to Essex and boarded an old- fashioned steam train for a scenic ride along the Connecticut River. We then got off the train and took a cruise up the river for an hour. Great fun! The leaves were not at their peak yet, and it was freezing, but it was a beautiful clear day and a good time was had by all--well, the teenager's fun level was questionable!

(see photos) :)

Let it Shine, Let it Shine(r)!

Last Wednesday evening, Emmy's ever-watchful parents left her to her own devices at the church, and she joined in with some other kids in climbing the stacks of chairs in the cultural hall. Needless to say, it ended badly! Wednesday night at the emergency room her eye was a lovely shade of blue, but by Thursday morning, it was a large and swollen mass of purple! Luckily, by Sunday her eye ball had re-appeared. I wear my parent-of-the-year badge with honor!