Halloween Parties...

I have literally been exhausted today, but now after looking through my pictures of this past week I know why.  I have been to 3 neighborhood Halloween parties, 2 family parties,  and helped at 3 school parties this week.  What a fun week!  Here are some of the highlights of our week...

Carving pumpkins at our neighbor's house with a bunch of friends.  We carved them in their garage.  My neighbor Rena served hot chocolate and donuts, we even had a campfire going outside.  
Paul used a "special" tool that our neighbor let him borrow.  He had bought it for $20, now Paul thinks he needs one for next year, since he seems to do most the work while the kids watch.
The final product:  Pumpkin #1 - A squinting pumpkin

   #2 - SpongeBob (I can't stand that show!)

    #3 - Patrick (from SpongeBob)

     #4 - Blue's Clues

Garrett learned how to weave at his Indian party and worked on it all night.  He would have been happy to not even get dressed up for Halloween, but he was torn, because he needed the candy!

Here is Logan in his firefighter costume, he had a cute little hat, but he wouldn't wear it.

Bryson and his trick or treating buddies.  They were out for 3 hours!  Peace, dude!

Garrett was our beaten up Ute fan.  He is a true blue BYU fan, everyone loved his costume. This picture was taken at our friends the Bergs.  A bunch of us got together for soup and bread before hitting the road for some good old fashioned trick of treating.

Here is McKay at his preschool Halloween parade singing his spooky songs with his cousin Heath.  Mckay is a SWAT guy with all the gear (he only changed his mind 3 times).

Here is Tanner, our little nerd.  Look at that smile!

and a few more parties...

The highlight of our Halloween this year was the traditional Edwards' Eeerie Edibles!  We haven't had Mom and Dad around for three years to celebrate Halloween.  We had a yummy brunch on Saturday morning, and best of all, Ryan brought up his fiance! 
Here is the menu, which we had to decode before eating.  The boys had so much fun with this!
Ryan and Karen... they are seriously so cute together.  I simply adore her and can see she will fit right in with our family.  We had so much fun hanging out with them all day Saturday... they entertained our kids, played our favorite new card game with us (Five Crowns), and then stayed up late with us and talked after the kids were all in bed.

Yes, my Mom is superwomen.  She also decorated sugar cookies with the boys this week too. The cookies were extremely decorated with lots of candy, yummy stuff!  Thanks Mom for the fun parties!

The Birthday Weekend

Wow!  Bryson is 12, I can't believe I have a 12 year old.  Bryson was ordained a deacon last night from his Dad.  I couldn't be more proud of him.  He seriously is such a good kid and has really grown up a lot this year.  It has been fun this year having a little extra time with him each day. We get up earlier than the rest of the boys to get him off to school first and then he comes home an hour earlier than the rest of the boys.  I've enjoyed having some one on one time with him.  He is fun to have around and a great help to me.
Bryson with 12 candles (in the shape of a Y - thanks to Garrett).

Late night party with Bryson's friends.  They had a great time playing capture the flag outside with glow in the dark sticks, playing the Wii, and eating barbecued hamburgers.  Hey, Easton, do you see anything special in this picture above?

Mckay's gifts to Bryson - his Iron Man sunglasses, a used autographed Disney book, and his cow flashlight.
Oh, and Bryson's favorite gift... the Ute's t-shirt!  He actually got two of these, along with a cute little purple purse.  Thats what happens when you give gag gifts to your friends.  Bryson just gave a friend a barbie for his b-day a couple of weeks ago. I'm hoping we can using this Ute t-shirt for Halloween somehow.  Any ideas?  I thought he and Garrett should be beaten up UTE fans.  We'll see...

FUN IN THE SUN

We went with our friends the Bergs and Jensens to St. George over UEA and stayed in the Ritchie get away home.  Our friend, Mandy had never been to St. George, so we took it upon ourselves to show her the sights of the town.  We did everything from hiking to swimming, to playing football, and eating yummy food, then we would stay up late playing games.  It was a blast!

Logan warming up to the swimming idea with his Dad.

Logan discovering licorice for the first time, yum!

Once again, Logan. . . determined to hike alone.

Here are the Dads with the baby boys starting the hike in Snow Canyon.

Bryson with his cute cousin, Kinzie Parker, who lives in St. George.  We meet the Parkers at a corn maze.  It was totally crazy, there were so many of our kids running around in the maze, I'm glad we all made it out before dark!

Garrett riding some kind of swing at the corn maze.

Mckay and Mac Berg.  We call them the two Macs!  We were being pulled by a tractor over to the cornmaze.

Its was so fun to get away for a couple of days!  The only negative to the trip was I lost my cell phone.  I seriously have no idea where it could be.  But, I did get a new cell phone out of it! Yippee!  I don't know who is more excited about my new phone, me or my boys.  All I know is that me ring tone keeps getting changed, it has become the new toy of the house.

Family Pics

Okay, I know that we are not regular bloggers, but I do have a testimony of blogging.  So, this is my feeble attempt to start up again.  Here are some pictures my friend Lindsey took of our family last week... What do you think?  I've decided it is pretty much impossible to get 5 boys to smile at one time.  But, I think she did a great job!

More Pictures of my boys

Okay, there were some better ones of Garrett, but this one totally captures his personality and makes me smile.
Logan  - I know he's adorable!  Its hard to believe that a baby so cute could get into so much mischief, looks can be deceiving!
Mckay, my little preschooler.  I love his enthusiasm for life, he is my pal and big helper while the other boys are at school. 
Tanner, showing off yet another lost tooth.  He is such a sweet boy and our little peacemaker.
I'm not sure when Bryson grew up.  I can't believe he is turning 12 in two weeks from today and will be a deacon.  I am now understanding what people mean they say, "Enjoy them when they are young, they grow up way to fast."  He truly is an example to his brothers and I am so proud of him.

Just a few more...

Paul and I.  What a good lookin' guy, no wonder our boys are so adorable!  I hope they all grow up to be just like their Dad.
The boys looking their best...
The boys planning their next move, ready to be done!