What's Wrong with this Picture?

Tanner was taking a bath the other night, when all of the sudden I hear a splash and a lot of giggling. I ran back to see what was going on and this is what I found! Of course, I wasn't very happy about it, but I had to get a picture.

McKay has a very limited vocabulary, but the one word that is always loud and clear is "Baff", he loves bathtime. We just need to teach him how to skinny dip!

The Old Fashion Way...

After an hour of trunk or treating, Bryson asked if he could try the old way of trick or treating, "you know like you use to do it when you were a little girl."
So we went around to a few neighbor's homes that weren't at the trunk or treating party. The boys were having a hard time holding up their heavy buckets.

Our Trunk OF Treats

As a society, we pride ourselves in trying to find ways to get the job done quicker, we are always trying to be more efficient with our time. I am still waiting for the vacuum that can sweep and mop my floor at the same time. But, for now I am happy with the latest, safest way to trick or treat. We went to the church parking lot with 4 eager trick or treaters at 5:00 and left at 6:00 with a trunk full of treats. We now have our year supply of treats, the trick will be if we can make them last that long.
The picture above is our kids, Ry & Jess's, the Clydes, and the Heywood kids.
Mom and Dad, this picture is for you, can you pick out all your grandkids and figure out which one is missing?

Here are our trick or treaters, close up...

The NERD (A.K.A. Bryson age 9) He was in character all night. He had fun pulling up his pants, pushing up his glasses, and grabbing a pencil from his pocket. His outfit was complete with suspenders and his hair parted in the middle.

The FROG (McKay 18 mo.) He was adorable. We were in such a hurry, we forgot his shoes, so he had to be held, which really cramped his style.

STITCH the Alien (Garrett age 6). With four arms, Garrett was able to get his fair share of candy. However, with 2 missing teeth and 2 more that are really loose, its hard to actually eat it!
BUZZ LIGHTYEAR (Tanner age 4) What a proud little man. He had wings on his back and glasses that lit up. Tanner got to wear his costume 3 times! To his preschool Halloween parade, a Halloween party we went to on Saturday, then again to go Trick or Treating.

All done truck or treating! Now we are just hanging out with the pretty girls.

Carving Pumpkins

Carving pumpkins is not what it use to be. I remember sitting around forever drawing face after face to get just the right jack o' lantern pattern. Then, using a kitchen knife, I would start to carve the face that I had drawn on with a marker. Now the boys look on the computer to find the right pattern and then tape the pattern on the pumpkin. After that, we punch little holes along the pattern lines, that then leave a line to cut on the pumpkin. We even have pumpkin carving tools. Man, how things evolve! We had a great time, here are some pictures... Bryson, our true blue fan! Garrett(and his cookie) with his spooky ghost pumpkin.

Tanner and Daddy at work gutting out a pumpkin.

McKay even got to work on his own little pumkpin. How fun!

Our Trip to Michigan!

Last week, over UEA break, we took the boys to go see Grandma and Grandpa in Michigan. We were so excited to see them and to see the area where they were serving. Mom and Dad looked great, and we all fell in love with Michigan. It is beautiful, the trees were still full of bright colorful leaves and instead of deer running through their yards, we watched the squirrels play. The mission home is in a very nice neighborhood, just a few blocks from the church and the mission office and about 15 minutes from the airport. The picture (above) was taken with the poster that Mom and Dad take to the airport to go pick up new missionaries .

The boys favorite pass-time was playing in the backyard of the mission home. Bryson had brought his glow in the dark BYU football and wanted to play football as much as possible. The boys seem to really get into the tackle part of the game.

McKay warmed up quickly to Grandma and Grandpa and became Grandpa's pal again in no time. He also loved to be outside playing with the boys, even Grandpa changed his clothes for awhile to play football. McKay has started this new thing were he acts shy and covers his eye with his hand, its so cute!

The boys with Grandma and Grandpa standing in front of the mission home, after walking around the neighborhood and collecting leaves. Note: Beautiful neighborhood with huge homes and huge trees, but I could get lost very easily. There are no mountains to orient yourself and the cute street names aren't very helpful either.

The mission office...this is where it all happens, Dad has his own office next to the A.P.'s office. And the office missionary couples are in the front lobby. Dad has now taken the prize for being on the cell phone the most. Paul, who we all know, is a close runner up, was happy to see that Dad has now won the prize. His phone could be heard ringing anywhere from 6 a.m. to midnight.

Sitting around the kitchen table eating around treat before bed, sound familiar? We had fun hearing Dad's stories and we all had some good laughs! If you ask Garrett what his favorite part of the trip was he will tell you, "the food!" Thanks Mom!

Bryson's turns nine!

I can't believe my oldest is nine! What a fun birthday for Bryson. We had yummy chocolate cake the eve before his birthday with Grandma and Grandpa. Bryson licked up every last drop. Then, we left early on Bryson's birthday to fly back home to Utah, he was proud of the fact he had been in some many states on his birthday.

When we got back to our house, we had yet another pary with Grandma Elda. We had Bryson's favorite meal...sloppy joes and then we (finally...according to a very anxious 9 year old) opened presents. The next day after school, I was surprise to find out that Bryson had invited most of his class over to play with his new gamecube games. Happy Birthday Bryson, we love you!

BYU vs. Notre Dame

Paul, Bryson, Garrett, Uncle Scott and Uncle Ryan all drove down to South Bend to watch the football game with the Ritchie clan and friends. The boys had a great time but where disappointed to see BYU lose (can't you just see it in Bryson's face...or maybe he just loves getting his picture taken).

Whenever Notre Dame scored, the crowd would pick up a student and do push ups with him or her for their new score. So Scott and Ryan, decided to do the same with Garrett. To Garrett's dismay, he was not lifted as much as the Notre Dame's team. But, as you can see, he loved every second of it!