Puppy's First Halloween

Yesterday was Elvis's first Halloween at our house...I think last year he spent Halloween running into cactus and avoiding snakes and coyotes in the desert, so I'm pretty sure no matter what annoying thing we did to him that this Halloween was better than last Halloween!

TaDa...Elvis's Halloween costume! Can you tell what he is? Can you?


He's a ROAD! Because Wil was a road construction worker and I was a construction cone, duh! :-)

This is him howling because he is SO excited about his Halloween costume!

Boy Girl Differences, Part Dos

Can you tell which one is Wil's and which one is mine?

Pinless Cushion

I haven't sewn since Wil and I got married, but I recently got the itch to work on a sewing project. This week, I went and got material, and this morning I washed and ironed it for my project. Let's see...do I have everything I need?

Fabric - washed, dried and ironed: Check!
Pattern: Check!
Fabric scissors: Check!
Seam ripper - for when I will undoubtedly mess up: Check!
Sewing machine: Check!
Pin Cushion: Check...


Wait...what's wrong with this picture? I guess my project will have to wait a little longer...

Boy Girl Differences

Today's lesson is on the differences between girls and boys. There are many differences between boys and girls...for instance...

The way I carve a pumpkin...


That would be with a knife.

Ahem...the way Wil carves a pumpkin...


Yes, that's a drill.

It's not really breaking, there's just duct tape all over it to make the guys at work think it's breaking so no one will steal it.

And, that concludes today's lesson on the differences between girls and boys; please tune in next time!

The Motherload!

Every October, Wil's work has a huge picnic for all of its employees. There are tons of fun things for the kids to do - face painting, balloon animals, snow cones, games with prizes, characatures, a puppet show...and there are fun things for the people working for the company. They all put their name in a hat and stand around in a huge group waiting for their name to be called so they can win one of the many cool prizes up for grabs.

Last year, I watched a guy come back with an Eddie Bauer camping tent then he went back and eventually came back with his second prize, a drill. I texted Wil, certain that he must have won something cool...what'd you get? The sullen reply...a thermos!

This year, lady luck was on his side and he won the best prize he's ever gotten at the work picnic...


Yes, my friends, in that box is a Dewalt, 36 volt drill and reciprocating saw! Wil's exact words..."I've never even seen one of these at the store...the first time I saw one was about four months ago at work and the guy bought it online!"


So...we looked it up...the price for one of these bad boys? About $700! That SO makes up for the thermos he won last year!!! Life is good, my friends. :-)

Road Construction

Our ward Halloween party was last night!

One Hundred

Today is my great grandma's birthday! She would have been 100 years old. I have a lot of great memories of my great grandma, but those will have to wait for another day.

Someone once described my great grandma as classy, and I've never been able to come up with a better way to describe her. Classy describes someone who is kind, caring, tough, and elegant all in one neat little package of a word. By example, my great grandma taught me resilience, that nothing is more important than family, and that no matter what happens it will all be better by the time you're a grandma.

Someday, I will figure out how to use the scanner on our printer
so the photos won't be so blurry! That day, however, is not today.

Things I am grateful I will never have to do because she did:

• I will never have to apply for a United States green card or citizenship
• I didn't have to sail across the ocean at the age of 16 to find a better life
• I hope to never have to live through a world war or a fear that the airplane I hear over my home is about to drop a bomb
  
• I hope to never refrain from taking photos of my children for fear someone would think we were suspicious because we come from a different country
• I seriously doubt Wil will ever be arrested and subsequently spend a year in jail for making moonshine (ok, so I know her going through this in no way was a sacrifice for future generations, but it makes for a great story!)
  

There's a wedding photo of my great grandma and grandpa that has been hanging in my grandma's house since I was a little girl. From the time I was old enough to understand the Great Depression, I've looked at that photo and the date inscribed underneath it - August 1929 - in wonder. Her and my great grandpa were married just two months before the stock market crashed, ushering in the Great Depression.

It's funny how history repeats itself, and I got married just a few months before the United States entered the greatest recession since the Great Depression. I have to say there have been times in the past year when I have listened to all of the seemingly bad economic indicators and thought, if my great grandma could make it through the Great Depression, then we will make it through this easily. We will still have fun, enjoy life, start a family and do all of the things that she was able to do in world conditions that seemed even worse than they do now. It's comforting to have such a great example and gives me hope that one day, I will be able to be just a portion as tough as she was!

Happy birthday, great grandma!