Just Puttin' out the Halloween Vibe!

Halloween started out as a bit of a bummer this year.  At Chubbuck Elementary, the girls got to wear their costumes all day and show them off in a parade.  Not the case at Gate City Elementary.  So we did what we could to dress in our festive socks and shirts.

 

 I found these Dracula dentures on Pinterest and thought I'd give them a try for the school parties.  They looked more silly than spooky but they were fun to make!

 That night, we got down to Halloween business.  In August, we let June and Winnie watch Dumb and Dumber on t.v. and they decided then and there that they had to have these lovely suits for Halloween.  We don't do anything halfway when it comes to costumes, so we blacked out one of June's teeth and even gave her a pumpkin pie freak of a haircut for the big night.  Winnie even let me rat the heck out of her hair and practiced her "dumb" face for days.

 Klive went as the Shaggin' Wagon.  This costume took some deep thinking, a fruit box lid, 3 yards of fuzzy fabric, felt, rope, seat belt straps, and a glue gun to assemble.  I glued and sewed all day, but it looked pretty fantastic.

 They sure looked like a couple of pathetic losers, right?  No offense.  Good thing their cool factor went up when Batman decided to take them out trick-or-treating around the neighborhood.

Winnie's Halloween Recital

 Winnie started taking piano lessons in September.  Unlike her mother, she actually has real music-reading skills!  Her piano teacher is always praising her for practicing hard and picking it up so quickly.  Her first recital was right before Halloween and so the students all dressed up in their costumes.

 She may like piano, but the limelight is not her best friend.  Before she played her Halloween piece, she was bug-eyed, sweaty, and making the head-chopping-off sign while mouthing to me that she wanted to die.  She did great though!  Played her song like a champ!  I was more worried about myself.  Her teacher gave me a quick lesson so I could play a little duet with her for the recital.  Written music is my nemesis!  But I don't think I screwed her up too much.

And look who camped out at the spooky treats table.  Just our little astronaut!

Impromptu Family Reunion!

 In October, Uncle Bill and Aunt Connie flew in from Alaska so we ran up to Grandma's house in Ashton to visit.  We don't get this whole group together too often so it was really nice.

Here's 3 of the Ivie brothers - Uncle Bill, Uncle Mike and Papa Lee.

 Me with my mom and Aunt Sue

 Klive with his Ivie cousins.

 Always nice to spend a little time with farm animals.

 We took a little walk down to the river.

 Klive and cousin Matt

 Rock throwing and skipping in the river can keep you busy for hours.

 It's always nice to get to know your cousins better.

 Klive and Tayt played a little Wii.

Klive was sad to say goodbye to all these awesome boy cousins and head home.

Pumpkin Carving Extravaganza 2014

 Grandpa Kyle didn't mind that we swiped a few pumpkins from his garden to kick off the spooky season.

 Kolby, always the carving perfectionist, gave his pumpkin a thorough inspection to find the best carving surface for his masterpiece.

 Auds and Nana Deb got in on the action this year.

 We came, we carved, we kicked Halloween's butt!

 June's getting pretty good.  She did this one all by herself.

 Carving works up an appetite.  Thanks Nana for the caramel, chocolate, cookie covered apples!

 Kolby and Klive did Groot, Winnie and I did Sally, June did Jack, and Nana and Auds did Tinkerbell.

 It's beginning to look a lot like Halloween!

 Now if anyone knows a good way to keep these bad boys from going moldy on the front porch, let me know!

Winnie's Baptism

 Winnie was baptized on October 11.  I dare say their doesn't exist a sweeter, more honest, more thoughtful and helpful girl on the planet.  She's already been such a special disciple of Christ in her first 8 years, her choice to be baptized just made sense.

   

 Nana Deb made her a sparkly-beautiful white dress and Mom bought her some new white high-heel shoes.

 Winnie is afraid of a lot of things - so it was no surprise to me that she was a little nervous to get dunked by her dad in front of a crowd.

 The Johnsons, Botts, Rosenbaums and Ivies came to see Winnie on her big day.  Nana Deb gave a great talk about the Holy Ghost, Aunt Rylee played the piano, and June and Mom sang "I am a Child of God" for the program.

 No turning back now, ready for the dunk!

 Winnie was thrilled that her family came to share this special day with her.  She wrote in her journal that night that she could feel Jesus close by.

 Mom made Winn this cupcake dress to celebrate her baptism.  Every celebration needs cake!

 I know Winnie will be a very faithful disciple of Christ and a good example for this dude.  He really looks up to his big sisters.

Bear World with the Botts!

 We made our second trip to Yellowstone Bear World and this time we brought Yaya, The Babe, Grandma Sarah, Cole, Misty and the Bott boys with us.

 We snuggled with some goats at the petting zoo.

 We fed some fluffy chickens.

 We nuzzled some deer.  And discovered Caulder was allergic.  Luckily the gift shop had allergy meds on hand.

 We basked in the cuteness of baby bear cubs rolling and wrestling in their playhouse.

Klive might have picked up a few new moves.

 We loaded up in the double-decker truck and made our "Jurassic Park-esque" tour through the big bears.

 When you toss bread, bagels, and donuts, these guys come running.  I'm sure that's the diet that nature provides for them, right?  Have you ever seen a bear beg?

 Well this is what it looks like.

 The bears are fun, but I think my favorite creature is the albino elk.  Not pictured because it blended in with Grandma's hair.  Just kidding, I was too slow with the camera.

 The kids' favorite part was probably the bear-themed rides.  Wanna go for a ride in a giant spinning bear?

 Bouncing race cars? Yes please!

 This on made everyone a little queasy.

Snuggles from my little bear!