Happy Halloween 2008

We had a pretty typical Halloween. Costume parade at the Elementary... dinner with the Pingel's... and Trick-or-Treating. I'll let the pictures tell the story. I have WAAAAAYYYYYY cute Halloweeners.

Christopher Spidey

Xander Vadar

Darci Bumblebee

UTE Game

Utah vs. Colorado State The fun people around us. Marissa and Bret before we got sunburned Many of you know that Bret is a University of Utah fan. As a result I am happily letting my kids become Ute fans and in the process becoming one myself. I am learning and enjoying football more than I ever have. So, Bret gets season tickets this year and gives each of his brothers and his dad a game to go to and then that left one for me to go to. I didn't have a preference when it came to the opposing team, so my game was by chance. It was a day game on a gorgeous day. The weather a week earlier had been near record cold, but just 7 days later we were having near record highs. The people around us were a fun array of personalities and Bret and I truly enjoyed our time together without the kids. We had fun, it was a great game, we won 49-16, and we got sunburned. I didn't even have to ask Bret too many questions. I'm hoping next year (young baby permitting) I can go to a few more games.

Last post continued

2 days after posting Christopher's handsome 1st grade pic and telling about the note home from his teacher we had his first Parent/Teacher conference of the year. Christopher did not disappoint. His reading level is "top of the class" and he's getting "bumped up another reading level" next week. He is sent home every night with a homework book and he flies through them. Homework books are supposed to be books to help them practice. They aren't supposed to be hard, but Mrs. Shakespear said everything is so easy for him. She also pulled out a paper and showed me the words she had asked him to read. He was only asked to read the first 25 on the page, but he kept going. Of the 100 words on the page he only missed 4. Math is also another area he is excelling in. They have been working on addition, but he'll ask Mrs. Shakespeare lots of math questions pertaining to subtraction and counting in 2s, 5s, and 10s. He's a "sensitive boy" and "quick to tears" but he's getting better. THIS doesn't surprise me. I wish I coul take credit for a lot of this. We worried when we didn't do pre-school with Christopher. I work with him, but I always feel like it isn't enough. I guess it is. He gets a lot of natural smarts from his dad. I'm scared for the day he asks for help with his homework and he knows more than I do.

Christopher in 1st grade

Christopher got his school pictures today. I must admit that I was dreading them. Christopher is known to crack a goofy grin for the camera. They turned out awesome. I think he is soooo handsome and I just love those blue eyes (he gets those from his daddy). I also got a note home from his teacher today saying how much she appreciates how thoughtful, helpful, and kind Christopher is to everyone in class and her. She listed several occasions of him cheering up a scared or upset kid and even cheering her up. I can't believe my little man is 6 years old. I'm so grateful for the person he is.

GREAT GRAPES!!

So, when we moved into our home 5 years ago one of the things we loved is that the previous owners had landscaped it in a way that took minimal work on our part to keep things pretty. One thing we discovered was 3 grape vines. I don't know how to grow grapes. The 1st year they went to the bugs. The next couple of years I tried to pick and eat them, but they were teeny tiny. My neighbor that grew up working on grapes as a youth in California told me how to prune them a get a good fruit. This year we have an amazing crop of grapes. WOW!! They are a seedless variety and very sweet. I've been told they won't be good for juicing. I'm wondering if I can jelly them. They really are good to just eat. I've only picked about 1/4 of what I need to. It's something I will be working on for the next several days.

This picture is what I have picked, cleaned, and removed any bad grapes from. It came to around 8lbs of grapes.

If you would like some grapes please come get some. They are at perfection right now. Just the right size and sweetness and not mushy yet. Also, the bugs have mostly left them alone (except the bees).