Happy Halloween from...

Wesley Sneijder

Hermione Granger

Zorro

and Captain Feathersword

to

YOU!

Just a cool picture of the moon I took

In our yard

The day I made/stole the newspaper

I made it into our town paper a few weeks ago. You really should be impressed. They quoted me a lot and I felt like a celebrity. I don't mean to make anyone jealous, I just thought I should mention it, you know, for posterity.

Why did I make the paper?

Well, thanks for asking.

A while back, I was asked to be the PR representative for the PTA at the kids school. Is that hilarious to anyone else? Me, the PR representative? I'm really good with the public. I always say the right thing. And I should for sure be asked to talk to people who print things permanently, for all to see. Anyway, I asked my friend, who is the president, if she was sure. She said yes. Well, alrighty then.

Making it in the paper was the exciting part of the day. Stealing the paper later that evening was a little less so. When my friend called to ask if I had seen the article, I hadn't. She said it was good. That it would help the school raise money for the playground we need. Hurray, because that is just what we were looking to do. So what choice did I have, but to go grab a copy? And unfortunately, I literally meant grab.

I asked a friend (different friend than the one mentioned above) where you can get the town newspaper. (No need to point out that I have lived in this town for two years and I didn't know where to get a paper.) She told me she thought most anyplace. I asked how much it cost. She thought it was free, as the town she lived in previously was always free. Awesome. I took myself to the 7-11 up the street, walked in and started looking around for papers. And what do you know, they were right up front. I grabbed our town paper, made sure the article I was looking for was on the front page and walked outside to my car. As I was starting the car to go home, I noticed the manager, who must have been in the back while I was in the store, walk to the front and stare out the window at me. Weird, but he is kind of an interesting fellow (one of those who seems bothered whenever you come into his store), so I just assumed he was annoyed I had showed up once again.

On the way home, my mind started thinking. What if the paper wasn't free? Of course it was free, why wouldn't it be? But what if it wasn't? For the last time, of course it is. I'm a trusting person and someone told me it was, so that is the answer. Guess what? It wasn't. There on the front page, in addition the the wonderful article quoting a certain brilliant person, was the cost. Fifty cents. I had just shoplifted a newspaper. Being a criminal doesn't give you the high I thought it might.

I turned the car around, grabbed two quarters from the change compartment in the Honda and headed into the 7-11 to explain.

So, I seriously thought the paper I just took was free. But I just realized it wasn't. So I'm here to pay you. Here is your money. Sorry about that.

And do you know what? Mr.-Please-Don't-Come-Into-My-Store-And-Buy-Things-Because-It-Bothers-Me smiled. And then laughed. And even though he was laughing at me, the crazy lady who would actually assumed a town paper was free, I was okay with it.

Because not only was I no longer a criminal, but two quarters had just purchased my PR debut.

You know, I really should have grabbed a Slurpee as long as I was there, to drink while I was reading. And yes, I would have paid for it.

Rude.

Court of Honor

Tonight was Cam's first official night of Boy Scouts. I'm not sure how that could
even be the case, as it was literally yesterday he started Cub Scouts, but he
was thrilled, so we'll go with it. He is truly such an incredible boy.

Big boy

I'm seldom a fan of pictures taken on my Blackberry, but turn them black and white and
they are a little better. Either way, I'm not sure this photo of Ben having his hair cut
by someone other than his mom, for the first time, could be any more cute.

Nope. I just checked again and it definitely couldn't be.

Blessed

Jacob is currently in China. For a week.

Tuesday at 3am, Ben woke up with the worst case of croup our kids have ever had. It was bad.

I had a migraine start this past Friday. I'm still waiting for it to go away completely. Or at least go away for more than three hours at a stretch.

Jacob's email was hacked by someone in China. And a nutso video was sent to many of his contacts. Not good.

The other day, while running an errand, a woman said to me, "God bless you."

Without thinking, I responded, "Oh, He already has."

And then I got teary.

Because it is so true.

He claims he truly thought it was

The other night, we were all in the car together, talking about some of the ways we want to celebrate birthdays in our family next year. I mentioned some fun ideas, the kids were excited, it was going well. And then they started asking questions about every little birthday detail.

So naturally, I responded,

"Contrary to popular belief, I really don't need to make a rule for every single situation."

To which someone (who shall remain anonymous, but who could possibly be my firstborn) replied,

"But I thought the name of your blog was, A rule for everything."

Makes me happy

Why I love taking pictures of this girl--I always end up with some beauties like these.

Balloon fun

One more reason birthdays are the best!

Esperanza

LOVE this story more than I could ever say.

Yours truly sat on the couch last night sobbing, while watching the rescue take place. Especially when the second to last miner was pulled up and reunited with his wife, who had given birth to their daughter while he was underground.

It isn't possible for me to be more impressed with the president of Chile, Sebastian Pinera. That man is something incredible.

Sitting with Jacob, while those men placed their hats over their hearts and sang the Chilean national anthem, made me emotional all over again. Chile grabbed a piece of Jacob's heart when he served his two-year church mission there. He loves that place and those people something fierce.

I am getting teary again typing this. Good grief, I'm a mess.

I couldn't go to bed last night until the last rescue worker was above ground. Couldn't do it. I had to see everyone safe, and the hole closed, before I could sleep.

I'm so tired, I can't see straight.

And it was worth every single second.

Just in case

Yesterday morning, around 4:00am, Annie woke up, thinking her nose might be bleeding. (She gets a nose bleed kind of often, about once every month or two, and usually during the night.) Gratefully it wasn't a nose bleed. After we made sure that was the case, I gave her a hug and wished her a happy birthday and told her to try and get a couple more hours of sleep. She replied,

"I woke up a while ago, but I didn't know what time it was.
So I sang Happy Birthday to myself, just in case."  

Happy Birthday Annie!

Annie is truly amazing and we all love having her in our family. She turned nine today
and her darling, sweet and funny self showed all day. I am so incredibly grateful for my girl.

Happy Birthday sweet Annie!

Tomorrow's cake

Cute Annie drew the horse and then Jacob and I copied it with frosting on the cake.

Ben's newest love

Did you know that they make Adidas cleats in a toddler size eleven? I, for one, did not. Did you know that the soccer league our kids play in have cleats that have been donated on sale during games? I did not, either. Did you know they sell pairs of cleats for $1? (Yes, you read that right.) I most definitely did not. Even when they are brand new and look like they haven't been used? Once again, I had no idea. And did you know that the cleats you see below have not been taken off the feet of our youngest for more than a few minutes each day for the past two weeks? Actually, that one I knew.

Awesomeness for sure. Best dollar we ever spent.
And the cuteness factor? Through the roof.

Fall soccer season

Brownies, Haiku and cute boys

Tonight, as I was checking in on each of the kids in bed, I walked into Campbell's room. He smiled shyly and asked me if I wanted to read what he just wrote. You'd better believe I did! He explained that he wrote a Haiku about someone who was disappointed that their brownie was stuck in a pan (our cute friend Lorri was making brownies and the whole house smelled like them). And then decided he wanted to write about the same thing from the brownie's perspective. I love that kid. A lot. And because I'm sure you will smile as much as I did, for your reading enjoyment...

{Perspective of person}

Chewy brownie stuck
 Disappointment floods through body
 No sugar today

{Perspective of brownie}

Stuck tightly to pan 
Non-stick spray forgotten
 Little shouts of joy

Did I mention how happy this boy makes me?

True love is...

...giving up your exit-row-airplane seat (with a window no less),
to sit several hours (through the night), in the squishiest seat
on the entire plane (right smack dab in the middle).
Just because it is next to your wife.

Grandpa's funeral

Jacob and I are so grateful we were able to attend the funeral of his grandpa. It really was a
privilege to celebrate grandpa's life and to be with family. We are so thankful to Jacob's
parents, for making the trip possible. And so thankful to my parents, for always treating
us like gold, whenever we stay with them. Even though our time in Utah was short,
it will be a sweet memory for a very long time to come.