Happy Halloween!

Do you know what you are going to be yet?
We do, but we aren't telling. Let me know if you need any suggestions.
I love Halloween!!
I always have to spin a spooky web...
This is what happened to our tree ghosts after the major windy day we had yesterday. I had the hand taped up over the doorbell so you had to be brave if you wanted to ring it cause it might just... GRAB YOU. Too bad the wind blew it off. It's awesome how the wind just blew them all into this nice spooky pile.

Pop Bottle Soccer

We had so much fun with this pop bottle that night that I still haven't thrown it away. Luke has tried! This is one of those nights that you wish you could just keep in your pocket to pull out and replay the night and how happy you were when you need a pick-me-up or to re-do when you have people together and you want to have lots of fun. Push play and you are all playing pop bottle soccer and laughing away. This memory is going down in history forever! We sure wore Gracie out too!


No Hands Soccer

Punch Drunk Soccer

Family: Together Forever

Eating at Bucca Di Beppo's: Our Favorite Family Restaurant
Gracie got done first: Tired
Roman: Happy as a clam and smiling
Roman's Smile: Can't get over it
Papa and Sofia: Friends forever
Forever Love: Rick and Lenna
Hailey and Mom: Always mom and daughter no matter what
Gracie and Grammy: Always choosing and finding each other
Roman: Smiling againAlways Lookin' Up: Gracie Joy
Gracie at the park: Pouty model face
Sofia: Lovin' life
Gracie and Sofia: Best cousins forever
On the Edge and Takin' Steps: Gracie
Sofia and Gracie: Sharing snacks
Luke, Rick, Todd: The best dads
Crackin' up: Father and Son
Ignoring her scab from her slide burn: Bored Car Riding Hollie
Gracie and Bear: Waitin' out the car ride

Other things: Impromptu yard sale,
Hailey made Orange Rolls- General Conference Tradition but 1 week early so we don't miss being together for it,
Fun at the park,
Eating dinner at Bucca's,
Church together,
Country Ribs with Bruschetta made from Rick's Garden Veggies with Jennie and Susan and Peach Cobbler for dessert.
Leave for home.
Miss being together, but will be together forever someday!

Breakfast on my head!

So I don't know what I was thinking today but I did something crazy! I was eating oatmeal this morning and when I got down to the dregs in the bottom of the bowl I picked it up and tried to drink it. My mom turned and smiled at me so I thought I was pretty clever. But then I secretly put the bowl on my head with oatmeal still in it and when mom turned back to look at me, she just burst out laughing. She wasn't even mad about my freshly shampooed hair. I am dissapointed that she didn't get a picture! The oatmeal felt silly and squishy on my head. Do you think I should do it again tomorrow? (It will be our secret but it will surely make mom laugh.)
Love, Gracie
PS> I fed myself a whole thing of applesauce yesterday and got very little on myself. I also like to say "hot" all the time, I got burned when I was trying to get some eggs, and I say "hereyougo" all the time. My newest words I am experimenting with are thankyou and yeah. I also just got a "Ba-by" that cries and laughs just like me from a garage sale. Yeah life is good.
Oh and last thing: I learned to spin in circle today while dancing with mom. I love it but now I konw the meaning of "dizzy." :) Have a good one!

I get my house back tomorrow night!

PLUMBERS EXPRESS: The painters should be the last step of this four day plumbing process that went over a weekend. We planned it right though so that we would be out of town over the weekend while our house was a mess, but then I had to come back today and cook dinner for the missionaries. I won't turn down an opportunity to serve! (they just won't get to sit on any couches eh?)
We are renting this place that just happened to be part of a action law suit for bad plumbing couplers or something, that if not replaced, we could have a very bad flood through both floors in our house. So to circumvent that, I agreed to let them come fix it whenever they could. It is definitely never convenient to be out of your house all day when you have a 1 year old who needs naps and food. Oh well, we just go shopping right? That is what we did last Thursday, when the plumbers were here cutting about 30 holes all around inside our house. We went to Town Square Shopping Center with two good friends of mine and their sons (two good friends of Gracie's). It was tons of fun. The main event for us was shopping at H and M- I love that store! The main event for the kids was the park area including the water feature. They even had really cute playhouses with a kitchen and sitting areas, two stories, with stairs, windows, and more sitting areas, and a fireman pole. I now feel jipped as a kid... They even had a kid sized "green bush" rat maze for the kids to run around in. Gracie loved that part and the merry-go-round more than the water. She was kind of finicky about the water, maybe just girly. That is going to have to change. We also ate lunch and had frozen yogurt just before we left for home. It was a fun, fun day. Gracie fell asleep for only 20 minutes in her stroller before she woke up for the rest of the day. She was so tired and went to bed early and slept way in the next morning. It was fun though.The next day of the plumbing was inspection, which they passed. Then we left for UT to be with Luke's family which was really good and needed (pics soon). We got home last night around midnight and woke up this morning to more plumbers 7AM sharp. They did the sheet rock and texturing today. So I left after trying to get something out of all the tarps and plastic to eat for breakfast and we went the BEST WORST store in the world: ROSS Dress For Less! I probably tried on at least 5 sets of 8 clothing selections that were all piled on my cart. (You couldn't even see Gracie in the cart, that is how bad it was! I am SOOOO BAD. But hey I never get to go shopping- I don't have to buy anything, I just like trying things on and dreaming and seeing different combinations.) Gracie was so good until the end though when it came to decision time. She was so tired she couldn't stop crying, so I ended up buying $150 worth of clothing and tomorrow when I have to be out of the house again, I will go return it all. It is just for fun you know! Luke doesn't get the return game! It can be a pain, but how else do you do it with kids?
One thing happened though that could have been really bad- there was this child services social worker that saw Gracie escape from my stall out in the dressing room where the mirrors are. She told the dressing room attendant that she wanted to wait for me and Gracie to come out so that she could talk to me about Child Endangerment. Thankfully the dressing room attendant vouched for me and said it was hard with kids and that she would talk to me about it. She did and both her and I thought she was being a little stringent especially because I just kept my tank top on and kept the door open the whole time and was talking to her. I had already let her eat everything in my bag. I guess I should have just stopped everything and gone home. Dang! I just told Luke about it and now I am in trouble with him. Gall! I shouldn't have told him. I don't think it was that bad!
LAST step is painting- tomorrow and they are done. Wahoo! What a pain but now we know we won't be flooded on. And tomorrow I will be going back to Ross to do returns after I try on everything at home!

Head shakin, Stair Stepping, and Signin Away!

Gracie's Loves the Step Ladder and any stairs for that matter. She can go down the stairs now all by herself too by scooting on her bum. The only bad thing is that one time I got the step ladder out for her to stand me while I cooked and now she thinks she needs it all the time. She will no longer sit in her high chair and eat. She has to move the stairs around everywhere and be up on our level. Pretty much, I just let her eat while I am cooking and we say "HOT" over and over while she shoves cheese in her mouth and empties out my upper drawers. It is a really good system cause then we actually get to eat dinner from our own plates while it is "HOT" and not have to feed Gracie the whole time. She still stands on the step ladder next to us, shakes her hips, and gets a little food off our plates. It is quite cute, not the screaming though when I put her in the high chair! The other night Luke put her to bed while I was at YW's and she literally fell asleep saying "HOT!" Luke said her eyes would close but then she would flick them back open and say "HAAAAAHTT!" That happened over and over. I wish I would have been there but she gave me a second show the next morning when I went in to get her, and I said "Hi Gracie!" and she said, "HAAAAAHTT!" Silly girl. Now we are trying to get her to wear a hat and learn the difference between the words "HAT" and HOT!"

Video: Stubborn Head Shake


Video:Show Me Your Signs



I finally got the guts to go through with my long time desire: to see what I would look like with all darker brown hair. Still in the store, I had the usual blonde highlights box and a dark brown shade and a light amber brown. You can see what I chose! I LOVE IT! What do you think?
More pics of it in better light to come soon. You can't really see the red in it here. But this is Gracie and I cooking!

Snippets of Recent Life...

Enough hair for a pixie tail! WAHOO! (Gracie is signing for water)Hanging out with Kara even more cause she is the YW Prez!
Decorating the Carnival Booth at Youth Conference
How do you like my cow? (Cassidy's costume, my neckerchief, Luke's gun, boots, gloves, my bloodshot eyes, Cassidy's cow nose, and 10 towels and 4 blankets)

Luke studying for the AFOQT (Airforce officer qualifying test) Good job hon!
Getting the bike trailer back out with the drop in heat and my buddy James. Hooray!

Robert (my little brother) and Heidi visited from UT (more to come...)
Baptisms at the temple with the Young Women, my new exciting calling!
Loving purses, exercising and getting fit, and lost our last binky!!! We are binkyless...
Blowing up hot dogs in the microwave!! Gross...
Making inexpensive home decor...
Eating everything and loving it!!
7 layer bean dip, we love it!
Slicing bananas with the slicer from the G-parents! It will be nice to freeze banana slices for smoothies instead of making the blender do all of the work!Finally modeling the headband I made from her leftover pant legs...That's life, for now...