Enter if you dare...

...but beware...

 ...there's a cute little pig wandering...

(It all began with the ward Halloween party.)

 ...and a dog-loving dragon lurking about...

(Preschool Buddies hugging after the grade school's parade)

 ...What is that? a "Costume," I see...

(Adobe's Halloween tradition with live entertainment while you wait)

 ...oh, and a very scary looking monster bee...

 ...Peter Pan will save the day with the poofy-pink magic flower...

 ...who's been trapped? they don't look like mice...

(the Adobe employees really go all out, like this automated "mouse trap")

 ...whew, I was worried the wicked witch of the west would be slightly larger...

(Pack family Halloween party)

 ...and vampires blood is really red marker?...

(lastly, getting ready for our not-so-spooky haunted house)

 ...bet you didn't know that eyeballs are really green...

(Spooky vittles)

 ...and you'll probably agree that Ben is the scariest monster you've ever seen...

(Haunted garage man)

...okay, I guess it's not so much in the tricks to scare you but in the treats.

One month late, but Kayla, You're Great!

It's been over a month since Kayla's birthday.  (I'm in blog-backlog mode.)  She turned NINE back in September.  And well, never fear, Kayla is here!  

Kayla is very photogenic--her smile captivates.  She is enjoying her 3rd grade year and especially likes to help her class reach their goals, like good behavior for a movie party and doing her best on her writing to earn the "Chefs of Good Writing" activity.  Kayla and I enjoy reading books out loud to one another.  We just finished Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh.  She likes to play tennis, tumble, and play with her friends.  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KAYLA!

Kayla wanted a Rainbow cake--lemon drops for the gold, Laffy Taffy® strands for the rainbow and white yogurt-covered pretzels for the clouds.

Kayla invited the Linford family over for the festivities.

Becca her friend made her this cute package.  So fun when friends make things with love!

Ally's One Year Older

[It's been a while since her birthday, but due to an "after-school-starts-party" wish, I'm just getting to it.]

Ally is growing into a beautiful young woman.  (I think I'm getting to the point in life where the ages of my kids are starting to effect me.) Ally has been blessed with many talents, like her giving nature and ability to make others feel loved.  She enjoys her accelerated learning class in school, because it challenges her just enough.  She doesn't consider herself smart, but a veracious reader/learner.    She tackles every project with determination to do her very best and loves to add a twist of creativity.  We are lucky to have her around.  

Happy Birthday, Ally!  

We celebrated her real birthday at a community water party.  But, we couldn't forgo the treat, so we cut her birthday pie at 10:30 p.m.  Her eyes were barely open.  ;)

Here's her wish come true (to have a party after school had started)!
All of her classmate friends came for the grand affair.

I'm a lucky mom in that my kids put up with whatever creative juices hit me at the moment, 

like this fruit leather creation.

A is for adorable,

L is for lovely

and (L) likable,

Y is for alwaYs true!

KSL.com

LDS group celebrates special anniversary for Czech mission

Czech Anniversary

(Here is just a minute portion of missionaries who served under President Winder.)

The Czech Republic found a place in my heart 17 years ago, when I served there as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Last weekend we celebrated 20 years since the country has been opened to missionary work. It's history goes back even farther before communism and has some amazing history to go with it.

I arrived in the Czech Republic in April of 1993. I served for a few months under the direction of President Richard Winder. He and his wife, Barbara Winder, were true examples of faith and good works. Still today, you can sense their own deep affection for the people of the Czech and Slovak people.

It wasn't difficult to love the people and I had some wonderful experiences working among them. I also grew to love the Czech food. I am fortunate to have a close Czech friend who helps satisfy my addiction of their food. (She even helped me make this cake. Okay, so I helped her make this poppyseed cake for the reunion.)

Here's a Czech recipe (in case you were begging to try something Czech after reading my blog) I tried this recipe this summer. It came out successfully (*note: Czech desserts are not sweet) and can be used with just about any fruit:

Fruit Kolache

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup milk

2 teaspoons cocoa powder (for color)

2 1/2 cups white flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

pinch of salt

Mix all ingredients together to form a dough and spread into a greased 9X13 pan. Randomly place choice of fruit on top and sprinkle (optional) with cinnamon sugar.

Bake at 350 for 35 to 45 minutes.

Ode to Twix

Twix, our first furry pet friend, has said goodbye to the Pack family and is moving on to "greener pastures"--or, as the kids put it, is getting married.

Ally got him for Christmas last year and even though he wasn't super snuggly she enjoyed many hours of fun with him.

Daddy and Ally made him a rockin' cage for his indoor days (unfortunately, I can't find a picture of it). Believe it or not he lived most of the summer outside on his own. We started out with a cage around him, but he would invariably escape.

Then we noticed he wouldn't ever wander from home. I guess the accessibility to food was just too big a temptation to stay close by.

Goodbye Twix, hello rabbit? Huh? Okay so the kids have been begging me for a rabbit. I'm not so sure...I hear they make a great stew though. (Hee, hee!)

Caps on Kids

I taught "Mom's pre-School" for the second time today. It makes me smile to watch the kids light up when they enjoy a particular song, story or activity. As moms we miss the interaction with our kids when they are going to school elsewhere. I'm not saying that it goes without its challenges, but the positives far outweigh the negatives.

Hyrum (on the left) and his "classmate" during storytime

(We read the book Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina.

You'll have to read it to understand why they're balancing hats on their heads.)

"Caps! Caps for sale! Fifty cents a cap!"