Paying Tribute

Just a quick funny story about Cooper. He wanted to go play after school yesterday, so he called his friend Calvin. His mom, Julie said he could come over and then invited him to go with them to the cemetery to pay tribute to all the men and women who have served, since it was Veteran's Day. So, I had to prepare Cooper a little, so he wouldn't embarrass me too much. Here's how our conversation went.
Mom: You can go play with Calvin, but Julie is going to take you to the cemetery so you can pay tribute to the Veterans.
Cooper: That's where all the dead people are, right?
Mom: Yes
Cooper: So, do we just put money in a baggy and leave it on their grave?
Mom: Oh, no hunny, You can "pay" tribute to people by just visiting or bringing flowers.
Cooper: Oh, O.K.

In the end Julie says they didn't do much "paying" tribute. When the boys started playing football, she knew it was time to go. But what a great mom to think of that great activity. Way to go Julie!

Winter Arrives

This bus can't get up our little hill, so it had to back out of the neighborhood. I hope Ammon got on o.k. I was wishing the kids rode the bus this morning, so I didn't have to get up and take them. This is a sleep-in day.

Is it time to throw away the pumpkins? I don't think they'll make it to Friday's garbage day.

I don't know if I'm ready for this. But this is what I love about Utah.... We get all the seasons!

Halloween 2008

Princess Carly

Cooper the Vampire

Cooper... AKA Troy Bolton

Taylor as Capt. Hook

OK... let's just say I'm glad Halloween 2008 is over! Finding that perfect costume, that's going to be perfect for more than 1 hour is just too hard. Cooper originally wanted to be The Joker, but we couldn't find a joker costume in the store, and we all know I do not sew... so the girls (that includes me) convinced Cooper to be Troy Bolton from High School musical. He agreed and thought it was pretty cool, getting a new basketball and all. But when we couldn't find brown spray paint for his hair, things quickly changed. For Monday's school party we barely got him in the school with his "stupid" hair. As you can see from the picture, auburn is pretty red. So, he was sure no one would know who he was. If anyone asked, he said he was a vampire. As long as there were no more tears, I didn't care. So, come Friday the actual day of Halloween, we tried spraying his hair Black, gold and auburn trying to come up with brown. It was 10 minutes until we had to leave for car pool and he had a huge melt down and quickly proclaimed he was not going to school and Halloween was the "stupidist." I agreed, but since I was driving that morning I had to some how get him out the door. He said he wanted to be a vampire. Luckily, I had just cleaned Carly's room and remembered last year's vampire costume was in her stash of old halloween costumes. In 5 minutes we had that robe on, found the Halloween makeup, put blood marks on, and even found some dracula teeth. Although, the robe no longer hit the floor, a smile was on his face and we didn't even have to wash out the black/red/gold hair color. YEA, Mom! He even smiled for me at the school parade. For trick or treating that night, he put the Troy Bolton costume back on. He said, since it was going to be dark he didn't care. And by 6:00 p.m. that black paint on his hair had actually toned down and was starting to look brown.... or I was just hoping.

Other Halloween Notes: Carly's costume came from a store that sales Prom dresses. They were going out of business, so we got a great deal. In fact it cost less than the Troy Bolton costume. Go figure! (Do you think I could talk her into wearing that to her first prom? Just asking.)

Dana had to dress up as Capt. Hook for work. (I'll post that picture when I get a chance.) Taylor thought it would be funny to try it on. She actuallly never plans for Halloween, so you never know what you'll get from her. Last year she was a cow. This year, at our trunk and treat she showed up with a bright pink wig on. We decided she was Lily, Hannah Montana's best friend. Her friend was Hannah Montana. Maybe I'll post those pictures too.

Mediterranean Cruise

How many cathedrals can you see in a week? More than you can count. This one is in Barcelona; the projected completion date is 2030, seriously.
This is from the island of Malta, in the Mediterranean between Italy and Libya. Malta played a vital role in WWII, is also known as the place that St. John was stranded for two years after his boat crashed, and is the current location of the famous painting of John the Baptist being beheaded.
The city of Pompeii Italy with Mount Vesuvius in the background. We will spare you the photos of preserved bodies that were found in the ash.
The Coliseum in Rome. This was truly an unbelievable thing to see.
Another Catholic Cathedral, unlike Vice Presidential candidate Joseph Biden (an active Catholic), leans slightly to the right.

Fall in Rome

Just got back from an amazing cruise of the Mediterranean. I was a little sad that I missed fall in Utah, my favorite time of year. However, I got to see the amazing fall colors in the sunset while leaving Rome.

So You Think You Can Dance?

We (the goff girls) love "So You Think You Can Dance." So, I surprised the girls with tickets this week to the show now touring. My nephew helped me score 9th row floor seats. (Thank-you Ryan!) We had such a great time. I've included pictures of two of my favorite dances. Originally, I was going to take Cooper. I think he's still mad at me for not taking him to Hannah Montana. But he didn't really seem to care about this one, and Dana did not want him missing football practice to watch a bunch a guys dancing. So, Carly got to take her friend Brady. She's a fan too... so it was a blast! Thanks for a great GNO (Girl's Night Out!)

Back to School

2008 School Year
Taylor's a Jr. at Lone Peak High
Cooper's a 1st Grader at Westfield Elementary
Carly is in 7th Grade at Timberline Middle School

Taylor is my "Fashion Diva" always looking her best.
Cooper picked out his own Tiger shirt for the first day of school. However, he did not want to give me a good picture. I have about 5 of him giving me funny faces and poses.
Dana and I were in Seattle on Carly's first day back to school, so my good friend Kathy took this picture. She looks beautiful in front of the flowers. (OK I'm biased) It's amazing to think she's in 7th grade.