Halloween

We had a fun Halloween. Autumn was our football player and Trinitie was the Spirit of Halloween. We had been discussing Halloween Costumes with a friend while we were at one of James' football games and she offered Autumn one of their Cheerleader costumes. Autumn was quick to let her know she was going to be a football player. It was fun creating Trinitie's costume with her. She had a ton of ideas in her head and it was fun to figure out how to make it work.

Autumn, Trinitie and I went Trick-or-Treating with some friends and James stayed home with Jim to pass out candy. Before we left a group of girls from James' school had come by and tried to talk us into letting him go Trick-or-Treating. He was a good sport though and listened to his parents (Trick-or-Treating has to end at some point, right?). Well, while I was gone the party ended up at our house (with dad's approval). I was a little surprised to come home to a house full of Teenagers. A couple of James' good friends and the girls who had been by earlier had come to help James pass out candy when they were done getting candy. It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed meeting the kids James has been hanging out with but I am wondering if I'm ready for this girl/boy thing. The best part was when we ran out of candy and James' friends grabbed their treat bags and started handing their candy out.

The Beach

Going to California as a family was a once in a lifetime thing for us. We were pushing it to get Jim there at all. He was a great sport and we were glad he was with us. We did our best to hit the major hi-lights while we were there. All the mom's had a girl's night out and went to see "Wicked". It was awesome! All the talent was amazing. We also made sure the kids got a chance to enjoy the beach. Everyone had a great time. James amazed me. He had no fear and went out way farther than I ever would. He also caught on to the Boogy Board quickly and had a blast with his uncle Brian.

Disneyland

The end of July we went to Disneyland. We had promised the kids 3 years ago that we would go in 2008. We lucked out and got to have a family reunion there also. Grandma and Grandpa Herget and all their kids and grand kids were able to make it. We stayed in 3 condos just a few blocks from Disneyland. We had a blast! But we were having so much fun we forgot to take very many pictures. It was nice to have 3 day park-hopper passes. We were able to enjoy and not feel rushed. Autumn (my energizer batter) actually was exhausted on the last day. She asked to go back to the condo to take a nap and she hasn't taken naps for 3 years. We also spent a day at Knott's Berry Farm Water Park and a day at the beach. I'll post the beach pictures in my next post. We actually remembered to take pictures there.

Harvesting Rocks

When we bought our home we knew there were quite a few rocks around the yard but thought a little elbow grease would take care of it. The kids were put to work right away and we decided to pay them a penny a rock. We put yard fabric down under the deck and along the back and side of the house so that we had a place to put the rocks they collected. Awesome, free rocks and a great border! We had paid a lot of money to have big rocks brought in at our house in Fruita.

During the months of June and July Trinitie earned $22 (2,200 rocks) and Autumn earned $19 (1,900 rocks). James was paid to do a separate job and mom didn't get paid for all the rocks she picked up along side the girls. We hadn't been in a hurry to get the yard done because we were working on finishing the basement but by August we had reached our limit.

We were ready to hurry and get at least the grass in before winter so we rented a tiller to smooth things out and ended up with even more rocks. It was overwhelming! We had to find a way to get the rocks up faster than we had been. Yay for the "Rock Picker." The picture of Jim and Autumn shows how many more rocks we got out after we had created a border around the house and under the deck. Jim figures there were about 20 yards of rocks.

The beginning of September we finally got the top soil spread,the seed planted and now we actually have a bit of green. Hopefully we have a good root system and it will thicken up this spring.

The "Falls" and feeding the ducks

One of our favorite places to go as a family and with visitors are the Falls in downtown Idaho Falls. We went there a couple of times while we were staying in a hotel waiting to close on our home. Once we got settled a bit we finally got smart and remembered to take bread to feed the ducks. The kids love it! It's fun to see how close we can get them to come to us. James is amazing. I love the picture with the duck eating bread right out of his hand. The sound of the falls blocks out all the traffic noise and hanging out by the river and the falls is really relaxing.

A new fishing hole

Jim and James didn't waste any time finding a new fishing hole. After a couple of weekends of moving and unpacking they decided it was time to get out and explore. They said the area is beautiful and what's even better is that it's less than 30 minutes away. The water was so clear they could see the fish swimming. Some of the fish were huge and very enticing. They even saw a moose while they were out.