Halloween

We had a great Halloween this year. We have gone to the Pumpkin Patch twice, made Halloween cookies, carmel apples, carved pumpkins, went to Halloween parties and finally finished with trick or treating. On Thursday night we carved pumpkins with my parents and then they took off to Pine Valley for the weekend (smart people). Tonight we went to Matthew's house for dinner. We had homemade chili, cornbread, mummy hot dogs and root beer. His Mom always makes the Holidays so fun. We topped the night off with trick or treating. I love the holidays. I think they keep life fun. Happy Halloween!

Carving pumpkins, my personal favorite!
Isaac chose to be Spiderman for the 2nd year in a row! At least we saved some money!

Our niece Ryan with her Dad. What a cute little ladybug!Some of the kids (Spencer, Lora, Isaac, and Jackson) gathering loot!

This is how we found Ava after she became suspiciously quiet in the wagon while trick or treating!

TOP 10

I wanted to be positive and share the top ten reasons for living in a rural city even though I'm not sure it's for me.

10. You spend a lot more time doing what your kids want to do (ie: playing games etc.) Hold on...is this a good thing JJ!
9. Slower pace of life and I mean s..l..o..w
8. It's quiet (even in the middle of the day, except Ava has disturbed the peace numerous times)
7. Everyone waves and says hello (and stare at you because they know your not from there)
6. I don't spend any money (even the occasional trip to 7-11 is not possible)
5. I can't ever say I'm bored (what else could I be doing)
4. No late night trips to the store when our kids should really be in bed (unless we want to travel to Cedar 96 miles away)
3. I cook dinner every night (it's either that or starve)
2. I'm not putting my kids in and out of the car 20 times a day (we don't go very many places)
1. Nobody cares that we have packaging tape holding Matthew's truck windows up

Just joking on a few of those! I have to say I have actually enjoyed living a totally different life than I'm used to, though I think I might go stir-crazy if it was permanent. Over the last week I have come to the conclusion that small town life is either in your blood or not. And although I can really see the benefits of a slower, less distracting life, you just can't take the city out of this girl!

Rural Nevada, Ready or Not

Matthew is back and we are now on to our next adventure. For medical school, Matthew is required to do a month long rural rotation. Originally we were scheduled to do this rotation in Boulder City, Nevada but that was obviously too good to be true. So we got our new assignment to go to Caliente, Nevada. The school called to let us know we could stay in a trailer on the hospital grounds. Matthew thought this sounded like a great idea. I on the other hand wasn't thrilled with the idea. I wanted Matthew to check the place out before taking our kids down there, but he continually reassured me that it would be fine. His confidence in situation was strong... until a few days later when he was notified that the trailer had been condemned!!! It must have been mother's intuition. Thankfully a really nice family in Panaca (about 15 min. away) has offered to let us stay in their detached apartment. We leave tomorrow after church and I have literally packed everything but the kitchen sink. I have never been to that part of Nevada, but something tells me I am going to have to get creative when it comes to keeping my kids busy. Wish me luck!

The Countdown Begins!

Matthew has been gone for 10 days! We only have 3 days left and WE ARE READY to have him back!!! On top of having him gone it has been a rough couple of weeks. First Isaac came down with croup, then I got sick, and finally 1 week ago Ava was diagnosed with RSV. My sanity has been preserved by my parents who have let us stay with them for the last week and a half! Thanks Mom and Dad for all you are and all you do! As for us, we are SLOWLY recovering and really ready to have our family unit back. To Matthew we say...We miss your hugs and kisses, your infamous bear and bunny traps, your laugh, and most of all...YOU! Hang in there! We Love you!Tonight the kids painted a poster for Dad. We can't wait to see you on Friday!

Shout Out to Cleveland!

Matthew left on Sunday for 12 days to go to Cleveland, Ohio for an away rotation. We miss him already and wanted to share a few pictures of what we did for FHE last night. I'll apologize early to the rest of you for the abundance of kid pictures over the next 12 days! Isaac and Ava at the pumpkin patch.
Ava posing for the picture.

Isaac hitting the post...he won an enormous blow up alien.