Halloween 2015

My kids were so excited for not only Halloween, but the week leading up to Halloween because of all the different activities and parties they were having all week.  Stella had a Halloween party at school where she went as a little witch and then at dance where she went as Doc McStuffins.

On Halloween Stella decided to go as Doc McStuffins and Drake was a bat. I made his costume and he was so excited to wear it! Halloween was on a Saturday this year and it was perfect. I wish it was on a Saturday every year. We enjoyed the morning at home together as a family and then began all of the fun.

We went to our favorite stop on Halloween and that is Lee's.  They give away the best stuff and have a fun spook alley in the back that is kid friendly.

Then we made a stop at Eloise's house. She had a treat for my kids and they were excited to see her!

We went to trick or treat to my parents house and the kids were so excited to show off their costumes to Grandpa and Grandma.

We have a bat, a pregnant hippie, Doc McStuffins and an Aggie fan.

After made all of our stops we went home and Josh took the kids out trick or treating and I stayed home and handed out candy to all the kids. It was fun to see the neighbor kids and some of my primary kids. I was a witch for the rest of the night.

Later in the evening we went to the Allen's house for apple fritters and root beer. They are the best apple fritters and I shoved my face full of about 30 of them. Then my family was over at my house for a while and we just hung out and played some games. It was a perfect Halloween.

Dressing Up

I love Halloween because there is always fun parties and get togethers, and I love it because at those said parties you always get to dress up. This year I did quite a bit of dressing up and had a great time doing it. My first party was a dance party up at the Country Club.  It was called "All Ghoul's Night Out".  It was a dance party for girls only.  Kelsi, Bug and I went and dressed up as mimes and had a blast just dancing crazy and singing along to songs.

My next party was book club where we were supposed to dress up as a character from our favorite Book. Well of course my favorite book is Harry Potter so I went as Ron Weasley.

The next party was a witches convention. There is a group of women in Logan that get together every year for dinner and a fun Halloween activity. They all dress up as witches.  We saw them a couple of years ago at a haunted house we were at and Bug and I put our names on the list. Well this year we went and it was so much fun. We had dinner at firehouse and played some games and then went to the Ellen Eccles Theater for the Dracula tour. Dracula is a ballet that they perform there and the cast also does a tour of the Theater that is a scary tour. 

And the last one not including Halloween day, was a zumba dance class at the Rec Center. Chelsea and I went to it together and dressed up like we were working out..... but just working out in the 80's.  It was fun to dress up but also get some exercise in.

Fall Fun

We had a lot of fun this fall, and I especially loved the cooler weather. Some of the fun activities we did were....

We went to the pumpkin walk. My kids both went with their school class and we went as a family on a Saturday.

We also went for FHE to the corn maze.  The kids had a great time and led the way. They actually did a great job and got us out two different times. And.... let's just talk about how adorable Stella looks in her Pixie Bonnet.

Wild West Murder Mystery

Welcome to the Wild, Wild West. We had a Halloween party with our friends and did it as a murder mystery party. The theme was obviously wild, wild west. It was a really fun one. Josh and I have done a few murder mysteries and this one was a good one. It had a surprise twist in it that was fun, and the characters were all funny. We had a great time and enjoyed a yummy dutch oven dinner cooked by Landon and Tessa.

Ashley and Josh

Bug and Blake

Kelsi and Chris

Tessa and Landon

Mckenzie and Mace

Picking Pumpkins

We picked pumpkins a couple of times. Once for Grandma Lisa's house and once for our house. The kids had a blast picking them and especially loved the small ones.

They painted the little ones at Grandma's house.

We carved the ones at our house. Oh, and I don't normally dress like that, but I went to a Halloween Zumba class and we dressed like we were working out in the 80's.

Drake wanted a scary Jack-O-Lantern and Stella wanted a kitty cat.

Charlotte's Birth

My friend Hayley had her 3rd baby girl on October 14th, 2016.  A couple of months before delivery,
Hayley and John invited me to be in the room when the baby was born. I was so honored that they asked me and said absolutely. Because of having C-sections, I have never seen a baby be born, and Hayley knew I have always wanted to see that happen.  She was so kind to let me be a part of that special moment.  It was incredible!!  There was some complications at first because Hayley was bleeding a lot and her doctor was really concerned. She was needing to dilate quickly or she was going to have to go in for a c-section so that she would stop losing so much blood. Because she had already lost a lot of blood, they really didn't want her to have to go in for a c-section because she would lose even more blood. So, they needed her to dilate as quickly as possible. They came in and checked her about 45 minutes later and she had gone from a 4 to a 10 and was ready to push. It was such a special moment to witness, I know she was being watched over! 

It was time to push and I was so excited to see what it was all about. It was absolutely amazing and something I will forever be grateful to Hayley and John for letting me be there an witness it. Because it was her 3rd baby, she didn't have to push for very long. That baby came out and I was amazed at how fast Hayley was able to hold her. I could not hold back my tears. I took as many pictures as I could and loved seeing it with my own eyes. The veil really was so thin and the spirit was so strong in that hospital room. There is nothing more amazing than a baby being born! It was a wonderful day today!

Charlotte Joy Neil

20 Week Ultrasound

We had our 20 week Ultrasound and everything looks good. The baby is healthy and right where it needs to be.  Most people find out what the gender of their baby is at this ultrasound, but we have decided not to find out and let it be a surprise the day of delivery. It is so exciting and I am so glad we are doing it.  When the ultrasound technician checked the babies legs, Josh and I kept our eyes closed tightly and didn't peak. The technician saw what it was but doesn't write it down, so there is no record of it anywhere. During the ultrasound we watched as she checked all of the other parts of the body. The baby was moving a ton and at one point as were were looking at the profile, we witnessed the baby yawn.  It was a big, giant yawn that just melted my heart!

That profile is the cutest little thing I have ever seen. We looked at our other kids ultrasound pictures to see if this baby looks like either of them, and it is a good mixture of both of them.

20 week baby bump.

Stella is pretty excited to be a big sister and not only the little sister anymore. Her and Drake both love to feel the baby move, and talk to the baby all of the time. Drake thinks it is a boy baby and Stella changes her mind every single day. No matter what the gender is though, Stella insists that we name this baby Cannonball.