Halloween is here again

Greg and Kate went to the Wilke's halloween party as Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce.

 

Then in order to be ready for the full costume on Halloween we straightened Kate's hair.  I had no idea her hair went all the way to her waist in the back!

At dance the girls dressed up as the three fairies and Sophia the First.  Kate made the blue wings herself.

My minion and Lucy, Gru's wife. I think this is the first year in over a decade where I didn't make someone's Halloween costume.  

Lily and lots of her friends were minors at school for our last Halloween Parade 😢.

She went trick or treating with a big group of her friends while I passed out candy.  Greg was out of town and Kate was at her own party across town.  Emily started with Lily's group but eventually broke off with some of the older girls.

Taylor Swift - RED album.

At her party with Vallery.

We hosted our Halloween dinner a week late because of sick kids.  Mack acted as waiter in place of Greg.  The drinks were a kid as usual.  The Witches Tonic, grape and organge kool aid with Sprite I'm told tasted like drinking Runts.

Eye Ball Soup (smoothie) and Zombie Chips and Bits( sweet potatoes and bacon wrapped chicken).

Bones and Blood

And everyones favorite course - Vampire Poke Cake and Werewolf Kibble (muddy buddies). Another Halloween in the books.

First Day of School 2023

Summer rushed by and school was upon us.  

August 14th start day.

Lily - 5th Grade with Mr. Myers.  I can't believe that this is my last year with an elementary school kid😢

Emily - 8th Grade and a lot of attitude 😉 or maybe just silliness😜

Kate- Junior😫 How did the time fly?  Only two more years.

The silly was flowing that morning but I sure love it - especially when they are silly together.  

Andrew's last P-day Natali ran into Andrew at the temple.  They last saw each other in Edinburgh on June 5th so they both enjoyed getting to say goodbye one more time before Andrew hopped off to Nicaragua.

 Natali started at the Marriot School Sept 5th!  This girl completed her application while on her study abroad.  She is amazing and I hope she loves her time in the IS program.

Cousin Time

Mixed in with all the run around this summer we had lots of cousin time.  In June, while Greg and Andrew explored the south, the littles and I enjoyed the Wilfords and some Grandma's house.  She made everyone happy by making sweet dough and letting them explore their creative side.

Lily and Jared enjoyed more traditional cinnamon rolls.

While Emily filled hers with marshmallows and chocolate chips and made a dessert calzone.

Sammie made a big heart and utilized the sprinkles.

And Rachel just loved all of us.  We had a fabulous few days riding four wheelers and just hanging out (pool was out of repair).

Later in the summer the Yorgason's came for a few days.  Our neighbors were out of town and we were house sitting so we got to use their pool complete with mermaid fins.  

The kids had so much fun just being together and Teresa and I enjoyed the hours of chatting.  For one day of fun we dropped all the girls off at Roaring Springs for the day.  They had a blast.

Sadly, those are the only pics I have of their three days here.  Teresa, Don, Greg and I went to "Sense and Sensibility" at the Shakespeare Festival and it was hilarious, such a treat.  They weren't here long but we enjoyed the time we had.

They left on Friday and Saturday Nani flew in at lunch and Parkinsons arrived around 10:30pm.   They came into town to hear Andrew speak in church.  It was a quick trip with Parkinsons leaving Monday early but we enjoyed the day with them Sunday after church with the Wilfords and Gma and Gpa Dame too.

Tuesday morning Greg and I took Andrew to Provo so Lily went to grandma's house.  Mark and David came into town that day and Sharee and Reed followed the day after.  So Lily got to party with cousins.

She stayed at grandma's Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, then Val's on Friday, then grandma's again Saturday.  The original plan just had two nights at grandma's but she was having so much fun I just kept extending the party.  I loved time talking with my siblings while the kids played. Mel and her boys showed up just in time for a another cousin trip to Roaring Springs with Mark, Val and their kids.

McCall's wedding reception was August 12th so we drove down to Utah with the newly arrived from Spain, Natali.  Addy and Kate were hired to be the baristas at the soda bar during the reception.  Grandma Nani bought them matching skirts and they loved their time together and they got paid!

The rest of the kids loved the dancing, chatting, running around and the late night dip in the cousins brand new pool.

We drove home early Sunday morning to get home in time for church.  Arriving home from church our house filled up with Iverson's,  a few Bernard's, Grandma and Grandpa and the Wilfords.  They brought dinner with them and we enjoyed all being together till they were sent home at  7:30  so the kids would be ready for school the next morning.  

We survived the first week of school then hit the road Thursday after the bells rang to get to McCall in time for a late night swim with cousins.

Laura, Phoebe and Owen joined the Iverson's in Mcall for the week so we tagged along Thursday and Friday nights.

We loved playing games, swimming, late night silliness, and just lots of chatting.

It was a great way to end the summer and the first week of school!

Meanwhile - the world traveler…

June 5th we dropped Natali off at the train station in Edinburgh and her adventures began.  I can't really tell the story of all she did or even comment effectively on these pictures.  In fact I'm not even sure where all this pictures were taken.  This post is basically just to say that WOW Natali had an awesome summer.  This screen shot shows her itinerary sans the details of her Spain travels with her study abroad group.

Stockholm with authentic Swedish Meatballs.

Copenhagen and a cool ship museum (or maybe this is still Sweden 😂)

The Copenhagen Temple

Hamburg meet up with Hannah, a former exchange student to Middleton, and her boyfriend/tour guide.

Prague evening boat tour complements of Regan's mom.

Neuschwanstein Castle.

She said goodbye to Regan in Munich and headed to Italy on her own for a few days.

Cool castle in Portugal with her new study group.

From here on out I have very little idea which cities she is in or the names of the people she is with but she had a lot of fun and saw tons of stuff and most of Spain.

Seville

Super hot bike ride through Seville

Cordoba (we didn't get to go here but these pics make me want to!)

La Segrada Familia in Barcelona.

Holly was killing time in Europe before her year of school started in Edinburgh so she met up with Natali for a fun day seeing the Prado in Madrid.

The girl had a blast but was ready to come home and hurry off to Provo to get settled and ready for another school year.