The end of an era

So, after 17 years, we have finally purchased a new car! The Geo has been fabulous, relatively very few problems, but seriously, it was time. After a week of stressing, worrying, freaking out about doing this without Mark here, thinking I found the car I wanted, and then changing my mind... May I introduce the Batmobile! Shiny black outside, all soft and black inside. No more shaking or rattling. It's a beautiful thing.

Zach turns 10!

So this year for Zachs birthday, we went to a Utah Grizzles hockey game! It was so much fun, we really have to do that more often.

The next Sunday was his actual birthday, and since Mom was already here because of her knee surgery, Kimmie came down and we had a little party. Mom gave him a couple of shirts; a new Einstein to replace the one he's outgrown, and a Star Wars math one. He also got a new coat, some clothes, and a Lego set he's been wanting. Instead of cake, he asked for pie, so we made a banana cream pie and a coconut cream pie; so yummy!

And then the next Thursday, Zach was finally able to have a party with his friends. Landon, Nephi, Collin, and Andrew came over just to hang out. They watched a movie, ate pizza and lots of junk food, and I made some Star Wars themed cupcakes. He thought it was all very cool.

So it's begun

Maybe this means we'll have a white Christmas?!?!?!

Happy Anniversary!

Flowers from my sweetie for our 19th anniversary!

Mississippi and Louisiana

When Mark left in September, I really thought that was the last time I would see him for a year, so to be able to go see him was fabulous. Not to mention, it was Mississippi in November; not too bad.

So here we have the view from our balcony, the hilarious souvenir shop down the street where I made Mark pose inside the alligator, Beauvoir, where Jefferson Davis lived, and me and Mark on the beach.

This McDonalds bench ad made me laugh everytime we walked by it; seriously, 2 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico is a McDonalds?!?!? Mark chilling on the balcony, the Biloxi Lighthouse, and a sharks jaw from the same souvenir shop that survived Katrina.

New Orleans!!! I was so excited to go; too bad we only stayed for about 45 minutes. It was a fun drive, though; beautiful trees, driving over Lake Pontchartrain, and really just being in the car together. It just made things feel really normal. Weird, I know. We made it to St. Louis Cathedral just in time to take one picture before it got too dark.

Beignets at the Cafe du Monde! I love it when I get to do things I've always wanted to do. Bucket list check! I accidentally took a picture of the waiters butt...

And that was it. We spent our last morning sitting across the street from our hotel, running our feet through the sand, watching the waves, and wishing it could last so much longer.

Halloween 2010

What a fun Halloween! I love homemade costumes, and if you can do it out of stuff you've already got, even better! I never thought we could beat Zach's Boba Fett costume from last year, but this years Einstein was too much fun. And all it took was a fake moustache and a can of white hairspray. Alli's lifeguard costume came from her board shorts, left from a dance routine a couple of years ago, and a tee Kimmie brought her from Hawaii last year. Jonathon's hat came from a trip to Disneland last spring, and he already had a jacket that made for a great Indiana Jones. Kimmie was the Spider Woman, and I was a green witch, but none of my pictures turned out well. Seriously, so fun!

Science!

Lunch on Halloween; mummies, blood punch, cheesy caterpillars, and eyeballs.

Dinner at Mom's

We've been making either cookies or cupcakes to decorate for Halloween the last few years, and it's been so much fun! This year Macy wouldn't stop eating the candy, and it was so much fun to watch her try to sneak it whenever she thought Dad wasn't looking. Kimmie made an awesome starry night, a la Van Gogh.

More Craftiness!

So, again, I bought this last year, maybe the year before, and it's finally done! I wanted to make a book that would have a picture from every year, and I came really close. I could only find pictures of Jonathon for 2 years before Alli was born, and I don't think I took any pictures her first Halloween, but from the next year on I've got them all. It's so fun to see them from one year to the next, and it brings back such great memories.