Dad's Surprise

Tonight at her sister's house in Boise there was a surprise party for Sierra's dad!

Sadly, we were unable to make it down for various reasons.

Since we weren't able to come, we were asked to send something...written.

Here's what Sierra wrote:

Dad's not really in to telling stories, but when we actually get him to tell one, it always ends up being really good! He has stories about taking care of the animals in Grandpa's Biology class, stories from his mission in New Zealand, and stories from working in Vegas. You just need to ask him the right questions for him to tell you the story. Even then, he'll go on tangents and tell you one you've never heard before. Sometimes I wonder if he makes up some of the details to make them better like when he told us he had straight A's his whole life, but whether or not they have some discrepencies, they are quite the stories. I hope he will make a record of them so I can tell them to my children. Congrats on making it to 60 Padre! Here's hoping you make it even further!


Love,
The Redhead

PS: Here are some story "keywords" for you to ask him tonight: (1.) Spider monkey, rattlesnake, rooster (2.) shoved in the closet every day (3.) Mafia. Dad will come up with the rest!
 
Dad, we hope you were surprised and had a wonderful night!
 
We wish we were there...

Something's A Little Off

What happens when a 2-year-old wants "Daddy ride it"

First Fort

This is what happened this morning...

This guy comes up with the best stuff.

We are all so glad when Daddy is home!

First family fort ever!

On to {Smaller} and {Adorable} Things

Sunday was the Primary Program.

I am so proud of the children!

They did such a wonderful job!

The Spirit was felt, they worked so hard to know their lines and all the words of the songs, and it was a success!

It was also my last Sunday as their Primary Chorister.

I cried.

I'm crying typing this.

I loved my calling.

I didn't always love the time commitment, but I loved those kids.

I'm going to miss their spirits...

...their cute eager faces...

...seeing them outside of Primary and hearing them say "that's my singing teacher!!" to those around them...

...but, most especially, I'm going to miss their voices.

Good news is, I'm not leaving town, yet.

I'll just be a few age groups and a couple doors down in Nursery.

I'm sure I'll love this calling just as much as I loved that one.

Maybe even more since I'll get to be with Seth...

...and Scott and Brianne...

...heck, with Brianne in there with me it'll be a party every week!

I'm beginning to wonder if the Primary Presidency knows how much fun we will have.

We might need to be reminded to watch the kids.

PAVA Halloween 2010

Saturday was the annual PAVA Halloween party!

I spent the whole day {not kidding} in the kitchen making Mom's delicious lasagna, a spinach salad, and these lovelies here...

eye{cake}balls on the craft blog

...all for the party.

The great news of all that labor was: all the food was a huge hit!

Especially the eyeballs.

Funny thing...

While I was making the treat, Porter took one look at the white chocolate I was using and said, "smell yummy? Smell please."

For, you see, my white chocolate looked a lot like my Scentsy scents:

Silly boy.

Here's us at the party!

I admit, I didn't put as much into it as I usually do.

I mean, Seth didn't even really dress up! ;)

Next year will be better, I promise.

Seth forgot his cowboy hat at home in Casper, so he borrowed Porter's...

Truly creepy, Seth.

But, I have to say, not as creepy as this:

Happy Halloween on Sunday!!

Bubble-U

Porter is learning his ABC's!

With a little help from Leap Frog



Porter loves this thing!

He presses the music and the letters all day long!

He even knows a few of them already!

Our favorites are: "M for McDonald's" and "Bubble-U"

Could be Trouble

Porter has learned that grabbing a chair...

...makes him taller.



So, now he can reach his fruit snacks.

And some of the meds.

Grumpa

Today is Sierra's dad's birthday!!!

There was a big party for him at Maddox last weekend, but I wasn't able to make it down.

He turns...

*made by yours truly

...and I can't believe it!!!

Happy birthday Padre!

Good Stuff

I made some yummy cookies for the church harvest party...

Some yummy MUMMY cookies!

I'd like to say the were a huge it at the party, but they didn't even make it because they were still setting.

They were definitely a huge hit here!

Link to a tutorial on my Signature blog

Little Emma

Meet Emma

She and Porter are good friends.

Emma LOVES Porter.

I'm not so sure Porter is as enamoured with Emma, but he definitely likes her.

Seth and I think she is adorable, so when I was asked to watch her for a bit, I jumped on it!

She's so easy to watch!

Especially since she mostly just does whatever Porter does.

Here's what we did while she was here...

...we had some laughs...

...high fives...

*video cut because battery ran out*

...and even played a little hide-and-seek.

We just loved having her over!

Bedtime Stories

Apparently, slower internet means long videos are out.

We've had to make budget cuts...for obvious reasons...so we have slower internet.

I have two absolutely adorable videos of Porter reading bedtime stories with us.

He reads these stories every night because they are his favorite.

I'll keep trying to load them, but until then...