Cars + Noah = Happiness

The Elders Quorum in our ward planned a social night where they were going to have an anything-goes Pinewood Derby. Here's Steve and Noah working on their car a few days before that night.




Unfortunately, they weren't able to get it completed in time, but that didn't stop Noah from having lots of fun watching all the others cars race!



Cutie boy! :)

Kerman Ward Christmas Party

We attended our ward Christmas party tonight. The highlight for the kids was being able to tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas.



Plus all the snacks and cookies they got to eat. :)




They even got to decorate their own cookies.



It's been a fun night!

Visiting the Harvest Acres Pumpkin Patch

We finally made it to our local pumpkin patch today. It was technically Brooklyn's Activity Day outing, but since Noah and I usually attend with her anyway, we decided to make this our official visit. This particular pumpkin patch is actually run by the neighbor of my good friend Lora Nehring, who just happens to be our Activity Day leader, so it was especially fun to see all the work they put into it.

The first thing the girls did was check out the animals.


Then we got a group picture before starting the tour.


After hearing a bit about pumpkins, we all boarded the wagon to take a little drive around the pumpkin patch.




Next we headed to the Straw Bale Maze.




And then to the Corn Maze.



Finally, we got to go pick out our pumpkins! Here's Noah with his.


Just kidding! :)



We hope you all have a Great Pumpkin Day!

One Super Saturday!

My ward's Enrichment Super Saturday was scheduled for today, and last week I volunteered to come up with decorations for 2 of the tables that would be used for the luncheon. I was very excited about this, as it's one of the fun creative things I like to do. In fact, I didn't even have to think very hard about because I already knew what I wanted to do.

Two words . . . Jane. Austen.

Those who know me know that I have a small obsession with Jane Austen. I have all her books, and most of the movie and television adaptations made about them. I added a few era-appropriate trinkets, some totally cute place settings, and I was set.




For my 2nd table, I decided to go with my alter-personality and do a The Nightmare Before Christmas theme. I've been a huge fan of this movie since it came out in 1993, and have collected quite a bit of stuff since then. The spiderweb table cover I found at Party World was just icing on the cake.




All in all, I think they turned out great and I had a lot of fun putting them together! :)

Brooklyn's Baptism

Today Brooklyn was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We had decided to share the program with a friend from Brooklyn's primary class who had just recently turned 8 as well.


Brooklyn sure looked like an angel.




It was a special day for us all, and we appreciate everyone who attended.

Later that evening, we gave Brooklyn her very own set of scriptures.


And then Kara gave her a few special gifts.




And then she opened a gift a special friend from church gave to her.


These childhood milestones just keep coming, no matter how hard we try to hold them off. But I'm glad we're doing our best to enjoy this time together, while we still can. She'll be grown up before we know it.

A great, big bag o' Halloween fun!

It has been quite the Halloween season for us this year. We've had more parties to go to this year than we've ever had. And it's been even more fun this year because both kidlets are finally old enough to understand the whole Trick or Treat thing.



Our first party was Friday, the 26th, at Daddy's work. We got to see lots of helicopters, and all the different departments had their offices decorated. Some were so spooky the kids wouldn't even go in, but for the most part it was fun. They also had a costume contest and Brooklyn made it into the final three in her age group. She didn't win, and was very sad about that, but we were just proud that she was willing to be in it. But she really should have won considering she was the only one who was showing any character, as she stood there in her "Egyptian Stance". :)



Our next party was Monday, the 29th, at one of my friend's house. This was an annual party that they put on every year. Unfortunately, just as the party was about to start, a major thunder and lightning rainstorm broke out over us. In minutes the sky had dumped so much rain that their entire ground-level patio was flooded, so we all had to move indoors. The storm also knocked out power to a lot of our part of Fresno, but fortunately, we were spared, so the party could continue.



They had lots of yummy food, and the house was decorated from floor to ceiling. This special guy was standing next to our table, so Brooklyn was excited to have a fellow Eygptian there to hang out with. :)



She even had the chance to show the guests how to "Walk like an Egyptian". :)



Later in the evening Brooklyn came up to me to show me something very important.



She proceeded to tell me that it said, "Hieroglphys by Cleopatra". I must admit, it's a good thing we had someone present who could explain the importance of this amazing, historical find! She was being so cute that I couldn't help but laugh. And snap a picture, of course!

At the close of the evening, all the kids gathered to take turns hitting the Pinata. Brooklyn did a bang-up job by knocking one of the cones off, and spilling a few treats in the process.



And I was especially excited about this party as it was COSTUMES PREFERRED. What could I do but dress up as well. Thanks goodness I still had the "Sally" costume I made 6 years ago. I knew it'd come in handy again, someday. . . :)



And to wrap up our Halloween season, we enjoyed a fun-filled evening at our ward's Trunk Or Treat party. After playing a few carnival games, getting some tattoos, and making some ghostie-friends, we loaded up on candy and called it a night!




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