Halloween 2011

Athena, Batgirl and Luigi totally scored major poundage of candy this year. I am trying to get them to sell some of it back to their dentist at $3 per pound, but I don't think I am going to convince anyone.

Girls Night Out/Rachel's 11th Birthday

11 years ago Rachel was born on October 24th. She is such an enthusiastic, friendly, fun, smart, strong girl and has been since the day she was born. We are so happy that she was sent to be ours. This year she decided she wanted to invite a few friends to a "Girls Night Out" to celebrate her birthday. We got pedicures and went out to dinner and then came home for cupcakes and presents. The girls had a great time and felt so grown up. I can't believe that my little Halloween baby is almost in junior high. I made Rachel promise that she will always like me and never be embarrassed to be seen with me and never think I'm lame. She promised, so I guess the next few years will tell if she was sincere or not.....Happy Birthday Rachie-Roo! Thanks for being born.

Vacation during an Economic Downturn

We haven't been immune from the financial downturn as I'm sure you haven't either. Lance's hours were cut significantly when he started working on his new TV show and we've been scrambling ever since. I had wanted to go to Southern Utah and take my kids to see a play at the Tuachan outdoor amphitheater for Fall Break. I figured it was impossible to do it but a few great things happened that allowed us to go. I have a friend in our ward that owns a condo in Mesquite and she offered to let us stay there for free. My parents generously offered to pay for our play tickets and VOILA, vacation on a dime (well, more than a dime.) It was a quick, rainy trip. The drive was long and included me getting pulled over for speeding between Las Vegas and Mesquite (the usual.) Thanks to Jackson's friendly personality, I got off with a warning. We hit all the hot spots, the St. George Outlets, Cafe Rio, Nielson's Custard and Smashburger, and the St. George Temple and visitor's center. We even went to Deseret Industries to buy blankets to keep warm during the play and I found a bunch of great deals on children's clothes. We took the girls to see Grease and they loved it. Thanks to my parents and my friend Yvonne for making it possible. And thanks to Lance for staying home and working so we could go in the first place.