NIGHT of FRIGHT!

We decided to jump start our Halloween by having the Toki's and the Missionaries over for a traditional Halloween/ Pumpkin Carving/ Caramel apple making FHE.



Growing up we ALWAYS had Chili dogs and cornbread OR homemade scones on Halloween night. I didn't even attempt to make Lani's YUMMY scones. Maybe next year! We all scarfed down the yummy food. The kids were SOOO EXCITED to get the carving and apple making under way.





We even got the Elders (Angus and Warburton) in on the FUN! They creatively carved a tie on their jack-o-lantern. I was crackin' up though (notice the different eyes). Hummm... reminds me of??? We LOVE all our Missionaries!!



The kids all gathered while Jared pulled out his guns (thank goodness for those POWER TOOLS!) to carve a mean pumpkin. LOL!



and Jeff was HIDING his pumpkin template/ design (lol!)... dang Sarah, didn't know Jeff skills were TOP SECRET! hehehe!



They all did a pretty good job! The kids had a BLAST and loved seeing their creations come to life.



We made some MAD caramel apples. I forgot until then why we were SUPPOSE to use TART apples like the Jongolds or Granny Smith's, 'cause these ones made for some SWEEEEEET candied apples. But hey, didn't stop us from eating them...





These yummy creations were G O N E by the end of the night.



"It's OK Elder, go ahead and DIG in... grubbin' allowed in this house!" Elder W was trying to be so polite and proper. Uhm, I don't think that's possible with an ooey gooey apple! I guess you could slice it like Rocky Mountain Choc Fac, but no one wanted to wait long enough for the caramel to set.



And my little Moe was SSOOO worn out by the day's events he zonked out before everyone left. Love catching these two in a moment like this.



and

just



FIVE!!!!

MINUTES!!!!



after

this

shot

was

taken....



two little ladies decided they needed a SCARY do for their costumes this year.

Well Miss Em.....MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!



HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!!

BE SAFE!!!

VOTE YES ON 8!!!!

grey NO MORE!!!

What a RUDE AWAKENING!

I didn't realized until this past week how much of an IMPACT Proposition 8 was having on mainstream media. I am a self-confessed TV junkie. I've always enjoyed curling up to a good show after all the kiddos are in bed and the house is CLEAN! But after watching a few excerpts of shows on LOCAL CHANNELS this past week I can't begin to describe the FILTH I felt... Even a USED-TO-BE favorite show of mine, GREY'S (can't even finish the name I am so DISGUSTED)uphauled me most. Did anyone watch that one??? What the FREAK?! That's it! , I thought. I'm cutting this and about half the other shows OUT!!! . I wanted to shower and SCRUB the filth that I felt in my mind.

If this proposition does not pass our children will face MANY consequences. One being the FACT that they will not be able to watch DAYTIME TV including CHILDREN'S shows without the issue being highlighted or addressed. WE MUST PASS THIS PROPOSITION! I don't want what I saw last week SHOVED down my children's throats. TV or not!

Marriage is SACRED and ordained of God to be between a MAN and a WOMAN. If you haven't taken a stand on this issue, NOW'S THE TIME!!! (And as I say this I REPENT from my futile efforts.)

LET'S ALL PROTECT MARRIAGE!!!.

Vote YES on Prop 8!!!

An AWFUL winter cough... and Dad.

When I was a LITTLE girl I would wake up in the dead of winter to a HORRIBLE, gut-hacking, body rattling COUGH. Even the best prescribed cough syrups wouldn't cure. Often times I would just deal with it and feed myself another drop and try to go back to sleep. However on SPECIAL nights when my sweet dad was home from his frequent business trips he'd hear me COUGHING away in my room. He must've felt really bad for me because it didn't matter HOW LATE it was, I'd hear him get up and go to the kitchen. Soon after he'd come to my room and wake me with a warm cup of his homemade concoction to soothe my dry, aching throat.

Dad would sit and talk to me while I sipped this warm honey sweetened drink. We'd talk about school, my friends, my thoughts and ideas. I LOVED this time alone with him. He'd assure me that my coughing would subside and tuck me back into bed. I don't know if it was the concoction or the TIME and LOVE he spent tending to me but whatever it was, IT WORKED! The coughing stopped.

How I cherish those nights.



So when I heard my Missy Lu coughing last night I called up Dad (in the middle of the night, of course) to ask him for the recipe to that drink he'd make. Of course he didn't have one. Just a little bit of this and that. But He stayed up with me on the phone while I taste tested it until it was JUST RIGHT. I took it to my Jocey who was happy to have something warm to soothe her sore throat. Once she finished and was back in bed and asleep I thought, How WONDERFUL it is to have a Dad, who will stay up with me in the middle of the night to make SURE all my daughters soreness and OWEeeees go away!

THANKS DAD!!! LOVE YOU TO FRISKO AND BACK (A MILLION X's)!!!!

Make a bit of LOVE in a cup for your little (or BIG) one suffering with a NASTY cough:



Cut half a lemon and squeeze into a cup.



Peel and grate a little fresh ginger. (optional)



Sprinkle a little cayenne pepper (to taste) and a pinch of freshly grated ginger.



Add a tsp. of honey (or more- to taste)



Fill with boiling water. Stir and ENJOY!!!

The last of WARM WEATHER fun...

Almost EVERYDAY when the sprinklers turn on Moe excitedly BEGS me to let him run through it. Sometimes the begging works... however this day he was waaaaay too excited and swiftly escaped past me and ran into the water squealing with delight. He was so HAPPY so I just let him enjoy his last sprinkler run in our STILL WARM weather.



He ran around LOVING the cool water against his warm skin. This is such a treat for him since his eczema + water haven't always been friends. My poor baby!



Man, this diaper's slowin' me down (Moe's thoughts I'm sure)...probably added another two pounds fully absorbed. Nothing like a diaper + water. I was waiting for it to EXPLODE!



Hey... who knew we had a bidet ???? LOL!

It was FUN watching my baby enjoy this last bit of warm fall weather because I know it won't last very long.

FAREWELL SUMMER of '08!!!

Deadline to LOWER your HO tax bill!!!

I was majorly excited when I received my lowered tax bill in the mail! I was (yeah, I'm a nerd). Well imagine my excitement when I learned that although I received a lowered tax bill, the assessment was completed months ago and our values have dropped considerably LOWER since then. Well here's GREAT news if you're in San Bernardino County. Most likely your values have dropped since your homes last assessment. Fill this out by NOV 30th and mail it to our tax assessors office (address on top of form) so you will be taxed on the current value of your home for the 08-09 years. It seriously takes 2 minutes to fill out. Just make sure to print out and include your ORIGINAL(not copied) signature. We don't want that to slow down processing ;)!.

I don't even want to post what my house values are right now, it's depressing... but I know this economy WILL pick up soon! B U T until then why not pay a lower bill??? (just passin' on the word!)

Crazed fan!!

One of my FAV trailors! I can't wait for our ladies night on the town to watch this highly anticipated flick!

Weekend to THAI for!

This past weekend I headed out to Utah for my nephews baptism. It was my first SOLO trip in a LONG time and I LOVED it! My lil' bro Henry picked me up from SLC airport and since we had time to kill before Trish came in we headed to Gateway for lunch and a little "people watching" (I love to check out all the trendy Utahns! LOL!). Hen took me to a lovely spot called ThaiFoon. It was really yummy (but GO BANKOK still tops!).



Then we had a GOOD laugh when we picked Trish up from SLC and she was dressed like this when everyone else was cozy warm in winterwear. Although it was blue sky BEAUTIFUL, it was FREEEEEEEZER cold!







Here's the reason I came out. All Jarom's family gathered from both sides to witness his baptism. It was so sweet and simple. I LOVE getting together with family for events like these!!!



All the fam headed to Soni's tailgate for Harvey at BYU... I wish I could've caught this image but I didn't. It was FREEZING cold and I wanted to be indoors watching under a WARM sipi. I know, I know!!! But I was cheering-- GO GOOGERS!!! (FOB STORY: Our Uncle came in from Hawaii to watch one of Harvey's games and saw the "G" on the mountain in Pleasant Grove and excitedly says "GO GOOGERS!" thinking that's what the "G" meant! Man...LMBO FOB!!!)



Afterwards my sweet cousins took Trish and I out for a night on the town. (Thanks Dem and Lav!!!) We were dying to find vintage treasures at the local DI and scored BIGTIME on mucho treasures!!! Then we headed to a local sushi bar, SUSHI YA! It was SO YUM YUMMY!!! Can't wait to hit up that spot once again! and of course before it closed I HAD to make my run to an LDS bookstore (So lucky, you Utahns, to have such great literature at your fingertips!). We spent the rest of the evening telling almost-pee-your-pants stories 'til the crack of dawn. Such a GREAT time!!! (Missed you Jane!)

I had a GREAT short trip. Almost TOO SHORT!!! Wish I could've had one more day... because when I got home this is what I got...



...Emi crying because she was DYING to go back to her grandma's house. I really would've taken her back but I had to give grandma a break since she had them ALL WEEKEND LONG!

AHHHH!!!! Such a GREAT breather! Although it was nice to have a little break, I did miss my little kiddos and their noise and craziness.

MoW and Ehm's Adbentur

Emi and Moe took off on a little adventure the other day.

To our friends & neighbors home, the Moala's. To ride their teeter toter... ALL BY THEMSELVES.

Imagine the HORROR I felt when Jenna called to inform me that my two babies were in HER front lawn, teetering away!!! After a million 'what ifs' ran through my head, and a swift rescue I sat down with ALL my monkey's to lay down the law -RUNNING AWAY PROHIBITED... or else!



So I was quite amused when they came up with an innovative way to teeter w/o breaking the rules. With the help of Lu and Salo they were able to build their own teeter toter out of dad's left over building materials. Way to go guys! Using daddy's know-how to get what you want. LOL! Atleast I have a great idea for x-mas!!

JUST IN TIME FOR THE HOLIDAYS!!! A GIVEAWAY!!!

Sorry guys... I had this posted earlier but needed to revise comment requirements for this giveaway to make it more user friendly. Hahaha!. I don't know if any of you were as BLUE as I when your name wasn't chosen for the BLUELILYPHOTOGRAPHY session.

Well wipe your tears, because I have a solution. I'm posting this in hopes that maybe SOMEONE might have a little faith in my new found obsession and WANT me to snap shots of their BEAUTIMOUS fams or selves. LOL!

SOOOO... if your one of the majorly disappointed that never gets their name pulled for a giveaway I would LOVE to help you!! I'm going to do MY VERY FIRST giveaway!!! (I LOVE giveaways even thought I NEVER get picked either).

First I'll need YOUR help to make this happen! If you're wanting a photo shoot you'll need to post:

Who you'd like photographed (baby, child, family, senior pic..)

An idea on the type of setting you'd like (e.g. casual, formal, green, desert, vintage look...) Also if you have a link of some inspiration photos that you want your pictures like. (helpful but not required)

If you're not sure what you'd like then give me a few decor ideas on ways to spice up my backyard for a BACKYARD BBQ CONCERT. (hahaha!)

I will include in this giveaway an 8X10 of your most fav image and a high-res CD/DVD of your session. Session will last 45 min to an hour and can only be a destination shoot within 15 miles of A-town (Would be willing to discuss a location further than that). If you don't live in Cali, then we could make other arrangements to make this happen.

GOOD LUCK!!! Giveaway ends Wednesday Oct 15th!!!

Conference and a little tradition...

So I thoroughly enjoyed this past weeks General Conference. I especially felt a sense of accomplishment, understanding and purpose when our beloved Prophet reminded us young mothers that ONE day we'll miss the laundry and the fingerprints-all-over and all the FUN stuff that comes with being the mother of a young growing family. How did he know that ALL DAY I had been BEGGING my children to behave long enough for me to enjoy an ENTIRE talk without interruption???



We also look forward to Conference because of the tradition that Jared started several years ago. During General Conference weekend we'll make a trip down to Redondo Pier and pick up some fresh crab and all the YUMMY that comes along with it (Clam Chowder in a hot sourdough bread bowl, grilled shrimp, garlic butter, lemon...). This time we were able to drop the kiddos off at Grandma's and head down. Just the two of us (a MAJOR treat). We enjoyed sweet oysters on a half shell while we waited for the crab to boil. The crabs were SO SWEET and SUCCULENT. It was HEAVEN for this Vava'u girl!...(yeah, yeah... don't hate. lol!). We had a good time getting together with Jared's parents grubbin' on this FAV seafood of ours.

Thanks Hun for the fun tradition... can't wait til April Conference rolls around!

Vegas? Coach? Shopping Spree?...OR

The end of the year is pretty busy for our little fam.

Everyone but Lu has a birthday this time of the year.... including moi (who- might I add- NEVER gets any birthday ANYTHING... not that I'm counting but it's just the way it happens to play out in my oh-so-considerate fam. lol!).

Sooooo... seeing that I'll be turning the B-I-G THREE OH this year, I got to thinking,

'Hey... I think it's about time I do SOMETHING for my birthday... like, seriously! It's ABOUT TIME!!! Right?!@ '

and I've kept this thought in my mind for a minute or so. Then last night I ran across this musical prodigy through the always enticing youtube.... AND FELL IN LUUVVVVVV!!!



WITH HIS MUSIC OF COURSE!!!

and then became INSANELY jealous of all my fellow Utahns that are privileged to take this musician home. Literally. He's humble enough to set up his skills in your BACKYARD and serenade you and all your buds with his delicious vocals and acoustics ALL NIGHT LONG (well I'm sure not that long... but LONG enough). To me.... PURE HEAVEN!!!! He's LDS and my little bro told me that he just recorded a new album of church hymns (rumor? I hope not!) I Can't WAIT to hear it!

Man...
Forget the Vegas 'girls trip' with my sis's
And the coveted designer bags
or the well deserved wardrobe shopping spree....

Just bring home a little KALAI (for a LIVE showing in MY BACKYARD) and I'll be happy for another THREE OH years!!!!

(*HINT*HINT*HINT*HINT*... Come on Jared!!!! I promise it'll be BETTER than Vegas!)

But hey, nice postlude to "Birthday on a budget" huh?!