The Romantic Haunted House

Recently Aiden was telling us about a haunted house that one of his daycare buddies told him about. He said it was up on a hill, and the doors opened and closed by themselves, and that it was really romantic. We kept asking him if he was sure that the haunted house is romantic. And he continued to adamantly tell us yes. We finally asked him to tell us what he thought that romantic meant. And he said, "You know mom, like really huge." We both laughed and said, "You mean gigantic!" And he said, "Yeah, whatever." Too funny. Now Rob and I joke about going to the romantic haunted house.

Baby Emma

I recently got to go visit my girlfriend Christy's new baby girl, Emma. She is so cute and so tiny. Rob and I anticipate the possibility of adopting a child of our own in the near future. Spending some time with Emma and Christy reminded me of how much they require from you. You lose sight of that when your children become somewhat independent. We will gratefully take that step backwards and are grateful that baby Emma got here safe and sound.

Off It Went

On November 16th I decided to cut off my hair. I haven't had short hair for quite some time so I figured why not. I was also so sick of fighting the Wyoming wind. I now realize that it is never going to stop blowing, ever. Change is good every now and then.

Granny Suzy's Birthday

Granny Suzy's birthday was on November 13th. It was her first birthday with us here in Wyoming. Aiden made sure that we followed our usual birthday protocol very closely.

The U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree

The U.S. Capitol Christmas tree was selected from the Bridger-Teton National Forest of western Wyoming this year. The tree was toured throughout the state of Wyoming prior to it being delivered to Washington D.C.. A banner was placed on the truck that could be signed by all those who visited. On November 12th, my co-workers and I took our CBI program students to see the tree on its way through Rock Springs. It was freezing outside that day, but they were all excited to sign their names. School children from all corners of Wyoming submitted ornaments for the tree reflecting the theme of Wyoming-Forever West. It is tradition that one child from the tree's state light the Capitol Christmas Tree with the Speaker of the House.

Dressing Up

Aiden loves to dress up and pretend to be a variety of things. Recent endeavors have been a ninja and a toilet paper mummy.

Trick or Treat

Holy Halloween! Before Halloween even came this year we had already done so many things to celebrate. Aiden got the usual packages from Grandma Janie and Grandma Leslie, which always excites him. We carved a couple of pumpkins, which we forget every year how big of a pain in the butt that is. On Saturday night we went to a "trunk or treat" with my sister and her family. Rhiannon and I made the kids "mummy dogs" and "mummy pizzas" for dinner. They had lots of fun trick or treating and playing together the rest of the night. On Sunday, the day we had been waiting for the whole time, Aiden decided he didn't want to go trick or treating again. He said, "Mom, I have enough candy. Can't I just hand out treats?" And since I will most likely never hear that again I quickly obliged. We had very few trick or treaters but Aiden was stoked to hand out candy to those who came in his "Tigger" sweat suit.

Halloween At Walnut Elementary

Some of us, who are fun, got pretty festive for Halloween. Others, who really need to retire, complain that by dressing up we just get the kids all riled up before their afternoon parties. Uh, YEAHHHH! It's Halloween, and they are children.

Preschool Party

Aiden's preschool teacher, Mrs. MerLee, had a fun Halloween party for all her kiddos at the local library. Aiden was assigned "Goblin Stew" (Veggies) and a sweet treat of his choice. He chose dirt cups, which I blame my sister for because she made them for the kiddo's birthday parties and he has wanted them ever since. I told him he had to help with everything and he did pretty darn good. And though it was 9:00 at night when we finished, he and Granny Suzy just had to taste the dirt cups to make sure they were okay. Aiden was calling them "dirt from a graveyard cups". Yum! His party was a hit and he repeatedly told everyone there he was a commando squad army guy. They performed a little Halloween program and got to participate in lots of fun activities.