Pumpkin Carvin'

It's already that time of year... Fall! Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas are all around the corner. Charley and Nate love to carve pumpkins with those patterns in those carving kits. But as you can see from the pic below, pulling the GUTS is NOT Charley's favorite part...

So he quickly turned the job over to Nate.. who doesn't so much mind it. I just laugh at them both, because i don't really get into the carving...

But they do a great job! Here's Charley getting ready to light it...

And I had to take this picture just so you could get an idea for the size of this pumpkin!! I think Nate chose the biggest one in the lot... Good thing they were only 8cents a pound over at Winco!

And here's the masterpiece! Didn't they do a great job??? We do always leave them inside because I'm always afraid they will get smashed or kicked or something. But for sure we will take it with us to the trunk or treat and put it out on Halloween...

Arrow of Light...

Nate had his "Arrow of Light" ceremony on Tuesday, October 12th. This is the highest award that can be achieved by a cub scout. I'm so proud of him and all the work he has put into scouts. He really enjoys it, and it's such a good program for the boys. He also received his "Heavy Shoulder" award which means he earned all 20 pins in Webelos.

Charley and I have been the Webelos leaders. Nate was the only Webelo for 5 months, but after that, several boys turned 10 so they officially called us to be the den leaders. Gotta admit though, I know nothing about scouts, so Charley has done most of the work. He's great with the boys, and he loves scouts and watching the boys pass off their requirements.

The leaders are great about making the boys feel special when they earn this achievement. Our ward does a "skit" to recognize the scout, and Nate chose the "Outlaw" one. They pretty much had a warrant for his arrest, a trial, and the whole 9 yards.

The leaders also dressed up for the parts.. everything from Sheriff, to baliff, to Judge. They were awesome. All had parts and it came together perfectly!

The pretty much put him on "trial" for "earning his arrow of light." They questioned Nate himself, the den leader (Charley), the mom and the dad (Dave). Just asked us questions to make sure they had all the "facts" before finding him "guilty" of earning his arrow of light.

Afterwards, Brother Pryor presented him with all the awards & certificates.

As part of the ceremony, it's customary for the cub scout to cross the "bridge" to boy scouts. They have all the cub scouts (blue shirts) on one side of the bridge. Nate had to untie the square knot, step on the bridge and re-tie the square knot. He was so nervous about messing this up, but he did great! As he goes across the bridge, the cubs say "goodbye" to Nate. This was the cutest thing I've ever seen. Almost brought tears to my eyes to see Nate so grown up.

Then he crosses the bridge, unties the knot on the other side and the boy scouts (brown shirts) are waiting on the other side to welcome him into "Boy Scouts".

Nate had awesome support from family and friends there. My parents came. Heather and Craig and their kids came. Nate's dad came, as well as his aunt Niki (Dave's sister) and his Grandpa Richards (Dave's Dad). We also had a few neighbors there. Chris Kerner even was there at young women's and was able to pop in for a few minutes.

Here's a close up picture of the arrow of light award and the heavy shoulders plaque. The plaque is engraved with his name and the date.. such a neat thing to have. They also presented me with a lanyard that I can put all my mother's pins on and keep them in one place. The yellow/blue side is for the cub scout pins, and the red/green side is for the ones that he will earn in boy scouts.

I'm so proud of Nate and all the work he has put into earning these. I hope he continues to enjoy it and is motivated to earn is Eagle Scout award! It's such a great program and teaches the boys responsibility and committment... Congrats buddy!

Potato Harvest!

It's that time of year again... Potato Harvest! We love potatoes in our family, and nothings better than FRESH potatoes! Hilary's husband works on the farm where these potatoes are grown, and we love to go get them and bring them back.

This year we took our swingset up to Charley's parents house, so we rented a trailer. This meant we could bring back more potatoes on the way back! Our family and friends love them as well...

I never thought we would get this HUGE swingset on the trailer and that it would make the drive. But guess what, It did! Took 5 guys to load it onto the trailer, but they made it. (Good job guys!).

It was such a short trip up and back. We left home around 10 PM and made it to Filer at 2 AM. We were up early that morning to unload the swingset & rebuild it at grandma's house. Charley and his dad rebuilt the whole thing that morning.

Then it was off to get potatoes. Nate really wanted to come this year since he missed it last year. He was in "awe" at the size of the potato cellar. And yes, those are potatoes in the background.

I think this potato that Nate's holding here was bigger than my shoe!

And I don't think this picture even needs an explanation as to why I took it? LOL. It was so cute.. had a body, and even a tail on the back. But, of course, I focus on the three circles :)

We put all the kids to work bagging... It took us about 3 hours to bag 50 bags that are approx. 100 lbs each! Here's all the kids chillin afterwards... Aren't they so cute? This is what the load back looked like.

It was a short one day trip. I always wish we had more time to stay and visit everyone. Nate loves to go up and visit the cousins.. in fact, one of them wanted to come home with us for a week! LOL. We left Filer around 7 PM, and went to get some dinner at the first place I ate in Twin Falls when Charley took me up to meet his family. A chinese restaurant called Wok n. Grill. After that, it was on the road again.. We arrived home around 1 Am, and had to unload all the bags so we could get the trailer back before 7 AM. Whoa... Talk about a long day, and a lot of manual lifting!!

This is what our garage looks like now. Time to deliver potatoes so I can park the truck in the garage again! (And thanks Hilary & Charles for letting us come up every year!)

Red Ribbon Week...

It's Red Ribbon week at school! Nate loves to be involved in the activities, and Tuesday was crazy hair day. I had no idea it was crazy hair day, or I would have waited for his haircut.. He was starting to look so SHAGGY!! So, since it's super short, this is what Nate came up with for his crazy hair... Gotta love his creativity :)

Well Hello Blog....

... Long time no update!

Not that I haven't wanted to update, just lost interest after my memory card crashed in May. I got a new phone with such an awesome camera on it, that I mostly used it as my camera. Well, when I went to Long Beach in May, before getting on the plane, I powered my phone off. Then in Salt Lake, it wouldn't turn back on. So I took it in to Verizon. When they took my memory card out, it wiped out the entire card. I tried eveything to restore the 1200+ pictures, videos on it. Luckily, the card has gone from phone to phone, so most of those pics I did have a back up for, but there were a good 300 or so that I had taken from Dec-May that the only back ups I have are ones that I texted to Charley or uploaded to facebook. UGH. (I even took the card to Inkleys who has 90% success rate for recovery. Of course, I fell in the 10% that was unsuccessful. They said the card was completely empty, it didn't even have sectors on it).

So, ANYWAY-- Well, we have had an eventful Spring/Summer, and I do want to have those memories somewhere, so I think I'll start catching up the 'ol blog. I'll probably catch it up monthly, but at any rate-- I'm BACK! And ready to get back into the blogging mode...

Some of the significant events since February:

• Nate's Piano Federation (Feb)
• Nate's Talent Show (Feb)
• Easter (April)
• My Birthday (April)
• Selecthealth Moves Buildings (April)
• Nate's Piano Recital (April)
• Sarah's 2 Surgeries (April)
• Short trip to Long Beach (May)
• Master Bathroom Redecor (May)
• Disney (June)
• Jetblue Summer Party (June)
• Nate's Webelo's Badge (June)
• Overnight trip to NY (July)
• Raging Waters (July)
• Nate's First Day of 5th Grade (July)
• Lagoon (August)
• Blackwood Family Reunion (September)
• Charley's & Sarah's job promotions (September)

See you soon!

Happy 41st!

Pretty sure that Charley will kill me when he sees that I've posted his age here... so maybe if I say a whole bunch of nice things about him, he'll forgive me :) (love ya honey!).

My sweet husband's birthday was yesterday (Feb 22). I feel bad that this is the only picture I got of him the whole day. Well, we didn't really see each other but just for a couple hours. We both had a stressful day!


I did manage to leave work a little early so I could take him out. He was (luckily) able to get his shift covered at the last minute so he had the night free. He chose to go to dinner and a movie! Surprise, surprise! Actually, it was a pretty fun night. We went to Teppanyaki for dinner. We always love that place, but definately can only go there on a special occasion! After that we went and picked Nate up and went and saw the Percy Jackson movie. It was actually pretty good. (Did i really say that??). It was funny because 10 minutes into the movie, I pulled out my phone and said.. "I'm glad I have games & facebook on my phone" But after Charley convinced me to put my phone away, I was actually able to get into the movie and enjoy it. Nate loved it! I think he will read the books now! And to make it even better.. we had a private showing! We were the ONLY ones in the entire theater! Weird?

So onto Charley's "card".

Charley and I kind of have a "fortune cookie" motif going on in our relationship. When we were first dating, I think he was a little more ready for a "relationship" than I was. The first time I went to Idaho with him, we at at a chinese buffet. My fortune cookie said something about "embracing what I had in front of me" we just kind of laughed about it.

So when Charley propsed, he had fortune cookies made, and the fortune read "Sarah will you marry me". I still have the fortune!

So this was mine & Nate's little project. We made this little chinese box and filled it with paper "fortune cookies". Gotta admit, it was pretty fun to make... and Charley loved it!

(So this is where I redeem myself...)

Just wanted to say happy, happy birthday Charley! I have no idea where I would be without you, and I am greatful every day that you have come into my life. You are an amazing husband & father and I am so lucky that you have chosen me as your wife! I know life is stressful right now, but I also know that we have happy times in store for us. Life is better because we have each other...Love you! Hope you had an amazing day and your next 41 years look even brighter.. looking forward to spending them with you!

Catching Up...

Whew... So much to blog... So little time!

I have finally posted some stuff from the last few weeks... I always think about blogging, but just sitting down to do it.. Yikes!! So if you're reading... keep scrolling.. There's quite a bit!

We just got back from Idaho. Just a short day trip this time. We went to see Brogan be baptized. It was actually pretty neat. It was at a hot springs place close by and afterwards all the kids could swim. (I guess in Idaho, when the church is booked for the day you need it, the next closest church is NOT so close!)... But it was really neat to go and to visit with Charley's family for the day... I always wish we had more time to spend there.

Here's a few pictures that were taken at the facility where he was baptized. It was called 1000 Springs. I always love the look of a suit & tie, so I had to take a picture of "my boys" in their suits.

Happy Valentines Day!

Teacher Appreciation...

It's teacher appreciation week at the school! I've done these banners every year (minus one) for Nate's teachers. For some reason, this year's was a HUGE feat. Took forever and a day to do these... Keep in mind, these are 6 feet long!

This was the banner for Ms. Hansen, which is Nate's teacher. It says: Ms. Hansen... The Best in The West... And all the kids' names are on the stars. I also made her a little notebook (it was so last minute, I didn't even get a picture of it). But it was pretty cute, it matched the banner with the same cowgirl and writing on it.


And this year they asked me to make two banners. This is for one of the other teachers in fourth grade. While i loved making it, TWO banners is TOO much work for a full time working mom!! I think next year I will be back to one banner! LOL. Anyway, this one said "We Love Ms. Kelso.. A Bushel and A Peck". The kids' names will be on the apples, but I don't have her class list.... Funny thing about this banner is I was making it in the middle of the night at the last minute to get it done, and for the life of me, I couldn't remember the teacher's name!! I couldn't ask Nate or call anyone.. so I finally thought to go on to the school's website to look it up! Good thing it was on there!

Photo Shoot...

The girls were over last weekend and we actually had some "down time" that we were just hanging out. Lauren brought her new dress that she bought with her Christmas money and wanted to model it so the girls decided to have a photo shoot. Holly & Maddy had matching outfits and wanted to have their pictures taken in those.... So I told told told them to get ready and I'd take their pictures.

Well, after they had all spent 4 hours in the bathroom doing their hair, (I even took a nap while I was waiting!! LOL), they all looked adorable!! We just took these in our front yard and around the circle, and they look adorable!

I think by the time we were done I had taken over 80 pictures. (What did I ever do before digital??). Here's some of my favorites of Lauren. Charley is a little worried... look how grown up & mature she looks here!

And here's some of my favorites of Holly. This girl loves to have her picture taken!

And a few of them together. I love the one of them looking at each other... and no, they're not arguing! They were actually teasing each other saying "look at me like i'm.. (insert crush of the week here!).

Now, onto Holly & Maddy. These two are inseparable whenever Holly is over. They are so crazy when they get together and they have such a great time! I've also loved getting to know Maddy more... She's lived next door for 12 years, and finally spending time over here :)

We tell Maddy it's a good things she's around, otherwise Holly would never want to come over and visit! Holly claims they are long lost sisters... Guess they do look a little alike here.. What do you think?

We also love it when Stephanie comes over. We even got Stef to jump into a few pictures. My house has never been a gathering place for teenage girls, so it's definately a change of pace. It's a nice switch from the boys... Legos, nerf guns, WII, to the girls... Cooking, Makeovers, Hair Salon & pictures!

And I think this one is my absolute favorite!

So Charley always says he doesn't have a lot of the pictures of the girls. I think he has since changed his mind. He had no idea how much I love to take pictures! It's true he doesn't have a lot of them when they were younger, but we are catching up with the memories we create while they are here!