Halloween... Finally

Halloween this year came and went so quickly that I am just now getting around to posting about it! I've been tied up in two boutiques and pretty much spending every free minute on those. Now that the second one is over, here's our Halloween update!

Lauren and Holly spent Halloween with their friends, so I don't have any pictures of them. From what I understand, Lauren didn't dress up, and Holly was corpse bride or something like that. (Sorry, I'm not a Nightmare fan, so I don't really remember).

Nate on the other hand, well, you know his creative little mind. He wanted to be some sort of food item, and his first impulse was bacon! I know, odd. After researching "Bacon costumes" online, there really wan't a wide selection... Go figure! I did find one that came with eggs, and it was pretty expensive. We didn't have anyone to dress up as the eggs, and if I would have tried to make the bacon part of it from felt, it probably wouldn't have looked like bacon! Or I also found one other one, that I'm really not sure what it looked like! LOL.



So... On to search for other creative homemade costumes. I compiled a list, printed it out, and just told Nate to decide. The list was pretty cool. Included stuff like "money bags" " Operation Game", "Undecided", etc. He chose "Dr. Pepper". this was a great costume for him. I made him a head band with a huge circle on it, and I had an old lab coat from a past murder mystery dinner. printed off a bunch of "pepper" pictures from the internet and make them into stickers with my xyron machine. It even was a great costume because Nate was able to help with it.

And here's introducing Mr. Pepper, himself.... The Dr. is IN!

Here's a couple pictures from the school halloween parade and carnival. The carnival was C-R-A-Z-Y. So many people there in a tiny school! Needless to say it was a HUGE success. the kids all had a great time.

Halloween morning was actually pretty crazy. We got up early and went to Katie's baptism in Heber. Being anywhere on time on a Saturday morning is a stretch for us, let alone getting ready in Sunday dress and driving to Heber! Of course we were running late.

I mentioned to Charley that I didnt' want to drive all the way to Heber and miss the baptism! As he casually replied that he didn't want to get pulled over, he did go a little faster. Well, as Charleys bad luck (or should I say my bad luck) would have it... YUP, we came over the hill and there was a highway patrol sitting in the median. Next thing I know, we're pulled over, and it took him so long to write the ticket, we missed the whole baptism anyway! UGH.


Anyway, after the baptism, the family went and ate at Golden Corral in Provo. So, it was Heber, Provo, shopping for candy (nope, hadn't done it until the Halloween day) and then off to the trunk or treat at the church. This is always fun for the kids. And they get such a large amount of candy in such a short amount of time (and walking). Denise was able to bring Christian & Michele out this year. They kids had a great time.
After the trunk or treat, it was off to take Nate to his dad's for a visit. Because Nate's an odd child and doesn't like a lot of candy, Aunt Nana & Uncle Marty gave nate two decorated pomogranites for his "treat". He loved them. Especially since he's been waiting all summer for them to be in season!!

And on to pumpkin carving. Who ever thought of this anyway? As you know, I'm not a fan of this, so sometimes i am greatful that I "get" to go to work! HAHA. Charley is such a good sport. He took Nate to get a pumpkin and carved it with him. I know that's why kids are here. If they weren't, I'd never carve pumpkins, never put up a tree... yada yada.

So Charley and Nate came home with what I would assume was the largest pumpkin at the store. I don't even think Nate could lift it! They chose their design and started making the mess...

But I do have to admit, the pumpkin tured out A-W-E-S-O-M-E. Great job boys!!

Here's what it looked like when it was dark and all lit up! Looks like something right out of a movie, doesn't it?

And last, but certainly the least important... Nate convinced me to dress up this year. Plus, they were having a party at work, so for the first time in 12 years at IHC... I dressed up! Simple, but it worked...

Funny thing though, after going to Idaho and bringing back all those potatoes, when I walked into work, everyone asked me if I had potatoes in my pocket!

I know this is late coming, but hope everyone had a happy and safe Halloween. This is a funny picture of Nate after the festivities. His pose here explains exactly how I feel after all the running around and boutiquing... EXHAUSTED!

Boutique Tomorrow!

Don't forget to come see me at the "Girls Day Out Boutique" tomorrow. I've got lots of projects I've been working on, and I'd love to see everyone, so stop by and say HI.

Here's a quick pic of one of the items for sale. These cards are only $1.50, or 10/$10. What a bargain! LOL. These also come in cute gift boxes... a set of 8 for $10. Makes a great gift.

You can also see more pictures on my almost NEVER (but working on updating more often!!) scrap blog here!

Boss' Day...

It's that time of year again. Here's this year's edition of Boss' Day gifts. They turned out so cute, and can't wait to make some Chrismas ones!

Details are on my scrap blog here.

Potatoes, Potatoes & more Potatoes

So I have seen potatoes, or I had thought I've seen potatoes. But this weeken, I SAW POTATOES!! We went to Idaho this weekend to bring back some potatoes for friends & family. My sister in law Hilary's husband works on a potato farm and we had a chance to buy some potatoes from the farmer. We also got to see how the harvested potatoes are sent on a the conveyor belt right to the cellar. I must say, farming is quite a process!! I never knew there was so much equipment involved. It was fascinating to watch (and some also say that I'm very easily amused).

This is a picture of the conveyor belt that unloads the huge trucks. I couldn't believe how many potatoes (and how fast) they were going by. We were just grabbing them and putting them in the bags. We filled 24 bags in an hour and a half. Look at the size of some of those things!!

And this is a picture of the inside of the cellar where they all dump to. It's literally filled from floor to celing with potatoes.

Hilary's kids are adorable. They had fun helping

Except for this little guy who was all tuckered out...

Needless to say, we had a great time this weekend. We gathered potatoes, and we also visited with family. We took Nate with us and took him swimming at Miracle hot springs. It was his first time there and he loved it. Several of the cousins also came. We also made cards and watched conference. It's always fun & relaxing to take a drive to see the in laws.

Batter Up!

Charley and I started coaching Nate's little league baseball team. As this is Nate's first crack at baseball, we signed him up for the coach's pitch. Fall ball is also pretty limited so we ended up over at Taylorsville recreation. There are only 3 teams and they are very small, with age ranges from Kindergarten to 4th grade.


The kids are great though. Most of them are first time players, but there are a couple kids on the team that have been playing for a while. They all have such a great time and look so cute in their little shirts and hats.

Nate's friend Christian is also playing on the team so it's fun for them to be able to play together. There are only 9 players on the team, so everyone gets a lot of playing time.


Nate has decided that he really likes baseball and would like to continue to play. We'll see what the rest of the season brings!

Beaches & Baseball

I love Disney, and I also love the other fun things that are around town once you're there. Our favorite place to go eat is Popeye's Chicken. We eat there twice every time we go. Something about their chicken strips and cajun red beans and rice that I love. I also love to go shopping at Sketchers. Don't know why the shoes are so much cooler in cali? Not like there's not sketcher stores here, right? HAHA.

I also like the beach. We had the opportunity to meet an old friend & neighbor, Kristen at her stompin ground this time... Laguna Beach. We met at a cozy little restaurant on the beach, it was gorgeous! You could overlook the beach from our table on the patio. She looks great, and it was fun to catch up with her.

Another one of our loves is baseball. We really like the Dodgers, but since they were on the road last week, we saw the Angels.

Funny story with our tickets!! We bought them from stub hub. We got a great deal on some great seats. They were row WC. Come to find out, when we got to the stadium and tried to find the seats, they were on the wheelchair row, and seats didn't exist. They were just spaces where you bring your own wheelchair. NICE!! Luckily the usher showed us to an empty row where we could sit, so it all worked out.

Note to self: Never buy seats on the wheelchair row! They are BYOC (Bring your own chair). The angels had a great game and it was fun just being there.

A Quick Jaunt...

... to my favorite place!!

Well, after our 1200 mile round trip drive over to Montana, the next day we turned and headed out on the road again for my favorite place... Disney!

Charley's parents were flying out for a short three day trip, and we (ok, mostly I) wanted to tag along. I felt like it would be good to get Charley out of the house. We left after work Tuesday night and drove through the night to get to the airport in time to pick up the inlaws Wednesday morning from the airport.

This is the very first ride we went on! I've decided it's my new favorite attraction. I even had to take a picture of the score, or Charley would never admit that I beat him. (Twice for that matter). LOL.

It was three short days in Disney, but we sure had a good time. It was definately HOTTER than we thought it would be, but still worth it. A lot of the rides were closed down for refurbishing, and they were also getting haunted mansion & space mountain ready for Halloween.

I love Disney!! It's so much fun, no matter what age you are. This time was a little unique. Four adults and no children. It's a different park when you don't have kids with you. Although we missed the kids, it's still so much fun to just get a few days away.

As long as I can keep going back to Disneyland, I'll be a happy camper! (And we will live Happily ever after!!

Labor Day in Montana

Charley's family reunions are usually Labor day weekend. Normally everyone meets in Filer and goes white water rafting and then to the Filer Fair. This year, everyone headed to Montana. Charley's oldest brother, James purchased property in Montana and invited everyone to come see the property & camp. This year everyone was able to make it except for Danne's family & a few of the grandchildren. There were 29 total Blackwoods there!

Here are some pictures that were taken on James's property. It was huge and the view was awesome. They are planning to build a cabin on it, but for now, it's nature.


After, we all headed to a campground to spend the weekend. Nate was excited to go camping since he hasn't been for a few years. He also knew there would be several cousins for him to play with, and he couldn't wait to sleep in a tent. He thinks that's "real camping" since we've been spoiled and have taken the trailer the last several years. Here's a picture of the tent we borrowed from Craig & Heather. It was HUGE! Sleeping in a tent actually wasn't that bad! Good thing we had air mattresses! We had a total of 5 tents, a tent trailer, a large RV motorhome, and one corner of the campground to ourselves. There was so much to do! Nate & some of the boy cousins spent a lot of time playing with Heath's dogs:
They played catch:

We shot BB guns

Charley tried to burn his fingers off:

And of course, we don't go anywhere without our laptops:

We even had a family picture taken. This is everyone assembling in one place for the picture.

Luckily Travis had his tripod & camera there so we could set the timer. Everyone had to gather around to make sure we got "ONE" good shot.

Here's a picture of some of the kids. (Keep in mind I have 5 of these pictures, but this is the one where everyone is looking). This is Braden, Brogan, Peyton, Nate, Jordan, Mylie, & Madison.

We ended up leaving Sunday afternoon. (We were going to leave town again Tuesday and needed to get home so I could work two days). We had passed "Blackwood Road" on the way in and wanted to stop by on the way out and take a picture, so we did. (Actually, Charley wanted to steal the sign, but he couldn't reach it!!).

We left early enough so we could drive through Yellowstone Park on the way. Although we got there just before dark, the drive was beautiful. There is so much wildlife, and they come right up to your cars!
We also stopped at Old Faithful and watched it "erupt" It was dark, but it was still neat to watch. I haven't been there since I was a child, and this was Nate's first visit to Yellowstone. Definately something you need more than a few hours to drive around. We're going to add it to our list of places we want to go camping.

It really was a great weekend. A lot of driving (1200 miles total in two days) but it was well worth it to spend time with the Blackwood family.