Samantha turns 8 - a month long celebration

It took us all of November to celebrate Samantha turning 8. It all began with her birthday party. We let her have a big party this year, and she thought long and hard about what she wanted to do. She decided to have it at Build-a-Bear. Twelve of her most favorite friends came, and they had a great time!

The next week was her first birthday present. We took her us to Kansas City to see Wicked. It was something she has wanted to do ever since I took Megan to see it for her birthday a few months ago. It was supposed to be just her and Mike going to it, but Noah and I were able to go at the last minute when some friends who had the tickets next to ours were unable to go. I don't have any pictures, but Sammy loved every minute of the show. It was a fun get away for our family.

Sammy was fortunate to once again have grandparents in town for her birthday. Her day began with a bagel breakfast at Panera.

She spent a leisurely day shopping, opening presents, and going to Red Robin for dinner.

Sammy loves the peace sign, so wanted to have a peace cake. I was grateful for the simple request.

One of the thing about turning 8 that she has looked forward to for a couple of years was getting her ears pierced. She wanted to have a big audience for it, so she waited to do it a couple of days after her birthday so that Grandma and Grandpa could be there too.

She was so excited when she sat down in the chair.

Until they brought out the piercing guns. Luckily they did both at the same time, otherwise she probably wouldn't have gone through with the second ear.

All done, trying so hard not to cry.

Getting her first look at the final result.

Now that it's a week later, I think she is finally happy that she did it. She was so brave and looks so cute.

Arf

It seemed like we had a lot of dog related events in November. Daisy is getting so big, but continues to think she is still a small puppy. She likes for me to hold her like a baby. I encourage it, so can only blame myself.

The entire 2nd grade at Sammy's school performed a play called "Arf". Sammy had a part in the play - she was Alfie Afgan. Trying to put together a long-haired dog costume was a challenge for me. Having a speaking part was a little out of her comfort zone, but she was actually very excited. She did a great job!

We were a 2 dog family for a week while we dog sat for some friends. There was an age difference of 9 years between Daisy and her new friend Cali. Daisy loved having a new friend to play with, but wouldn't leave poor Cali alone. They would eventually wear each other out.

Photo Shoot

We decided to take advantage of some beautiful late-fall weather and get some pictures of the kids. It took going out 2 different times to get good ones of everyone. Some enjoyed modeling more than others. Just wanted to share the "best of the best":

Halloween

Halloween this year was fun and event-filled. It began with our annual hunt for the perfect pumpkin. I had good intentions this year of getting out to a "real pumpkin patch", but between sick kids and a busy schedule it never happened. Luckily we have place just down the highway that is a makeshift pumpkin patch. Pumpkins were chosen, paid for, and we were back home in about 15 minutes.

Sammy had her costume parade and party at school. She dressed up like a Twister game this year. Unfortunately, Noah was sick this year and missed his school party.

The weather was warm and beautiful on Halloween, so we were able to go outside and carve pumpkins. Unfortunately I failed to get pictures of the finished pumpkins.

Mike and I had a Halloween party of our own to attend this year. The plan was for me to dress up like Red Riding Hood, and Mike to be the Big Bad Wolf. Mike thought it would be much more fun to change it around. We ended up winning the costume contest.

Our ward held a trunk or treat at the church. Sammy and Noah had a great time getting an early start on their candy stash. Noah dressed up like the Bumblebee Transformer this year.

We continued our Halloween dinner tradition of having a pumpkin shaped pizza. This was followed by lots of trick or treating around the neighborhood and adding to mass amounts of candy we already had. We missed Megan this year who has decided that spending Halloween with her friends is much more fun.

Since we last left you...

Here's a recap of the past 6 weeks:

Mike and Noah went on a Father/Son outing to the Monster Truck show. Noah looked forward to it all week, and wasn't disappointed.

Daisy is growing like crazy.

She has now graduated from this:

To this:

We are starting to wonder if she confuses herself for a cat, or perhaps a lap dog.

We were able to get out and pick raspberries again so that we could replenish our freezer supply.

Lots and lots of volleyball. The season finally came to an end and we have regained a little time again. Megan had a great season and really came a long way. She is looking forward to trying out again next season.

Not wanting to have too much down time, Megan jumped in and joined the cross-country team for the last 3 weeks of the season. She was actually heavily recruited by the coaches due to her extraordinary performances in PE. So far she has run in 2 races, and came in 2nd and 3rd on her team. Looks like we tapped into an unknown talent!

Noah played his first season of soccer. He seemed to enjoy it, and even managed to score a goal. Baseball still seems to be his favorite sport.

Sammy and Noah allowed us to have a first-hand experience with the Swine Flu. Fortunately the anti-viral medications made things fairly mild and quick.

I was able to get away with some friends to Kansas City for the Time Out For Women event. It was the first time I had ever gone away overnight without either Mike or the kids. We had blast eating lots of yummy food, doing lots of shopping, and hearing lots of good speakers. It was a great time!