Gettin' in a Spooky Mood!

I just got called to be the Activity Day Leader for the Primary girls at our church, and I am so excited! Last night was our first activity and we did 3 Halloween things. The first was the little paper cutting of a witch and pumpkin.


The last was decorating sugar cookies with all the trimmings.

In the middle each of the girls got their faces painted by our amazingly talented Primary President!

Aren't all of the girls so cute?!

The Cub Scouts also had a fun night wearing their costumes.

Earlier in the day, the Phonics group also created some spooky Halloween masks. It's so fun to dress up!

Whoa, I'm an alien...

...I'm a legal alien,

I'm an American girl in Ottawa.

Finally, I have my permanent residency in Canada. Now in 3 years I can apply for citizenship. Luckily, I won't have to give up my US citizenship, but I figure if I'm going to live here until Leonard retires I want to vote!

However, I also have a feeling we might move back to the States in the next year. It would only be appropriate as after Len got his green card, he planned on getting his US citizenship, but instead we moved to Canada a year later. Who knows where we'll end up with this economy and the job market and DFAIT...

On another note, I am feeling way OVERDUE! Yesterday was my first due date and as I've never gone past 37 weeks, it feels like I'm 3 weeks late, and I still have 2 days to go, ha ha! I was so worried I'd go into labor before the scheduled c-section, but it appears little boy is quite comfortable where he is at and most likely will wait until Friday. I have gained weight like a champ this time around (almost twice as much with Gavin & Teague, just about 10 pounds shy of what I gained with the twins!). I keep wishing there's a hidden twin to justify the excess weight gain, but I've had 5 ultrasounds and I know there's not. I'm expecting him to be a little butterball though and I just can't wait to kiss his cheeks!

Belly Laughs!

My kind Kaleb has been so concerned for me during this pregnancy, and he is very anxious about my upcoming hospital visit. He gave me this sweet card he made at school.


When I opened it up, I laughed so hard I felt just like Santa Claus (my belly was shaking just like a bowl full of jelly!).

When I am in public I am very cautious to make sure my belly doesn't ever "pop out" of my shirt, but at home when I am relaxing and in more comfy clothes it does do that every now and again. Whenever Teague sees it, he'll come over and pull my shirt down. I remember Gavin doing that when I was pregnant with Teague too- such modest little boys, ha ha!

3rd time's the charm!

We are so lucky we've got to visit 3 great friends from Taiwan this year!


This time it was Sylvia who came to town!

The Hamilton's hosted us for a fabulous dinner and we all had a great time visiting. We love having visitors (hint hint)!!

Need E-mails!!

Hello family and friends!
I'm so glad that a bunch of you still want to read my blog =). For me to send you the invitation from blogger I need your e-mail address though. If I already have it, great! If not, please send it. You can leave a comment here, send me an e-mail (reil.fun@gmail.com), or send me a message on facebook. Also, remember to make a guess to the 2 song questions for a chance to win my giveaway. I'll be choosing a winner and going private at the end of this month. Good luck!

Please say hello- for 2 important reasons!

First of all, it's my 4th anniversary to blogging (where has the time gone?) so it's time for a giveaway! To enter, please leave a comment with an answer to the following questions (you don't have to answer correctly to be entered to win, just make a guess):

1-What song contains these lyrics:

"And if we ever leave a legacy
It's that we loved each other well"

"The closer I'm bound in love to you
The closer I am to free"?

2-Who sings this song?

The second reason to say hello is because I've decided to make this blog private. I am happy to keep any/all readers, so please leave a comment (or e-mail me reil.fun@gmail.com) with your e-mail address so I can send you an invitation.

The plan is to choose a winner and go private in 2 weeks. With baby coming in the next 12 days that deadline might be flexible.

Please say hello!

Flashback...

...to Flashdance and the Footloose days of the 1980's. Our ward hosted a "Ballroom Blitz" and an hour beforehand we decided we were up for it (originally, I didn't think I'd be up to much dancing with my 9 months pregnant body- tee hee.)



We threw the boys into Polo shirts with the collars turned up. We also pegged their pant legs and spiked up their hair with lots of gel. Gavin told me his hair was gooey- ha ha!


It took a little more work for us girls. We both wore turquoise shirts, but unfortunately I didn't have hot pink leggings trimmed in lace like Noe (darn it!). We put on lots of big jewelry then got out the curling irons, hairspray, and funky make-up. I only wore make-up like this back in 1984 when I dressed up like Cyndi Lauper for Halloween (I was Noe's age then), but I wore my hair like this on a daily basis in 1988. Oh, to be 13 again (hear the sarcasm in my voice). Our family ended up winning one of the 3 best dressed prizes- yikes!

Marsha, me, Annick, and Sonia- like for sure, we're totally awesome!! Annick, I so want to borrow your outfit for Kaleb and Noe's decade party next spring.

Sonia's little Material Girl was just adorable too!

Noe and Emma danced the whole night long.

Another group shot after Katie and Itzel arrived.

At home, Gavin's got "the moves like Jagger" but he didn't dance at all. He just wanted to hang out with his friends and raid the refreshments table.

The DJ played all of the best songs from the 80's and when "Walk like an Egyptian" came on Kaleb and Teague joined the girls to tear up the dance floor. They knew the song from the Wii's Just Dance- love it! I've got to get some more 80's music to introduce to my kids!

5 Little Pumpkins...

...Sitting on a Gate.


The first one said, "Oh my, it's getting late."


The second one said, "There are witches in the air."

The third one said, "But, we don't care."

The fourth one said, "Let's run and run and run."

The fifth one said, "It's time for Halloween fun!"

Then whoosh went the wind and out went the lights

and the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight.

Canadian Thanksgiving

Growing up the holiday season was: October= Halloween, November= Thanksgiving, December= Christmas. It's a little awkward for me to have the Thanksgiving and Halloween decorations both up at the same time. But on the other hand, we can start decorating for Christmas in November, so by the time the flurry of Christmas activities begin in December we are all finished with the work and can just enjoy!


Gavin came home with this darling Turkey Lurkey hat he made at school.

We are thankful for our marriage. (I'm thankful my honey still thinks I'm cute even though I feel like a house these days.)

We are thankful for our Wonder Twins.

We are thankful for our Taiwan boys.

We are thankful to have a new baby soon. (I am a TORPEDO!)

We are thankful for extended family. Even though we are far from ours and miss them like crazy, we are grateful for the Woolsey family who shared a scrumptions turkey feast with us. Grandma Easter and Molly Easter, aren't they adorable!

We had a fabulous time with Brian, Easter, Wendy, Kevin, Laura, Katie, Tori, Tasha, Gregg, Mary, Emma, Quinn, Isaac, Molly, Elder Jepperson, and Elder Pohue. Here are all the kids together!

Sweet friends!

The highlight of the evening was when Pompa got out his awesome trains! Gavin was ecstatic to watch Thomas, Annie, and Clarabel in action.

I think Gavin and Molly would have chased the trains all night.

The trains and track are really so cool!

Pompa also got out his amazing Canadian National Railway set.

Leonard was thrilled he had a box car from Hanna, Alberta.

But Gavin was the happiest of all the boys (big and little) to see his favorite toy come to life!

Fall Sweaters for Fall Leaves

The leaves are changing colors, telling us it's time for our annual fall photo shoot. Usually, we freeze our bums off and can't wait to put our jackets on. This year it was so warm, we couldn't wait to strip our sweaters off.


Our family of 6 that will soon become 7.

The parents.

The kiddos (poor Teague would rather be napping).

The boys.

The girls.

We enjoy the four seasons of Ottawa and love getting out and getting fresh air together!

Big boy bed

After almost a week of having it, we finally set Teague's big boy bed up. He climbed right under the covers and snuggled in to the pillow and was ready for his first big sleep.


Gavin thought it was quite silly that Teague's not in a crib anymore.

Sweet dreams my little Taiwan boys!

*Teague did great sleeping through the night, and he is our first child not to fall out of bed when making the transition from the crib. Now nap time, that's a whole 'nother story...

Like no time had passed

After 2 years we finally had the Hamilton family over for dinner. The kids jumped right in to playing together like no time had passed since we were in Taiwan.


The reason we finally got together was because Leonard's colleague (and dear friend) from Taiwan, Crystal came to town for a visit. (Notice how Teague snuggled into the pic.)

We tried to get one with all of the kids, but Gavin was a bit too shy.

We did manage to get a group shot of the kids with Len and I. David and Rosaline said this was more realistic anyway- ha ha! (Maybe our family will look like this in the future? Yeah, I can't give up my dream of another girl yet.)

It was so wonderful to see you Crystal! Please come and visit us again anytime!! And Hamilton family, we need to get together again soon!