Spooky Cat

Our favorite book is The Cat In The Hat, so we dressed up like our favorite characters for Halloween.  Hiram was an awesome story book.

Gavin was the star, the Cat in the hat himself.

Of course, Kaleb and Noe were Thing 1 and Thing 2.

 

You might think Teague is Nemo, but that's a different story, he was just Fish.

The 3 big kids got to wear their costumes all day to school.  I love it!!

 

Later that evening, the 4 big kids got to go trick-or-treating while Hiram helped Daddy pass out candy.

Originally, Leonard and I were going to be Sally and her brother, but I ran out of steam, ha ha!

 

Hanna and Jenn joined us for trick-or-treating.  We had a great Halloween!!

Pumpkin Patch

This year we carved five little pumpkins for our five little punkins!

 

 

 

Kaleb got to carve an extra pumpkin at school, but they did it old-school cutting the circle at the top instead of the bottom- ha!

And now we are six!

Candy, Cookies, Cupcakes- yum!

Halloween is the best- you get to play dress-up and score tons of candy!  We got our little cauldron full of treats to give out to our trick-or-treaters.

Our neighbors gave us these darling Frankenstein cookies too.

I also made some of my own monsters- monthly cupcakes for Leonard's seminary students.

We also got the house decorated.  I could have titled this Witches, Scarecrows, Pumpkins- boo!

Bat boy

Gavin came home with this cute bat puppet he made at school.  I love that he has a loose (missing) tooth and that his nose is below his mouth.  Kindergarten Art is the sweetest!

Tuckered Out

One day Hiram snuck away from me.  When I went looking for him, this is what I found:

 

Being a baby is exhausting!

What a Hoot!

Some little owls came to visit.

For a birthday party.

In fact they came for this little guy's birthday party.  And this is what he thought.

This ice cream is FREEZING!!!

Well, maybe it's not SO bad.

Have you guys tried this cupcake stuff before?  It is seriously goo-ood!

This is my best birthday ever!

Hiram's fun party guests-

The sweet Montminy's

(his future in-laws, yes I think it would be great if He and Ruby got married someday, ha ha!)

And his adoring family. 

We love you Hiram!

Happy Birthday Hiram!

My newest baby is one today!

Oh, I sure love him!!

Happy Birthday Grandad!

Life's Work

Some call me a Homemaker, others a Housewife, and still others a Stay At Home Mom.  I'll answer to any and all of those titles, but they are not all of me. 

 

My relationships with my husband and children are so important to me and I want to be the best wife and mother that I can be. 

 

I am so grateful for our home and I like taking care of it (although, please don't peek in my kitchen today). 

 

My extended family is very important to me too and I try to keep those relationships strong and I try to be a good friend to those around me.  I like being called a daughter, sister, granddaughter, niece, cousin, aunt, and friend.  (I look forward to being called grandma someday too!)

 

I love ART, all kinds, creating it, and appreciating it.  I like being called an artist. 

 

But the ultimate title I wish to earn is that of a Good and Faithful Servant.  When my life's work is complete and my Father in Heaven calls me home I hope that when I meet Him and my Savior that I will hear, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord."

 

Just for fun, enjoy this little stay at home mom poster:

 

 

I had to throw in one for my husband the diplomat too:

 

Leonard recently submitted his Top 5 for postings next year. 

Drum roll please:

1- Paris, France

2- Brussels, Belgium

3- Vienna, Austria

4- Athens, Greece

5- Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago

 

Some other posts we were interested in were:

Geneva, Switzerland; Lima, Peru; Brasilia or Sao Paolo, Brazil; Pretoria, South Africa; Wellington, New Zealand; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; and New York, New York.  Unfortunately, we could only pick 5 and Len wasn't qualified for or was over-qualified for some of them.  There is steep competition (ie- lots of diplomats wanting to leave Ottawa, but not lots of jobs available overseas), but we are hoping we will go WHERE and WHEN we are supposed to.

 

My husband also came across a fabulous article at The Art of Manliness blog.  If the title, Romantic Love Can Last sounds interesting to you, give it a read!

Happy Birthday Jacob!

Happy Birthday Mandy!

the Hearts of the Children

Turn to their Fathers

 

Last Saturday Leonard and I spent an amazing day in the Montreal Temple.  We were able to do the complete work for my great-grandparents, Jessie Mae and James Hester.  We did their baptisms, confirmations, initiatories, endowments, and the crowning event had them sealed for all eternity.

We also had my granny, Wanda sealed to them as she is their daughter.  We also asked another gentleman at the temple to do my grandaddy, Johnny's endowment and we also had granny and grandaddy sealed together!  I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints because of my granny.  She listened to the missionaries and was baptized in 1965 and my mother (10 years old) was too.  I love my granny so much and I'm so grateful we were able to do this work for her and her loved ones.  Families are Forever!