Oct 24-30

Monday, October 24 - My hubby has mad skills! We decided to do wood floor down the hallway to tie in with the entryway and front room. Suddenly, he was ripping up carpet and going on it! I am so excited to have this done! The carpet down the hall was pretty nasty! :) 

Tuesday, October 25 - Kami and Jason Chapa's baby, Hayden, has had some serious medical problems in the last week. They ended up life-flighting him from Idaho Falls to Primary Children's Hospital where they got devastating news. Hayden had suffered a massive stroke and he has almost no brain function at all. They put him on life support to sustain his life until Kami and Jason were ready to let him go. Mom, Jenni, and I got the incredible opportunity to go to the hospital and see them. It was hard and heartbreaking but I wouldn't trade this experience for the entire world! The Spirit was strong in that hospital room and Hayden was just so peaceful. It was hard not to imagine Ricki when I looked at Hayden. I can't imagine what they have gone through. I am so glad we went.

Wednesday, October 26 - Nick wanted to be "Jolly Old St. Nickolas" for Halloween this year. I was trying to find someone to borrow a costume from but never did find one so on Monday, I paid tons of money to order one online and have it shipped in two days. Well, the description online certainly did not match the actual costume so when we got it, it was several sizes too small! At this point, I had no choice but make him a costume to wear. I stayed up until 2:00 am trying to figure out how to sew pants and a shirt...this was my first time ever! Luckily, it worked out just fine. I got all my money back on the other costume (including shipping) and this one only cost me around $5! Of course, it took 5 hours to make it but it was worth it to make this boy happy. :)

Thursday, October 27 - Zack had his Halloween program at preschool today. Ricki and I went and watched and it was adorable! These kids are just so cute!! In more somber news, they decided to take Hayden off of life support and he passed away. So sad for the Schmidt/Chapa family. 

Friday, October 28 - One of the greatest joys of being a mother is going to the kids' classrooms and volunteering. I love being around their friends and seeing their interactions. I helped the kids make lollipop spiders and watched them play several Halloween games. Aside from losing Ricki and searching the school for 5 minutes, it was a really fun time!

Saturday, October 29 - I have enrolled Zacky in an online preschool called Upstart so he and I went to the orientation/training meeting this morning. When he completed all his "games" (assessment tests), they gave him a police badge. So fun! Tonight was our ward Halloween party. They had face painting and I thought Nick's was so cute! He is bright red and sweaty from running around with the boys!

Sunday, October 30 - Since we won't see my parents tomorrow on Halloween day, we had Santa, the cheerleader, Jake, and baby bee dress up at Sunday dinner. Aren't they such a cute crew??

Oct 17-23

Monday, October 17 - We dragged our poor children on our never-ending quest to find a new kitchen table. After RCWilley and the Ashley Furniture store, we felt like they needed a family night reward. We went to McD's for some ice cream and fun.

Tuesday, October 18 - This beauty is all ready to go to the beach! Bad news is that it is October and we live in Utah! Doesn't stop her from wearing a bikini bottom, one-piece "backless" top, and sun hat though! (She does this seriously almost every night! She kills me!!) :) 

Wednesday, October 19 - Have I mentioned my big kids are off track? I LOVE having them home and taking them on adventures. Today, we all tagged along on Zack's field trip to the pumpkin patch. It was crazy-busy for some reason but we still had lots of fun picking pumpkins, decorating them with faces, and going on the tractor ride! 

Thursday, October 20 - In honor of mom and dad (FINALLY) coming home from their 15-day cruise today, Jenni, the kids, and I went to lunch at Las Glorias together. Afterward, I went and picked them up from the airport. It sounds like they had a really great time. When they got home, mom surprised dad with the stereo that we had installed while they were gone. I was glad to be a part of that surprise! It was a really good day!!

Friday, October 21 - The event I've been waiting for...the Price's Halloween party!!! I love every single person in this picture! These are some of my closest and best friends! We had a pretty fun time being there with everyone!

Saturday, October 22 - Our family (the whole Howard side) made it to the Maybe Pumpkin Patch today. It was a gorgeous day and sweet mom, as always, bought all of us a pumpkin. I love family traditions!

Sunday, October 23 - Oh our dear Ricki. Whatever will we do with her? We put her to bed but she wasn't completely asleep when we left her so we left the door open. We seriously thought she'd be out in just a minute or two so we really didn't worry and went to bed. Well, when Simon got up at 6:00 to let Dori out, he found her like this! Keep in mind, it's the end of October. Our house is only 70 degrees at night and she took everything off but her diaper! He brought her into bed with me and her little hands and feet were freezing. I felt so bad! But then I wondered, what possessed her to take her warm jammies off and go sleep on the hard floor outside her bedroom when she has a soft comfy bed and pillow?? I suppose I'll never know!

Oct 10-16

Monday, October 10 - We went to Grandma Howard's to mow the lawn tonight. I brought jammies for the kids but Simon said not to worry about putting them on because he didn't think the kids would fall asleep. Guess they proved him wrong! :)

Tuesday, October 11 - These cute kids wanted to build a puzzle so they got Zack's big floor puzzle out and built it together. They worked so well together...it made my mommy heart happy! I was especially thankful because after having a sore throat for 2 days, I woke up with a horrible taste in my mouth and realized I had strep. I went to the doctor at 9:00 this morning (thank heavens I have a 10-year-old that is off-track from school and that can babysit for an hour) and they confirmed what I already knew. So...rather than going to Thanksgiving Point today, we stayed home and I *tried* to rest as much as possible.

Wednesday, October 12 - Zack absolutely loves preschool homework! This was a sensory experience-shaving cream on the counter. He was supposed to make a ghost but it turned into a bunch of swirls and two little hands full of manly smelling shaving cream!

Thursday, October 13 - Since I was feeling better and no longer contagious, the kids and I went to the petting zoo at Thanksgiving Point. We had so much fun! Ricki loved the bunnies that they let you pet. They were so cute! 

Friday, October 14 - Jenni, our girls, and I took a trip today to Park City to drop the girls (minus Ricki) off for a sleepover with Katie and to have our first official wedding planning meeting. We got so much worked out. I am seriously so excited for this wedding!

Saturday, October 15 - Simon got to work at the MACU booth at "Boo Lights" at the zoo tonight. He was able to get free tickets for the rest of our family and it turned out to be a completely gorgeous night! Simon worked while the kids and I walked around, spotted some animals, and looked at all the fun lights they put up for this event. What a fun evening!

Sunday, October 16 - Simon had a meeting tonight at 6:00 so we opted to have dinner at home. We had our very favorite dinner, fondue and Brazilian cheese rolls. We all enjoyed it! After dinner, the kids and I sat at the computer and watched an hour worth of home videos from 2011-2014. It was a great night!

Oct 3-9

Monday, October 3 - Here are just a few of my residual bruises and scrapes from the accident. I am sore...very sore...but it's getting better everyday. I still just cannot believe this happened!

Tuesday, October 4 - Viv sent us home with some fresh eggs from her chickens so for breakfast, we had eggs. They are delicious. They are small right now but as the chickens grow, the eggs will get bigger. Nick couldn't have been more excited to try them!

Wednesday, October 5 - Tonight was Zack's, Chase's, and Anna's last soccer game. It's been a joy to watch them play this season and I can't wait for spring for them to play again! P.S. Gary & Viv came to the game but unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of them. I always appreciate our family's support of these kiddos sports.

Thursday, October 6 - This was so fun! Marisa, Regina, and I threw a "baby sprinkling" for Jordan Henderson. I had a lot of fun baking and decorating pumpkin sugar cookies. I love these gals!

Friday, October 7 - Zack had Chase over today to play. I am so glad these two are little buddies!

Saturday, October 8 - Being the Enrichment Committee Leader in our ward, I am working furiously to get the crafts ready for our Super Saturday. It's coming up on November 12 but I have to have the displays ready by tomorrow! I'm having fun doing it though. I heart crafts!!

Sunday, October 9 - We had dinner at Dave & Viv's tonight. The chickens were out so it was especially fun watching the kids have races with Ryan while dodging the chickens that would step right in their running path! :)

Sept 26-Oct 2

Monday, September 26 - Dentist day! This was Ricki's first ever dentist appointment and she did awesome! Great news, no cavities again! I love that my kids take such great care of their teeth!

Tuesday, September 27 - We had a fun and eventful book club tonight. The book we were discussing was called "Big Stone Gap". We discussed it for about 20 minutes and then moved on to other things...like Andrea almost cutting her thumb off taking tile out of her kitchen! Bishop Cummings even made a cameo appearance. I just love these ladies!

Wednesday, September 28 - On the road again...to St. George! This time for the Pearson Family Vacation. We rented a condo just outside of St. George and met everyone there. The kids hunkered down with movies and snacks to make the 4 hour journey. They were as good as gold on the way!

Thursday, September 29 - Ryan, Ahsley, and Henry came a day later than us so when they got into town, we headed out to dinner. This is the whole crew (minus Henry who refused to be in a picture). Let the good times roll! 

Friday, September 30 - We spent a little time at the awesome amazing pool that was just outside our front door! So much fun in these waters!!

Saturday, October 1 - This wasn't exactly the highlight of the trip. I went mountain biking with Gary & Simon. Obviously, I need a lot more experience before I can do a trail like this. I crashed on my bike and had to be rescued by search & rescue, strapped to a backboard and removed from the mountain by ATV, put in an ambulance, and taken to the ER. The good news is that I did not break my back. The bad news is that I am scraped, bumped, bruised, and sore all over. It will be a long time before I get back on that bike! At least until I get a new helmet since mine cracked in the front!

Sunday, October 2 - I can't believe this trip is already over too. Vacations just go by way too fast! Goodbye St. George and this gorgeous condo! It was fun...minus the injuries! :)