Happy Birthday Rusty

November 2010. Happy Birthday Rusty! Wow, 5 years old already and you're growin' like a weed (pardon the expression). This was Rusty's first "Friend" Birthday party. Previously, it was just a family deal. Mommy decorated the house, Rusty got to pick out one toy of his choice from Toy's R Us (He has been asking for a Bakugan toy for almost a whole year, I didn't even know what that was....Is that a sign that I'm getting too old and losing touch with the toy/cartoon world? Yep.

Sienna and Rusty posing with Rusty's new toy, the Bakugan Dragon.

And as is becoming Rusty's Birthday tradition, he prefers a very particular kind of "Birthday Cake."

Yup, that's a bone-fide Krispy Kreme Donut. Rusty's favorite.



Happy Birthday, pal.

Happy Halloween 2010

So like I was saying earlier ( in the pumpkin carving entry), Amber really got into Halloween this year which was way fun. We had just finished watching both Star Wars Trilogies before Halloween, so I guess you could say we were feeling the Force. (If you're wondering, I took the lazy man's way out and just put on a Star Wars Tee, a leather jacket, and took the helmet/blaster combo from Rusty's collection (Thanks Grandma Peterson!)

Matthew was our little Jedi Padawan learner, complete with the apprentice braid. Amber made the cloak and hood from scratch.

Rusty was Darth Vader (of course) and Sienna was our little Princess Leia (of course she wanted to be a princess, good thing there is one in the Star Wars Universe). By the way, while Rusty's was store bought, Amber made Sienna's leia costume herself. What a talent.

Okay, I had to include this picture just to capture the detail that Amber went to on her costume. Amber has crazy cool talent. She whipped this number up the day before Halloween, from scratch! Her Headress, a spool of yarn and cardboard from a diaper box, painted. Put her own makeup on, and made he the Queen Amidala gown from uncut fabric. She's amazing!
...Too bad the weather didn't cooperate, the kids only went to 5 houses and they were done. Who ordered the rain on our parade? Oh well, Happy Halloween 2010.

Carving Pumpkins 2010

Amber really got into Halloween this year... at least, more so than she usually does. She ended up carving everyone's pumpkin for them. They may not look like much when the lights are on. But lit up in the dark, you can really appreciate how much work Amber put into them...

My favorite has to be Darth Maul. This picture does not do it justice.

Rusty chose a Jack Skellington pattern, Sienna chose Dora the Explorer (although it looked better in the light, than lit up in the dark, Amber chose Darth Maul, and I got a little too ambitious by choosing the Maleficent Dragon from Sleeping Beauty. (Amber had to finish it for me)

And here they are with Audio Commentary...

Family Portraits

In late October, we had our annual family portraits taken in Farmington, UT. It's crazy to sit back and look at these pictures because you see your family every day, but I guess I don't appreciate how much our family is growing, or how much our kids are growing up, until I see them in this type of forum...

♪ I love Sienna she loves me...♪

♪ We love Rusty, yes - siree ♪

♪ He loves us and so you see...♪

♪ We are a happy family! ♪ (My kids love that song)

Collage of Characters...

This fall we got to attend several fun Halloween events including a Halloween Carnival in Kaysville and the Pumpkin Walk in Logan. In each venue, there were some fun character cut-outs. Here were a few of our favorites...

May the force (or schwartz) be with you...

BYU Football!

Our family has historically been big BYU football fans. I grew up going to games with my Grandpa and both of Amber's parents graduated from the Y and have had season tickets for years. This year, we were fortunate enough to be able to take the whole family to a game. And this last season, we went to the San Diego State game where I believe, they turned their season around for the better. It was an exciting game to go to and we had a great time. Ya gotta love the fall!

Rusty and Sienna taking in the sights and sounds of the game...

Go BYU!

Even Matthew had a good time...so far as we could tell.

After the game, we celebrated the win and enjoyed a late night hamburger at Parker's Drive Inn where my mom and her mother would go to buy cokes and where my parent's generation used to cruise to on weekends. All around good times!

Road Trip - Fall 2010

So at the end of September, we decided we needed to go on a much needed road trip. We kept it local and went to Yellowstone and then to Idaho Falls to visit Jess and Rod. We had a good roadey! It was fun to swim in pools, eat out for dinner and breakfast, and pass out in front of hotel TVs watching cartoons, all while getting a breath of fresh air of nature.

Nature's hot tubs

What a smiley boy!

The Fam on Vay-Cay

Amber, Rusty, and Sienna visiting a popular national landmark