Halloween Sillies

Vampire Teeth

Abby's attempt at vampire teeth

Sarah laughing at the sillies

Berenstein Bears stories with Daddy

My Mom's Retired!!!

My mom has been working as a Respiratory Therapist for the last 37 years. She just finished her last shift and is so excited to be done. She worked for years and years full-time on the graveyard shift so she never missed out on our kid activities. She's pretty amazing! The girls and I had a little retirement party (which to them means a singing card of Cellll-e-brate to dance to, balloons, giant unicorn, flowers from each girl and lots and lots of hugs!)

Unicorn is a must!

Grandma flowers, balloons and

lots and lots of snugs

UEA Weekend in Park City

Nate took us girls to Park City for UEA this weekend.  We had a great time making a mess and letting someone else clean it up...just kidding.  The girls LOVED sharing a bed, I guess bunk beds at home are not the same.  We swam in the pool in the morning and shopped in the afternoon at the outlets.  Perfect retreat for all but maybe next time we'll do a bit more of Nate's stuff.

Checking out the beautiful fall colors

Watching Horseland

Park City

Cute Baby Abby

Loveland Halloween Party

Halloween Fun at the Loveland's.  Cheryl and Colleen went to so much work getting this party ready.  It was absolutely darling.  There was crafting fun like Mummy Dogs (Rhodes rolls wrapped around hot dogs), clementine jack-o'lanterns, Halloween Bingo, Witch's hat ring toss, Candy bag hunt and quantity guesses, and face painting.  We had dancing to music in costumes and halloween limbo.  Delicious dinner: Chilli, Mummy Dogs, Chips/Salsa, Desserts and Witches Brew (homemade root beer) served in Halloween Cups with spider rings inside.  There was spooky storytime and a visit from a dead friend (touch the body parts like rice krispie treats for brains) with a finale of a spook alley walk in the backyard amongst the scary daddies.

Three Dancing Girls

Sarah was really bustin a move!

Sarah:Strawberry Shortcake, Katelyn:Princess Witch, Abby:Minnie Mouse "Minneee M-ow"

Katelyn is contemplating how many laffy taffy's in the bag while Sarah is just thrilled to see so much CANDY.

 Limbo Queens

Nate was awesome as a scary troll living in the playhouse.  The girls were very scared but they knew it was Daddy!

Even Uncle Reed got a good scare out of Mom while walking the girls through the Haunted Walk.

Two Newest Additions to Our Family!

We branched out in the pet department and added two more to our Starley Family. 

Meet Dot
 And Swirl

The girls love to watch them crawl around in their aquarium and hide in their shells.  These are pretty low maintenance pets!

We've spent many hours reading A House for Hermit Crab, making lapbooks from homeschoolshare.com, and even taking them on a fieldtrip to Katelyn's Kindergarten class.

Orange you going to Smile?

Katelyn had an interesting experience.  As Nate was pulling into the driveway Katelyn took her seatbelt off to surprise Nate with a Boo.  Nate had forgotten the lawnmower was at the front and he pushed the brakes.  Katelyn went rolling right over the seat and smooshed her face in the dash.  She got her first shiner and learned an important lesson about leaving seat belts on until the car stops.  Still the large amounts of rain, the fact that today is school picture day and she has a bruised eye doesn't stand in the way of orangey smiles.  I love these girls!

After a little makeup magic!

 As for Sarah and Abby, a few princess braids and a hat and they've forgotten all about Grandma's pool closing and the torrents of rain outside.

Hat Snugs and Grins

Rain, Rain,
  Go Away
     Come Again Another Day!

Meet Cuddles the Bear



Cuddles with his Ghost Cake Sucker




We were in charge of soccer treats and Sarah has her pre-school pet
Cuddles for the Weekend




She was SO excited to bring him home
and dress him up in the build a bear clothes




Abby was pretty excited as well




Aren't sisters the best when they share?



Summer Vacation in 1856

William Stimpson Family Statue in Temple Square, Salt Lake City
(Nathan's 3rd Great-Grandfather)
William and four year old son Frederick made it to Utah. 2 year old son Joseph died on the trail 2 weeks prior to his mother. Rebecca, 7 months pregnant, died at Independence Rock due to complications from childbirth. Pre-mature infant son died 15 minutes later. Nate comes from the family line of the woman William married later in life.
Water Crossing

Mud Crossing

Cactus Flower (these were everywhere along the trail in Martin's Cove)

The Handcart Line of our Stake, you can glimpse the last stragglers coming over the ridge in the distance if you click on the enlargement
(we had close to the 300 person capacity limit on the trail)

Games during a company bathroom break

Lunch at the Martin Center with our family
Left: Me, Porter, Jayden, Natasha, Magoli
Right: Madison, Clara, Preston, Mandy, David
Not Shown: Nate (He was photographer)

Morning Sunrise

This summer has blurred right by so I will have to play catch up soon and fill in the gaps but this was a highlight in our vacation. We learned all about Nathan's ancestors in the Martin Handcart Company and the joys and sorrows that those pioneers experienced. Nate and I were called as a Ma and Pa for our stake youth conference to Wyoming for 4 days of trekking along the pioneer trail. I believe the final mileage was 36.6 (Day 1: 4 in Martin's Cove, Day 2: 16 along the historic trail, Day 3: 16.6 through Rocky Ridge, Day 4 home). We wore pioneer clothing, and camped in tents along the trail. We had special devotionals and private moments to reflect on the handcart pioneer whose name and biography we wore around our necks. The last night was spent at the Willie Memorial and we learned about the 14 individuals buried there. Marjorie Hinkley's two sisters came to share their ancestor's story and testimonies. There really aren't words to express my grattitude to those who planned everything but this was a truly sacred experience for me. I love those 9 kids that we were assigned as a family like my own. A few days is really only enough time to glimpse at what they experienced but one that truly touched my heart was when the boys were crossing the muddy river. Porter and Jayden weren't able to see the massive boulder that was in the middle of the path and they had taken their water shoes off so they wouldn't get sucked away. They cut their feet and while they were being bandaged up I caught my breath in a moment of reflection. I just adore these boys and I was so grateful they had taken the load for me so I wouldn't have to wade through that particular stretch of the trail. We had trekked up Rocky Ridge earlier in the day and it is a two mile stretch of the trail that is referred to as the Trail of Blood. It has steep inclines of jagged rock and must have been so daunting with the addition of the cold winds of 14 below and deep snow packs. The pioneers had lost their shoes or worn through them and now simply had burlap sacks wrapped around their feet as the trekked up this rocky, ice-encased terrain (I saw a sole of a tennis shoe in the garbage from one of OUR kids shoes so I can imagine what the handcart pioneers shoes must have been like walking from Iowa to Utah). The pioneers feet were so badly torn that they left a trail of bloody footsteps behind them. Then I thought of our Savior and His Atonement, taking the burden of my sins on my behalf. I can't put those feelings into words but I could just glimpse for a second a small portion of the love He has for each one of us. I thought how just like those beautiful cactus flowers that bloomed from the spiky, cruel-looking orbs; that through our Savior's Atonement, a horrible inexplicable sacrifice, blossoms the most beautiful plan of salvation and redemption for all mankind. It was a moment in my life I will never forget.

A Tale of Two Cities

This Friday I went out for some much needed girl time with Becky, Natalie, and Randee (my two sisters-in-law and my soon to be sister-in-law). I took them down to dinner and to see the play A Tale of Two Cities at the Hale Center Theater. It was phenomenal! It helped that I had recently re-read the book so it was fresh on my mind. I loved the guy that played Mr. Cruncher! He did such a fabulous job endearing his part as a character I didn't particularly like in the book. In fact at one comical line a lady was laughing in the audience so hard that they had to pause for a minute before continuing. I think they were very pleased. A special treat for us was that the author of the original Broadway play was there and had coordinated during production with the Hale Theater. She got a standing ovation from the entire theater and it was really special to watch her enjoy her work (she was sitting two people in front of me). Also she brought a large group from New York with her to see the final play so I am sure this brought good press for the theater group. I guess this was the first off Broadway performance so that's pretty cool. Anyway if you missed it sorry it's last show was Saturday but you can find the music online...
Anyway it was great to hang with the girls and talk about all the fun stuff that only sisters chat about. Thanks girls for the wonderful night!
You can click on the title of this post to view public images of the play.

Front Runner to Gateway

We decided to take an outing to the Gateway for Nate's day off. We packed a lunch and the girls and loaded up on the Front Runner. A family day pass is only $13.50 and we would have spent that in gas and parking for Salt Lake. We spent a grand time watching the girls play by the squirt fountains and reading books in Barnes and Noble. After icecream in the food court and a couple of visits to stores we headed back to the Trax and onto the Front Runner. Abby slept the trip home and Nate entertained the girls with their new books, Rapunzel and Berenstein Bears and the Messy Room.

April Fools Wedding

It's fun to think their anniversary will always be April Fools, but a couple in our ward were married today. The girls just got their darling Easter dresses from my mom (she took them for a day of shopping to pick whatever dress they wanted and yes-I got some too), so of course they wanted to wear them to the wedding. Here they are:




I can't believe I don't have a photo of Abs in hers. Maybe that's when we realized we were going to be late. Well I will get one soon.