Candy and the Cold...

This was a cold Halloween night, it was about 45- 50 degrees.. and the last thing that the kids wanted to do was to walk around in the cold, windy weather, even if it was for candy. But we made them do it anyways.. its tradition!

So this year we learned that there are no more Trick or Treaters that come down to our circle after 7pm. So this year all we did was set a bowl of candy out and let the Trick or Treaters help themselves, while we took the kids up the hill to the better neighborhood for the best candy!

We walked up and down the streets where their Primary teachers, the Bishop and the Relief Society President lived and had a few minutes to say hi. They also spent alot of time complaining but they were happy when they got candy. So altogether, it was bitter sweet. On the one hand we had to walk in the cold and had the kids complain for about a hour or so and on the other hand we got lots of great candy!

Our Masterpiece

This was what we did with our pumpkins. We downloaded the template for the Jack Sparrow cut out and the Jolly Roger cut out. The rest we had from last year. They took a long time to clean and carve, but in the end it was worth it!

The hunt for the best one!

This was our second year at the Pack's Pumpkin Farm in Farmington. The kids were so excited to get our pumpkins for carving. This year we went to the pumpkin patch a bit late, like 4 days before Halloween but there was still lots of good looking pumpkins to choose from. They also had really big pumpkins up front for who ever wanted to attempt to carry one of them home and then carve it out.

The kids searched for about a hour looking for just the right ones and Little Jared sat in the wagon with the pumpkins once we decided what we wanted. He was alot smaller than some of the pumpkins that we choose. The weather this year was not great for pumpkin hunting. The kids constantly complained about the cold.

But all together we got some great looking pumpkins and and all for a really great price. Altogether our pumpkins weighed about 104-105 lbs!! We paid about a quarter for each pound! It was a good day!

Our Primary Halloween Party!

This year we had been invited to two Halloween parties, one at the church, the day before Halloween and one at a friend's house on Halloween day. The kids were having the time of their lives, they loved all the neat games that the Primary teacher organized and all the yummy treats that weren't covered in candy. They learned to share and get along together with the other kids, especially during the races, they learned that winning isn't everything.

As for Little Jared and I, we both dressed up in our costumes and had a great time watching the girls play all the games and have fun. Little Jared attempted to walk on his own for a bit but the floors were too slippery, I guess it was all in fun.

Next year we are going to have to figure out what we are going to do for costumes. I might make some or I might buy some. But the girls and Jared have completely grown out of their costumes since last year.

We hope that Little Jared can be a pirate, along with his dad and that the girls can be Disney Princesses again only this time they will have the costumes that suit them best. Hopefully, Liz can be Jasmine or Ariel (her choice) and Jamie can be Belle or Snow White again.

Mummy's Boy!

Scary halloween food, you can see the Apple smiles and the watermelon brains.

Enjoying a healthy Halloween Lunch before they head out to get all that candy!

Halloween Party at the Troxel's

We were invited to our first ever Halloween Party at friends house. It was one of those parties for the Nursery kids and the Kindergartners. So the parents brought their kids all dressed up to have some scary Halloween food and some fun Halloween games. They played many scary games and had lots of candy to take home. The best part was that Little Jared had fun sitting with the "big" kids and he just loved it.

After all the fun and food, the kids sat in a circle on the ground and read a not so scary Halloween story. Little Jared sat in the circle with his sisters and listened to the story with the rest of the kids. One of the games they played was a race to see who can wrap their mummies in toilet paper the fastest. All the men were the mummies. Our team lost, but at the end of the game all the little kids wanted to have a turn being a mummy, so did Little Jared.

The kids had so much fun, that by the time we got home we all had about three hours before we had to go Trick-or- Treating. So they fell asleep in their costumes, watching cartoons.

The line at the door!

line around the corner

Elbow to elbow

all gone!

Lizzy's burger was too big for her but oh so good!

people watching and eating a burger!

Jared loves fries!

Need I say More....
Well this was something that every Utahn was talking about since the news hit the state about three or four months ago, and that was that In and Out was coming to Utah with 4 new locations. This was the topic of every conversation that we encountered over the past weeks. There were rumors that people were going to line up for burgers the day before the opening just so that they could get a hot burger first. It was just amazing that there was all this hype over a burger and fries.

For me, it was just a burger... that was because I never had one. I distinctly remember one of the first things that Jared told me was that when I get to the USA we were going to go get a In and Out burger. I thought he was crazy.. "Why?" I said and he said " Because its the best burger in the WORLD!"

So luckily for us with Jared having the job that he has, talking to restaurant owners and such, he had the opportunity to talk to the guy who was responsible for the new locations in UT and we were invited to the Pre-Opening of In and Out burger for just family and friends of the company. I was looking forward to finding out what the big deal was. I was also very surprised to see all these people lined up for a burger... I mean this was crowd like no other.. kids, grandparents and people who dont even go out to get their mail was there waiting... patiently.

So we had our burgers and they were great. not much variety in the toppings, but the shakes were great (they were actually shakes and not soft- serve ice cream with candy in it, or the thick over the rim shakes that are commonly known in UT as a shake, but drinkable shakes), the fries were fresh but not as good as Mc Donald fries. Other than that, cant complain... and the best part was that it was all FREE, no matter how much you ordered.. It was Free!!

Needless to say this burger place needs no introduction as you can see from the pics people are big fans of the food. No doubt, this place will be packed for the next week or so with Utahns for their taste of the best burger in the world. Its a guarantee that if you want a burger for dinner you will have to get in line at 9 am to get it. Yumm- O!

Jamie and Sister Clarke

Brother Clark

Seema, Jared, Little Red and Sister Clark at their home in AZ.

Seema , Jared and Little Red catching up with all the TT gossip!

At the Clark's House in Az!

So the weird thing happened... a long story but a good one. Jared, Seema, Alma and I all went down the the Mesa, AZ Temple to do some work for Seema and her family. Her father (Bro. Lutchman, my dad's BF) died a few years ago and they wanted to be sealed to him and to get some work done for her uncles and her grandparents on both sides. This was a bit difficult because it wasn't just work that had to be done for the dead or the living but for both. That makes the work a bit more complicated... a.k.a a lot of paper work and a lot of running around.

Well after getting everything ready to be done, which took a little over 4 hours, we were finally on our way to the endowment session... Jared was going to act a proxy for Bro. Lutchman. As we were heading to the endowment session one of the temple workers told us that the temple president and his wife served a mission in the West Indies. She wanted to know if we would like to meet them and to say hi. We asked what their names were... Surprisingly they were the Clark's they served as the first CES couple and were situated in Trinidad. I spent a lot of time with them helping to write email and letters to the other islands, Jared spent a lot of time with them also and Seema was a Institute President for Arima and had meetings with the Clark's on a regular basis.

It was a real treat when we finally got to see them, they were so happy to see us all... We all couldn't believe so much time had passed since our last meeting. They were so happy for Seema, her mother and sister for getting their family sealed together for time and eternity. They were also so surprised to know that Jared and I had 3 kids! After all the last time they saw me I was engaged to Jared...It was just a happy surprise!

We had been looking for them online, on FB and other places but no luck, and then while we are at the temple getting work done they were there... and they were the temple President and the Matron.... what a wonderful day that was! We hope to see them again soon!

My other Family!

So its been 6 or more years since I have seen my friends Seema and Dawn. They are from Trinidad and they were like my sisters, when I didn't have anyone who cared...They did! So when I heard that Dawn ( my older like sister) was getting married in the AZ temple I was so excited... I became even more excited when I found out that Seema ( my other older like sister) was going to be there with her mom, Alma ( my mom's BF) for the wedding.

I was so happy to be part of it. I was also so happy to know that getting married and having kids didn't change the way that my 'sisters' loved and cared about me. We would get into so much trouble together and they were always there to bail me out... and they still are. It was a real treat to be part of a wedding and a family where I knew everyone and they knew me. It was like being a kid again, only better.

They also knew Jared when he was a missionary, so that was great too, they loved him just as I knew that they would. It was great to hear about all my other friends in TT and know that they are all doing well, It was also wonderful to know about how quickly the church had grown in 6 yrs... it was a District when I left with 5 small branches and now its a Stake with many large wards and still growing.

I didn't realize how home-sick I was till after I left AZ, after Seema and Alma went home. I really missed that kind of love and similar understanding that we all have. It was easy to talk to them because they already knew what I was going to say and a lot of what I said didn't sound 'weird' like it would to normal Americans.... They just got me!

Alma was like the mother I needed in my life... she was there for me in ways that my mother should have been but wasn't. She treated my kids like they were her grand-kids... and loved them. She was nice to my husband, and was proud of him, she told him that several times. It was just a wonderful little break from our hectic and stressful life.

I hope to see my life long friends soon.

15 Months Old

So far the first few months of his life was great... He was quiet and loved to cuddle with me..However all that has changed since Jared's first birthday. What was once my sweet, quiet, loving little boy has since turned into a loud, messy, not in the mood to cuddle little boy. At first my son loved me and always wanted his mom to hold him and make him feel better, now all he cares about is his daddy and sister Elizabeth, I am no longer his favorite.

This is frustrating because I thought to myself when he was really little... "Finally, I have one good child who will love me forever!" Boy, was I wrong. Now the only time that he is sweet and not getting into something that he shouldn't is when he is fast asleep... which is till about midnight and then he is up till 4am. He loves to fight me when I am changing his diaper, or his clothes, or when I am trying to feed him, or buckle in a stroller or car seat. I am constantly telling him "NO" and he seems to think that, that word is funny.

While I am home with him all day, cleaning up after him and his sisters, I finally get a chance to sit and watch my favorite TV show and start emailing people when he starts his screaming fit. The only cure for this is his Daddy who is usually still at work and wont be home for hours!

So at 15 months old, so much has changed... even though he fights me constantly and screams at me and wont let me hug him, I simply cant resist his smile ... So yeah, I love him as much as I did when I brought him home from the hospital!