A Little Halloween Hoopla.

Sad to say, Halloween doesn't quite pack the "oomph" it used to... With only a couple of kids dressing up, the magic is a little tarnished. HOWEVER, we did have some costumes heading out the door this morning: 

The Unicorn...

...and the Ranger's Apprentice.
 We also had a Power Puff girl, but she raced off before I could snap a photo.

Later this evening, these guys showed up: 

I'm a little freaked out by Kyle as Alice Cooper...

Gavin, Will, and Jake hit two neighborhoods...

...and came home with unimaginable amounts of candy.

Right?

Back off, Alice...

Gavin is dreaming about piles of Reeses. Wake up Gavin, you're not dreaming!

Yowza.

I guess I  have a love/hate relationship with Halloween. 
I certainly love the anticipation and excitement, but I hate the day after with crazy amounts of candy going into my children's mouths. 
In the old days I would confiscate half of the loot while the kids were sleeping and they would be none the wiser. 
They are too smart for that now.  They hide it from me.
Bummer.

However, for some good news: it is officially Christmas music season.
Seriously.
Mine is coming out this weekend.
Michael Buble', it has been way too long.  

Feliz Navidad everyone! 

Sometimes A Mother Just Needs To See This:

Especially when it is from your 16 year-old daughter :)

Two Signs of Fall, in the Labit Home...

One of these...

...and a whole bunch of these.

 

Fall is definitely pumpkin flavored ....

In a Tiny Little Town in Southern Utah....

We spent less than 24 hours in Cedar City but oh was it worth it.

This production of Les Miserables was incredible.

I was a little apprehensive, as we had watched the 25th Anniversary edition (again) on Saturday in preparation. 

I began to think it might have been a mistake. 

The bar was set awfully high by that group.

However-
  we were not disappointed in the least.

It was amazing from beginning to end. 

We sat on the second row and loved seeing 
the actors' faces up close and personal.

(Our seats were so good, Governor Herbert was sitting behind us!)

We were in awe.

Michael's fave was Javert, played by Brian Vaughn.

Mine, of course had to be Jean Valjean,

played by J. Michael Bailey.   

I seriously could hardly breathe during Bring Him Home. 

Exquisite. 

My words seem hardly enough-

 for a more thorough telling read Trilby's review here  .

While wandering the streets of Cedar City, we came across an ice cream shop that seemed oh so familiar....

 It had a jukebox and black and white tile....

...a soda fountain and swivel stools...

 ...and cute little tables and chairs.

It also had a HUGE assortment of all kinds of candy.

Pretty awesome-- (something to think about Grandpa).

It truly was an amazing 18 hours in that tiny southern Utah town.

I would relive it again and again if I could.

Can't wait for December.   

One Day More....

Last week felt like a really long week.
Not sure why, except that I am on some new arthritis meds 
and it feels like everything is in slow motion 
with a headache to boot.
You can imagine how fun I am to be around :)
Nonetheless, Michael and I are headed out tomorrow 
to see Les Mis at the Utah Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City.
Cannot wait. 

Tonight we had Sunday dinner with the Cooks. 

Ray's son and his family now live in Lehi.

They came with 3 beautiful little girls under the age of 5. 

To die for right? 

Chris whipped up an amazing pasta sauce he learned from the locals on his mission to Italy.

 It was delish!

Beautiful family.

Beautiful Sabbath.

Shabbat Shalom.

Someone Got Confused...

(and I am not saying who), 
and thought that last night was the Monday 
of the week before Halloween. 
Therefore he/she made all these plans to carve pumpkins and make  traditional caramel apples, 
before he/she realized that it was still two weeks before Halloween! Too late to change plans, however, and so we continued on and carved those pumpkins! 
And if they cave in by next week, we will carve more...maybe.

Happy, Happy  EARLY Halloween.

Don't Tell Michaela...

But I am planning this for her wedding reception: 

 I have got at least 5 years to put it together, right Michaela?

Aspen the English Bulldog.

We are dog-sitting again and goodness gracious we love this dog!

 She has the sweetest personality and is pretty low maintenance, even for a puppy..

      I am thinking this temporary dog ownership is the way to go....

except we get kind of attached...

We have been on-line dog shopping lately.

It might happen.    

A Post For the Worthens.

A truck showed up bright and early this morning.... 

and by the time we caught on to their evil plot, the tree across the street had become this....

...and soon ended up like this.

It's the end of an era.

Delicious Autumn.

"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns." --George Eliot

Conference Pile Up.

What a great weekend!
 First and foremost, Conference was wonderful. Too many favorites to mention but I must  note a couple of things:

1) Elder Holland has had so much Apostolic Fire lately. I feel my insides shake when he testifies. 

2) We listened to our beloved bishop from Hawaii speak in the Saturday morning session. He talked about the Hawaii temple and correcting its imperfections. Love him. 

3) And, thanks to President Monson's exciting announcement, we also have a daughter considering a mission next year. NEXT YEAR! (remember I said considering...)

And between having a quick visit from Michaela and celebrating Hannah's birthday a couple of times, it was a beautiful fall weekend to remember.

The Things You Find Out On Facebook.

 I am Facebook-less but every once in awhile I troll on my husband's account.

Here is what I learned about my brother today.

Congrats Randy,

It's Hannah's Birthday.

We met at the Cook's early Saturday morning for an awesome breakfast. Judie brought all the trappings for conference omelets,  and everyone got busy creating...

We baked birthday cinnamon rolls with 

Ashley Rayback's cream cheese frosting. 

Seriously good.

Michaela even rolled into town to help celebrate!

Happy Birthday Hannah! 

WE LOVE YOU!!!

One More Harvest.

Despite the bucket loads of tomatoes and cucumbers we have reaped from our garden this year, 

this is what has  brought me the most joy.

A watermelon. 
Doesn't it take an immense amount 
of skill to grow a decent watermelon? Or just luck?
 Either way, I'm like a proud mama.
Nature has been good to us this year.
 

Round One:

Romney.
 It was a beautiful thing.

After 2 Long Months;;;

...the Biology project is over.
The bugs have been captured, killed, pinned and delivered. 

Uhg.

Happy Monday...

...from the kid who broke his wrist and lived to to talk about it, and talk about it, and talk about it. 

There's  nothing like the glory of broken bones to a nine year old~