The Labit Family: October 2013

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Halloween: It Ain't What It Used To Be.

Once upon a time, Halloween was almost my favorite holiday because, quite frankly, I did nothing. Aunt Judie was in charge of all costume creating and boy did she do a bang up job. She went waaaay beyond the mark in creating just what each child was dreaming of in their little Halloween imaginations. All I had to do was sit back and enjoy the fruits of her labor.
Those days are gone for a couple of reasons:
First, Judie's "get up and go", got up and left. She's in her retirement years now and that includes costuming...
Second, the kids are old. They seriously are kind of over all that hype and that makes me sad.
Except Michaela- because Halloween is an extension of Comic Con when you are 19 :)
So, as they walked out the door this morning I couldn't help but feel a little longing for those crazy Halloween mornings where we got up at the crack of dawn to get everyone's costume just right before school.
Ah,well.

This morning we had two participants:

Hannah/Deb (think Napoleon Dynamite)

And Will/ Where's Waldo?

Two simple costumes.

Hannah did her own, I did Will's.

Judie would be so disappointed.

Oh, but let's not forget Buddha (it feels so happy to say that):

Beth dressed him up in Buddha the Elder's
old Petsmart neckerchief.

It's only appropriate that Buddha go as "Buddha" for Halloween.

There you have it.

Halloween has officially begun in the Labit household.

Bring it on.

Thursday, October 24, 2013

If You're Not A Dog Person, You Might Not Understand....

...but somehow, this guy makes everything right in the world.

We have been looking for just the right dog for about 6 months. Michaela had alerts coming to her email every time a dog matching our criteria checked in to a shelter. Somehow, we just couldn't connect with any.

Last Sunday night, I checked the KSL classifieds

like I had done a million times before.

I literally screamed.

There, right before my eyes, was a beautiful black lab for sale, named Buddha.

It was a sign from heaven :)

Within 5 minutes we had an appointment to see him the next night.

Within 24 hours he was ours.

He's only 3 years old- a little younger than we were looking for, but boy is he amazing.

We are wearing him out with love and attention.

Our previous Buddha passed away 4 years ago, almost to the day that we brought this Buddha home. We like to think maybe they knew each other in heaven, (we are super serious about our dog lovin') and that old Buddha prepped young Buddha for what was in store for him.

You never know- it could have happened :)

Whatever the story is, we are soooo happy to have him.

It's like a hole has been filled in our family's heart.

It feels good to be complete again.

Maybe lightning can strike twice.

Buddha the Elder...

Monday, October 21, 2013

We Did It.

We have a new dog.

For real, his name is Buddha.

He came with that name.

It was meant to be.

Sunday, October 20, 2013

The Day In Which We Celebrate Elder Backus.

Cody leaves for the Mexico MTC on Wednesday.

Hard to believe "we" are sending out another missionary.

My sisters are turning out some seriously awesome missionaries.

Elder Cody Backus gave an exceptional talk today on the attributes of Christ.

Lubbock, Texas doesn't know whats coming :)

Thanks Cody, for being such a great example to us all.

We love you.

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Fall Lacrosse...

Elijah was required to play Fall Lacrosse this year in order to play in the regular Spring season.

With such a busy schedule he wasn't necessarily happy about it.

Good thing he likes it :)

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Fall Break, or Something Like It...

Despite the HUGE political rant that is raging in my head right now,
I will just summarize the Fall Break that really wasn't.

Unless you have some awesome travel plans, breaks from

school for no reason other than it is fall, are more work than "break."

Seriously, keeping teenagers actively involved in things that don't

include technology is the hardest job I have ever had:)

One of the greatest distractions for all of my kids are these wonderful little girls. WE LOVE THEM! Everyone turns to mush when they are around. Even the hard hearted teenagers! Well, most of them. We field tripped to an animal farm and had a blast feeding and petting the animals.

As mentioned before, our temple trip was the highlight of our fall break...

...we need some lessons on appropriate temple ground behavior apparently :)

We celebrated Hannah's birthday for the millionth time on Sunday with family members who had not yet celebrated with her!

At which time I baked candy corn flavored OREOS in the middle of chocolate chip cookie deliciousness. LOVE them Oreos. Seriously, who knew?

Later that evening we had a 4 hour black out in which we succumbed to reading by candle light...and watching church videos on Grandma's computer til it died.

Elijah hates it when I catch him reading :)

And then Monday, the last day of "Fall Break" was spent doing homework all day.

Because that's what you do when you breaked all break.

Thank heavens it's Tuesday :)

Monday, October 14, 2013

Ode To The Neeleys-April, 2011.

Today I put in an old sd card into my camera.
These pictures of our Washington cousins popped up...

Couldn't resist this one of Alicia being the "car-mom."

Due to the numerous selfies of Colby, I am quite sure he was in charge of the picture taking (believe me, there are more where these came from).

What I am not sure of, is why I have these?
Hmmm.