Halloween

I know, I know it's almost Christmas and I'm just now getting my Halloween pictures on my blog. What else can I say but better late then never. (; Any way, my kids told me what they wanted to be for Halloween about a month before the holiday ever came around. It was great because I kept my eyes open for what they wanted and it payed off. I found what they wanted and the best part was it was for a good price. Of course Eli right now is very into Transformers and told me he wanted to be Bumblebee. Mckenna on the other hand is really into princesses and told me she wanted to be Snow White. So here are the pictures of my kids at Eli's school Halloween party and just before we went out trick or treating.

Eli and Mckenna at his table making a paper plate ghost.
Here is Eli with a few of his super hero friends.
Keith got home at 4 and carved his pumpkin. The kids and I already did ours. So here he is hard at work.

He had a great idea on how to carve teeth in his pumpkin by just scraping the top layer of the pumpkin off. I think it looks great, but best of all I love how I have documentation of that beard! At least he looks good with it but now sadly it's gone.
Keith was so creative with his pumpkin and put screws in as eyebrows. He also did two other bigger screws at the sides of the pumpkins head.
Here are the two pumpkins together. The kids picked the cyclops. Spooky!
Here are the kids together right before we went out trick or treating. Eli looks very cool and if Mckenna were to enter a costume look a like contest I think she would win hands down as the best Snow White. To be honest this was the first year the kids went door to door. We have just done trunk or treating with our wards and that has always been more then enough but this year they did trunk or treating about a week before Halloween so we thought it would be fun to go out and do the real deal. The kids had a blast. They really liked seeing all the other kids in their costumes and having people be so nice and give them candy for just saying the simple words of "TRICK OR TREAT!"

First Day of School

I'm really trying to catch up on my blog since it is the end of October and I am just now writing about Eli's first day of school. He was really excited about it and that made me happy. I was so worried about him handling a full day of school since they don't do half day Kindergarten around here. He hasn't been away from home or me for more then 3 hours in Pre-School and that was only on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
I let him pick out what he wanted to ware and he of course pick out his new Transformers shirt. Then we got his lunch ready and put it in his Transformers lunch box. Last but not least we put his new folders in his Iron Man backpack. It would have been Transformers but we couldn't find one for him so he pick Iron Man instead. Here he is outside getting his picture taken by Keith who took the day off just to see Eli off to school and back again.

Then we headed off to school. We meet Judy there who at the time had Brooke with her while Scott and Lindsay were at a wedding for a friend. It was busy for the first day and that made Eli a little nervous. He wouldn't leave my side the whole time.
I was happy for this picture since he had such a big smile on his face. I have to say he is so cute and looks so big with his lunch box and backpack.

We walked him into his new classroom and he sat with the rest of his class on the rug. All the parents were surrounding the room while Eli's teacher Mrs. Harmsen read a story to the kids. I started to cry right away and had to leave to compose myself so that Eli wouldn't see me that way. Finally when I was better I came back in and by this time they were telling the kids that they needed to come and give their Mom's and Dad's a kiss goodbye. They were doing it in order from A to Z by last names and as you all know Wharton is almost at the end. So poor Eli had to watch as kids were crying and saying goodbye. When his name was called he just kept shacking his head and wouldn't look up at me and I instantly knew he was having a hard time. Once he got up he was crying. I then couldn't help it and I started to cry too. It was hard but somehow we stopped crying and hugging and he was ok to go sit back down.

We made it through the day and he was excited to go back the next day and every day since. So I know he likes it and is having a great time. It still is hard every once in awhile I miss him and wonder how he is doing. I love him and am so proud of my big kid!

Last Summer Swim

My wonderful husband let me take off to Utah by myself for a girls weekend. I was so excited and had such a great time with my sisters. I didn't take the camera with me (of course) so I didn't get any pictures of the fun we had. I got to have a spa day with Heather and Joanna. When I was with Andrea I got a much needed hair cut and some R&R. I saw the movie Herry Potter, which was awesome! It was such a great time I hope we get to do it again next year. Maybe I will remember to bring my camera.
I wasn't the only one having fun though. Keith took the kids out to Sandy Beach here in Casper. Here are all the pictures to prove that they had fun without their Mom. (;

Here they are eating dinner before they go play. They didn't want sand in their sandwiches.
They both thought the water was cold so they didn't get very far into the water if at all.
Playing in the sand.
Making a sand castle.
Beautiful veiw to end the day.

Visit from Grandma & Grandpa Metcalfe

This summer we were so lucky to have Mom and Dad come and visit us. My kids loved having them around. They got books read to them, got to play cars and legos, and colored lots of pictures. The kids weren't the only ones that loved having them around and who got their help. Dad dug holes for our sprinklers and put up some of our fence. Mom was so helpful to me with dinners and dishes. I also got a nap in or two witch was much needed.
Here I got a picture of Mom and Mckenna reading books together. One day Mckenna brought out about all the books she has and had them laid out for Mom to read to her.

Then it was Dad's turn to read. They were practicing letter sounds together.
Eli got Dad on the floor to play legos more then once.
When he wasn't out putting up our fence.
Here is Keith doing some of the fence too. Doesn't it look great!
Thanks Mom and Dad for coming and for all the help!

Pig Roast

So how many people can say they have had a pig roasted in their back yard? Well since we don't quite have a back yard yet I can say, "I have." In our ward we had a family from Hawaii move in and they were good enough to roast a pig for our ward luau. A few days before the roast Keith and a few other guys dug a monster hole where my garden used to be. Then at about 4 in the morning the day of the roast the family came over to start on the pig.

First they put rocks in the hole.
Then they added wood and lighter fluid to get a fire going so the rocks could get really, really hot. The people in the picture are (in the front) Lynn Benabise and then her two boys. Then her husband Paul Benabise and in the back is Paul's father.
After the rock got hot enough they cut the pig in certain spots and placed some of the hot rocks right into the pig.
Here Keith and Brother Helm, the Elders Quorum President are lowering the pig in with the hot rocks.

Then because we don't have any bamboo leaves around they had to cover the pig with wet burlap.
Here Keith helped cover the hole with a tarp to keep the dirt out and heat in. Look at all that steam.
Then they covered it with more dirt.
At about 5:30 that night the pig was done and here we had lots of people to help take the tarp off. They were trying to keep the dirt off the pig as well.
The cooked pig.
Time to eat! Here the ward is digging in. One thing that I didn't take a picture of was my banana lumpia. The Benabise's also gave out some traditional Hawaiian recipes for people to make and this is the one I got to try. Luckily for me Paul was at our house most of the day and helped me make them the right way. They are bananas with honey wrapped up in an egg roll and then fried. After they cool you top them with powdered sugar. They were so good and gone in no time flat!
Here is our Bishopric learning a Hawaiian dance.
Then it was the sister missionaries turn. What a great time we all had thanks to the Benabise family.

My front yard

To say I been looking forward to having a front yard is a understatement! I was so tired of looking out and just seeing dirt for the last 5 years. Well after lots of work and lots and lots of help from friends I am pleased to show you the progression of my new yard.

This first picture is a before picture. Nothing but dirt.

I also had to get a picture of Keith working on our new fence! (:
When I took this picture it was the start of us working on clearing out the weeds and getting the dirt moved around. When we first stared it was just the two of us then Keith's friend Noah came by to help. After he showed up our neighbor down the street came over with his tractor and told us to use it. We were so grateful for the help and such great friends. Here Eli is in the drivers seat he and Mckenna loved having a ride with Dad.
Keith and Noah got my red brick all laid out and now it was time for the rocks.
Mckenna's turn to drive with Dad. The kids in the back are Noah's two girls and Eli.

After a few hours another one of our good friends, Jason came over in his TRACTOR! He saved us so many hours of work by moving rocks and all the dirt for my flower bed.
This is just a picture showing all the hard work the boys did.
A few days later we had a truck come and dump compost into our yard. The boys that are in this picture are some boys in our ward. They were at our house with their parents roasting a pig in our back yard. That story is for another day. (: These boys were awesome. We kept telling them they didn't have to work but they kept at it and helped us so much.
Just some more compost. We had a big dump truck dump the first load and then another small truck dump this load.
Here all the compost is all spread out. We needed all this compost because Keith sent in a soil sample to the University of Wyoming and they sent us back a letter telling us that we have very bad soil. We weren't surprised but they called us and told us the steps we would need to take in order to remedy our sad soil. I was happy to know that all we needed to do was add 2 inches of compost and then rota till it about 3-5 inches deep.
I didn't get any pictures of Keith rota tiling the dirt. It would have been a funny picture too because it was windy that day and a little rainy. Keith looked a mess. I also don't have pictures of the trenches that Keith and my Dad dug for the sprinkler system. Also I was in Utah when the grass showed up and so I don't have any pictures of the sod being laid. What can I say I really am no good at this but I do have these two pictures of the finished product. Drum roll please...

Thanks to all our friends and to Dad for all the hard work that you put into helping us have this wonderful new yard! Thank you Keith for making it happen. I LOVE IT!

First missing tooth

One day in June my kids and I were getting ready to sit down to eat some lunch. I had made hot dogs and had put them in front of the kids to eat and went back to the kitchen to make mine. After a few minutes Eli tells me that his tooth hurts. At first I told him he would be fine and went back to doing what I was doing. (What a great Mom!) A minute later he says, "Mom my tooth really really hurts." So I go over and take a look. He points to the tooth and I look at it but don't see anything stuck in it and tell him to be careful eating. Just as I was about to sit he tells me again, "Mom my tooth is wiggling!" My first thought was that there couldn't be any way he had a loose tooth. He is only 5, right! Well as I took another look and this time used my finger I about fell on the floor when it was in fact loose. I could tell that he was not sure if he should be scared or not so I used my best excited face and told him how great it was that he was becoming a big kid and getting his big kid teeth. As I talked to him I could tell he was less and less scared and even more so when I told him about the tooth fairy. As I talked I wiggled and after about 5 wiggles that tooth fell right out. So here is our first picture of Eli with his first missing tooth.
I wasn't quick enough with the camera but this is him grabbing for his surprise that the tooth fairy left under his pillow.
MONEY!