Left over pictures...

We decided to go to the South Lincoln Hospital Halloween fair and were shocked at all of the wonderful functions! Not only was there a spectacular Haunted House, a Vampire to take pictures with...
...the best scones and honey butter...
scary monsters to torture your soul...
the best part was that it was all FREE!!! Let me tell you...it was great!!!
Max was pooped after all of the festivities...in this picture you can see the chocolate eye ball he grabbed upon arrival and never let go of until bath time that night (by that time it was more of a chocolate slime ball)!!!!
My mom took this picture...I love the random monkey above Max's head!
We went to visit my brother at his new office...I thought this was a funny (lame) radiology sticker.
Here's Peter's door...
Max wearing Peter's jacket! :) So far, I've been having a great time in California...but missing Eric! Even home isn't home when you don't have all of your family with you!

More Halloween Festivities!!

We put on a 1st Ward Halloween Carnival packed with a Halloween Costume contest,

A caramel apple bar (eerily similar to Carli's :) !!!! ), a cupcake walk...

"Homemade root beer (long story)",

Here are Max and Bella...both wearing skeleton costumes...

The skeleton family

Eric carving out his pumpkin...

Carli, Chuck and myself in front of our masterpieces!

Our pumpkins in all of their glory!
Eric's pumpkin. It was a great Halloween this year and we're excited for the holiday season to begin!!!

Our Halloween Party!!!

We had our third annual adults only Halloween Party...this year we happened to have ordered some leather dining chairs that came in a huge box...it was too good of an opportunity to pass up...

This first couple, Blake and Amanda (Paper and Plastic) are so cute...Blake figures it our pretty quickly, but doesn't ruin the gag for his wife!!!





Emily and Colton heard another couple screaming...so, they don't look that scared (on the outside)...but Colton later admitted that he let out a little tinkle



Here are the Hogans...I can't tell if Janelle is mocking us and pretending to be scared or if she really is scared!!! You decide for yourselves.




This is a new couple in our ward (Chase and Meagan)
...they were such good sports and were so fun!!!


This video is my personal favorite...Holly and Kasey!!

We wear this costume at least once during each Halloween season (and, yes, we consider it a season!!)

200720082009 We had a great night of Mafia, Cafe Rio and friends!!!!

This was Carli's amazing wedding cake that Jacquie Bryant took a chunk out of...we peeled off the fondant and re-frosted it and made a skeleton take a bloody bite out of it.

It was a great night, we were just sad that we couldn't invite all of our friends...this year we limited it to just our ward...When I was a Girls Scout, there was a song that we sang that I've often thought of, 'Make new friends and keep the old, one is silver and the other gold.' We hope our third ward friends know that they're platinum in our eyes!

Carli's Married!!!

So, you know how they say it takes a village to raise a child...well, they should amend it to be it takes an entire family to have a wedding!!! Spectacular is the word that comes to mind!!!

The wedding was beautiful! It was a little stressful as the sealer began to speak and still no sight of Eric...but, for dramatic effect, he made it by the skin of his teeth!! There was such a tender spirit in the temple that morning. No tears for me...until I saw Jim literally burst out with emotions...nothing sweeter than a father who loves his family that much!!!

Here's the softy now...doesn't this picture look like Christ is literally floating next to him...a little creepy!!!

Before the sealer began the sealing, he spoke with Chuck and Carli...he said, just in his preparations, he assumed that they were both raised in the Church,...it surprised me how overcome with emotions I was at this simple assumption...I may not have been raised in the church...but how lucky my little Max is to have been born into the covenant...it really was the most magnificent feeling.

After the temple, Chuck's parents put on an amazing dinner, the main course: lamb...I would expect nothing else!!!! I had to laugh when I saw Wendy's son Jackson grab a huge mound of the mint jelly...I quickly asked him if he knew that it wasn't LIME jell-0!!!!

Here's Dylan showing me how good the rolls were (and they were delectable!!!). I knew that lamb was going to be the main course and because I'm a total freak and have been obsessed with Max eating what I eat, I found some lamb baby food...it was not as good as what we got...but it was still lamb!!!

Everyone had fun dancing at the reception, eating delicious foods, singing karaoke...the D.J. Mike Ellis was fantastic...I don't think I can remember a better wedding (well, of course, present company's wedding excluded!).

Chuck!!! That would have been the perfect picture!!!! Why must you torture my soul!!!???

The Phillips family!

...another Phillips family...

Eric asked Julie to dance during the mother-son dance...cute!!!!
Dan asked Mary during the mother-son dance, as well!!! What good guys!!!

Eric, Carly and I sang, "Summer nights." (Um...Meradith...somebody had to sing it!!!!)Becky was holding Max and asked if he would like a friend, "YES!!!" I replied!!!! She then said sometime in April he would get a friend...assuming she meant Meradith and Jason's baby, I disappointingly told her I already knew about that friend. I wanted her to provide a friend for Max, to which she answered, "I know...that's what I mean!" It took my brain SO LONG to process that...she's also due in April!!! FUN TIMES!!!!! They're going to make the best parents!!!

Chuck's brother dancing during the Y-M-C-A song!!

All the Phillips men singing, (Willie Nelson's) My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys.

MoNKeY mAx!!!!!!

Something that Eric and I share in common is our uncommon love and obsession for Halloween!!! Here is a MOnKey suit we got Max!

I couldn't resist scattering a few bananas (b is for bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S!!!) around!!

I think I caught him a little off guard in this picture!

My dad won Max this bear...

Jim came to Kemmerer and took Eric out to lunch at the Westerner...Max and I visited for a moment...

As a side note...my brother got engaged this week...CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

Goodbye blue skies, hello grey!!!!

I woke up this morning, opened my door and this is what I saw:

Goodbye summer, hello autumn/winter!

Here are some pictures that I never got around to posting...these are from Jesse and Kylee's wedding. Here are Jody's parents and Dylan...he was the best man...he was so stinkin' cute!!

I thought this was a really tender moment...every couple should have a picture like this and look at it when they can't remember why they got married!!!!

Here's Kylee dancing with the girls to Hannah Montana...Party in the U.S.A.!!!! I admit it...I like some of her stuff...it's so darn catchy!!!

Here's Max boogieing down with his cousin Jenna...where did you come from, where did you go....

Jim and Hanky...My sister-in-law is getting married next week... Every year around summer, I can't help but get a little nostalgic about weddings...more specifically, my own wedding...but then you help out with a wedding and that remedies any desire you had to planning another wedding...so many hard nights of trial and error...
Carli said it the best the other day...I can't wait until it's over...I want to be able to shop and not stress about what I need to buy for the wedding...and just buy for me!...hahaha, she was partially joking...that Carli, she's so funny!

Here are some funny pictures of Max from this summer...

His cute little Winnie the Pooh outfit...right after a nap...

Here he is sitting in a grocery cart with the new activity shop & learn mat I bought him... I was so worried about the backlash I would receive by putting him in it...then I ran into a friend who had her daughter in one also...as she put it, they'll mock you...but I say, mock away! Her words gave me confidence to hold my head up high, regardless of the looks I got!

Max hasn't fully grasped the concept of looking behind him yet...here, he heard my voice but couldn't find me...this is his way of looking behind him! As Descartes, Rousseau, Aristotle, Hobbes, Nietzsche & David contemplated before him, Max is wondering, "Is this real life? Why is this happening to me? I have two fingers, I have four fingers...AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!"

CaRLi's PriNCesS ShOwER!!!!

I particularly love this picture...I think it's artistic and captures the essence of the shower. This post is going to have a lot of pictures that might not be that interesting to everyone...but I'm doing with Annie in mind, so she can feel like she was there (she was definitely missed!).

The cupcakes were my contribution...

Julie and Jody came up with the theme of a Princess shower...everyone got tiara's as they entered...as well as bead necklaces and name tags with their very own princess name!

...the original princess....

Princess Carli of Calla Lilies...

Caddie, Brenda, Julie and Nikki...

Lindsey and Abbey Coryel...Abby was so stinkin' cute...she helped me pass out drinks...

Carli getting ready for her honeymoon....

She looked hot!!!!

Jody holding the mirror for Carli to see herself in all her glory!!!

Maxine, Claire, Megan and Whitney Hendrix...

This picture isn't the best one of me or Nikki, but I loved Maxwell and Monson's expressions!

Brooke and Abbey were the official present deliverers!

Carli opening her grocery gifts from her shower.

Each guest got a homemade chocolate truffle in a box.