UVU vs. U of H

One of Ben's first games of the season was an away game--HERE at University of Houston on Nov. 14, 2011!  We had a pretty big group-Dan, Candy, and I, my Dad, Carrie, Tyler, and Shad, a couple Dan works with, and a friend from our ward.  It was a pretty empty stadium, so we had great seats!  Unfortunately they lost.  But it's always fun to get to see Ben play and have a quick chat with him!

Megan's Party

With Halloween weekend pretty booked, we decided to hold Megan's party the next weekend, on Saturday Nov. 5.  For most of the fall, she'd been saying she wanted a princess party but when it came time to send out invitations, she opted for a good, ol' Halloween bash instead. 

Megan has really grown in so many ways in the past year.  She is so much easier to reason with when we disagree and spends a lot less time in time-out than in the past.  She loves to share her testimony at Family Night.  She occasionally comes out after naptime to tell me she was missing Granny but she said a prayer and now she feels better.  She is awake early most days (by 5:30 or so) and naps about 80% of the time (usually for an hour).  She still goes to bed around 7 and sleeps like a rock.  She loves music of any kind and has this hilarious shoulder-wiggle move that I love when she starts to dance.  She loves to sing and loves princesses, especially Rapunzel as of late (although Ariel is probably her favorite).  She really enjoys primary and joy school and wants to know what is on our agenda each day (she's always asking if it's grocery day or school day or playgroup day or church day, etc).  She's still hesitant in new situations, but she seems to get more brave every day!  She practices her primary part all the time at home and I'm interested to see how she does next week for the primary program!  She can identify most letters and occasionally tries to write her name.  She can count to 13 consistently and after that things get a little sketchy :).  She loves to color and seems to prefer coloring large patches of vibrant color without worrying about where the lines are.  Her favorite playmate is Brooke, followed closely by her good buddy Megan and cousin Chloe.  She loves reading books and is especially adept at doing puzzles.  Her favorite game is hide and seek, especially playing with Daddy when he gets home from work.  She loves to play pretend (usually some form of "mommy and baby") and loves to help me with whatever I'm doing (especially cooking).  She's learned to make her bed on her own and dresses herself several times everyday.  Her favorite color is pink (and purple), her favorite food is mac-n-cheese and pizza, and her favorite toy is her pink bunny.  She tries so hard to make good choices and is pretty devastated when she gets in trouble--she is great at saying she's sorry and she even means it now.  We are so blessed to have such a sweet girl in our family--we love you Megan!

The party was really low-key.  I basically did the same things we did last year!  We did face-painting, dancing, "witch-witch-ghost" (which was MUCH easier with 4 year olds!), a pumpkin craft, lunch, and cupcakes!
Megan loved it.  Who knows--this could be the first birthday party she really remembers!

Attempting the "4" with her fingers...

Got it!

The cupcake "cake"

The spread...

The guests arrive!  Brooke, Megan, Megan, Karalee, and Kate (the rainbow on one cheek/heart on the other was all the rage)

Maddy and Bradley

Craft  time--that's my SIL Amy

Happy Brookie...

Practicing their dance moves while the others finish their crafts...

Megan's "all the attention's on me-I'm a little nervous-I'll just stick out my tongue in an effort not to cry" face--she managed to pull through :)

Halfway there!

Presents!

Halloween! And a 4 year old...

It's hard to believe that it's been 4 Halloweens since we were in the hospital in Provo with our new baby girl.
Here's our sweet Megan at breakfast (doesn't she look grown up?)--Oct. 31

Halloween was a busy Monday--we still grocery swapped in the morning, did our little neighborhood costume walk at 4 pm, ate dinner at 5 pm, opened presents, and headed out to Trick or Treat at 6:15 pm.

Our happy little pumpkin, Candace enjoyed her first Halloween...

All the costume walkers!  (*the neighbor in the green scrubs was awesome--that's no basketball pumpkin--that's her preggo belly painted to look like a pumpkin!)

Walking with friends...Megan and Megan

Blue-eyed Candy girl...

Brookie and Maddy...

Mmm...cookies (what a great prelude to the candy to come!)

2 princesses excited for Megan to open her birthday presents and then go trick or treating!

Let's go!

Zoo Day

Dan's work hosted a free zoo day on Oct. 29.  We got to wander around the zoo and they even provided a lunch!  It was BUSY but we got there early and were able to enjoy ourselves before it got crowded.  It was Candace's first zoo trip and she really enjoyed it (at least, she sat happily in the stroller while we chased the big girls).  Megan's favorite part was the hula hoop competition hosted by some crazy dj lady with CRAZY loud music.  She would stand there and fling the hula hoop around her hips and watch it fall.  Hilarious.  I wish I'd caught it on video.  She then joined the costume parade and followed the crazy dj in a huge line all the way around the center fountain area in the middle of the zoo and was the happiest little dancing marcher in the world!

Dan, Brooke, and Megan in jail (ok, really they were watching the seals swim)...

Elephant!  My personal favorite at the zoo--a little stinky, but so fun to watch!

Brooke, Megan, and an okapi! (a common animal, I definitely didn't have to look it up on wikipedia to make sure I got it right...ahem)

Happy baby in one of her Halloween outfits...

Megan and Brooke decided they really enjoyed the hut lifestyle in the new African Forest section...

Smiling outside the chimpanzee exhibit...

Brooke and the headless baby hippo...

OH!  good, there's his head back...

And, just because she's so cute (and this dress is so cute--seriously my favorite), here's our little Candy ready for church the next day, on Oct. 30...

Trunk or Treat...

Our ward's trunk-or-treat was Friday night, Oct. 28th at the elementary school parking lot in the neighborhood--it was a blast!  And the weather was great--we needed jackets but it wasn't too cold to enjoy.  Oh man, we definitely came home with more candy in their buckets than we gave out--they got quite the haul for one trip around the parking lot!

My cute almost 4 year old...

Princess hair...

2 princesses with princess hair watching a princess movie (do we have girls or what?)

Sisters...

Popeye and Sweet Pea (or 2 princesses and a pea, whichever stretch you prefer to make it seem like our costumes were related)...

3 princesses and a pea!

Dan's B-day/Joyschool Costume Parade

The preschool Halloween party was a few days before Halloween--so it meant I had to have our Halloween costumes finished early!  I used the same pattern Mom used for our pink princess dress and made a purple one.  My friend Ashley borrowed it to make a white one.  They turned out pretty cute and we both finished up on Oct. 26.
October 27 was the big kickoff to the craziness of Halloween week at our house.  Not only did Dan turn 32 that day, he got to work from home and took his lunch break so he could watch Megan in her first joy school program.  They did a little march in their costumes, sang a few songs (including I'm a Mean Old Witch--a staple autumn family night song in our family), and were just plain adorable.
Dan's birthday was pretty low-key.  I made him breakfast and we had a yummy dinner and then a family party on Saturday, but that was it...sorry honey...maybe next year I'll plan ahead?  (*don't feel too bad for him, we purchased a new laptop for his birthday)

The dresses are done!  Hurray!  Oct. 26

Waiting to perform for the Moms (and Dan)...Oct. 27

Marching out...

"Singing"...more or less

Happy Birthday Daddy!