loving the season

i love this time of year!
with yummy warm soups and foods,
playing outside,
leaves changing colors,
the smell of the fall air,
great fall styles, including boots,
and hanging out with family and friends.

we had a great halloween weekend.
ryks was a hot dog and was the hit
of the school parade and parties.

the friday before halloween,
graham's work had a parade for the kids.
we took ryks through the maze of cubicles
so he could trick or treat.
ryker quickly grasped the concept and
ran as fast as a hot dog can
from each cubicle to the next.











friday was also sean's birthday so
we had the family over to celebrate
and to take some pictures
for grandma and grandpa weddick.

with our crazy busy schedules,
gray and i decided to do pasta salads,
which we could prepare everything
the night before.
also, the weekend before,
my mom had my family decorate
cupcakes and we all loved it.
so i had graham's family decorate
cupcakes for sean's birthday.
with the creative genius of
laurie, cami, and ellie,
i think the whole family
had a lot of fun.















(kami - i'm so sorry i spelled
your name wrong. i will fix this pic!)


on saturday, we went trick or treating
in bountiful where we spent the evening
playing with family and old friends
and of course, watching the utes.

lucky kid

ryks is a very lucky guy.
because his aunt nick is the coach
for the woods cross high cheerleaders
(who took first at state last year,
which was nick's first year coaching them.
seriously, she is amazing),
ryks gets to spend football games
cuddling with the cheerleaders.

"o'doyle rules" and other funny stories

graham's brothers and my brother
will be very pleased to know that
i finally played a successful prank.
i always try to play pranks
but always get caught.
(they say i'm not sneaky enough).

well, graham got played.

gray kept kicking the soccer ball at me.
annoyed, i told him to stop "or else."
knowing that "or else" is a harmless threat
he continued to kick the ball at me.

resolved to finally get him back,
i taped rows of clear packing tape
across the frame of our bedroom door.
i quickly got ready for bed
and turned out the lights.

i eagerly listened as graham
walked upstairs and down the hall.
moving at a good speed, his face smashed
right into the rows of tape.

i couldn't stop laughing for ten minutes.
it was hilarious to see his face
smushed up in the tap. it was even better
to watch him peel the tap off his face.

hey graham - "o'doyle rules!"
i guess "or else" is something to contend with.

my second funny story is about ryker.
ryker is now learning animals and sounds.
when we ask him what a piggy says,
he puts his finger on his nose and pushes it up
and instead of snorting,
he blows his nose.
he is the funniest kid!
this age is definitely my favorite.

the third "funny" story is only funny because
(generally) it is funny when people fall.

i started my new job this week.
sorry about the cliffhanger last time -
i was recently promoted to communication director
for our parent company. so i had to leave some
really good friends and projects and move
to the downtown offices.

the first day on the job
did not go as well as expected.
around 10:00 a.m. i decided to head to the
food court to get a drink.
i started my descent down the marble steps
when somehow i fell.

i don't know what happened but at the end,
my shoes were still on the top step and i had
tumbled, rolled, and stopped on the last step.
i was mortified but only had one spectator.

now i'm sporting no less than five spectacular
bruises on my legs and top of my feet.
i am completely fine so now people can
laugh at my first impression on the
first day of my new job.

when will i outgrow clumsiness?

change: part one

one of my favorite lines from little women
is when jo march says:
"change will come as surely as the seasons,
and twice as quick"

as graham and i head into
our own season of change,
the thing that has made me the most emotional
is ryker starting a new daycare/school.

ryks' previous daycare was full of amazing
women who loved ryker so much and
took wonderful care of him.

however, it was time to switch ryks to the
daycare/school just down the hall
from graham's office.
this new school is awesome and places a
major emphasis on education.

so ryks and i said good bye to friends last week
and he started his first day
at the new school this morning.

graham just called and reported that ryks
instantly liked his new teacher.
ryker didn't even have time to
wave good bye to his dad
before he was off playing with
new toys and new friends.

kids are resilient and moms are emotional.
i'm glad ryks handled this so well.
now it's time to worry about
finding a new home soon and
starting a new job next week.
all in a day’s work.