first pig tails ever!!!

she finally has girly hair!

I am so in love with this hairstyle!

and even more in love with this girl!

(and p.s. like this was taken in Nov. and it was warm enough to wear a sun dress...loving st. george weather!)

little miss gullible and the tricky, tricky husband.

a while back my family came into town and justin and I got to go on a real live date! we had planned to go to the movies and justin called me from work to say he had tried to get tickets to "fame" since he knew I love anything that has music in it. but he said that it was sold out and that he got tickets to something else, but would not tell me what. he even clarified saying "please don't think I am tricking you and really taking you to that" ah he knows me all to well.

he always wants to walk around outside on dates and I am always cold so he forced me to bring a jacket...I thought nothing of it since I am a pansy about cold.

so, we start driving to the movie theater and we are going towards the middle of nowhere. he kept assuring me that his co-workers had told him where it was and that we were headed that direction. then he acted like he was confused and needed me to call 411, but said the call kept dropping when I held the phone to his ear...tricky tricky. then he said "they said I needed to be on (insert some road name I forgot)". I assured him that we were on that but he just turned on to some road called TUCAN (like the bird). yeah, at this point many of you would have caught on...but not I, the ever gullible girl.

we were STILL headed towards nowhere, and he finally said, ok, I lied , it's an out door theater. I was like oh I love outdoor movie theaters! STILL not catching on.

then we pull in and he tells me it's the famous TUACAHN theater. then it makes sense, and I instantly melt at his cuteness. he took me to see AIDA. I love musicals, I love fun surprises, I love cute husbands who plan amazing things and keep it all secret!

the show was wonderful and I loved every minute! from the music to the hot chocolate, it was perfect. major brownie points justin.

we got home and raved about how good the show was to my parents. they saw it a few nights later and were equally impressed.

definitely one of the best dates ever...thanks sweetie!

tale as old as time

and now...what all the family has been waiting for...

our little beauty and our little beast

I have to give credit yet again this year to the amazing becca. she whipped up this vest and jacket for cole that were just perfect! my mom had sent me these boots forever ago with a dress up outfit, and I fashioned this wig out of craft hair and those horns were devils horns transformed with a bit of paint.

justin was a bit unsure when I said I was making a wig...oh ye of little faith...don't you know what can be done with a glue gun?

becca and I both thought the back was as good as the front...

and my mom found this for our little ali.

did she like it? well, we put it on and she would not stop twirling and looking at it...such a girl

it was so perfect.

before the tick or treating could begin daddy decided that ali needed a dainty candy holder, so I made this (with inspiration from the ever crafy lindsey).

then it was time to put them to use. first we practiced on becca...

and then we moved onto the neighborhood party. this was the cutest thing I have ever seen, food, drinks, games in each driveway on this cul-de-sac, trick or treating and a costume parade. it was intense! and my friend lenae's little girl tasia was belle, we couldn't resist a picture! her mom whipped this costume up...she could have been a pioneer with all her mad skills.

and when night fell it was time for the real trick or treating...cole and dad braved the streets, while ali and I handed out candy...she was OBSESSED. she waited by the door and got SO excited each time the doorbell rang...it was hilarious.

cole was loving his spoils...

and ali was loving her daddy.

it was so a happy halloween.

deck the halls with...pumkins

we had so much fun carving pumpkins on FHE a few MONTHS ago! don't judge...I had a good reason for not being able to blog this forever ago remember?

ali loved that she got her very own pumpkin

and justin and cole took it all very seriously

while I enjoyed the fall fattening treats with pleasure

ali got right to work

and cole dug right in

until dad asked if he wanted to eat it

c'mon cole...not even one little bite?

all that hard work payed off and those guts even became a tasty treat the next day when cole and I baked the pumpkin seeds...yum!

justin did the detailed haunted house while cole and i stuck to the simpler, but no less scary skeleton.

cole's favorite part? lighting the candle with dad...ah my little pyro's...and if you know about my irrational fear of lighting things on fire then you definitely know this boy get's his interest from dad!

confessions of a shop-a-holic

hmmm...what does this say about me?

cole brought me the peter pan dvd and asked me if he could watch

Tai Pan

poor kid, apparently he has been dragged there one to many times.

on a different note, I have given up any hope of finding my camera cord to upload my pictures...hence the clip art updates, but I was able to find a replacement cord on line for cheap so hopefully actual pictures will grace our blog soon! just don't judge me if halloween pictures show up Dec. 1st!

a "toad" ally fun night

the other night one of Justin's co-workers was kind enough to give us tickets to the Dixie State production of "a year in frog and toad". when we arrived we found that we had been given front row seats! the play was fabulous. it was obviously meant for full family enjoyment. the jokes and songs were entertaining to all ages and I must admit Justin and I laughed out loud many a time. Cole also loved it! he was so excited and was glued to the play the whole time. but the big surprise of the night was how much Ali loved it. she was captivated through the entire first act. the music started and she, while sitting on daddy's lap, began to bust out her dance moves. it was hilarious. when they flew a kite on stage, she reached out her hand to try and grab it and turned to us with a look like "this is amazing!" she only got antsy for the last 15 minutes of the entire show and that was because she wanted to walk around...and get to the stage. at intermission the snail (who was one of our favorites) came out to have some fun with the kids. when all the kids followed him up the stairs ali hopped off daddy's lap and tagged right along with cole. at the end all the characters sat on the edge of the stage to talk with the kids. cole got first dibs due to our amazing seats. the cast was so cute with him and he was awe struck. all in all great family night out.

she got her wish...

Yesterday after a very long and full life my "other grandma" went home to be with her sweetheart.

(this was taken when cole was 2 weeks old)

the term "other grandma" although odd sounding to outsiders, was a term my grandma loved and encouraged. she signed all notes, letters, and referred to herself as other grandma. it was not a definition just a term she heard her tiny grand kid say and decided to make it stick.

she was born in 1917 and was 92 when she quietly slipped away at my parents home, in her bed. to those of you who knew her, you know that she has wanted this for a long time. in fact each time I would go visit and tell her she had to stick around for another grand baby or something like that, she would put her hand up over her face and say "oh heather, don't wish that on me!" she had had a long life with plenty of experiences and was so ready to be reunited with my grandpa. my grandpa died when I was 11 months old, and all she wanted was to be with him again. so, yesterday afternoon she finally got her wish.

I was lucky enough to get to spend time with her just a few weeks ago when my parents brought her up with them to visit the grand kids. she loved just watching my oh so entertaining children. and then the day before she passed I was able to speak to her on the phone and say goodbye. and when I told her to say hi to other grandpa for me I am told she got a huge grin across her face. there is no doubt in any of our minds that other grandma is happy and that other grandpa is too.

just a few thoughts...

juicy fruit, her big red-ish car with cushion so she could see over the steering wheel, hiding her keys, 7 up, broccoli and avocado dip, the brown bowl chair, the way her bedroom smelled like her, neapolitan ice cream, drum sticks, baseball games, clapping her hands together once when she was so happy about something, broaches, tough, being the audience when david and I put on award shows with categories like "best other grandma" and where the awards were forks wrapped in tin foil, being our customer when david and I made up restaurants with menu items like "piece of bread", visiting her at her ward and in the church library, the house in vista, passing the landmark of the big guy and knowing we were almost there, the bag, how much she approved of and loved justin, her watching my kids, the pictures of her grand kids all over her house, how proud she got when she talked about my dad, stories about when she met my grandpa and stories like how her pictures were on public transportation as adds for the photo studio, how strong she was, how much she loved us.
xoxoxo