There once was a time I was an Edward fan...
(like before last Friday)






I'm reconsidering my devotions.


Edward is looking just a bit blah these days. Sparkly, yes. Ripped, not quite.

There are PLENTY of photos that could show the difference, but remember this is a family blog and I'm in love with my husband. Let's just say it was quite a challenge locating a fully clothed photo of Jacob.

It might be a bit early to start talking Christmas lists, but we try to be on the ball around here. I try to get the kids thinking early so they have time to cut and revise if they change their mind. That way we can eliminate lists such as this one...hopefully.

Last year when Ty had a little birthday party, his friends went home with a candy bar tied up with a ribbon that said something along the lines of "thanks for helping Ty celebrate!" Today in Kindergarten, there was a birthday "celebration." I wasn't actually there, so I can only imagine what kind of festivities went on in the classroom. Ty informed me that they had corndogs, juice and cupcakes. Corndogs?! We have to provide lunch for the whole class now? Then as each child walked out the door, they were given their own jumbo helium balloon. At this point I was already kinda thinking wow. This is quite the class birthday. Then as we're walking out to the van, Ty says, "My backpack is sooooo heavy from all the party stuff." There's more?! I couldn't believe it. When we arrived home, out of his backpack came

a light up yo yo
a giant light up bouncy ball on a string complete with a wrist strap
4 cutsie erasers
a hacky sack

and because that wasn't enough there was a super cool dart gun (with 4 darts included) tied to the outside of the goody bag. This was like high quality merchandise.

Who knows what the girls went home with. Probably a gift certificate to the spa.

Let me back up a bit. Last week, Ty received an invitation to this same girl's party, so this school party was just the beginning! I told him he wouldn't be able to go because I have no clue who the girl's family is and the party is scheduled to last until 9 PM. Ummm. We're talking five year-olds. Am I the only one who thinks is all just a bit over the top? Unfortunately it looks like Ty may be missing out on the experience of a lifetime by not attending the party. Maybe the whole Dodger line-up will be there. Or maybe they'll be raffling off new big screens. Maybe backyard pony rides, bumper cars, and ferris wheels will be there. A carnival perhaps? Seriously. What happened to pin the tail on the donkey?

We just may decide to cancel birthday parties around here. The other kids' moms are damaging my self-esteem.

There may be no greater sound than that of a happy family. Especially, when it's my family. I love it when the kids are happily playing, giggling together about their made up jokes, or just chatting away, enjoying being a family. More often than not, the happy sounds become loud and sometimes a bit chaotic, but as long as it's happy chaos I can deal with it. I love having a busy and bustling home full of little bodies who are eager to live life.

My second favorite sound comes in at a very close second. That would be the sound of nothing. It's obvious why this is also a favorite of mine. It's a rare commodity. I love it when I can sit and listen to the sound of quiet. When I am able to identify the sound of one single bird chirping outside the window or count the breaths of a napping baby who has decided to gift me with a moment of solitude. Quiet calms me. Quiet rejuvenates me from the inside out.

There isn't enough quiet in the world. With so many distractions - the TV, radios, cell phones, alarms, and even noisy appliances that are often a permanent background - it's difficult to find silence. Quiet bliss is critical for me. It's critical for everyone. It's healthy for the body, mind, and spirit. I know because I know how it makes me feel.

Right now, it is quiet. I am relishing in the beautiful sound of silence. My sweet Reas has taken the kids out, and here I am listening to nothing. When they return, it will be loud. I know because I know my family. I'm sure it will be a happy loud with excited voices telling me about the outing with Daddy or about the funny things they saw or did. It will be a good sound, made even better having been preluded by silence.

I really have a problem. I have serious procrastination issues and I'm just gonna come clean with the world. Here it is Friday - two days before Sunday. This weekend is about as crammed full of stuff to do as one weekend can possibly handle. Like there is NO time to spare. And to top it off, I'm teaching Relief Society on Sunday (which I haven't done since I was oh...19 years old). I have a 38% completed lesson.

All this being said, you would think I would be somewhere else right now. And my burning desire is to...change my blog layout?! And then blog about not doing what I should be doing. This is the ultimate example of not being a wise steward of my time. In my defense though, I have been working on my lesson for quite some time and my brain needs a little break. I need some time to throw all the ideas around in my head, chew some up, spit some out, rearrange, and figure out how it will all come together. Anyway, I tend to do most of my best thinking in my sleep...really. Some of my most BRILLIANT ideas come in the wee hours of the night. Ideas like how to rearrange the furniture in my family room in order to achieve an open yet cozy feel, how to sneak veggies down my kids without them knowing it (wait - I haven't figured out that one yet), and how to handle the pounds of Halloween candy that seem to be disturbing our peaceful home life. I'm thinking my lesson will definitely come together tonight. I'm feeling it. And besides, I'm running out of time.

How's that for rationalization?

So, back to my blog layout. I want to change the header to have something snazzy. I have no idea how to do that, so I'll have to do some research OR one of you can just steer me in the right direction. My dear friend and old BYU roommate (hi Manda!) created my last custom header for me, so really I'm very clueless. I loved it, I bonded with my blog, we got along great, and now it's time for a change. I'm also considering changing the whole title. "Carrie and Company" is appearing a bit self-absorbed to me. Afterall, there is more to this family than me. Maybe I'll let you vote on some ideas. Hmmm. That could be fun.

Alright, now that I've successfuly put off preparing my lesson, I've got to get down to the nitty gritty (said with a Spanish accent). Name that movie.

Hasta, amigas.

We partied hard over Halloween weekend. The kids had Friday and Monday off from school, so we took advantage of the long weekend by heading to California. We were sad Reas wasn't able to come along, but he was sure to remind the kids about Daddy Halloween taxes. They were actually kind of excited about presenting him with his bag of candy they had all contributed to.

Birthday parties, cousin Trevor's baptism, a Trunk or Treat and then trick or treating with lots and lots of cousins (18 to be exact) pretty much did us in. We sure missed the 6 missing cousins. We'll have to do it again.

Here's the mob of cousins that marched around the streets of San Jose. I'm pretty sure there were more than a few people who wanted to slam their doors and hide when they saw us walking up their driveway.



Fortunately my brother has VERY nice neighbors. And I have never in all my years of trick-or-treating seen a whole neighborhood lay on the chocolate quite this generously. Dum dums and Smarties were practically non-existant.

I uploaded 174 pictures to my computer from this weekend. I'll spare you.

I've carefully narrowed it down to the top 86.

...just kidding.

Here are my ridiculously cute sisters. We kind of have fun together.

I loved spending Halloween with my family! And I loved that our kids were able to create great memories with their cousins.

Speaking of memories. I will not EVER forget this cute little lady I met. Ok. I didn't really meet her as in being introduced or anything, but I kind of was stalking her because she looked so fun and lovable. I think she liked the attention. Have you ever seen a 90 something year-old dress up for Halloween? She must have been the cutest Dorothy ever. Look at those ruby slippers sparkle!

So long Dorothy. And so long Halloween of '09.