As promised....

I swore to myself that I wouldn't post again until I had some pictures, so here they are! Hopefully they are worth the wait! Above you will see the Happy Halloween hosts: Harry and Ginny.
The winner of our Adult Male Contest: Mr. Bob Ross.

The winner of Best Adult Female contest: Ms. Britney Spears.

One of the winners of our children's costume contest: Jack Attack. Along with winner #2:

Pepe Le Peau - Boston.
And just for fun, a couple of fun pics from the party:

Meggan and Mia - Two of K-town's most gee-orgeous vampires!

Mummy wrapped! Mummified! I want my Mummy! Duncan as a mummy.

Porter - the resident apple bobber. We made him use the same one repeatedly...save the fun for everyone!

That is what I have for now...are you proud of my for following through - two weeks later!!!

Happy Harry Halloween!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN everyone! I am currently in my official Hogwarts attire dressed as one Ginny Weasley, appropriate since my husband and snogging partner is going to be Harry Potter later this evening. And I think I have perfected my little Hedwig’s costume for her first trick-or-treating experience. We have even taught her to say “Trick or Treat” or something close to it. Got to send her out to get Mama and Dada some candy! It should be fun.

I have been asking my dear brother to get me the pictures from the Halloween Party so I can share them with all of my faithful readers, but he has neglected to follow through on that up to this point. So, I will detail and you can check back for the phots.

The day was chaos. For me, the atmosphere of the party is the most important thing, so I spent the day spending tons of money at a picked over Walmart, trying to find the perfect décor. The centerpiece: a lighted Halloween sign, about which I was thrilled to purchase. Thrilled until I got home to find that it said “Halloneew.” Whoops. Keri and Erik save the day and switch the N and the W and off we go. We threw in some spidey webs and cooked up some grub and changed into our costumes about five minutes before the guests began to arrive.

As those who know me are aware, there was some trepidation as the night began because of the dreaded party curse, but we actually had a significant turn out. Thank you to anyone reading this who attended for…attending. We began the night with some very yummy cuisine. Thank you for anyone reading this for bringing food. And then settled in for some Halloween games. I actually bobbed for apples, which I have never done before. My theory was that I could not ask any of my guests to do something I was not willing to do myself, as the hostess (I know, I should write hostessing guides or work for Martha Stewart or Dear Abby or something). So, I bobbed away and successfully acquired an apple! After that, we did a mummy wrap, which was fun for the little ones, and then played the Halloween name game, which went over well if you ask some and not so well if you ask others, but everyone played and at least pretended like they were enjoying themselves! Thanks to anyone reading this who attended and PREtended – it was appreciated.

The night slowed down after that, but we still pulled out the Karaoke, which scared some guests away. The die-hards had a good time as our in house washed up Britney Spears performed her classic “Oops, I did it again.” And the kids all danced like crazy people. Then we managed to conjure up a Dance Dance Revolution and busted out some more moves and then…it was over. But, it was a success. We may have started a Sarah Hale tradition. A Halloween party the Saturday before Halloween every year. Mark your calendars.

See ya next year.

Sarah

P.S. I added some pics from Moab on the "Matt's World" post below, if you want to check it out. I am trying to be better about putting pics on, but if I waited until I was at a computer they were on, I would never blog!!!

Dress me up

Here we are, the eve of the biggest Halloween event of the season….and I have costuming dilemmas. I wish that J.K. Rowling could have timed her big announcement a little better (http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/books/10/20/harry.potter.ap/) It has created a problem as my husband was planning on dressing up as Dumbledore and I was planning on dressing up as Harry Potter and now, had we gone through with it spent any time kissing or canoodling while thus dressed, we would have suddenly been making a statement about a potential inappropriate relationship between one student and his headmaster. Yeesh. The poor children at the party made have been scarred for life!

So, now J.K….tell me what to do….I am supposed to have a decked out Harry Potter family tomorrow and all of my previous preparations have been in vain. No Dumbledore this Halloween. AND my Hedwig is falling apart on me as well. What am I going to do!!!

If I figure it all out, I will post some post-Halloween pictures. Maybe it will all come together. Matt as Harry and me dying my hair red….?

Wish Me Luck,

Sarah

For your viewing pleasure...or guilt...

Oh the insanity. What was I thinking being a full-time employee and a full-time Mom. Not that I am all that great of a mother when I spend the majority of time at the office, merely thinking of her and wishing I could be there for her. This week has been particularly hard. It was as if suddenly she woke up and the light switched on and she realized that her mama was leaving her everyday. Now she holds on to me so tightly when I am with her and I can tell that she just doesn’t want me to leave. And then I have to walk out the door to the sound of her hysterically screaming, just wanting her mom to stay. I don’t think this is going to work out much longer. I keep in my mind and in my heart the fact that I really was trying to do the best thing for my family. We found out that Matt truly is on track to graduate in the spring, which our family really needs. But, it is driving him crazy to be Mr. Mom…one of my primary babysitters – Matt’s Mom - is leaving on a mission in the very near future…and my child becomes increasingly damaged emotionally every time I walk out the door. All signs point to the truth that I probably should have known all along: STAY HOME AND BE A MOM!

This situation also creates a problem in that I am a TV junkie and now feel guilty any time I spend any of what precious little time I have with my child watching my shows. So, for the most part, I don’t. And there is so much GREAT crap this season I wish I could be watching. All I can say is…Hallelujah to whoever –whomever-(I did catch the Office this week) created the DVR and the IPOD which allow me to occasionally indulge myself when my child is in bed.

What I do watch: Beauty and the Geek, America’s Next Top Model, Survivor: China, and The Office. Comments: Have you been watching Beauty and the Geek? High-larious! Have you been watching America’s Next Top Model? Higher-larious. And I don’t even have to say how HIGH of the larious the Office is. On Survivor, as ruthless as Jamie and PG were this week, I think their plan was absolutely brilliant. It just sucks for Aaron and James. But, that’s the story you submit to when you decide to starve yourself for glory (or sad sad defeat) on Survivor.

What I wish I could watch: Heroes, Reaper, Gossip Girl, Grey’s Anatomy, and Pushing Up Daisies. Good thing you can buy the DVD collection when the season ends. I guess I will comment in a year. For now, I will just continue to wish that I could watch and catch the occasional episode at four in the morning when I have the time.

See you then sleepyhead.
Sarah

Matt's World

Hello from Moab! Matt has convinced me once again to venture down to the land of the red rocks. We spent the day on Elephant Hill Loop. I say scary. He says “I’m in heaven!!” This was his four year anniversary gift: my time 4-wheeling in Moab. Those of you who know me well know that I am a Chicken with a capital C, so for me to undertake a four-wheeling adventure is for me to go out of my boundaries by like a mile. Luckily for Matt, I am warming to it – mostly because of the beautiful back country that we get to see. And occasionally it is amusing to me to see some of the rock formations that his little Jeep Cherokee can attack. Today, there were quite a few that I thought there was no getting past, but good ol’ Black Sheep (which is what we named the Cherokee today) conquered all. And Matt just laughs.

Emma likes four-wheeling. Apparently to her it is mother nature’s rocking chair. Matt and I were amazed when she fell asleep during the most intense part! She also enjoyed hiking a bit when Mom decided it was too dangerous to risk and we both got out to watch from the safety of the solid ground.

Of course the trip would not be complete without some time spent shopping. So, the girls got dropped off so we could venture through town. I have to say that female touristy shirts are definitely improving…I actually saw some I considered purchasing that I may have worn more than once. The most important thing I purchased was a Moab sticker for Matt’s Jeep. Now we can brand The Sheep with the name of the place we love best!

We ended the evening at Pasta Jays – an excellent recommendation made by Moi. The wafting smell of garlic beckoned me every time we drove by. I had the Cheese Tortollone with meat sauce…it was good but did not hold a candle to Matt’s Chicken Pomodoro. So…get that if you ever end up there. I plan on it. Moab actually boasts some pretty enticing cuisine. We already have the restaurants lined up for our next visit!

All in all, we have had a pretty good weekend. Moab is growing on me. Matt wants to move here, but I still have some issues with people looking at me weird because I did my hair and makeup. We’ll have to see what the future holds, for now we are just looking ahead to our next Moab trip. I’ll keep you posted!

Sarah

Je suis un submarine rouge...

While Matt watches some Russians speaking French captioned in English, (you may not know this about Matt, but he enjoys watching movies in foreign languages. Right now we are watching "The Hunt for Red October" in French!) I have decided to update my blog. In the midst of the chaos that continues from before, we have had a few exciting events happen in our family recently. One being that Matt's brother, Cameron departed to the MTC this last Wednesday. It has been since Ben that I have dropped anyone off at the MTC and I had forgotten what an emotionally draining experience that can be! But, we are excited for Cameron and the things that he will learn. Matt has been briefing him about Argentina for the last three months and is already anticipating the opportunity to go pick him up in two years and see some of the places that he served in. While in Provo, I got to revisit some hold campus haunts, or whatever you call them. We went to the Creamery on Ninth and got some Mint Cookies and Cream ice cream and ate some craked pepper french fries. It was quite yummy and brought back some memories from my early college days.

Other exciting events, I got a "High School Musical" T-shirt from work. I am thrilled about it. And, I have begun re-reading Twilight. The great thing about a second read through is that I am not as anxious to find out what is going to happen so instead I can slow down and enjoy the ironies that I had not noticed my first time through. I find myself drawn to Edward even more because the first time through I was intitially rooting for good old Mike and I thought Edward was a jerk. Now I know what is really going on, so I am enjoying it even more!

So, that is about all in the life of Sarah. Matt's life is school and more school. Sometimes he gets to play with Emma and he enjoyed time with his brothers this last week as they prepared for Cam's departure. Emma has been amazing us with her ability to do puzzles intended for 3 year olds. Despite the fact that she insists on calling me dad, I think there are some real brains on the girl!

Well, I don't speak French or Russian, but I am still going to watch with my husband...C-ya.

Sarah

There she goes...

Thrust back into life: the theme of this week and the chaos that it encompasses.

But first, the vacation. Four days in Lake Powell sans child, phone, tv, and makeup = the perfect vacation. We spent our nights on the beach sleeping under the stars (filtered through the see-through roof of our tent and offset by the light of the computer monitor) and our days lying out in the sun reading Twilight or one if its sequels. The old folks played card games, the young folks bathed on the water slide. I believe good times were had by all - with good weather, good food, even some howling coyotes for company - how could anyone not have fun? Trip Highlights: hours and hours of nonstop reading, wake-surfing at which I suck yet still thoroughly enjoy, swimming in the grotto in Lost Eden, and possible illegal cliff diving from a cliff with the approximate height of 18.65 feet (if you "dive" from a cliff higher than 15' the patrol are under no obligation to help you if something goes array. Scarray.). Trip Lowlights: the speeding ticket received on the return voyage and not having enough treats. Yeash.

For your enjoyment, here are some pics for you to enjoy:






Matt Wakesurfing

Matt performing tricks on the Jetski

If you are wondering why I am not in any of the above, it is most likely due to the fact that I had my nose in a book the majority of the trip! By the way, if you have read Twilight through Eclipse, are you an Edward fan or a Jacob fan? I for one am an Edward fan. Sadly, my reasoning for being so would not hold up in a debate. I don't like Jacob because he has long hair and is younger than Bella I will forever root for Edward.

Life since the vaca hasn't been nearly as perfect. I have started working full time and every day at work it is pure chaos from 8 to 5. But, I can get my knee looked at now which means I can continue wake-surfing and walking up and down stairs and vigorous things like that. Through all the chaos - that is what I keep telling myself. And we laugh, cause the people I work with are funny. Laugh it off they say.

I must laugh off the chaos.

Emma is doing marvelously. She spent the time while we were away with her new favorite person Megs. She learned how to say a few new words and we have reveled in it since our return. Matt's most memorable instance "Here you go!" which we will forever consider as her first sentence! Oh, and her favorite number is eight which she now says clearly when we read her 1, 2, 3 book and which she picks out every time we play with the magnet alphabet and numbers set. We missed her while we were away.

Matt is attacking school like a madman and doing homework as we speak. Go Matt. He is also enjoying his time with Emma and contemplating his future career as his parents and long-time employers are threatening to leave us high and dry. Since they have a good reason we will let them off of the hook...but....otherwise....

Is anyone else excited for Halloween? Random, I know. Yet, I am still considering pulling out my pirate skull and eating a pillowsack full of candy. Yeah, I better go!

Sarah