Halloween Saved

What a funky Halloween day for me! Aunt Natalie didn't have anyone to help dress up, no school costume parades, no one who wanted to carve pumpkins (Okay, Don and Sam both said they would, but they were just being nice), no parties to get ready for the boys, and no where to wear my Snow White costume!!! I finally took myself to Barnes and Noble to smell the books and the paper and the coffee---to help cheer myself up and get use to the idea of Halloween's being different from now on. Well, forget that!!! I was just caught off guard this year...NEXT YEAR the party is at our house and you are ALL invited, and believe me, Snow White WILL be there!!!

I came home and made enough apple cider to soothe my heart and the whole neighborhood's, and it worked. I got everything together for the caramel apples. I think Don must have called Megan and told her to get over here to save me from myself. She came with her roomate Emily and their friend Scott, then Sam brought friends back. Josh let Stephanie wear my Snow White costume to their party and she looked adorable (to catch you up Michael...Hailey is out and Stephanie is the "new" girl).We made yummiful caramel apples, and we are still waiting for Spencer and his gang to return from Brandi Frampton's party. SOooo, Halloween was saved!!!! That Halloween feeling was here after all. I'm so glad! You should smell the house, it smells like caramel and sugar and butter. Yummmmmm!

I put in the picture of Emma the pink puppy...on Sunday's she keeps me entertained...her family sits one or two pews ahead of me and she is the sweetest, smartest, flirtiest, 2 year old I know. I could slurp her up.

The best part of Halloween is all the neighbors and friends showing up to visit. I couldn't help but put a picture in of Ashley Olsen's kids...Michael, I'm not sure if you even know that she had this last little boy. It is the CUTEST mouse costume!!!!

FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP ON ASTRO TURF

Sam played the first found of his football championship games tonight on the new astro turf at Pleasant Grove High....YES... Astro turf...who could have guessed little ole' PG would get so big city? The boys were THRILLED to play on it...and to dream of High School games to come! Sam is on the PG Vikings and they are undefeated. The final game is Saturday night at 5:30. Sam LOVES football...he says its his favorite sport. BUT, when it's baseball season, Baseball is his favorite sport and when it's Basketball season, basketball is his favorite sport...yea, you get the idea. If there is a ball, Sam LOVES it. Spencer is his biggest fan, and still trying to get over all the sports he can't play since the brain surgery. What a great brother!!!

You can see the steel going up for the new rec center in the back ground...we are SO UPTOWN now!!! We can go swim at the Rec Center when you come--it will be finished in April.

Figuring out the BLOG

Obviously the picture of the floats wasn't suppose to be in there...I'm still learning, I haven't figured out how to delete the picture if I get the wrong one....anyway...Michael e-mails tomorrow...it makes Tuesday my favorite day of the week!

FAMILY NIGHT

Tonight was our annual PUMPKIN GUTS (rice and hamburger yummy concoction) dinner for Family Home Evening...with spider rolls, witch fingers (green beans), dracula toenails (red cabbage salad), fried worms (fried onion rings), veggie skeleton, and eyeball (ice cream balls with M&M eyes)rootbeer floats. The Hainesworth Family came...Becky is my running partner...the only woman crazy enough to go with me at 4:30am. Michael...we missed you! We wish the rest of you lived close enough to come!!! Their son Nate gave a great lesson on personal revelation. Their sign is just for you Johnson's!!! Know that we were thinking of you and wishing you could have been with us as well.

LOVE THIS BOY!!!

I thought you'd like to see a few pictures of Michael...he's still Michael:). He burned his tie at 6 months, a shirt at a year, and in a few months he'll burn a pair of pants...funny huh? I keep telling him NOT to burn them...to take it to the poor shelter...but it's tradition...and we LOVE TRADITIONS at our house!!!

Dreaming and Planning of being with YOU

Okay Austin, Audrey, Issac, William & Jax, this is really and especially for YOU!!! I hate it that we don't see you more. I LOVE it when your mom's send me pictures of YOU on their blogs, so I am going to try to be good at keeping in touch with you the same way. I watch Drew and Laikyn on Aunt Jeremi's blog and when they come for the weekend, and I get to see Haven and Elle most Sunday's when they come for dinner. I am hoping that this next summer we can all get together after Michael gets home from Germany...we can have a cousins party and Aunt Natalie will take you to Lagoon, 7-Peaks, the Zoo, Temple Square, Jump on it, up the canyon for a picnic...we'll make homemade ice-cream, have a pie eating contest, shoot off water bottle rockets, have water balloon fights, play volley ball, get the chicken's eggs, have an Egg Hunt and sleep on the tramp!!! Start talking to your moms about it now. I'm thinking the week of August 11 looks GREAT...what do you think? Write back and let me know...and don't forget to give me all of YOUR ideas. Girlies...we could have a REAL Tea Party...I have some fancy pans to make tiny cakes,... and boys, should we build a tree house? I bet Uncle Preston and Jeremy would help us!!!

Listen, Great GrandDad Steadwell isn't doing as good as he use to. He's pretty lonely. I was wondering if you could draw him some pictures or write him a letter? He would LOVE to get mail from you. Maybe it could be one of your family night activities for Monday?I know you haven't seen him in a long time, so I am sending you a picture of him (with me) from just a couple of weeks ago when I visited him. The water falls we are standing in front of are near where he grew up in Thunder Bay. Great GrandDad likes it that we all belong to him!!! And we like it that HE belongs to us. I'm going to try to have him here for the cousins party. Thanks for helping!!!

I'm so excited!!! I'll be checking my e-mail and waiting to hear from you!!!

I love you BIG!!!

Aunt Natalie