The Best Two Years

Floyd has a baby brother, Jed.  Floyd was 14 (almost 15) when he was born.  Jed was 2 when I first met him.  He was 4 when Floyd left on his mission.  Eight when we got married.  I got pretty used to him being the little brother, but, the thing is, Jed isn't such a baby anymore. 

 
Today, he left for his mission.  He's headed for Tampico, Mexico for two years (well, minus a few weeks in Provo). Annie cried for a long time yesterday when it finally hit her she wouldn't see him for two whole years.  All eight of those kids are really going to miss him.  We all will. 

Godspeed, Elder Griffiths.

Tree Hunt

 Not much to say about this tradition since it's all a little redundant.  Except this:  We love heading to the mountains to search for a tree every year.  It was a beautiful day this year (last year was like 95 degrees below zero).  Ben was a little forest creature scampering all over the mountain.  Sledding was a blast (minus the first time Dad sent Ben and Annie down the hill and luckily Uncle Jake's long legs saved them from a serious crash in the nick of time).  The donuts were fresh and yummy.  The hot cocoa was hot.  In summary:  it was a good time. 

 

Until next year, little forest.

The Leader of the Band

Campfire: Check

Camp Chair: Check

Guitar: Check

What can I say, she learned from the best!  Thanks, Grandpa Clair.

Halloween

 So here's the thing about Halloween pictures - mine are never good.  And here's why (if you care):

1:  People trick-or-treat pretty late around here.  The first year we lived here, I took my kids out around 5:30.  Nobody was ready and nobody started til around 7:00.  That means by the time we are in costume and ready to go, picture taking light is over. 

2.  My kids don't really love getting dressed up.  They are always excited for Halloween and love trick-or-treating, but some years we have so many extra Halloween activities (Ward Party, School Party, Family Party, etc.) that they don't even want to wear their costume by the time Halloween comes around.  Which means putting on costumes just to take good pictures is pretty low on their "things we like to do" list.


So although every year I think I'll dress them up early when there is good picture light, it doesn't really happen.  Oh well.  I did remember to snap one quick picture of Cole and Annie before their school party this year - a day that just happened to be snowy. 

Without further adieu, I present:  

Harry Potter

Cole made a really good Harry Potter - we got a lot of "Oh!  He looks just like Harry Potter," comments. 

Fairy

 

Annie had a hard time deciding what to be this year - she settled on a fairy.  Dad brought home a cool purple mask from New Orleans a few weeks ago that she got to wear with her costume.  Very chic.  

John Deere Gator

Ben was dead set on being a Gator for Halloween.  I tried to convince him to wear one of Cole's old costumes, but he wouldn't hear of it.  So, my sewing machine got a little workout and we came up with something that loosely resembled a Gator.  People mostly thought he was a tractor, but that's close enough.  They got the general idea which is that Ben loves John Deere. 

Ben was really quite charming parading around in his John Deere costume.  After about 90% of the houses, he said, "that was so nice of him/her!" as the people were closing their doors.  It was equally genuine every time he said it and he found himself a lot of fans that night. 

We hope you all had a super duper Halloween!