A visit to the Tracy Aviary

This past Saturday our family went to the Tracy Aviary. Lydia received a free family pass when she went on a Field Trip with her school. We had a lot of fun seeing all the different birds even though it was a little chilly. We enjoyed feeding the pelicans.

The girls favorite bird was the Cuckoo. These birds were so very friendly. They would chirp away at us and walk along the cage looking at us.

A Bald Eagle. A lot of the birds at the Aviary are rescued birds. It is a very grand bird up close!

This bird was quite funny. I think it was hoping we had food for it!

Lydia participated in the bird show. A little bird hopped from one hand to the other. I love Lydia's face.

Flamingos!

Adelle found this large feather on the sidewalk and carried it around our whole visit.

Afterwards we went to the Aviary store and colored pictures and bought a birdseed bell to feed our local birds this winter.

We were planning on going to the Spaghetti Factory afterwards at Trolley Square. The Trolley Square was celebrating its 100th Anniversary and the Spaghetti Factory was celebrating with 1979 prices. When we went there though there was a 2.5 hour wait. We tried to hold out, but just couldn't make it. We ended up going to Hires down the street. The food was great, but it wasn't as cheap as I thought it would be. Oh well!

Excited for our future!

Or whole entire family (of four) was very interested in the elections this year. Wes and I voted a whole week and a half early and the girls came with us. As you know Lydia would like to be President some day and so she has been very interested in this election. She has learned a lot about the political process. Lydia actually wanted to stay up late Tuesday night to see the results, but Wes and I thought it would take a while to actually get the result. In past years it has taken forever! Do you remember 2000? It took weeks!! Lydia made me promise to tell her first thing in the morning who won.

We actually like Obama and voted for him this election. It actually was a prayerful decision for me. I think a lot of slanderous things where said about him that are untrue. I don't think we should fear having him as our next President. I really love his hopeful message and his positive outlook and I am so very excited for our future. Wes and I were just grinning ear to ear when we got the results. I really enjoyed McCain's speech. He said some wonderful things about the country needing to unite and support our new President. It was the best speech I have heard him give this campaign.

I Loved Obama's speech! I actually got a little teary during it! There were so many people celebrating everywhere across this country! It was such a historic moment as well! It has really filled me with a hope that things can get better for us as Americans. I think International relations will improve as well. I have been ashamed at times to see what our country has done. Everything from detaining and torturing prisoners with no hope of legal representation or trial to starting a war under false pretenses. I love my country and I know it can be great. It is interesting how happy I have felt these past couple of days! I didn't realize that the state of the country was worrying me so much. I am not saying that sudennly everything will be fixed and perfect. That is impossible! There is such a joy and hope though!

I think we all should unite and be hopeful about what our future holds. We may have different opinions, we may have voted for someone else, but we can all do our personal best to make our country a wonderful place to live!

By the way, the next morning when I went down to give Lydia the results she was so cute! She said "Yes"!!

Trick or Treat

The girls were so excited for Trick or Treating last night! After a filling Chinese dinner we all got ready. I curled Adelle's hair and put on some make up and sparkles. Adelle was Eowyn from Lord of the Rings. Lydia got make up and a fake cut across her check. She was Arwen from Lord of the Rings.

Then we went out into the wide world to begin the candy gathering.

We started at the Trunk or Treat at our ward house.

I just had to snap a picture of our bishops wife (left) with her dark make up and fake face piercings.

A lot of people at the Trunk or Treat were so impressed with my costume and even more impressed that my husband made it! Several people wanted to take pictures and a few little girls thought I was Cinderella.

After we had made our rounds we headed back home and went around the nearby neighborhoods. The weather was so perfect!

The girls really got the hang of what to do!

This house really scared Adelle! There was creepy music on the porch and fog and all sorts of decorations. I couldn't get her to approach the door. The woman in the house came out on the porch to give candy to Adelle because she was so scared. Adelle later said "it creeped her out". Where do kids pick up these things! Lydia and Adelle both got scared when we went to another house that was just a few houses down. There was someone sitting on the porch with an alien mask. It was hard to tell if he was real or not. Lydia and Adelle didn't want to approach the alien to get the candy that was sitting in front of the figure. I had to hold Adelle's hand and convince both of them to get some candy. Some older kids approached right after us and sure enough the figure moved and tried to scare them. At least the person was nice enough not to scare my girls more.

The girls bags eventually just got to heavy and so we headed home. We poured out the bags to check all of the candy and then the girls picked out some of their favorites to eat. The girls even did a little bit of trading. Lydia wanted anything that was sour and since Adelle hates sour candy it worked out.

Wow they got a lot!

Our pumpkins even managed not to get stolen this year. We had a lot of fun. The weather cooperated, the girls had the energy to go for awhile, and we all had fun! Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Carving Time

We finally carved pumpkins this afternoon. The girls and I were hanging out in the living room when I heard Wes scraping the pumpkins. That's right...he had started without us. He said he was just trying to be nice and take care of the messy part.
We of course objected and had to jump in too.

Lydia didn't mind getting dirty at all. Adelle hates getting her hands slimy and didn't want to help with the cleaning. She was going to try but Wes scared her. She was about to put her hand in the pumpkin when suddenly Wes made a loud buzzing noise. She was scared to death and ran all the way downstairs crying. After consoling her Adelle and I started designing her pumpkin.

She drew out the eyes and mouth. I helped a little :)
Adelle thinks her pumpkin looks like a bunny because of its front teeth.

Lydia chose a stencil out of the pumpkin carving book. Both her and Wes took turns cutting out the design. They both did a wonderful job!! We are planning on putting the pumpkins on the porch later tonight when we are home. Hopefully they won't get stolen too quickly. Last time 3 of our 4 pumpkins were stolen while we were still awake in the house and when all of the lights were on. Here's hoping!

Wes' Aragorn Costume

Wes is Aragorn for Halloween this year. Yes, you have seen this costume before, but this is the first time it has been worn for Halloween. Wes won first place for this costume at the Fantasy Festival. He looks great in it in my opinion. Countless hours and work went into it. Now if only he had the black hair :)

My Civil War Costume

Wes finished my costume yesterday and it turned out just beautiful. I got ready this morning, put the hoop skirt in the back seat and headed off to work. Everyone at work was so impressed with the dress. They were amazed that Wes made the whole costume including the hoop skirt. I read last night on the Internet about "hoop skirt etiquette". It actually has been quite useful. Ladies always sit in the middle of your hoop skirt not the back or it will fly up and expose your underclothes. Did you also know that it is improper to let you skirt swish back and forth? It has been a fun experience to learn how to move in a very full hoop skirt.

I worked on my hair forever and finally decided on this simple hair style. The bottom hairs were curlier earlier in the day.

Thanks sweetie for the beautiful costume. I felt like a queen!

Stay tuned for Halloween Fun!!

Halloween is almost here and that means that costumes are currently being created..well one costume...mine. The girls decided to be their Lord of the Ring Characters from earlier in the year. They haven't worn them yet for Halloween. Besides, a lot of work went into each of them. I am planning on doing Lydia's hair like Arwen's and even on planning on doing a little bit of make up including the little slash across her check. Adelle will be a cute Eowyn. She probably will fit her dress a little better now. It was almost a little too large before. Wes is planning on being Aragorn. His Aragorn costume won Best Costume at the Fantasy Festival. I can not even count how much time was put into that costume. The only one who is getting a new costume is me. Wes decided to make a Civil War costume for me complete with hoop skirt. He didn't ask me, he just decided this is what I was going to wear. Here is the pattern. Instead of green it is a light blue. He has finished almost everything on it except for the collar and the hem. He also changed the back so it laces up. I can't sit down when I am in the hoop skirt. I also have to be pretty creative when it comes to getting through door ways.

I will have to post pictures of everyone in their costumes later. I am also really hoping that we can get some pumpkins and carve them. I have been sick for about a week now and it has hampered the Halloween Spirit.

I do have a question for my blog readers though. How should I do my hair?? What would look good with this dress???