Halloween 2012

We had so much fun on Halloween!  We went trick-or-treating in our neighborhood, spent some time at our ward's Halloween party, and ended the evening at our friends/neighbors' house for pumpkin pie and conversation.  I love what each of our kids chose to be...their costumes reflect their current interests and personalities.  Grace, of course, was Hermione Granger from her beloved Harry Potter books.  Eve was "Shaun the Sheep," the title character from her favorite show.  And Daphne was simply a lizard.  I'm not sure where she even came up with this idea, but when asked several weeks ago what she wanted to dress up as, she matter-of-factly declared "lizard" without any hesitation.  For all I know she spotted a lizard on a rock just before our conversation, or perhaps she was recently playing with her plastic reptiles;whatever the reason, it stuck...and no matter how many times I asked over the next few weeks she was firm in her decision!  Here is what I came up with for each of their requests:

 Aaron and I decided to do a throw-back to the 1940's: A World War II Army private and "Rosie the Riveter" (you know, that female factory worker on the "We Can Do It" propaganda poster.) This was a lot of fun!

 and so was this...

 Happy Halloween from our family to yours!

Daphne's 3rd Birthday

 Our wonderful Daphne turned three!  This little girl has a lot of power...she can melt each of our hearts (including her sisters') with her adorable smile and tender expressions of love, she can make us all crack-up laughing with the funny things she says, and when things don't go her way, she makes us all pay!!  She definitely wears her emotions on her sleeve, which is wonderful, because most of the time she is pouring-over with love.  She certainly has a way of cheering me up; especially when she dramatically touches my face, stares into my eyes, and with profoundness declares, "You are the best mother ever!" (Yes those are the actual words she uses, but with a dropped "r" sound!)  I can't get enough of this girl.

Harry Potter and Magical Nine-Year-Old's Birthday Party

The Birthday Girl on her magical day.
She made and wore her own version
of the time-keeper necklace that
Hermione wears in book three.

Grace became obsessed with Harry Potter this past Summer.  She read the first three books 3 or 4 times each (she would have read all the way to book 7 if I would have let her...I just think the books start to get too scary for her age at book 4...she'll have to wait until she's a little older to read the rest of the series.)  Not only does she read the books, but she plays "Harry Potter" with her sisters, names her stuffed animals after characters from the book, and incorporates some aspect of the wizarding world into nearly every dinner table conversation!

So naturally she wanted to celebrate her ninth birthday Harry Potter Style.  She had all kinds of brilliant ideas, some of which we used and some we did not.  It was very fun to plan this party with my daughter, and it was even more enjoyable to see the thrill on her face as it all came together!  She said it was the best birthday party ever...and that made it all worth it!

The Invitation (In Harry Potter's world owls deliver messages between wizards.)

Sign on the front door

Some of the snacks included Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans, Chocolate Frogs, and  Golden Snitch Truffles...

...Licorice Wands, Herbology Bites, and Polyjuice Potion to drink!

Grace designed her own cake.  One day she brought me a picture that she had  drawn and said, "This is what I want my cake to look like!"  I'm glad she had so much faith in me that I could make her desired Quittich field cake come to life!

Starting our Sorcerer's Stone hunt.  The kids followed clues that eventually  led them to the hidden Sorcerer's stones.*

On their way back to the house after reading the final clue!

Painting their wands that they selected from "Oliviander's Wand Shop."

Before

After

Aaron dressed up and played Professor Snape and led the kids in Potions Class

In Potions class the kids made "Good Luck Potion." They started with moondew (lemon-lime soda), then added phoenix tears (lemon juice), boom berries (Pop Rocks), and powdered bicorn horn (baking soda mixed with kool-aid powder.)  The result was a bubbling concoction that the kids could drink and feel lucky the rest of the day!

Grace and Aunt Sarah

The kids are trying to guess the flavors of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.  These are the famous Wizard jelly beans that come in flavors both delicious and disgusting.  It was hilarious to watch the kids faces as they chewed on candies that were flavored like grass, earwax, earthworms, soap, and vomit (to name a few!)

 Not only was Grace lucky enough to have some of her closest friends from school and the neighborhood attend, but she also had four of her cousins, two sisters, three aunts, two uncles, her mom and dad, and one Grandma there!  I'm so grateful that they were there to help her feel loved and supported, but I also sure appreciated all of the extra adult hands that helped paint wands, sprinkle glitter,pour potions, draw scars, cut cake, scoop ice cream, and pull off this highly involved party! Thank you!!

 *I had so much fun writing the clues for the Sorcerer's Stone Hunt that I wanted to share them with those of you that might enjoy a little Harry Potter Trivia!:

1.    The first clue that will direct you on your quest is found in the place where Moaning Myrtle dwells.

2. Harry lulled a three headed dog named Fluffy to sleep with a flute on his quest to save the Sorcerer’s Stone.  You must go to the place where most muggles keep their dogs in order to find your next clue.

3. Hermione has read many books in the Library at Hogwarts.  Your next clue will be found where the muggles of this house keep most of their books.

4. Your next clue is hidden under the Mirror of Erised.  Make sure you don’t get distracted if you see the deepest, most desperate desire of your heart in the reflection.

5. In their second year, Harry and Ron traveled to Hogwarts in a flying one of these.

6. Muggles don’t keep dragon eggs in their houses, but they keep a different kind of eggs.  You will find the next clue where they are stored.

7. Gringotts, the wizard’s bank run by goblins, is the safest place to keep magical treasures.  Strangely, muggle children keep their galleons in a pig version of this.

8. Harry rides a Nimbus 2000.  Muggles only use their’s to sweep.  Where is the one in this house kept?

9. Wizards have owls to deliver their mail to them.  Where do muggles go to retrieve their mail?

10. Wizards and Muggles alike sleep in one of these.  Check under Grace’s to find what you’ve been seeking!

Summer Highlights

We have had such a fun and busy summer!  I absolutely love having the kids home all summer.  In fact when it came time for them to go back to school earlier this week, they were ready but I was not!  I wanted to keep having fun and playing.  I am so grateful that there is such thing as Summer Vacation!  It was a nice escape from the school-year stresses of schedules, homework, and bedtime (okay, maybe I don't mind the bedtime part!)  Since I apparently took a summer vacation from my blog as well, I decided to do one long summer recap and post some of our favorite memories from these last few months.

Memorial Day--Family bicycle ride and picnic at the university

Good-bye to Uncle Brian--who will be a missionary in The Netherlands for the next two years.

Alyssa's Wedding--My niece got married in the Manti, Utah Temple, and the girls and I got to be there for it!  What a special experience it was to see my little niece who is now a beautiful, grown-up woman and share in her and her new husband's special day!  I also got to see my parents and all six of my siblings who all traveled to be there as well.  We also drove up to my parents' house to spend several days visiting with them and the family members who live in the area.  I am so grateful we had this experience to see so many loved ones.

Grace with her newly married cousin.

All of my Parents' posterity

The girls with their Grandma and Grandpa Parkin

Playing with Cousins--The girls had the opportunity to see every single one of their cousins this summer (from both sides of the family...24 all together!!)

The girls with my brothers Jeremy and Jonathan's kids.

Daphne with cousin Samantha

Daphne and Olivia invented a new Olympic sport...synchronized box-jumping!

Digging a moat at Lake Tahoe

Baseball--Grace and Eve both enjoyed their first experience with little league...it really helped that they got to be on the same team, and that their dad spent a lot of time before the season teaching them how to throw, catch, and bat.

Grace at bat.

Eve running home.

Fourth of July--We decided to throw a last minute party, and discovered that we can throw a pretty fun party!

Swimming--The girls got really good at swimming this summer, mostly based on the fact that they were in the pool so much.  Every day that we didn't have something big planned, they spent in the pool. 

Visit from Julyssa--My best friend and her family came to visit from Arizona...we (and the kids) had a blast!

White-Water River Rafting--Aaron and I went with our friend Tricia on a guided raft tour down the south fork of the American River.  This was so much fun!

The Beach--We got to go to the beach a couple of times this summer near Santa Cruz.  Once with friends, and another time just the five of us.

Santa Cruz near the boardwalk

Manresa State Beach

Camping at Pinecrest--Aaron, the girls, and I brought "Auntie Sarah" (Aaron's youngest sister) with us to one of our favorite camping spots for an over-niter and a day of fun at Pinecrest Lake.

Sarah and the girls roasting marshmallows

Wading in Pine crest Lake

Going for a row on the lake (the boat wouldn't hold all of us!)

Lemonade Stand--The girls had a lemonade stand with with our neighbor friends.  Their cuteness earned them more money than actual lemonade sold.

Lake Tahoe--We spent a week in Tahoe with Aaron's family for an official reunion...everyone was there except Brian (who is on his mission.)  Family members traveled from Seattle, St. Louis, Southern California, Utah, and our neck of the woods.  We spent our time hiking, enjoying the beach, swimming, kayaking, boating, paddle-boarding, playing games, watching Olympics late at night, cooking/bbq-ing, and just visiting!  It was a beautiful place to be with so many things to do, and with so many people we love!

Our family after our hike back up from Emerald Bay

Kayaking at Fallen Leaf Lake

Aaron and Grace being pulled on Lake Tahoe by the pontoon we rented with the extended family .

Eve's turn.

Me and Daphne enjoying the thrill of being pulled behind a boat.

Half the family (the other half took the boat out after us.)

Grace paddle-boarding on Lake Tahoe.

Aaron giving Eve a ride on the paddle-board.

Daphne loved rolling in the sand and getting really dirty!