Halloween and Road Trip

Well our family goal to reach six pillow cases full of candy was not accomplished, but we sure had a lot of fun trying! We ended up with two king sized pillow cases full of candy. For a family who rarely eats the stuff we should be set for oh say the next ten years. It was hysterical because we started at Southlands with about ten thousand other people..ha! We met up with Madison (Emma's best friend from Kindergarten) and her family and hit all the stores. Once we were done their we fed the kids and started in on the neighborhood. Madison, her mom and brother drove over to our house and off the group went. Josh threw a leash on P.D. and walked with the kids and I drove the "break" van. Jill, Maddie's mom, and I just talked all evening while the tired kids would hop in and out as they needed a break. Except for Mihya who figured out really quickly that she could sit in the van all night and eat candy as the other kids actually worked for it! All of you who know Mihya will get a kick out of that! The weather was perfect and we didn't give up until all porch lights were out. Josh made a comment when I was saying for the hundredth time "really? We are going to keep going?" he said "well, I don't remember ever having a Halloween without snow so let's do this now so we're set for the next few years at least!" Ya, right I'd love to see him convince the kids of that next year! Here is a picture of our loot!

On the Road again....The next morning (Saturday) Mihya, Graysie, Kayela, and I left for Kansas. As much as it was against my better judgement when the kids have to potty they HAVE to potty so we did stop at the trucker stops...ugghhh! I threatened them that if they touched ANYTHING they'd miss anything fun for the next century.(Actually we did stop for food and the bathrooms at the food places are not much cleaner, which is a little disturbing!) I even got pictures of them at the rest area I thought I could do a scrap booking page headed "The grossest thing my mom ever made us do" I showed Amanda's mom this and she was mortified that I took the girls in there. Then Amanda said "I saw a 20/20 on rest areas once..." and proceeded to tell me all the things that happen. The funny thing was....I saw the same one and yet it seemed logical to pull off there because they had to use the bathroom ever 10 miles! Do you know how long it would've taken me to get there? I caved!

Graysie's baby half sister, Sophie, was turning one and we obviously wouldn't have missed that for the world! So, I drove with the three girls and Josh stayed here with the boys and Emma. They were bummed they couldn't go but Emma had a soccer game (and she'd already missed two for Florida) and she was singing at church so it just didn't work out. We had dinner with Amanda (Graysie's birth mom), Sophie, and Amanda's parents who had not seen Grayise since she was about 18 months old. The next morning the girls swam at the hotel (the highlight of any vacation!)

and then we headed over for the party. We were there a couple hours early so we could visit. Then stayed a couple hours after the party was over hanging out and getting as much time in as possible.

See how adorable Sophie's hair bow is? Amanda has started a business making and selling the bows! I think they are so hysterical! Her business is called "Sophie's Bowtique" and she is really awesome at making these. (I have tried they are really harder than they look). Anytime you see a picture of my girls in an extravagant hair bow it is most likely one that Amanda has made for them. Sophie has a bow to match every outfit needless to say. In their new house Amanda even has a whole room dedicated to bow making. Here are some pictures:

We left the next morning (Monday) and headed home. It was a short visit and we always realize how much we miss them when we are leaving or they are leaving from here. We are trying to convince them to move closer to us but so far they aren't budging!