I love my pony!

We had a family play day last Friday. Bryan took the day off work and we went to Thanksgiving Point for Barnyard Boo. They had Halloween games, a hayride, pony rides and some farm animals to feed. Emily took 2 pony rides and Ashley took 1/4 of a ride. After that we went to drive the Aspen Loop where we took some fantastic pictures! Then we went to IKea and did some shopping. Emily was having so much fun she asked if it was Christmas.
We finished the day off with a babysitter putting the kids to bed and Bryan and I went on a fun date! For our date we ended up in Barnes and Noble reading THE FUNNIEST BOOK! It is called SignSpotting 2. Whoever ends up getting that for Christmas is one lucky person. We both laughed for an hour straight-it was awesome!

Pie Eating Contest

Our Elders Quorum had a Fall Festival the other night. I took the kids since Bryan was out of town. They had face painting, pumpkin carving and tons of desserts. They also had a pie eating contest. I noticed that there were only men signed up and so I decided to represent the ladies and I signed myself up, much to the delight of my girlfriends who were cheering me on. The contest was to see who could eat half a pie the fastest without using hands. I chose strawberry rhubarb and looked at the other 8 contestants and decided I was definitely the least likely to win but I was sure going to try. The guy who won was the EQ president, a skinny tall guy but guess who came in second place? ME!! My neighbor Bob afterwards looked over at me and said, "Maegan you are a better man than me." I loved it! The only downside was whipped cream up my nose, and that Bryan didn't get to see me. Even better would have been that I beat him in the race too. Next time...

Zoo Field Trip

We went to the zoo as part of our learning about our earth and all the animals in it. We had 4 moms and 10 kids- it was a little crazy and a lot of fun. We went in the morning and got to watch some animals eating breakfast, heard the howler monkey, and of course we all loved the train ride. The pictures are of the kids climbing on the tiger statues. The group picture has the 5 preschool kids in the middle of the group and the Ashley picture shows her fantastic impression of a tiger growl.

Cute Kids

Here are the girls in the backyard. They were in a great mood after dinner one night.

Wes is Engaged!

My brother Wesley just got engaged to Kristen. He popped the question on the beach near Huntington Beach, CA on September 29. They plan to get married in San Diego temple in the summer 2008. This picture was taken July 2007 in Hawaii. Wes graduated from UofA and is working for VanGuard financial in Phoenix and Kristen is finishing school in Tucson at UofA. They are a cute couple!

Chocolate Painting

Emily having fun finger painting with chocolate pudding during Joyschool. It was a day of discovering our 5 senses. We even got to taste it as we painted! Emily loves painting and eating- a perfect activity for her. And we all like joyschool (Ashley sometimes has a hard time). There are 5 kids and 4 teaching moms, which means I teach 3 days each month. The prep is a lot, but the results are lots of fun. I really like the curriculum- it's so not like normal school with letters and numbers. It's about becoming aware of the wonderful things around us (our bodies, our world) and learning crucial social skills (honesty, imagination, service, communication, etc). I like the other moms in the group, I like the low costs, I like playing/learning along with the kids, I like the time off when I am not teaching, and I like still being involved with education. In other words, we are having a great experience and having fun too!

Bye-Bye Binky

I read in the paper how a lady was going to be dressed as Snow White and the store would be giving out free ice cream. Emily is really into Snow White because aunt Amy bought her a dress up outfit of her for her to play in. I told Emily that Snow White was coming to Utah and she was going to give out treats. But that the treats were not just for anyone, they had to give her a trade. And not just any trade, but she was giving out ice cream and suckers for pacifiers. I asked her if she wanted to do it and Emily said yes! (this was success number two). Number one success happened the night before when we were camping and she fell asleep without it and didn’t ask about it once. And even before that, Bryan and I were cutting off the top part so it was more for holding than sucking on.

We got to the store and Snow White was in the entrance and both she and Emily were thrilled to see each other dressed the same. We walked up and told her that we heard she was doing a trade today. A special trade for suckers and ice cream (and as I said this I plopped down 3 suckers in Snow White’s lap) for pacifiers- and I handed Emily her pacifier to give to Snow White. She totally did it without hesitating and was so happy to take the suckers. I totally started crying as their interchange was happening- to watch my little girl do a big girl thing and get rid of that binky. (I did only get 4-5 hours of sleep the night before while camping so I was a bit emotional). Then she and I went over and got ice cream with all the toppings and sat down to eat. We watched other kids come by and get ice cream, including 2 other girls dressed as princesses. Although I think she was always on the lookout for other kids trading binkies, she never asked about it. I took the binky back from Snow White and chucked it in the garbage as I went out to the car to get my camera. I did not want to be tempted to give in. I took a photo of the two of them and we went home. That afternoon for rest time (when she usually had binky, didn’t ask about it once). That night as she was going to bed she got up 4 times, and only once did she ask me for the binky. The next day it was no asking about it at rest time, and only once cried for it at night. The third night, did NOT ask for binky. I can not even believe it- we are free from binky! I love you Snow White!! I love you Emily.

Now it’s Ashley’s turn- yikes!