Carving Pumpkins

Tonight for F.H.E. we carved pumpkins!  The kids got to use the carving tools themselves this year, selectively, and they did a great job.  We had one minor disaster when Ember dropped her pumpkin and a big piece of the face fell out.  We were going to make a white mask and turn it into the Phantom of the Opera, but Austin suggested we do surgery with toothpicks.  That turned out great, and the toothpicks make her pumpkin even spookier!  I sprayed glitter paint on the pumpkins after they were done, which I haven't taken pictures of yet, but I'll do that on Wednesday.  

Ben saw the inside of one pumpkin and determined he wasn't going to touch it without using gloves.  Pumpkin guts are gross!

Halloween party

While I was away in the mountains, our Ward held it's annual Halloween Carnival and it was a huge success.  Grace went as a vampire ( minus the teeth, those are irritating).  Ben went as a Ninja, and he looked awesome and stealthy and stuff.  Ember went as Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West and her best friend went as Glinda, in the dress that the two girls wear to the Emerald City in the play "Wicked".  They looked amazing, thanks so much to Hope's Mom for all her hard work with hair and makeup while I was away!

Girls Weekend part 1

This past weekend was our annual girls weekend in Overgaard, and I forgot my camera!  I downloaded one of Cindy's photos from Facebook, and hopefully I'll get more e-mailed to me as the week goes by, but here's a sneak peak at our weekend.

Me, Cindy, Mom, Celeste, and Casen

(Noelle's behind the camera, I'll add more of her later)

Some of our crafts - pumpkin jars, water color pencils and memory albums

Changes

For anyone who doesn't know yet, Austin lost his job on Wednesday.  His position was eliminated at the University of Phoenix, and he was laid off.  He was expecting this to happen once the announcements of layoffs were made, he evaluated his team and determined that he was the most expendable person on it.  That's not a good feeling to have.  So he was expecting this, and if he were his boss he would've made the same choice, even though it was difficult for everyone involved.

He is surprisingly optimistic, which has determined how I feel about this situation.  He talks about this being a blessing in disguise, this could be the thing that helps us get out of debt finally, the thing that helps me quit my job and be a stay at home mom, the thing that helps us buy a house.  Good things can happen, and he believes they will. I am feeding off of his optimism so I don't go crazy.

In the meantime, I am quitting school and going back to work full time for the first time in 13 years.  I have to, in order to get medical benefits for our family.  Austin is going to look for another job and play Mr. Mom while I'm the primary breadwinner.  It's not ideal, but at least we'll be taken care of.

So that's our update.  Wish us luck, keep us in your prayers, and we'll keep you informed!

Feelin' this today

Ember's puppy keeps growing!

 Ember keeps growing too!