HaPPy hAllOwEEn!!!!!

Well it's that time of year again!!!!
The annual family Halloween party brought out all kinds of spooks, lots of laughs and fun for all!

We went as the Scooby-Do clan! And sad to say we did not bring home any awards this year.

Doug and the kids were mad at me because they wanted to go to the party dressed as their dads idea, even though they had no idea what it really meant, but I had to put my foot down . Doug's great idea was to dress Davin up as Tiger Woods and Doug would be his caddy and all of us girls would go as, well you know where this is going, as his mistresses. I said NO-WAY, and now we lost, so they are all blaming me

Great minds think alike!!! Kadee and Andrew also came as the Scooby clan!

The Matthews Family + Aaron Vera (Megans date to the Masquerade party at the high school)!

Jolynn came as a drill mistress with her 1980's drill team girls!

I Loved Bob's costume!!! Only none of the kids knew who he was! But to our surprise "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown was playing on the TV!!!! So I had to get his picture with Charlie Brown!

The Allred family showed up with the TOOTH FAIRY!!! ( Bub had been wearing this costume down at his practice for a few days, we are getting a little worried he may actually like wearing this).

This is Laurie and Jody in case you don't recognize them! Laurie won Best Overall Individual costume!

The Allred Family took home the grand prize of Best Family Costumes!!!!

I've got you Babe! Deanna and Paul took home Best Couple Costume as they so precisely portrayed the actual Sonny and Cher!

We were all so happy to see that Grandma and Grandpa had new costumes this year, we are not sure who they were suppose to be but they took home theaward for Best Thrown Together at a the Last Minute Costume!




Nana and Papa Jack came as Little Red and the Big Bad Wolf! The came in second for best couple, I thought they were great! My dad even painted black hair on his legs!

These guys were great too!!! I was not sure who they were for a minute,

but once I figured it out I didn't know how I did not see it immediately!

Drew Carrie and Mimi, with a cute little Lady Bug!

Ok, I had no clue who these two were and Doug was very disappointed. (I thought Dallin was Wayne from Wayne's World and I thought Derrick was a omish baseball player) because I guess they are the spitting image of the two pitchers from the Giants.
Dallin won the award for Looks Most Like!
Now that I have seen pictures he really does look like Tim Lincecom!

No party would be complete without Lady Gaga!!! Thanks Kylie for bringing her to ours!

Nikki as Dorothy with the scariest scarecrow costume I have ever seen,

I will have nightmares about this.
Her boys were Zombie skateboarders, Daxton was not happy I had to ask him what he was!

Gilda came as the cat from Shreck, Puss in Boots????

Megan and her friends stopped in before heading over the the High School Dance. We had Cinderella and Prince Charming, Deb and Napoleon, and Little Red Ridding Hood with the Big Bad Wolf. (Megan did the make up job and it was great!)

Thanks Jo and Bob it was great!!!!!

Tooth Fairy?????

Skylar lost her first tooth. I am still not sure exactly what or how it happened? She was at gymnastics when the loose tooth was first discovered so I am wondering if she knocked it on something. She seems a little young to be loosing teeth. All I know is she was ecstatic. I have never seen a child so excited for the tooth fairy to come.That being said, she did have a major melt down when it actually feel out. She started crying, so hard we could not understand her, and none of us knew why. Finally she held out her little hand and in the middle of her palm was a shiny white morsel of a tooth. That was when I realized what was causing the tears. I explained that it had to come out in order to leave it under her pillow for the tooth fairy. Luck for her she has older siblings who happily explained the whole thing to her and replaced the tears with utter joy and anticipation. She could hardly fall to sleep that night she was so excited. And can you believe that our tooth fairy nearly forgot to do her job. Not only is she cheap ( Or so I have been told by every single one of my children every single time they lose a tooth... So n'so gets 5.00 for their teeth, and some of their friends get 20.00 per tooth. So, it is confirmed our tooth fairy is cheap) But there have also been countless times she has completely stood us up. So I am looking for a replacement tooth fairy if any of you know any good ones I am hiring!

Help!

Can anyone tell me why my new family picture is a quarter of the size I wanted it to be? I just removed the old one and selected this one to replace it? I dont' get it????

School Dayz!!!

Even though I felt like summer flew by my kids were as excited as ever to get back to school!

Davin is in 2nd grade his teacher is Mrs. Nicholls. I showed him this picture of me in 4th grade with Mrs. Nicholls when she was my teacher. I also worked with her when I was teaching. I loved her as a teacher, as a co-worker and as the teacher of my children. She is wonderful! Other than the style of clothes I think she looks exactly the same, I hope I age that well!

I am the tallest one in the back. That was always my permanent spot, I never got to stand by the teacher I was always too tall, I am still a little ripped about that!

Ashton has Mrs. Walker and is in 4th grade! She is in a portable again this year, but this should be the last time because the new school is coming along great!!

This is the progress on the new school , I am amazed at how far they have come!

Rylie is in the Jr. High building, but is not technically a Jr. high student. She is only in 6th grade this year. Did I just say ONLY, I mean I cannot believe I have a child old enough to be in 6th grade, how old am I again????
Already we have had some great conversation. Like this one...

me: Rylie who was that girl?

Rylie: Oh, she is in my class.

me: Oh, I have never seen her before.

Rylie: Yeah, I don't think you know her, her mom is a pole dancer, and I am

pretty sure you two don't run in the same circles.

me: Oh, right.

me, in my head: Did she just say pole dancer? And does she really know what that is???? Maybe we need to have another mother-daughter talk.

Also, I was forbidden to walk in and take a picture of her at her desk, sniff sniff, she is really growing up!

Last but not least, Skylar started 4 year old preschool at Miss Karmas Kiddie Korner!!!

Skylar loves everything, so of course she loves school! She really thinks she is one of the big kids this year because she is in a "Car Pool", and apparently that is way cooler than just having your mom drive you everyday!

Lets get Dirty!!!!

Over the 24th of July all the Ekins went on a family camping trip for Doug's moms birthday!

Doug's parents have some property in Marysvale Utah. (a place I had never heard of before) so we all went down to spend a few days in the great outdoors!!!

The new small 4 wheelers were definitely a hit with all the kids.

Everyday the girls did every one's hair (and eyebrows occasionally), with hair color gels, and gave who ever was willing "outdoor facials".

The kids were having fun from sun up to sun down and later of course. Making things, doing crafts, playing in the river, riding 4-wheelers, shooting army men and empty pop cans at Davin's shooting gallery, roasting whatever, and getting as dirty as they could all day!

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On the 24th of July we went into the town of Marysvale. It is a very small town but they know how to throw a party!! It started with a parade, where each kid was loaded up with candy, toys, water bottles, Frisbees, all sorts of stuff. Then it was off to the city park for games, races and great food! I could not believe the prizes they were giving away and neither could my kids. Rylie did not even want any tickets at first, but when the younger kids came back with all their loot, she and Lexi where all about playing some "little kid" games!

Then we walked over to the Rodeo where we had great seats and lots of games for the kids in between the rodeo events. They got the chance to catch a chicken that they could trade back for five dollars. Skylar was laughing so hard she couldn't even see where the chicken was through her tears of laughter. Davin and Ashton touched feathers but no one in our family ended up with the half plucked chicken. The older kids chased a cow with a ribbon tied to its tail, whoever ended up with the ribbon got themselves 10 bucks. Rylie and Lexi did not even try to go after it. When I asked Rylie what she was doing out there she replied " That thing had horns , I wasn't going after it".


But the highlight of the day was the FISH RODEO. All the kids entered into this big cemented area. They filled it up with about 6-7 inches of water and then dumped in over 200 trout. After that is was a free for all. They had to use their hands but whatever they caught they could keep!
It looks like fish for dinner tonight!!!!!

Skylar was so sad when we told her the fish was not a pet but rather her dinner. She was convinced that if we just filled up the tub at home her fish would come back alive and could be her pet!


The kids had fun walking through the little town and seeing the sights!

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We all loved the day we spent at the lake.
Rylie tried water skiing, but didn't really like it too well but we were proud of her for trying. Grandpa thought he could water ski from the sitting, relaxed position just off the shore but he could not get up, not that way anyway!

Everyone splashed and played around all day, no one wanted to leave to go back to camp we were having so much fun!

The tube was probably everyone funnest part of day. They even loved getting thrown off!




One the way home we stopped at Big Rock Candy Mountain that is just a few minutes outside of Marysvale. It is really worth seeing. Our kids thought it should be renamed to Big Carmel Sunday Mountain, I agreed!

We had so much fun we already have it on our calendars for next year!