Halloween 2009

We had grand plans for Halloween this year. I knew it would be the last time any of us would be able to go to Lagoon. The weather was going to be nice so we decided we would do that in the morning, come home and carve pumpkins, go trick or treating and drop them off at a friends party. I was really excited for the day......... Lets just say, it didn't turn out exactly as expected.
My water broke at about 2 am. It started to sink in that I would be in the hospital having a baby on HALLOWEEN! I started to cry because I knew I wouldn't be able to be with my family and I also knew Jared would feel pulled in two directions.
I will spare all the details and say I am very lucky when it comes to having babies. I have very easy and quick deliveries. Our little guy was born that morning weighing 8lbs 1 oz. and 20 1/2 inches long. Crazy considering he came 2 1/2 weeks early. We named him, Gunner. He is a sweet little baby and we feel so blessed to have him be a part of our family.
Jared's brother came over at about 3am and stayed with my 2 boys until my sister and niece took over that morning. They kept them busy at a carnival and McDonalds until Jared came home to be with them. They weren't able to go to Lagoon but Jared made sure they were still able to carve pumpkins and go trick or treating.

Halloween night
Colton carving his own pumpkin

our sweet little Gunner

Here I am in my glamorous hospital gown

I was so excited to see my boys when I got home. They ran right past me and went straight for the baby.

I was a little worried when they got a hold of him. They were so excited to meet him.

I'm not sure what I would have done without my husband this week. He is an amazing husband and father. I came home Sunday and my oldest boy was sick. It then went from him to Jared to Zach and ending with me. I got it the worst. We had the dreaded flu. I am so grateful for all of our answered prayers. Our sweet little baby didn't catch it. I have been so terrified all week. Thank you Jared for all your love and help.

Welcome to our family!

Witches and miniature golf

We have gone to Gardener Village to see the witches ever since my oldest was a baby. We weren't sure if we were going to make it this year. I have been so sick and uncomfortable. The month of October kind of snuck up on me and left me a little dazed. It has been quite a crazy month and I was sick of being couped up in the house feeling like crap. We decided to go to Gardener Village the weekend before Halloween. There were tons of women dressed up in witch costumes. Zach was more into the real live witches than the ones Gardener Village set up. Even though we go every year, I still love it.
I wasn't quite ready to call it a night and neither were my kids. Jared and I took them miniature golfing. They had so much fun. We were behind a group of people so it seemed to take forever. My kids didn't mind one bit. They just kept starting over and over. We finally had to pass the group because it was getting way too late.

Zach was trying so hard to get it right but by the time we were done, it looked more like he was playing pool not golf.

Colton loved every bit of it. I may have a golfer on my hands.

My two little turkeys. I sure love these boys!

Golightly Family Halloween Party 2009

Helen and Cory's family...Cory wasn't able to come

Our family has a Halloween party every year and this year was our turn. Since our house is far too small for our entire family, we did it at our church. We had a lot of fun. We were also in charge of our family reunion this year and made our very first pinata. That thing was so hard we decided it would be fun to make one for the teenagers this time. I wish I had pictures but there was too much going on. We did a balloon pop( filled balloons with candy and let the kids step/sit on them until they popped) for the kids. The teenagers got to do the pinata this year. It seems when you hit a certain age, you no longer get to do some of the fun things you did even just the year before. I think they had a lot of fun.We painted pumpkins....

had a find the worms in the pie contest.........

played Halloween pictionary........

played pin the face on the jack-o-lantern for the kids..... Oh! and we ate lots of yummy food.

Here are some pictures of my family.........

Minette's family

Kyle and Sara's family

Tansy and Niel's family minus Saxxon who is on a mission

Ben and Charlotte

Sabrena and Kieth's family

Mom and Dad.....they are always good sports and dress up

My family. You probably can't tell by this picture but I have snakes all over my hair.....Medusa. My husband was a hunting accident. Zach is Batman and Colton is Mario. Funny thing is, we don't own a game system. Colton likes to go to grandma and grandpa Golightly's and play his little heart out......as long as it is there and not at my house.

We hope everyone had a good time. I know we did. It is always fun to get together with family.

What? September is gone?

Usually with pregnancy one seems to count every second of every day. I have had to remind myself lately how many weeks I have left. We have been busy with various things this last month that have not only been fun but really stressful as well.
We have a tradition of going to Silver Lake between Saturday conference sessions......just to get out of the house and walk around a little bit. This has been the first time in years we have seen snow. We usually get to enjoy the beautiful colors and crisp but not cold weather. This year we had coats on and were having snowball fights......weird!! My boys were so cold. The wind was blowing so it felt so much colder.

By the way, love, loved conference! Always do. We went to frightmares while Jared went to the priesthood session with the men in his family. The boys had a lot of fun. We are Lagoon junkies. Frightmares is my favorite. Jared had a good time with all the men as well. They go out to dinner after every priesthood session. For those of you who don't know, he is one of six boys.

Before the weather got too bad, our family went on a hike up Donut Falls (not sure about the spelling....found two different spellings for it) It was super humid because there was a storm blowing in. Colton has wanted to go on a hike for quite some time so I thought the boys could handle this one. I sort of forgot how slippery and dangerous the falls were. The kids were fine but I wasn't about to trust myself at all. I'm a little middle heavy at the moment. Jared was very attentive and awesome. By the time we were on the way back it was dark.....which made for an interesting hike. We forgot our flashlights. We had snacks, water, warm clothes.... but no flashlight. Go figure.

For the last couple of years we have driven up to Strawberry to watch the spawning salmon. It is always such a beautiful drive....not to mention the kids love to stop in Heber and have lunch at Dairy Keen. The trains they have in there are so nasty looking but the kids love that place.

We have successfully moved out, cleaned, moved in, moved out, cleaned, moved back in and cleaned again. I was experiencing some pretty awful pain after everything was said and done. It wasn't just your normal braxton hicks. I asked my husband and his brother to give me a blessing. I told myself if it didn't get better that night I would go to the hospital. Thankfully the pain went away and I'm doing well. I guess I was overdoing it. It feels nice to be settled back "home."

Sorry for such a long post but I have to mention my mission reunion this year. I haven't been to one for about 7 years. I wanted to see President and Sister Stewart. I had pretty much decided there would be no one else I knew there. President and Sister Stewart didn't disappoint. He had to once again, make one of those comments that make the whole room laugh. It was so uplifting to hear them speak. For those of you who don't know, they served as mission presidents on temple square as well. I was surprised to see quite a few people I knew. It was so much fun for me to see all those faces. My poor husband had to sit and listen to me yap all night. We got a babysitter because my kids would have been WILD!! I'm glad I went. It was fun to remember some of the wonderful times I had as a missionary.

Shoes

Why is it so hard to go to the gym? Some might say it is waking up way too early. Some might say it is all the weird looks people give the huge pregnant lady. Some might say the exercise is just tough at this point........Not me!!! My problem is lacing these stupid shoes every morning. What a pain!

"Nun siehe, ein wunderbares Werk ist im Begriff..."

(Street preaching in Offenbach Germany)

We had such a good sacrament meeting today. A sister from another ward spoke about her mission. She has only been home for a little over 3 weeks. You could really tell. She shared experiences and her testimony. The spirit was very strong. My kids were even good today.....I couldn't believe it. It got me thinking about my mission. I wonder who I would be without those experiences. I learned so much from serving. I don't think I really understood the meaning of love before that time. I know it has made me a better wife and mother. It was so hard and so fun and so exhausting and so rewarding. I never planned on a mission or even thought I would ever go. The Lord had other plans for me and I am so thankful that I listened to the promptings of the spirit.
It made me think of one of Colton's friends. I was warned by another parent before school started that there was a boy that lived in the neighborhood who wasn't a very "nice" kid. The mother told me some things about him that made me super cautious. He came over to play with Colton and I decided to make my own assumptions. He was very polite and played really well with my son. I think it is all a matter of how a person handles a situation. It is a good opportunity to teach my son to love others and be a good friend.
While serving, I had no judgements. I loved those people and wanted to share what made me so happy and filled my heart with so much joy. I hope that I can take what I learned and teach my children to serve others and love one another.......It would be good for me to remind MYSELF of that quite often.

2009 Utah State Fair

We went to the fair this Friday. I guess it is a family tradition for us. My parents took us when we were kids and I loved it. I think Jared and I have only missed one year. It was such a beautiful night. I was actually surprised at how little "fair people" we saw. There were a ton of families there. The air wasn't AS filled with cigarette smoke this year. It was kind of nice.

I love that they started this interactive activity for the kids. I think it was new last year and my kids loved it. They got to pick fake apples, plant fake seeds, milk a fake cow, ride a little tractor trike, touch wool, gather fake eggs, and then drop off everything they collected. They gave them a fake dollar and then let them "buy" one of the things in their store.

We walked through and looked at the animals. I felt so bad for those HUGE pregnant cows......but I also kind of knew how they felt. There was one that was just getting the crap kicked out of her.....I felt her pain last night.

There is one thing we never like to leave the fair without and that is the roasted cinnamon almonds. They smell and taste sooooo good.

My kids were so beat that night. We did so much walking. They woke up the next day and asked if they could go to the fair again.