November happenings

Lots of random pictures, but pictures that I wanted to record in what has basically become my journal.

 

Logan's new crush: Zoey. She's in his class, and they're apparently so in love that one day they're gonna get married. And Logan's gonna be making millions of dollars to support her. But he's gonna keep the money. He'll just buy her whatever she wants with his money.

 

And sometimes I witness this. And my heart melts a little.

And then the other day, my car started smoking from the hood while I was driving down the highway. I was only 2 miles away from the kids' school, so I said a quick prayer that I would make it there. And I did. But as soon as I left the parking lot, the engine got way too hot and the car was blinking and beeping at me, so I pulled over, and had to have it towed. So we got a rental car for a day. And it made me realize just how much I love my minivan. I love that there's space between the kids so that they're not constantly bugging each other. I love that I can open all the doors with the push of a button. I love that I don't have to worry about the kids opening the doors while I'm driving. I love that I don't have to worry about the kids slamming the doors into another car parked next to us. I love that there are DVD players in the van. I love that there's a camera at the back of the car. I love that it has blue tooth and a GPS. And while I haven't used it out here, I love that the seats can heat up on cold mornings.

We also hiked up the Mormon Trail behind our house. The parking lot gets really packed at this time of the year, because the weather has been so amazing. So I love that we can literally walk right up to the mountain, right from our house. The kids did a wonderful job. They walked and didn't complain at all. In fact, it was their idea to do this in the first place. They wanted to go up to the top of the mountain to get to Planet Drool (from "Sharkboy and Lavagirl").

And finally, the boys had a turkey walk at school. They ran for a whole 6 minutes... or they attempted. They did pretty good and were parched by the end of it.

Visit from Lily and Sidney

Sometimes your sister-in-law has a business meeting in Phoenix, and sometimes she decides to make it a fun trip, and sometimes she even decides to bring her oldest daughter with her, and every time it happens (only once, so far), we have a blast.

 

So the first night was late... I thought we should go to the Gilbert Food Trucks because we know it's good. But William thought we should try something new and go to the Scottsdale Food Trucks. So this is what happened... We drove around and around trying to find these food trucks but could only find weirdos wearing werewolf masks and drunks unable to walk straight. The kids got tired. I got hungry. And we went home and ate Spaghettios.

 

The next day went better. We went to this cool place Paul introduced us to. It's like a hang-out spot where you can order from different restaurants (but they still wait on you), and you can play some games, too. That's when and where we decided some day we're going to have a foosball table. The kids loved it. And look how comfortable Taylor was getting with Sidney. Good thing she was okay with it (I checked). That night, the grown-ups (and Sidney) got a babysitter and went to downtown Scottsdale to go restaurant-hopping. We basically had appetizers somewhere. Entrees at a different place. And dessert somewhere else. And we got a golf cart to drive us around. It was a lot of fun.

Come again soon, Lily. We all had a great time.

Halloween

Halloween is a big deal at the Beeston's. It's almost like Christmas, except really creepy and scary. Mwah haha! The kids love it. They love reading Halloween books during their bedtime routine, watch Halloween movies on weekends, and decorate the house with all sorts of decorations.

So of course we had to get matching jammies.

 

Shirts for the boys... and a witch hat for the girl.

 

Kendall wanted to be Disgust for Halloween, but the costume was sold out everywhere. I was on waitlists for restocks on multiple websites, but by the time Kendall's gymnastics Halloween party arrived, I still had no costume for her. So, we used the Anna dress she got for her birthday and turned her into Princess Anna of Arendelle. I think she kinda loved it. We even put makeup on, which was so fun!

 

I tried to convince Logan and Taylor to pick good, cute, not scary costumes, but they were set on these 2. Eventually, I had to bite my tongue and let them be. Taylor is an alien, and Logan is... I don't even know... He called it a shadow, but I think it's like an angel of death or something like that.

The masks were a little too much for such an intensive workout, but Kendall rocked the dress!

William and I went on a date to a haunted house. I think the boys were just a few months old the last time we went to one of these. I remember that night because I was nervous leaving them with a babysitter, even though the Pitchers were great with babies, having a new baby of their own. It ended up going just fine.
Anyway, this haunted house was actually really cool. Not as cool as some of the ones William and I went to in Salt Lake City, but still pretty scary, and long. We were in there for a good hour. It was a good night out. And yes, my eyes are closed in the picture with the wolverine guy. He was smelling my face. A lot of the actors in there also smelled my hair and breathed on my face. Kinda weird and awkward, if you ask me, but whatever.

I was at Target a few days before Halloween and came across this dress. Then I thought, "Why don't I make Kendall her own Disgust costume. A green dress. A purple scarf. Long green eyelashes. And green hair. That's it!" So, this is the result.
Taylor always talked about having a spooky party. I didn't plan this early enough to have a bunch of friends over, but we did have Paul, Leilani, Kai, Luke, and Eli over. All the kids got dressed in their Halloween costumes, and we ate some creepy food and played some fun games.
This is the "invitation" Taylor wrote to a bunch of his school friends. It says, "Come to my party." I'm so proud of him. He sounded it out all by himself. And I am proud of myself for decoding this message. (And these are my Jamberry nail wraps. Pretty cute, huh?)

Halloween jello

Witch hats

Halloween puppy chow

Mummy dogs

 

  

Kendall insisted on painting her pumpkin instead of carving it. She also wanted a baby pumpkin instead of a huge one.

The kids weren't allowed to dress up in their costumes for school. But the school did have a Fall Festival on the 30th. It was alright, I guess. They had hot dogs, smoothies, popcorn, a few games, and a trunk-or-treat consisting of less than 10 cars. I took the kids by myself because William had to work late. It was alright, though, because it allowed him to get off early the next day and go trick-or-treating with us.

Halloween night! We didn't get any trick-or-treaters! That's what happens when you live in a gated community with 10 homes, and only a few of them have kids. We did stop by 2 homes, though, before heading over to Paul's neighborhood. Why only 2? Because the 2nd one invited us in, offered us Sangria, and talked to us forever while the kids played with their dogs. By the time we finally left, it was dark outside and Paul had called 3 times. It was a lot of fun going into Paul's neighborhood though. Basically, his whole ward sets up on one street and the kids go from one family to the net, playing games, eating food, and, of course, trick-or-treating.