HAPPY HALLOWEEN! THUG FOR LIFE!

Can I just say... I LOVE Halloween!  Brynn, Erin, and I did a Halloween party last night.  The theme was "Unhappily Ever After".  It was so much fun.  We, of course, had way too much food but that was okay with me.  Brynn's house was decorated so well. (Done by Brynn)  and Erin made some super awesome cupcakes.  We played some games and even had a costume contest.  We wanted somewhere to take everyone's picture so we made a backdrop.  LOL! Sorta reminded me of those backdrops they had for high school dances.  We like to watch a movie at the end of the party.  We watched Hocus Pocus this year.  Anyway, here are the pictures of everyone and some funny ones through out the party. (P.S. the pumpkin above is the one carved for this year.)

Houston as Jack, from Jack and Jill.

Brynn as Little Miss Muffet. Those bloody spots are sporting spiders. Yum!

Erin as Cannibal Gretel.  Yeah, Hanzel is in the basket.

Houston and I as Jack and Jill.  So painful!

Melissa as a Thug.  She was the winner of our costume contest!  It was so cool!  I don't like Tupac but that shirt is freaking awesome!

Jared as a Lumberjack.  He didn't have his axe but that's okay.

Quinn and Aubrey as Ron and Hermione.

During the lap games these two sat on each others lap about the whole game.

Erin and Brynn.  Such good costumes!

This is the picture of the party!  So awesome!

Poor Erin.  LOL!

Yeah, I got to hold the Thug!

Us... Yeah, it's hard to take pictures of yourself as well as another person.

Houston took this picture. LOL!  I believe I was trying to act out the Salem Witch Trials.

Ain't No Easy Way, Ain't No Easy Way Out!

So, concert going has been apart of our relationship from the beginning.  We love going to see our favorite bands.  Lucky for us most of them are not so well known so the shows are smaller and we can actually get by the stage if we want.  We have been to some interesting places and seen very interesting people.  Ha ha! That's 1/2 the fun, just watching people. 

With that said, I would like to pay my respect to those people who travel around for who knows how long to pass on their musical gift.  Here are some photo's from some the the shows we have been to. (Not all but a fair few)

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, we have seen them 3 times. This is from the first.  We don't remember when our first "date" was so I always say it's this show. ;)

The Sounds, They were good, until the fight.

Wolfmother,  This is us with the lead singer Andrew Stockdale.  That was a great show!

 The Dead Weather, last year,  One of 3 bands including Jack White.  We were right by the stage, it was so cool!  My favorite member is the guy second from the right.  His name is Jack LJ Lawrence. He is an awesome Bass player.  We can also say that we were right by Jack White (the guy on the right) He's the most famous...If you like the White Stripes anyway. LOL!  We saw The Raconteurs as well but I can't find the pictures.  I believe that show was in 2008.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.  This is the third time we saw them. This is one of our favorite people, Peter Hayes. We flew to Seattle to see them because their tour didn't come through Utah. It was all good though.  It was in a great city.  We love Seattle!

Franz Ferdinand 2009.  Crappy picture, great show! This is where we were introduced to the Born Ruffians which we saw last night (Oct 18, 2010)

Just us! Too many crazy people to get good pictures.  It was awesome anyway.

I'm pretty sad that I don't have the photos from the other shows we went to, but we have been to a lot. If your brave you can check out these 2 videos I took at the Wolfmother show and The Sounds show.  They are great videos. :)

Wolfmother,  Song: New Moon Rising


The Sounds, Song: Beatbox

For the love of worms, bugs, and our little Phynix

 I have found a new pass time.  Playing with my adorable niece Phynix.  She is so stinking smart!  Our first adventure, with weird things, was funding out the Potato bugs are nice.  She wouldn't hold it at first, once I convinced her it was safe she held her hand out with a serious look of caution on her face.  It climbed onto her hand and she was okay for a few seconds until it start to move. It tickled her hand. Once she learned this, she wanted to hold it again but it had probably landed in Colorado somewhere, courtesy of her panic.
*Sorry no photo's of this.  I'm sure there will be more chances soon enough* 

We have also found fun in making hats out of paper.  She loves her Indian Head dress and her crown, but what she loves best are the stapler, Elmer's glue, and scissors.  She is so good about using them right.  Her scissors are safety scissors of course, just in case. ;)  The best part of it all was when she started accidentally cutting triangles of paper all by herself.  She was so proud of herself.  She kept saying, "I did it! I did it!" All of her triangle pieces made it onto the crown as jewels. From what I hear, she still has both pieces at home.

Phynix and her Head dress

Her and her scissors.  Look at how well she uses them!

Her crown

Yesterday I was weeding my parent's flower bed and I came across a huge worm.  I showed it to her and the first thing she did was held her hand and said, "Let me hold it".  No fear whatsoever. After we had put the worm back in the dirt she walked into the garage and came back with a little tea light candle lantern.  She walked up to the dirt and called, "Worm.....WORM!"  I asked her if the lantern was a Fairy house. (Like the one in Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue)  She said no.  So I asked what it was, as she still called for her worm and she said, "It's a worm house"  We spent the rest of the afternoon weeding, replanting bulbs, and searching for worms.  Relocating to the dirt filled lantern.

Not to mention she LOVES puppies.  Julie's dogs had puppies and Julie brought 2 of them down to Utah with her last weekend.  Phynix keeps saying "Oooh! They are so cute!" (About as high pitched as she can go.)

What better way to spend the day than with a curious, funny,  and fearless explorer.

A love of Ducks...

 Cayuga Duck Family


 Houston has always done this funny thing.  When we are driving or walking and see ducks, he quacks.  Ha ha!  It's so funny.  I have always thought ducks were cute but I had never really looked into them. Well.... I did. Come to find out they are a lot more useful then just swimming around in a pond and quacking at the park.  I didn't know that people actually keep them for eggs.  Obviously for meat, if you like duck.  But the best thing of all is that they are excellent bug control.  You can even let them into your garden during certain times to eat the bugs that normally do a lot of damage to crops.

 Cayuga Ducklings

One day I want ducks.  I'm not sure if I want them for eggs or not, I would have to try one. (If anyone knows where I could get some, let me know) I don't think I could ever kill one for meat either.  I think it would be for fun family pets that would keep the pesky bugs away.  I bought a book about taking care of them and the different breeds and their best uses.  My favorite breed at the moment is the Cayuga Duck.  (Pictured in the post.) They only come in the one color but they are relatively quiet and I think their plumage is SO pretty.   It's black with an iridescent beetle green as an adult

Well, that my duck thought for today. Even if I don't end up ever getting any, I still think they are adorable. And you read it HERE! Ha ha!

The Induction!

For those of you who weren't there or aren't family.  I was honored to attend my uncle, Doug Pehrson's induction into the Skyview High School Athletics Hall of Fame. 

Doug went to Skyview from 1967-1970.  He was a starter on the varsity Football and Basketball teams his Sophomore, Junior, and Senior year. He was All State, All Region, and All American in football as a Full Back.  All State, All Region, and Honorable Mention All American in basketball.  He also ran in track and was region Champion in the high hurdles his senior year.  He received a full ride scholarship to Utah State University. He was inducted along with his football coach Earl Lindley.

I may only be his niece, but my family and I are so proud of him.  What a great guy!


My Uncle Doug and Aunt Luie!

Doug and his coach.  He looks so proud to have played for him


His awesome award.  Congrats! You deserve it!

What is that buzzing!?

I was outside today getting some pictures of Houston's mother's flowers.  As I stood there I could hear this really loud buzzing sound.  I looked around me and didn't see a single bee... I continued taking pictures and the sounds never went away.  I finally figured out it was coming from a tree on the edge of the front yard.  There is a vine the climbs the tree that has these little yellow buds on it. Apparently all the bees in the county like it!  There were sooo many on it!!!  Here are some pictures of the flowers and this crazy Bee Tree!



This is a flower that grows on the side of the garage.  Look at that cute bee!


I guess there are more than just bees out today!  Wasps are present as well!

I have always liked these flowers. I have no idea what they are...  

 These are Dahlias.  They are awesome flowers!

These flowers have CRAZY petals!

I love this color!  Reminds me of Goldenrod!

What a nice color!

This is the crazy Bee Tree!  There are bees ALL OVER IT!

Here is a picture of the bees.  Only a very small glimps to how many there are!  If only I could add sound to these pictures!  It was crazy!

I need a moment....

I was pretty sad yesterday. Someone I know got married to one of the lowest pieces of scum on the planet yesterday, and she has no idea what's going to happen to her. She has carried a pair of rose colored glasses through the whole thing. sigh.... Hopefully she will be strong enough to get out of it and see him for what he really is.

With that being said, I had to come to the realization that "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink." The thing that makes me the most sad is that I know that she will never speak to me again and she will never hear the truth about him. He has her so brainwashed already that she honestly believes ANYTHING he says without a second thought about it. Not to mention her parent's have fallen into his trap too. Her sister, who is a friend of mine, tried to warn her and had to actually hear this girl say that she would choose him over her if she didn't let all she had heard go and just support her. WHO SAYS THAT TO THEIR SISTER!?!?!?!

This guy was married to one of my best friends. She got married and fell off the face of the earth. When she left him, she told us her story and I was so angry that if murder wasn't a sin, I would have found him and gave him what he deserves. I am so proud of this friend that she was strong enough to walk away. No one deserves to be treated like garbage.

Hopefully this new girl will in my words "Pull her head out" and run... run as fast as she can away from him. He is going to belittle her, lie about her and to her, then tell her it's all okay.

Okay rant over. I need to thank all of those people who listened to me talk about this for the last month or so. I beat my head against the wall for a long time about it. I have officially put it away. I'm not going to worry about it anymore.

Moment Over.