Happy Halloween!

Hope everyone had a safe Halloween. So many emails on the those gold coins! I guess its better to be safe than sorry....................

The kids went through the dress ups and found what they wanted to be this year. Ryan was so cute as a cowboy, but he didn't like how his old patched up jeans felt so he complained, but he looked so cute! I was able to go to the Pumpkin Patch with Samantha for her field trip on Halloween also. We had a blast just being together! Kelly and I look forward to many alone times with Samantha.

We've had a lot more going on than Halloween this month. It's been a busy month for us. November should slow us down some----we hope! But everything that's keeping us busy has been good!

As you can tell by my comment on Samantha.....our most exciting news we have is that we are having another boy! My doctor had a harder time seeing this one, but he thinks he's 99 % positive it's boy! Yes, Samantha was disappointed and feels her prayers were not answered, but it has become a great teaching moment for her. I told her that Heavenly Father heard her prayers, but He knew how much she loved this baby brother and he was one of her best friends along with Chase and Ryan. And before she was born and that she told him goodbye and couldn't wait to see him when it was his turn to be born into our family. Heavenly Father knew it would be sad for us if he was sent to another family. She felt guilty and immediately drew a card for the baby to give him when he is born. We talked about the pros of being the only girl and she seems to feel that it may not be so hard being the only girl and as we started to think of the pros-we came up with many for her! Ryan and Chase could care less what it is and Kelly and I are overjoyed with happiness! I cried happy tears on the way home from the ultrasound because I can now identify with this baby and can't wait to meet his special spirit. Samantha was excited the next day to tell her teacher (who is also having a boy) that she will be the same as her. That is special to her to be similiar with her teacher. The baby seems to be very healthy and everything looks all normal. What more blessings can we ask for in this life? Now if Kelly and I can agree on yet another boy name..... (Each of us are very picky about boy names!)

Other happenings....Chase and Kelly are finishing up football with a few tournament games left. Kelly has really enjoyed asst. coaching Chase's team. He and Chase may want to do it again next Fall. Chase enjoys school, but has soon realized that 3rd grade is a lot harder and that he needs to start using different strategies to do his work.

Samantha is still doing dance and gym and loves Thursdays because of it. She is doing so well in school! She and her beast friend Olivia are the two top readers of all the Kindergarten. Go figure! She loves the art projects and always chooses to draw and write for FREE time. Chase can't believe she never chooses computers for FREE time. Her teacher calls her "Little Miss Perfect" and says she just loves having a little "future teacher" in the class. She says Samantha copies her exactly and never wants to make a mistake. (Sound familiar Mom?) She says Samantha is not afraid to wrestle the boys at school on the playground despite how proper and girly she seems.

Ryan as you already know, by my posts, is LOVING pumpkins right now! He enjoyed every minute of carving and digging. They have even helped him potty train so quickly! He received a Brach's pumpkin and a special sticker every time he went in the toilet and that trained him in one week! That's all it took! I'm not always for bribing as a parenting style, but when it comes to toilet-training I'm in! He has also been dry at most nights! We are still learning to use public toilets. Without his seat, he feels uncomfortable and can't relax. So we are still learning that and loving the Pullups for those times! No diapers exist in our household (for the time being!) But, he's trained at home and at others homes if they have a potty seat on their toilet. Congrats Ryan!

During all this we had the privledge of having my sister Lisa and the kids come for a weekend visit and then Mom and Dad Priestley came for the next weekend. It was so fun to spend those precious few days with each. How I wish we lived closer! Kelly also squeezed in the middle of their visits a 5 day trip to Tokyo, Japan for work with Goldman Sachs client. He took beautiful pictures and enjoyed his stay there. He loved their formal, respectful, and clean culture that he came home wanting to raise the kids there. It does sound like they do have great morals and values. The kids were just thrilled to see that Daddy came home with some gifts from Tokyo. Samantha loved her Japanese ceramic doll. Ryan loved his Pokemon Pikachu figuring and minicar. He knew what it was because of Chase's love for Pokemon. Chase, of course, couldn't wait to show his friends his Japanese Pokemon cards Kelly gave him. They are dying to trade him those!