Halloween 2016

It's pumpkin carving time again and these two are ready to get started. The first thing to do is choose what shape you want the lid to be and cut it out.

Add in some silliness,

And get all the guts out! That's the worst part, at least I think so. Slimy, stinky, and lots of seeds!

Next get the pattern outlined on the pumpkin by using a poker stick to make little holes.

Then cut out the shapes that you have outlined. This is the painstaking part.

And the hard work pays off as a wonderful jack-o-lantern!

This year when I was buying the pumpkins, two seemed so small and lonely. We only had two last year too, but for some reason it just didn't seem like enough. So I decided to buy one for me to carve. Haha! I can't remember the last time I carved a pumpkin!!! We've always had so many kids and so many pumpkins to carve! I like the traditional pumpkins with shapes for eyes and nose and a zigag mouth, so that's what I did. The kids like to do fancy designs from books with lots of intricate carving.

I got the eyes a little too high, but here is the finished product! It was a little harder than I remembered, and I had to make Delwyn help me. What else are husbands for??

Halloween night on the Palmer porch!

Landon and his kids were Star Trek characters. It is so cute when families have a theme and their costumes all match! Megan had to work, so Landon and the kids came with us to the church to our ward's chili dinner and Trunk or Treat.

Wade loves Halloween, it is his favorite holiday! He and Kimberlea always have such great costumes! This year they were the Joker and Harley Quinn. I hardly recognized Wade--he shaved so he could use face paint. Without facial hair and  using makeup, he looked so different!

Delwyn was asked to be the MC for the evening, so we dressed up. We used these genie and Jasmine costumes that I made a few years ago.

I especially like the genie hat and shoes, although you can't see the shoes too well in this picture.

Ryan and Britta had a few different ideas, but finally settled on lifeguards. They looked pretty cute! The flippers added a fun touch, but they were hard to walk around in all evening.

Wade and Kimberlea love to decorate their car for the Trunk or Treat and spent lots of time getting it ready. My camera doesn't take very good pictures in the dark anymore. They had a big spider, cobwebs, signs, and lots of pumpkins! They had some spooky music playing too. Some of the littler kids were almost too afraid to go get candy!

Happy Halloween 2016!

Another Year of Marching Band

The marching band coming onto the field to perform! The name of their program this year is Heartbeat: She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not.

Ryan was so happy to be on the drum line this year! He is playing the bass, which is the biggest drum.

Ryan is the last drummer.

Ryan really enjoys being in the band. He has made a lot of friends, learned to work hard, and be part of a team.

This year's color guard getting ready to start the show.

Twirling the flags!

This year the drum line puts their drums down during the second movement and joins the kids in the pit. They have to move fast to be ready.

Ryan and Avery play the marimba.

Then they put their drums back on to finish the show.

Our school hosts DCMI, Douglas County Marching Invitational, each year. They need a lot of parent and family help, so Britta and I helped with the scoring and judging. There was a little thunderstorm during the afternoon and so they had to clear the stands. All the spectators were told to go to their cars and the 24 bands that were participating went into the south gym. Typical of Colorado storms, it blew over pretty quickly and the competition resumed, but it was pretty chaotic for a bit.

Our band is quite small considering we are a 5A school. We didn't make it to state this year, but it was a great show and the kids worked so hard. I was very proud of them! 

Littleton Historical Museum with Grandkids

Today is Delwyn's Friday off and he wanted to take Dagny and Lincoln to the Littleton Historical Museum. It was a beautiful fall day, nice and sunny, but not too hot.



Dagny knows the farm animals and the sounds they make. She was really interested in the cows and kept saying, "Moo, moo cow."

The pigs were next. This big pig will make some tasty ham and bacon!

I think the chickens are Dagny's favorite! Because we have chickens at home, they were one of the first animals she learned and she calls them "bock bocks".

A fun rocking horse to ride on!

There a little gazebo by a pond where ducks and geese swim around. We sat down to rest and take a few pictures. Lucky Grandpa! Both of the kids are looking and smiling at the same time--that doesn't happen very often.

Dagny was busy running around, and Lincoln and I just sat in the shade and watched her.

There were a lot of crunchy leaves! They were fun to stomp in and she also had fun throwing some up in the air.

Every time we come, we are lucky that the donkey walks right over to the fence to see us. He is so friendly and lets us pet him (and pull his ears).

There was a cat running around the farm. We saw her earlier, but couldn't get close enough to pet her. Delwyn managed to catch her so Dagny could see her close up. She was so soft!

One thing I love about this farm is they work it just like they did many, many years ago. People dress like they did back then and do all the work with old machinery. These ladies were peeling and cutting apples to make apple butter and apple pie filling.

There is an old shed with buckboards and wagons.  Dagny thought a ride might be fun.

This big sheep wanted to sniff Dagny. She thought it was funny and laughed and laughed. He looks like he needs a shearing job. They do that on a certain day--it would be fun to watch.

There is a big pumpkin patch and kids are allowed to choose pumpkins to take home on several Saturdays leading up to the end of October.  We were too late for that and most of the pumpkins that were left were rejects that no body wanted.

Dagny still thought it was fun to push them around and look at them.

She found one that made a perfect chair!

There was a cute place to take photos, but the kids were getting tired. We didn't go to any of the buildings, we just wanted to show Dagny and Lincoln all the animals. Being grandparents is sure fun!

Cutting Down Another Tree

 We have two pine trees in the backyard and this particular one has had  a lot of snow damage. We get heavy spring snow storms that snap the branches. I also don't like the placement of the this tree. It's close to the retaining wall and steps and it is hard to mow around it and under it. The boys have been talking about cutting it down and one Saturday we decided to do it!!

Wade has a chain saw with an extender and Landon was so excited to try it out!

Delwyn is sticking his head over the fence. He was in the church parking lot with the trailer to collect the branches.

Getting ready to toss more branches over the fence!

More cutting. Most of the branches were so big we had to cut off a smaller portion off before we could cut the branch off the trunk.

After we got all the lower branches cut off to the point that we couldn't reach anymore, Wade climbed up into the tree and tied a rope around the trunk so we could take off the top part all in one piece.

Then he cut a little V shaped notch into the tree so it would fall the way we wanted it to.

Kimberlea's job was to keep the rope tight while Wade cut the notch a little deeper.



Dagny was very interested in the rope and wanted to help. Little kids are always watching and want to do whatever we are doing.

When the notch was cut almost all the way through the trunk, Wade and Kimberlea started pulling....

and TIMBER, the tree just toppled over!

All that's left is the trunk!

The top of the tree was actually pretty big.

Landon had way too much fun with the saw!

Landon cut the trunk down so it is now about three feet high. Delwyn drilled some holes in it and poured some chemicals in that will kill the roots so it will be easier to get the stump out in the spring.



Dagny played on the slide while the men were working.



She had a great time!

Wade drove the tractor and little trailer into the back yard to load up the the small branches that were too little to toss over the fence. There were also a lot of pine needles to rake up and haul away. It made a great ride for Dagny.

I was surprised it only took a couple of hours and we were done! The boys are becoming quite the lumberjacks!