Halloween-ZoBell style

Actually we don't really have a style, but here's our Halloween experience anyway. I took the kids to Hunters pumpkin patch where Mason and Nat loved getting lost in the hay maze and Dallin and I went down the big chute slide about 50 times. He loved it! We got our pumpkins out i n the field and carved them later that night.

Mason's is scary, Nat's is happy, Dallin's is a dog. The kids had fun. Sadly, they caught the pumpkin disease and the inside's turned green with white fuzz. We had our own science project growing in the window sill for a while. Enter the Family Fun kit with sticky felt faces that you stick on the pumpkin. No carving. The kids were just as excited. We'll remember that one for next year.

The kids did trunk or treat at the church. Mason was Darth Vader with no mask. So he looked like a kid dressed in black. Nat was a pink fairy, and Dallin was an alligator. Except his zipper broke so it didn't really zip.

Good times had by all though. And the chili dinner afterwards was super yummy!

I decided to throw a Halloween party for Natalie's kindy class. Just the girls though. I had them all were their costumes, because you can't at school. (Which is a completely different subject that I won't get into.) I had made sandwiches in the shape of pumpkins and bats, string cheese cut in half, and then took a knife and made slits in the cheese to look like fingers. Apples, carrots and dip. And dry ice in my big orange pot. It was truly the hit of the party. And then when I dumped apple juice in and it made the bubbly sound, they all screamed and ran around the kitchen. MOM POINTS, MOM POINTS!!!!

And then we made a craft. I am NOT a crafty person. I will ruin stuff as easy as putting hot glue on a little round eye. When the RS talk about having craft night, I cringe and shudder at the very thought of sitting around a table with "crafty things" all around. But thanks to the family fun website, I found a craft that maybe, maybe, I could do. I stayed up the night before and painted 10 tiny pumpkins black. Traced some bat wings on craft foam along with eyes and ears and TA DAH!!!!

This is Natalie's. I give family fun magazine credit for coming up with this cute idea. I give myself credit plus a gold star for actually doing something that turned out. Yeah me. Yeah Halloween.

The zoo

I think I like zoos. Or maybe I like seeing how excited the kids get when they see each animal. We went to the zoo last Saturday. It turned out to be perfect because it wasn't hot and all the animals were out roaming around. They have a new tiger exhibit and that was pretty cool.

Yep. The kids took a ride on the camal. Then announced when they got off that maybe they could go across the desert. Nat proceeded to tell the other kids in line how much camals drink and why they have humps. "For holding water inside the humps." Gotta love that girl.

The aquarium is so awesome! The kids spent a good chunk of time just watching the fish and then down to the sharks. Don't they look terrified?! The sharks were pretty cool though. And neat to see up close. We'll have to hit the shark feed next time, I'm sure that's a sight to see.

Nice pose miss moo. "Ain't nothin but a shark! Uh. uh , uh." with the finger snap and the head roll.

And how is it possible that my Dilly Dal is old enough to hold onto the carousel horse by himself? Boy these kids get big fast. What a great time at the zoo. Thanks weather man for helping make it a great day.

Another year has come and gone

It was my birthday last Monday, the 20th. It was a great day filled with homemade cards and phone calls and a lemon cake made by my sweet Love and kids. Nat wanted to make me a tinkerbell cake. I guess I know what kind of cake she'll want this summer. I got a new camera from my Love which is totally awesome. It's a Sony xl5v or something but it does the 10 second picture take and panoramic and clearer pictures. I love it! Look out pictures, here I come! Tyler also framed a picture that we got taken while we were in Hawaii. I looove that! My mom sent me the green pitcher. (I know that your laughing right now Ems, and Amy too.) But I remember the green pitcher clear aback to when I was about 8 years old. We made Kool Aid in it, it was the ice water pitcher on the table at Sunday dinners, O.J., punch, you name it. The green pitcher has been around. I told my mom that when she and my dad die, that's all I want. So it was sent loving this way with my mom saying," Why should we be dead? Just have the pitcher now." I was happy and filled it with juice right away. Ahh the sentiment.



Oh does my Dal love dogs!! We'll get one someday but for now he loves to look out windows and watch for "buh buh." I saw this hat at Michaels and couldn't resist.























His own buh buh hat. Hopefully that'll tie him over for a few years.











Mason and Nat started soccer this year. Mason's 3rd year and Nat's 1st. Mason is a good player! He stopped 6 balls from going in the net off the other team. On one he actually dove and fell in the net and brought the whole thing down. That's my boy!!





Nat's team is called the purple transformers. She happened to have a purple tu-tu with sparkles on. Perfect!



She's having fun and running the right way so far, so that's always good.








And Fall, well, you came early. Way to early for me. Please linger thru October with minimal rain. Saturday was gorgeous! I'll take 2 months of that weather please.

Welcome.......

Hello, and welcome back to my blog. My name is Beck and I have been MIA for awhile. It was a fun, crazy, awesome summer and I am sad to see it leave. I am sad to see the sun go. Anyway, the following things are entitled "Welcome".

Welcome to year 7 of your life pal! Yes, my Mason turned 7 in August and he is such a great kid. We went to Utah for our usual summer trip around his birthday so that he could go fishing with grandpa. That's what he wanted for his birthday. Sweet, yes I know. He went with both grandpas one morning and caught 2 fish. Then ate them for dinner. What a great time he had. And grandpas too. And he also used his state skills to earn a little "green" on the side. Remember a few posts ago I mentioned that he was really into the states? Well he can name all 50 starting in one corner of the country and moving his way across to the other corner. So at seperate times, he went up to his grandpas and said," Grandpa, will you give me a quarter for each state I can name?" Both of them are probably thinking,' sure o.k. so he know 3 or 4 states.' Tyler and I were holding back laughs as he ripped off all 50 and earned a combined 25 bucks! Way to Go!!!!! He's learned the capitals for all of them now and we are proud as puddin of that boy!!

Welcome to Mount Rushmore! As part of our Utah trip, Tyler went with his dad to Sturgis, South Dakota (capital Pierre) for the annual Harley Davidson bike riders get together. He loved seeing all the bikes and had fun riding his. Nothing like riding a Fat Boy on the open road with your dad to see motorcycles. He detoured one afternoon and rode up to see Mount Rushmore. O.k. this is awesome to me.

People totally carved President's faces in a mountain. So cool! Notice the scruff on my Love's face. He let the old facial hair grow out to blend in better with the Harley riders. Man Love, you are one hot, good lookin Love. And in front of a National Monument no less. Anyway, I'm glad he got to see that. Awesome!

Welcome back to school!!!!!!!! We started school on the 8th of September and, nothing personal Amy Grant, but it truly is the most wonderful time of the year!!! Mason is in 2nd grade now and my sweet Nat started Kindergarten. AAhhh, another child leaves to take advantage of the wonderful educational system that we call Kindy.

Our regular picture in front of the school sign. Doesn't he look like a smart little 2nd grader?

I can't believe my Nat is old enough to be a kindergartner.

Oh man do I love these kids! And I am getting so much done around the house! And my Dilly Dal Pal is reaping some serious mom time. I love it. Natalie is in morning Kindy so she comes home for lunch and then she reaps the mom time while Dal takes his nap. Everyone wins!!! I love school!!! Teachers are underpaid. The end.

The bus ride home. Her favorite part of school. Hey, it's a big deal when your 5!

And that's the end of our welcomes. Hopefully I won't get so far behind again that I have to reintroduce myself. I'm Beck. Thanks again for stopping by.

Bear with

I'm behind,yes I know. But, in the words of my loving husband, "Bear with, just bear with." I need to prioritize life before I can justify sitting down and typing away, ignoring housework, children, and all the little things that need doing around here. Today's task? Blinds and windows. That is all.

Things that are funny....

Something funny last night happened, along with a few other things, so I thought I'd share a few things that I think are funny.


Last night we went to feed the ducks down at Capitol Lake. It's sort of our after church, after dinner, ritual. The duck feeding wasn't going so great. Mostly it was seagulls. I started to chase a runaway Dal Pal when something green caught my eye floating in the water. About 5 feet from the cement wall that seperates the water from the path. Upon further inspection I realize that it's money. And upon further inspection realized that it was NOT a dollar bill. But one of higher currency. I yell for Mason to come over. He's the one always looking on the ground at stores for loose change. Like mother like son. :) I tell him," See that money floating in the water? Go get it." Tyler comes over to see what we're up to. Upon seeing the green, he starts removing Mason's shoes and shirt. Luckily for us he had his swim suit on for some reason. Tyler lowered him down onto the steps that are hooked onto the wall. The water was waist high on Mason. He was drawing a crowd now. A few people stopped to see what he was grabbing. MY heart started beating faster. Was it ten bucks? Maybe a hundred???!!! Mason waded out into the water, picked up the money...opened it up and yelled "A MILLION DOLLARS!!! MOM IT'S A MILLION DOLLARS!" And it took me just a quick second to think 'o.k. now do they really make a million dollar bill?' No. But boy wasn't it fun?







Here's our money. Our million dollars. We'll try to not spend it all in one place.















































Funny how I always dreaded girls camp. DREAD!!! I have vivid memories of being a beehive and finding bologna floating in our cooler on the last day of camp. Back in those days, you brought up your own food as a tent. Yikes! I have vivid memories of being a four year laurel where we had to hike into camp with all our junk on our backs. NOT FUN! And yet, here I am VOLUNTEERING to go up to girls camp to help my friend cook food for the girls. For the whole stake actually. It could be fun! I'm with fun people, I get to sleep on a cot, I get to shower, I get to have a break from my kids, and I'm sure it's come a long way from when I was a mere beehive. I wonder if there'll be Smores????





We have Sister Missionaries in our ward. This is not so much funny as it is wickedly AWESOME! And with Tyler being the ward mission leader, they get to come over a lot. I have had the sweet opportunity to go on splits twice now. It was fantastic! I don't want to hog them all to ourselves, but I would have them over to eat every night if I could. They are good, they are hard working, and it makes me want to put my name tag back on and join them in a 3-some. Except that I have to be home by 8:30 to put the kids to bed. But I feel that this is my chance to give to them what people gave to me and my companions. Rides, splits, dinner, etc... I love it! Elders are good....but Sisters are AWESOME!!















I stopped by a garage sale a few weeks ago and picked up a puzzle of the United States for Mason. This kid has really learned his States. He wants to know all about them. Which States have tornados. Earthquakes, quicksand. He has informed us that his mission will be to Maine. The history channel did a special on all the states and he took notes. But what is the most awesome? He came across a picture of the U.S. where the states were not labeled. He proceeded to name the states for us. He did fantastic. He knows where Nebraska is. He pointed out Louisiana. Texas as the biggest state. Tyler and I had a super proud parent moment. Perhaps we have a geography buff on our hands.

And lastly, with all the things going on in my life as a wife and mother... I have decided to take on one more task. That being piano teacher. Some of you are thinking,"Umm Beck, you are the most nervous person at the piano I know." True, true. But teaching and playing in front of people are sooo different. And I love teaching. It is fun to me. I like counting outloud with my students, like my teacher did. I like teaching them what forte and piano mean. I love to see the improvement they have each week. I only have two students right now. And one coming after her arm gets out of the sling. So, if you know someone who wants to learn, send 'em this way.

And these are my funnies for the week!

The long awaited trip

Yep, I know we've been home for a little over a week now. But here I am, thrown back into mom mode. And it'll be o.k. as long as I plan summer activities. But about our trip! It was fabulous of course. I have a few stories, so go grab a beverage and settle in.

Our plane left from Portland actually and so we were extra careful about getting to the airport on time. We were flying to LA and then meeting up with my parents, brother, sister, and their spouses to fly to Paradise together. And then we missed the plane. Now if you're like me, when you hear that someone missed the plane you think "Moron! Don't you know that you have to be at the airport at least an hour early to check in." Well, we were at the airport 2, let me repeat, 2 hours early and we still missed our flight. Story- There we are riding the car shuttle to the airport. Happy, excited, heading to Maui with my awesome family. Then we walked through the doors to find ALL of Portland flying on United. No big deal. Our plane leaves at 6 and it's 4 A.M.. We get in line and wait. And wait and wait. Then Tyler sees a sign that says, 'All gates close 45 minutes prior to take off.' Translation to us- get the heck on the plane!!! Tyler goes up to this lady and explains that we have a 6 a.m.. flight to LA that we have to be on. She hurries us up to another line where we wait some more. Finally it's our turn and we run to the counter. The ticket lady says," You've missed you flight. There's no way we can get you to your gate now." Ummm WHAT!!!? Yeah instant feeling sick. Tyler explains how long we've been in line and how we are catching a plane to Maui at 1 p.m.. She clicks around on her computer and says," The next flight going to LA is tonight at 7." Well no that won't work. Tyler runs, and I mean runs, to all the other airlines. Southwest, Delta, Alaskan, Virgin, Jet Blue etc... only to find out that all their flights to LA are booked out.

Enter now 2 panicky, sweating bullets like crazy, on the verge of tears (me) ZoBells. We are at the mercy of United. She tells us that we can get on the 7 p.m. flight to LA tonight and then on to Maui the next day at 8 a.m.. What else could we do? We accepted and then went and sat down in some chairs to survey our situation. The time? 6:15 in the morning. We wished that maybe the lady helping us would have said," O.k. listen you two. Grab what you absolutley need as a carry on and then run to your gate." We wished that all day, but we found out that night that the security line was longer than the check in line. So either way we would have missed our flight. Whewww.

So here we are at 6:15. We had our emotions go from totally up, to total dispair, to not so bad. We took advantage of the day and went to Multnomah Falls. It's the most gorgeous waterfall! We decided to hike to the top. It was a little over a mile straight up. But once we hit the top it was so pretty.

We were pretty tired when we got back down. We had been up since 2 in the morning! We found a shady spot and took a nap in the car. Then we decided to go to church. Why not? It was Sunday after all. We weren't really dressed in Sunday attire and it only took 3 minutes for someone to introduce themselves to us. Hahaha. We must have looked silly dressed in jeans and t shirts, but knowing the words to all the hymns. Then we hit the movies, had dinner, and made it back to the airport in PLENTY of time. Flew to LA, slept in a Super 8, made sure we were up and in the shuttle bus with time to spare. I was actually glad to spend the day with Tyler. It was great. We flew to Maui, and was very glad that our luggage made it there as well. We didn't waste much time either. After landing we went to the snorkel shop, got some gear, drove to our condo, and were in the ocean within an hour of landing. Snorkeling was awesome! Especially when this huge sea turtle swam right under me!! My dad made a jam sandwich that he had put in a plastic baggie. He poked a small hole in the end and spread bread crumbs in the water. Fish came out of nowhere and they were swimming so close to us. Talk about reach out and touch someone! It was so awesome.

This is what your face looks like after burning it and the top of your head too. Here's me watching my awesome Love surf.

Surfing, and hot!! What a combo! We didn't really have an agenda. It was so nice to relax on the beach, or by the pool. Cooked out on the grill, strolled along the beach front, ate really great food, played games with the family I love most, shopped, saw a magic show (not really Hawaiian but I haven't laughed that hard in a long time), Got our pictures taken for my parents living room wall, snorkeled, Tyler scuba dived, body surfed, spud busters (family name for big waves) Olympics on the sand, and overall just can't even believe what an awesome time I had.

I had such a great time and it was wonderful seeing my family again. And it was more wonderful to have Tyler all to myself with no kids!! A big huge Thank you to my fabulous mother in law for watching the kids for that week. And so for now Aloha in the goodbye sense. I've all ready started saving for the next trip.