It's Halloween Time!

Halloween is so much more fun when you have kids!  Last night we had our ward party and since it wasn't on the weekend, Matt came!  It was fun to get Riley dressed up and people loved or coordinating costumes.

Tonight Matt had to work so Riley and I were on our own for trick or treating. Yes, those are tears.  Getting her costume on is always a fight but she recovered quickly.

Just as we were getting started, some friends came around the corner on our street.  The friend who's cow I milk also has some miniature horses.  She came around the corner with the pony pulling her carriage and offered to take Riley and me for a ride!  It was so much fun!!!  Every house we stopped at, people were coming out with their kids to see the horse and pet him.  It made for a very fun, very memorable Halloween!!

Happy Halloween!

We have had a great Halloween week!  We also started with our ward Trunk-or-Treat on Saturday.  Then carved pumpkins on Tuesday, another Truck-or-Treat today and then we walked the neighborhood after that.  Ava and Brycen made quite the candy haul and had a blast doing it!  I even got in on the action at the 1st Truck-or-Treat - I was Wonder Woman!  DeAnna bought the costume last year at the after Halloween sales.  I made the crown and added the boots.  I found them at GoodWill and painted them red with spray paint.  Not bad huh!  Ava was a Witch, Brycen was a Dragon and Carter was a Firefighter.  we all had a blast!

Happy Halloween from the Rowley's!!!

We've been having a great Halloween week and have been enjoying all of the crazy sugar and candy that goes with it! On Friday, we went to our ward's Trunk-or-Treat and we had fun playing bingo and the kids loaded up on lots of candy. For FHE on Monday we picked out and carved our pumpkins. Then, yesterday, we went with Clarissa and Shane's clan to their ward's Trunk-or-Treat and enjoyed yummy chili, lots of fun games and of course all the candy. Dallas was a pro that night and was very fast in getting around to all the cars! Today we had fun playing games and winning prizes at the school's Halloween party and tonight we get to enjoy pizza and Hocus Pocus with Nana and Papa. I'd say we made out great this Halloween and we've all had lots of fun!

And now the costumes!!

Jett wanted to be a robot and Dad helped him make it. Tucker was a bat, and Dallas was a police man. My belly was Mike Wazowski (from Monsters Inc.) and it got great comments and reactions wherever I went! All of the costumes were made the Friday we had our ward party - they were all home made or pulled out of the dress-up bin and we all had a great time wearing them!

Hope you all have had a HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Wonder Woman

We have been making a lot of trips to Boise lately and this past weekend we got to come over and visit with Mandy and the kids for a little while after they had attended their trunk-or-treat.
Mandy had a great Wonder Woman costume and I just had to post this.  AWESOME COSTUME!

Come to think of it, there are quite a few Wonder-ful Women in our family.  What a blessing!!  I am so proud of all the women in my life.  Nothing can express my gratitude for you and the choices I see you making in your lives and the affect it has on your families.  You are all Wonder Women to me!

Pumpkin Carving

Each year we tend to procrastinate and end up carving our pumpkins the day before Halloween.  This year we had a 100% improvement and carved them two days before Halloween. Kimbre picked out three nice pumpkins two weeks ago and Monday night we let our creative efforts flow.

It wouldn't be proper pumpkin carving in a Zirker household if the jig-saw wasn't employed to crack open the top.

Riley tried a few bites of pumpkin, but didn't really care for the taste.

Before the mess got too out of hand.

The finished product: Kimbre, Matt, and Riley

Happy Birthday Jason!!

To an amazing husband, wonderful father, and the JOY of my life!  I love you Jason!!!!!  Happy Birthday!

Carter's Blessing

This weekend we celebrated Carter as the newest member of our family.  All of Drew's siblings, except Tyrus, traveled from Utah, and my parents came from Oregon to participate in Carter's blessing.  

On Saturday everyone relaxed, watched the BSU game, played some golf, and ATE and ATE and ATE!  The kids and I went out to lunch with my parents and then everyone came together that evening to attend the Boise Idaho Temple Open House.  All I can say is WOW - the temple is so beautiful!  What an amazing feeling it was to be there with so much family with me!

On Sunday - Drew and I invited every one over for lunch and pictures before heading to church at 1:00.  Brycen was a joker the whole time and kept making funny faces in almost every picture.  These are my favorites...

A huge thank you to everyone that was able to come to Carter's blessing this weekend.  It was so nice to spend time with extra family!

It's Finished... and she LOVES it!

In April this year I was pregnant and looking for a project - early nesting I guess.  So I started making plans for a beautiful new room for Ava.   I figured that the two boys would eventually share a room - and Ava would need a space of her own.  So why not start working on it now, (even though I know Carter won't move in with Brycen for a while) .  

I got so excited to put this room together but it was taking so long and I started to get worried that it would never happen.  Well many months later, the vision I had for her room finally came to life and I must say that all the sanding, painting and shopping was totally worth it!

It started with an old dresser and drawers...

Then came a head board and foot board (thanks DeAnna!)  There was a  lot of sanding to do and I was grateful for all the help.

I didn't forget about the drawer pulls.  A little paint makes all the difference!

Here's the line-up.  1 dresser, 5 drawers, and the bed - all sanded and ready for paint.

And here it is!  Ava picked out owls, hot pink and lime green for her new room!

Yes!  I sewed a valance!  It is very simple but I did it!

I think we can all see by the look on her face that she is excited!  And maybe a little crazy too :)

Must have a little drama with the zebra stripes.

I am so glad I was able to do this for my sweet angel!  I love this girl SO much.

Pumpkin Park Fun!

Today we went with some friends to the Stu Miller pumpkin patch and the kids had a BLAST!  They had a bounce house, slides, little kid rides, and kids took home with a free mini-pumpkin.  But, I think my favorite (and I know it was Braden's) was the adorable petting zoo.  They had sheep, miniature & baby goats (the size of a cat!), bunnies, and chickens.  We shared some food to give them and the worker held a bunny for the kids to pet.  When offered the bounce house with Jacob, Bray wanted to go back to the petting zoo and look at the goats through the chicken wire.  Perhaps it's because I grew up with pets, or my mom's enthusiasm for animals, lots of National Geographic books when I was younger, or just a simple sense of gratitude that I feel when I realize that the Lord made these things "to gladden the heart,"  but I really love animals and zoos.  A part of me is always excited and fascinated by these living breathing things and I feel just like a kid again.  I'm not a big environmentalist, I'm not a huge pet person, but I just feel humble and awed sometimes when I get to see and touch these little miracles of nature--even if (especially if) it is a greedy goat tickling my 3 year old's fingers!  Anyhow- silly but fun and very worth spending our time and money!