Veteran's Day Parade

Hannah and I met some friends downtown for the Veteran's Day parade. Haley's band from school was performing so we were excited to see her march past us. Recently I have been reading the book, Unbroken, about a WWII fighter pilot. After learning more about what our armed forces endure for our freedom, I am even more appreciative of the sacrifices our Veterans make.

Here comes the Warren Junior High Wildcat Marching Band........
They stopped right in front of us and began to play "God Bless America". It was so fun to see Haley playing her flute, looking so cute in her uniform!!

Halloween

Ben had to get dressed up for a big Halloween dance at school so he came up with this idea.....

Meet D J Ben Judd. He gave us a show the night before his party. We all laughed pretty hard as he busted a move! Ben has such a fun sense of humor, we never know quite what to expect with him!

The next day we went to the church trunk or treat. Ben decided to go as a cowboy this time. Haley was a fairy. She enjoyed wearing Emily's old costume from a play she was in a few years ago. Hannah donned the charm witch costume.....
she's quite a character!!!!

No Halloween is complete without a little pumpkin carving and pumpkin seed roasting!

Our strange visitor....

I went outside one morning to sweep the front porch and noticed this little fellow hanging on the wall. What in the world was a bat doing there? Just in time for Halloween! The poor little guy must have inhaled too much bug spray courtesy of Dewey Pest Control, because when I nudged him with the broom handle he fell off the wall and I discovered he was dead.

Time flies......

People often comment, "You don't look old enough to have a married daughter" when I tell them about Allison and Tyler. I must admit that it does seem strange to have a married child, but I love it. I remember well the day I was married, which does not seem that long ago. Where does the time go? It is wonderful how the relationship with a child develops into something much deeper when they move out on their own and become an adult. I love to watch Allison and Tyler find their way in life together, making big important mature decisions.

Go Cougars!!!!!

Since Russ is a dedicated BYU fan, he buys season tickets each year. He usually takes the children to one of the games. They really enjoy this special trip with dad!

Our budding politician.....

Now that Hannah was in fifth grade, she was eligible to run for a position on student council. She decided to run for Director of Safety. She chose a campaign manager and together they made t shirts to wear and a poster to put up in the cafeteria. Hannah wrote her own speech, complete with Hannah's humor and flair for the dramatics! It was fun to watch her give her speech to the student body. She said she was nervous, but she did a fantastic job and looked as cool as a cucumber. She ended up winning the election and is now proudly serving as Ronald Reagan Elementary School's Director of Safety. You've got to start somewhere.....who knows where this political career may end up!

Special Olympics Bowling

Another great season of bowling has come to an end for Ben, but what made it so special was that Russ was able go each week as a "mentor" bowler on Ben's team. Ben really looked forward to Tuesday nights when he and dad had their date night at the bowling alley! Ben was able to participate in a few tournaments. He received a huge trophy at the awards ceremony. That brought a very big smile to his face!!!