Halloween Events

I love celebrating holidays and Halloween is one of my favorites! I still love to dress up, so I'm glad I have an excuse to do so at my drill team's Halloween party! Anyway, this post has pics from most of the Halloween activities we did during the month of October, with the exception of the annual Pumpkin Party at Grandpa Mangelson's. We lost some pics or they were somehow deleted from the card in our camera? Anyway, I don't have pics from the party. I'm hoping to get some from one of my sisters, but I haven't done that yet.

So, here are the fun things we did during the month of October:

First, on October 15th, I went with my mom and sisters to "Witch's Night Out" at Gardner Village. We went out to eat to celebrate Paula and Emilee's birthdays too. We met and did a little shopping first and then ate at Pei Wei. Then we headed down to Gardner Village. It was packed as usual. A lot of people, with 90% of them dressed as witches! It is fun to walk around and see the displays and do a little shopping in the fun shops they have at Gardner Village.

After we had got our fill of Witch's Night Out, we decided we needed a little something sweet. So we drove up to The Cheesecake Factory for some of their delicious cheesecake. We had a fun time talking and laughing!

Here we are at Witch's Night Out - my sister Annie gave me this pic.

On October 22 was the annual Pumpkin Party at Grandpa Mangelson's house in Levan. But, I lost my pictures from this event. Stay tuned for pics soon--that is if I can get some from one of my sisters!

On October 27, we had our annual drill team Halloween party. This year we went to Fat Cats in Provo and went bowling and had dinner at Costa Vida, which is inside Fat Cats. We dressed up, of course!

Fat Cats was all ready for us and even had a sign and some balloons in our school colors. They did a great job putting it all together and the girls had a great time.

The team and I in our costumes.

The sign they had for us!

Different decades of drill team and cheer outfits!

Neisha, on the left, is wearing her mom's drill team warm up from Spanish Fork drill team in 1996, (I think she said). Shalee, in the middle, is wearing her mom's cheer outfit from 1984, and then I dressed up in my drill team outfit from 1986. Everything is the original stuff, except my pants--couldn't fit into them anymore! I even wore my school ring and my paisley Swatch watch!

Playing Ms. Pacman in the arcade - something I liked to do in the 80s too!

On Saturday, October 29, Scott and I planned on taking Kendrick down to trick or treat on Spanish Fork main street. The Chamber of Commerce does a trick or treat thing from 1 - 3 p.m. and you can trick or treat at certain stores. Well, we get Kendrick dressed up and headed down to main street. Kendrick fell asleep before we got down to main street. So, I didn't know if we would get him out or not.

Well, when we got to main street, we saw the crowd--it was very large and there is a long line going from store to store. We decided it wasn't worth it--especially since Kendrick is only one and didn't really need candy, we just wanted to do something festive with him.

We decided to drive out to the Red Barn in Santaquin. They have a pumpkin patch, hay ride, and a fun little store we could check out. We didn't go on the hay ride, we just walked around and then got some apple cider doughnuts from the bakery in the store. They were delicious!

Kendrick and Scott in front of the Red Barn.Kendrick dressed up in a dalmatian dog costume that I got from one of my drill team girl's mom.

Kendrick thought it was fun - well, at least I think he thought it was fun!

Kendrick, the dalmatian.Kendrick and Scott

On Halloween night, Scott had put a "dinner in a pumpkin" meal in the oven before he went to work. Scott had to work until 7 p.m., so Kendrick and I hung out at home. We carved a pumpkin and took some pictures - these are some that we lost too!

We then had some dinner in the pumpkin - it was really good. It was a different recipe than what we had used before. Then I put Kendrick in his costume. He was going to be a frog to trick or treat in this time. We waited for Scott to come home and then we went trick or treating to a few houses in our ward/neighborhood.

Kendrick the FrogShowing us "So Big".Cute little frog!Trick or treat bucket in hand, ready to go!We had several choices of costumes to put on Kendrick. He could have been a bumble bee or a giraffe too! I was going to dress up as Cruella Deville, but couldn't find a costume. So, we dressed him up as the dalmatian dog on Saturday and then the frog on Halloween night. I thought the frog costume was so cute! I'm so lucky to have sisters and friends that have great costumes to let me borrow!

Well, now on to the next holiday - Thanksgiving. I love this holiday too! I have so much to be grateful for this year. I also love the break and Thanksgiving dinner, of course!

Drill Football Performances

One of the football player's dad on the MMHS football team takes pictures at all of the football games. He even takes pictures of the drill team at halftime. He then posts the pics on the MMHS football webpage. Here are some of the ones he took of the drill team at football games. He took some of the drill team at each game except the first home one.

This is the game with Timpview. We performed our hip hop routine, "Outta Your Mind".

Lined up, waiting to take the field.

The field was wet, because it had been raining that day! But we still performed.

Showing a little "hip hop" attitude!

The performance was awesome--even on a wet field. You could see water and wet grass flying in the air as they were dancing!Our next home game was the Homecoming game with Timpanogas. The team performed a hip hop routine they had learned at BDT Camp called "Barbwire". They wore their had down straight. This first pic looks cool with their hair:It had been raining again for this game! It was cold too!It was another amazing performance!The next home game, was the last home game of the regular season. It was with Orem. The Elleves performed a routine entitled, "Royal T". We learned it at BDT Camp.

The Seniors were recognized at this game - here the drill team listens as their names are called.

No rain this game!

Another amazing performance!

Maple Mountain Football was 2nd in the Region this year! They had a great season. So, the first playoff game was at MMHS. The drill team performed the "Edge" routine from BDT Camp.

Going down into the first position of the routine.

The music is "I'm Not Afraid", by Eminem

It was a great performance, which ending up being our last football performance of the year!

I'm always somewhat happy when football season ends. Mainly because we can now focus on competition routines and get ready for competition season! Also, because I like performing at the football games, but I don't like the unpredictable weather and also dancing on a football field can be difficult sometimes.

Now, on to competition season!

Kendrick's Surgery

Kendrick has been going to the neo-natal follow up clinic for check ups/progress since he left the NICU. Once of the tests he has done is a hearing test. The nurses were not able to get an accurate hearing test and there was fluid behind his eardrum.

The first time this happened, they said it was an ear infection, and they prescribed antibiotics for Kendrick.

Three months later, we repeated the tests at the neo-natal follow up clinic again. They still were unable to get an accurate ear/hearing test. There was still some fluid behind his eardrum and they recommended we see Kendrick's pediatrician.

Kendrick's one-year appointment was in two more weeks or so, so we decided to wait until then to have the doctor check his ears then. Kendrick hadn't really been acting like his ears were hurting or anything. We were just concerned that if he wasn't able to hear correctly, it would affect his speech development.

So, we went to this one year old check up and talked to his doctor. He suggested we make an appointment with an ENT doctor. So, we did and the ENT doctor, Dr. Robins, said that one ear was 100% full of fluid and the other ear was 50% full of fluid. So, we set an appointment for surgery for tubes to be put in his ears.

I was sorta concerned about it, but then after listing it on facebook and reading everyone's comments about the procedure and how many of my friend's kids had had the surgery, I was a little bit relieved.

Kendrick's surgery was on Thursday, October 6. We had to be at the hospital in Provo at 5:30 a.m.! He also couldn't have anything to eat or drink after midnight the night before the surgery.

We woke him up at about 4:45, changed his diaper, wrapped him up in his jammies and headed to the hospital. We brought a warm blanket and a bottle to give him right after the surgery. Everyone told me that he would be a little "crazy" and cry a lot after coming out of the anesthesia, so to have some things to comfort him.

Here are some pics we took that morning. We only had our cell phone camera with us, so the pictures aren't the best!

Waiting for them to call us back.

Kendrick was walking around and also colored in a coloring book while waiting.

Kendrick in his hospital clothes - wondering what is going on!

Getting a little bit restless!

He was probably thinking, "not this place again!" - after being in the NICU!

Just waiting for the nurse to come get him.

After a while of waiting and having the nurses and the doctor come in and explain everything to us, they came and took Kendrick back to have the surgery. It was kinda weird to have them take him and we just stayed there and had to wait.

The surgery took about 5 minutes, but then they have to wait for him "wake up" from the anesthesia. When they brought him to us, he was crying. And he kept crying! So, we wrapped him in his blanket and gave him his bottle and he would calm down for a little bit, and then cry and then stop, and then cry. This went on for a while, then they let us go.

We stopped and got something for him to eat on the way home and after eating, he fell asleep. He slept for about 2 hours. When he woke up, he acted fine, like nothing had happened. Until we had to put the drops in his ears, and then he would fight us.

Everything is going great so far. We had a checkup with Dr. Robins and he said everything looked good.

Things are also looking good with his hearing and speech development.

We love Kendrick and are glad everything went well with his surgery!

11/11/11

On November 11, 2011, was the annual "Sadie Hawkins" dance at MMHS. The Elleves sponsor this dance. We were excited when the date of the dance was "11/11/11". We chose the theme, "Make A Wish" and decorated everything in blue, silver, and black.

Here are the girls just after finishing decorating:This one, complete with the balloon arch they made!

Later that night for the dance, Kendrick, and I came back to supervise and "chaperone". Scott met us there after he got off work. Scott and Kendrick stayed for just a little while and then Scott took Kendrick home so he could go to bed. But, before they left, the photographers asked if we wanted to get our pictures taken, so we did! We are not dressed in matching shirts, like everyone wears to Sadie Hawkins, ha ha, and Scott had just got off work, but oh well!

So here is Kendrick's first "Sadie Hawkins" picture! :)

All State Dance/Drill Auditions

On November 1, 2011, I took three of my drill team girls to the 4A/5A Dance Drill Auditions. Each 4A and 5A school sends three girls from their team to the auditions. This year Kaitlynn Blood, Makayla Wilson, and Aubrey Finch went to represent Maple Mountain.

Here they are with their numbers.

Close up shot of them.

When the final cut was announced, all three of them made it! It was very exciting and I'm so proud of them! They had to learn a combination and then show it in groups of four in front of judges. There were about 60 girls there in the 4A division and 20 girls made the final cut. They will be announced at the State Drill competition in February and will be awarded medals.

Payson Lakes/Jackson's Birthday

On October 2, 2011, we had our annual Payson Lakes family gathering. We also celebrated Jackson's birthday, which is on October 4 - aka October Fortune. (That is how Jackson said his birth date when he was little, and we have just always called it that!)

Here is one of the pictures that we took there. I had more, but we recently lost a bunch of the pictures we had taken. Something happened with the card or somehow Scott deleted them? Anyway, we lost a lot of pictures! So, I need to back them up sooner or blog about our family events sooner!

Here is Jackson with his cake:

We had a great time at Payson Lakes. The kids played by the lake and some of them fished a little bit. Madeline was trying to cast her fishing pole, and she got Zach right on top of the head! Luckily, his dad was able to get it out and everything was okay!