Maddie's Girl Scout Karate Night

Maddie had a blast at Kenpo Karate last night. There was a lot of kicking, punching, running, screaming, and laughing. The instructors did a fabulous job with the girls, teaching them what to do if someone grabs them. They had races and loudest scream contests. I posted a video on the girl scout blog if you want to be entertained further: gstroop1857.blogspot.com.

They even gave the girls badges to put on their uniforms

Maddie's first grade picture

How cute is she!

I can't believe how grown up she is getting. Her new thing lately is trying to explain how everything works and creating inventions to make things easier. I hear several great invention sales pitches a day.

Friday Fun

Maddie didn't have school on Friday and Andy had the day off so he took Maddie fishing. They had a wonderful time! Andy said Maddie didn't stop talking the entire time!

When they got back, I took the girl scouts to Dominoes to learn about making pizzas. Unfortunately, something was broken and they couldn't let the girls back there. But they did give us free pizza and we went to a nearby park to play and eat.

Sophie Mae

Sophie was cold and tired, but oh so very cute!

Garen

Garen didn't really want his picture taken and was not very cooperative so I was pleasantly surprised to see some good shots of him. We convinced him to throw leaves and that no one was trying to take his picture.

Maddie

We mainly met for a big family picture, but the photographer was nice enough to shoot some pictures of the kids separately

showing her missin teeth-

Fall Family Photos

Some of my favorite family shots:

Amber, Jann, Boyd, and Andy-

the kids with cousin Levi-

The whole family (on Andy's side):

Sweet Testimonies

I was so proud of Maddie today as she was one of the first ones to the stand at church to bare her testimony. She got right up there, gave a little smile, pulled the microphone down to her level and told everyone that she loves her family, knows the scriptures are true, and that she is trying to be like Jesus. Following her were about 10 more of her primary friends; what sweet spirits we have amongst us.

Halloween!

Our Halloween started out with a fun visit from Grandpa Boyd and Grandma Jann. They came first thing in the morning bearing gifts. Sophie got a singing book, Garen got a truck pulling a boat, and Maddie got Disney Jr. Monopoly. The grandparents stayed long enough for a game and some hugs and kisses and then they were off.
Andy had to work all day, so he missed out on the festivities and we missed him.
We had a Halloween lunch before heading out to the parties. (jack-o-lantern sandwich, scary mouth apple, green juice, green applesauce, banana with Halloween sprinkles, and an eyeball)

Our first stop was the library carnival. The kids had a blast playing all the games. They got lots of fun prizes.

Next we stopped in at Sports Authority to say hi to dad and pick up more candy.

Then onto Maddie's Girl Scout party. They had several fun stations and Maddie had a blast! I didn't get pictures of her playing the games because I was in charge of the craft center. Garen got a little tired of being there with all those girls, but I bribed with candy.

Maddie and one of the other girl scouts-scary

Sophie trying out Garen's hat-

Maddie making her witch

We went straight to the Trunk-or-Treat. I sent the kids around by themselves, while Sophie and I passed out candy. The kids were pretty happy with all the great treats they got.

We headed home long enough for a bit of dinner and a short nap for Sophie, then on to door-to door trick-or-treating.

We got home just after 7pm. From there we passed out candy, gave all three kids baths, got them ready for bed. Andy was relieved when Andy got home about 7:30. We had a great day, but I was definitely tired by the end of it.