What will fall out of the picture?

So, where is Mr. Wonderful? The husband with the helping hand to alleviate the trails of the mothers day? Still at Walmart. I get home and feel a fluster of both disappointment and anger that the children are...well, children. School starts this week for me as well...and I am wondering what will fall out of the picture? Nadia and I both know that school is the right choice right now, only as to how we are going to manage it, we do not know. I also have two clients to do work for this week, and would do more if I had the work, but until Walmart is trumped...what should I do? Anyone who knows me knows that working 1-8:30 on a Sunday is a serious NO-NO. But where are guts to do something about it when the results would only seem to be inability to pay the bills? Is this a faith promoting experience in the school of temporal success from following the Lord in Faith? I would like to think so, but is this anywhere near Nephi being commanded to build a ship?...likening it unto my desire to build a freelance job to support my family that I have spent over a decade learning how to do (and adding another 3 for my Masters Degree in the process)? However possible the discouragements are, and there are many working hard to convince me of my "foolishness", I know I will not have any easier time in the future to accomplish this Degree. Life isn't getting simpler, and I am not getting younger. Some obvious difficulty we have had is the recent move. We have not had a home of our own for longer than two years, some less than 10 months...well, since we lived in gov't subsidized housing in St. Anthony years ago. And that was 2.5 years I think. Very little escapes being a test of faith, but a taste of success would be nice, and a bit of positive accomplishment too. Nevertheless, there is opposition in all things. Especially now that Nadia and I are working hard to go to the temple this summer...or late spring. Mom Williams was going to stop by a couple of times a week and help until yesterday when she tore a ligament or something in her lower leg. She won't be going anywhere, nor helping us soon I don't think...or is that only how it seems. We will have our own cable internet installed on Thursday for usage for school, and for work. Right now, as Nadia mentioned earlier in this blog, we have only one computer, and two enrolled students! And my classes are all ONLINE! I really do not expect too many to agree with my decisions. They clearly appear to overwhelm me, and thus my wife and children. But beyond the limitations of what I think I know, and what others say "makes more sense", I am doing all this regardless to better myself. So many people nowadays put off families and children for jobs and school...they put off school for later "when it will be easier" or "timed better". Many people are even more vocal about decisions ( indirect comment) since everyone is bonkers about the Economy. Well, if I may be so bold ( not to try to be crazy) but when in history was there not some kind of Famine, or curse upon the Land?!!! Lehi left Jerusalem because it was ripe for destruction....to escape the wrath of God upon the people there. And aside from Nephi, his family near constantly reminded him that it was "out of the frying pan-into the fire". And here I get to two points. One is that it was a commandment of the Lord, and He had a destination for them to reach. Second is that this "journey" was "difficult" and tried their faith in Him, whether they believed what He promised. If you reached the waters and realized you had to cross them for say over a year and you had no idea how to build a ship...would you say, "man, I was taken for a fool by a dream", or would you be believing in the face of "obvious problems" that needed solving? Nephi did build a ship, but with the Lord's instruction, not without. So, I will definitely say, I stand before an "Ocean of problems", and have no idea as to myself how to solve them of which I have "gotten myself into". But even greater a fool I would be to be unbelieving in the Lord, that He can guide me, and instruct me in the ways to solve these problems...even when everyone around me may suffer me to feel like a fool. So be it in their eyes. They do not see the solution either. So, it definitely is standing before the Lord asking for direction. I am commanded to lead and care for my family, to provide for their well being and safety. I am commanded to lead them temporally and spiritually in the ways of the Lord. No wonder that the vision of the Tree of Life had people fall away in shame who had partaken of the fruit that was most precious...because they heeded those in the Great and Spacious building. I ask then, what will I really fail at if things do not work out? Bankruptcy? Eternal Slavery to Debtors? Employment at places that I hate to work for for decades, while my decades of education rots in its stewardship? It is as if Laban and his 5,000 have come to slay me, and who do I have on my side but the Lord. :) I am fortunate to have a merciful God whose wisdom and power are greater than all of my adversaries...including me. His Love and His Words are what have sustained me. I am also greatly blessed to have a longsuffering wife who loves me, and children also who love me. I see their faces in my darkest hours and oft survive therefrom. Then what will fall out of the picture? Surely not my family, and therefore surely not me, nor the Lord then; for my family is a constant reminder of His will. I guess all other things are in question...our home, our cars, our educations, our belongings-both dear and replaceable. What is more dear to us than each other and the Lord? This curse upon the land is here...a famine of sorts. Where once they came upon the land as short supply of resource, now it appears as a curse "socioeconomically" upon the land. And how many people blame the Lord when it is us as the people who had first turned away from Him...only now to return, and from pleading to blaming Him for what is happening? The funniest thing is, MY social economic situation is not changed by this. What everybody feels now is what I have felt most of my married life! Sure it is changed by the added fear and fury of those who also now feel it, but Things are no worse. There are only fewer oppportunities in people's minds. Collectively this becomes a reality as companies downsize, jobs are cut, and the mistakes of the few affect the mass of the whole. Where can I turn for peace? In whose arm can I trust? I am just a man. And yet I am such a dreamer...even as a child. Well, I've said more than I needed to outwardly, but matched in small measure what I've said countlessly inside. God is commanding me to build a ship. He giveth no commandment unto the children of men save He prepareth a way that they may accomplish the thing wherewith He hath commanded them. Adeu.

whoa, i don't think i signed up for this!

ok, i'm a fairly patient person, and have to admit that i manage to keep my cool most of the time. yesterday was one of those days though.
i've had to move laundry days back to saturday as there is just not enough time during the week to do it all. so, i'm doing laundry and trying to do some homework as well. shannon is being very cooperative, but the older two are not making things easy. they get into the kitchen drawer and spread the snack baggies all over the floor. they keep sneaking outside, and taylor had been sick. they got a hold of some yarn and had it unwound all over the front room. i told them they needed to clean that up, when i went back to check on them, they had a whole pound of cheese out, and there was hair laying on the floor. they had gotten a hold of the kitchen scissors and cut up the yarn, and elizabeths hair. they had cut enough hair that i had to finish the job and even things out.
of my homework, i was able to get a little bit of research done. but i had 4 papers that needed to be written, lots of reading to do, and a test to study for. i didn't get any of it done.

what's that smell?

i know i just posted something, but this was too good to not tell. i wish i'd taken pictures though. why is it that you only think of that afterwards, and not when it's still there?

it's sunday, i'm sitting here in my bedroom indexing cause it's the best room in the house to get an internet signal. the baby is asleep in the crib and the kids are playing in their bedroom, or so i thought. shannon woke up and i went to go feed her in the front room. as i'm walking out, i smell something funny. i notice that the kids are in the front room, and i ask them what they've been into. taylor tells me "nothing," i tell him that's a lie cause i can smell it. then i start looking a little closer. there are large black spots on the carpet in front of the door. it hits me then what the smell was, shoe polish. they had gotten into a thing of shoe polish and proceeded to paint with it on the carpet. not a good thing. (oh, and this is after i've already cleaned up sugar once today.)

i put shannon in the swing and got to work cleaning the floor. i found the shopvac, emptied it, took the dry vac sleeve off, and got the prespot and the sol-u-mel. i sprayed the carpet with the presot, let it sit for a few minutes, dumped some water on the spots and then vaccumed it all up. i was shocked and amazed that it took it all out. i didn't have to use the sol-u-mel, the prespot did the job. WOW!! since the carpet is so old, and has very little padding underneath it, it looks spotty from the cleaning, and still looks filthy, but at least the shoe polish is out.

can openers . . . beware

you know those can openers that don't leave any sharp edges on the cans? they are pretty safe, right? YEAH, RIGHT!!
i about took my finger off last night with mine. i was opening a can of olives for dinner, and my hand slipped off the turning handle. well, my finger slid inside it, and took out a chunk of my finger.
looking at it now, i probably should have gone in and had it looked at, it might have needed stitches. it looks a lot worse now than it did last night. it borders my fingernail and i didn't think there was much they could have done about it, so i just put a bandaid on it, and left it at that. however, it's about the size of pencil eraser and about an 1/8 inch thick. not only that, but it hurts like nothing else.

CRASH!!!

ok, a few people know, but i wanted to let everyone know that we are all okay.

shannon and i had a wic appointment about 2 weeks ago. it was icy, as it had rained and then snowed and then everything froze. as we were headed to run a few more errands, the car slid through a stop sign and hit a dump truck. i had made sure to give myself ample time to stop, but because of the ice, we didn't (obviously!). i laid on the horn to let the driver of the truck know that i couldn't stop, and prayed that no one would get hurt. (btw- i had all 3 kids with me.) the car managed to turn just enough that i glanced off the back tire of the truck instead of hitting the middle or front like i would have. that was a blessing. so, it tried to take off my front bumper! i lost lights on the drivers side, and about lost my bumper. no one was injured.
the cops came and we did the whole accident thing, then i headed home to call the insurance and relax. i took the car to the repair shop on tuesday, and didn't get my rental until wednesday. it took a week to get the van fixed, but it looks great. the bill came to about $2300. thankfully, we have insurance, so we only had to pay the deductible of $250. considering that i can't pay my gas bill, that's a payment i had to squeeze out. (btw-the gas bill is $260) but, the van is better now, and like i said everyone is okay.

oh, i'm glad i pay my tithing. ie fire insurance

Masters Degree

So, with little time, and droopy eyelids I announce that I am in efforts to begin my Masters Degree at the Academy of Art in San Francisco. They have an entire online system to offer top of the line education from anywhere. A friend of mine just graduated from BYUI and started at the Academy. He saw me while I was "stocking milk" at Walmart and we had a quick chat about what he was doing. I had plans last year to try to attend the Academy, but didn't go through with it then. Time is short and things are in a good placement...kinda. This will be a true challenge to do since Nadia is in school also and I have a few clients I am doing artwork for now. We worry mostly about the kids, but if Nadia and I are going to do this, now is the time when we are young. It won't get any easier. Otherwise, I will end up working for Walmart for the rest of my life... and not doing much artwork at all. It would be really sad to give up my artwork to crunch hours at Walmart... to maybe make ends meet. Especially since I have the opportunity to make much more doing my art. We are also working with Meleleuca to earn money. With Nadia off of the phones and not working there as she did before, we can sell the products now. We have used the products for years now, and won't go back. Powerful, safe for kids and family, and concentrated for longer usage, money saving... and we like that a lot. So, in the hopes that all goes well, and financial aid works, clients are served, kids are ok and loved, time is wisely spent.... we will survive. This is also a time where Nadia and I are working towards going to the Temple this spring or summer. Mostly this will be her waiting for me to catch up to her since she has been worthy for some time now. Well, I'm exhausted, a lot to do still. Hope all is well with everyone else. Take care.

strange times

so, it's been a weird week, and it's only wednesday!
i got in an accident on monday. thankfully, no one was hurt. i was heading home from wic, when i hit some black ice at an intersection and ran into the back tire of a dump truck. there was no damage to the truck, of course, but the front end of my van was nearly torn off. ok, that might be a bit of an exaggeration. but it was a bad day. it nearly tore off my front bumper, bent the frame a little under the hood, and smashed off the headlights. the cops came and took statements, and pics, and then i headed home. when i got home, i called the insurance and we got appointments set up to fix the van and get me a rental. the van should be done early next week. my rental is an 08 dodge caravan. it doesn't have a traditional key!
i started school today, and that was an adventure too. i was worried that i might be doing the wrong thing, since everything seems to be working against me going back. but as i was sitting there in my class today, it felt right. i was only enrolled for 11 cr, but the class that i need to fill out my schedule isn't open at all right now. i'm going to keep trying. in the meantime, i signed up for a fit for life class. it helps you create a plan for staying healthy for the rest of your life. it sounds interesting, but i really don't have credits to be throwing around.
i've learned the hard way that when i eat too much chocolate, we have a bad night. chocolate gives shannon some serious belly aches.

New Year, New Challenges

Well, it has been the first week of 2009. Nadia and I don't really know how we are surviving, but we say our prayers with kids most every night, and try to keep each other posted on what happens during the day and what we are planning. She has some new things happening that I will let her explain later when she begins them. So far we still sleep awkwardly with Shannon through the night. We noticed that her bottom teeth are trying to break through....which baffled us to be honest. I guess three years is long enough to forget what babies go through, but it seems like Shannon is ahead on a lot of things. Taylor will be 5 by tomorrow, so he will be excited. We don't know for sure what we are going to do, but I hope we can give him a good birthday. My fifth birthday came about 6 to 10 months after my first home burned down, so I am glad he hasn't had to deal with a tragedy like that at a young age....although, he has already had six different homes! Pondiside Gardens in St. Anthony is where he lived after he and Elizabeth both were born, and then we moved into Baywood apartments in Rexburg, whereafter she and the kids went to Missouri to Lee's Summit to live with grandparents to take care of sick grandpa ( while I stayed in Idaho and finished school), then we moved into the Romney's house, then Brent and Trisha Larsens home, and now this home....phew. More homes than years alive. Poor kid is pretty resilient though. Both he and Elizabeth are. They play together pretty well, when Elizabeth isn't stomping on him and he isn't bitting her. Anyway, I hope Nadia gets to update a little. I am still working at Walmart but during the days, whilst connecting with friends and networking with their connections to try to get my illustration career jumpstarted. With the economy scaring everybody, it has been hard to find sustainable work. Lots of little low pay stuff though, that never stops actually. Art is "always" in demand somehow. So, later everyone. Take care, and drive safe.
Shaun

wow, talk about catch-up!

ok, so it's been awhile, and i'm way behind on everything. a newborn and moving and then christmas: gee i wonder why nothing is getting done? it doesn't help that we are mooching internet from one of the doctors offices nearby, like next door.

so i took shannon in to get tested for acid reflux, and she didn't even dribble. the one day that i needed her to spit up and she doesn't. if she continues in the same way that she has been, i'm going to have the doctor treat it and see if she does any better.

we finally got the tree up 3 days before christmas. with the move there was no room, and the tree was buried on the porch (it's a fake tree that we store in a large tote.) the tree went up on monday and didn't get decorated until tuesday. but at least it was up.

we had the sister missionaries over for christmas breakfast this year. for those of you not familiar with the tradition, my family invites the missionaries for christmas breakfast. we have a big breakfast; eggs, bacon, sausage, danish, hashbrowns, fruit; then we open presents with them. it's nothing big, and the gifts are ususally gag gifts. well, the sisters stopped by one day when they noticed that someone had moved in, and we invited them to join us. it was a blast.
one of the gifts i got them was a growing husband. it's about an inch tall, and you put it in water and it grows. shaun was worried they would be upset about it, but they thought it was hilarious, btw-so did i.

shaun had to work today so i had the kids by myself at church. it was fine until we were getting ready to go home and elizabeth wet her pants. it's a good thing i keep an extra pair in their backpacks. i left them in the mothers lounge while i went to get the car. it had a fine layer of ice on it.

it's snowed every day for the last 2 weeks. there's so much snow on the sides of the roads that you can't see the traffic coming from uphill. we got 8-10 inches on christmas day alone. we were just getting ready to leave for church this morning when we noticed that we'd been plowed in. it took us a half-hour to dig out; of course, we were late. not only that, but it rained today instead of snowing.

Moved at last!

At first I thought I would move my office last and not bother my family and friends with the "stuff" that is so difficult to move. Well, it took the better part of a week and a half to move it unfortunately. Family came over and we moved most of the belongings we have on a Saturday a couple of weeks ago. Fortunately enough it was before the snow fell, and it was a nice day to say the least. We were all surprised at the good weather. Now that being said, when I moved all the paintings and artwork that is so difficult to move tonight...it was snowing and blowing at around 10 degrees above zero. Thank goodness my friend Brent helped with some of that. It takes forever. The kids have had a hard time keeping out of the things laying all over the new house. It is a REAL mess. I ought to take a picture of the before and after to give a better idea perhaps. Last Sunday, we had a bunch of friends over for dinner and games. That was pretty nice actually, and would have been even better had we had the whole house together :) We are so fortunate to have found this home. We don't know what the utilities will amount to yet, but at 400 a month, we could not argue for a 3 bed home of our own. It is pretty old and is settled in quit a bit. Nevertheless, we are warm and have a roof over our heads. Well, I am really tired, so Sleep must take priority here. More to come I'm sure. Later everybody.

messy, messy, messy

so, life has been crazy. we moved this last weekend, for the most part. we still have bits and pieces to move, but since there is no one waiting to move in right behind us, it's not a problem. i had spent the week cleaning and running around getting ready for the move. the new house wasn't cleaned well, and i hate moving into a dirty house. the big problem was the tub; there was about a quarter inch of soap scum in the bottom, and that had to cleaned out before i was comfortable using it. so saturday rolls around, and everyone is showing up in about an hour to help move us and nothing is in boxes yet, and i'm done. you know when you are exhausted and you just can't do anything more how you tend to shut down? well, that's where i was at. shaun told me to not worry about it and they would get things taken care of. so i didn't do anything. that was the hardest part.

so, i get the washer and dryer and you can see from a previous post, but i can't take them until the other couple are gone. since monday is laundry day, we were back here at the old house to do laundry. while i'm trying to find things to do to occupy myself, they get into the food coloring and proceed to dump it on the ice cream maker box-thankfully, no clothes got dirty. i got that cleaned up and then they decide they are going to take shauns monet puzzle box apart. monet was an impressionistic artist who used the dot method to create his amazing paintings. these puzzles are torturous to put back together. in fact, it took 3 hours or more to get the 6 small puzzles in order. while i was doing that. taylor put his halloween costume back on by himself, they got into some foundation samples and spread them all over the kitchen counter, and they started in on the office (which is still here. shaun has a project he needs to do and it can't get done if he has no office to work in. we will move it over this weekend, i think.).

this morning while i'm laying in bed with the baby they got into my makeup and proceeded to paint each other. since that was the only thing they got into this morning wasn't terrible. but, it occurred to me that if i can't even handle my children how am i going to be able to handle school on top of everything else. i still haven't figured out what to do with the kids while i'm in classes. maybe going back to school was wishful thinking and i should just forget about it.

potty trained?

so, we just had our first accident free day!! she went in all by herself everytime she needed to go potty, and only once did i have to tell her to go in and go. we'll see how things go in the future though. one day does make it permanent.

washer and dryer anyone?

so, i was talking with brent the other day. i was checking to see how their house offer had gone; when he started talking about the bunkbed and the washer and dryer. this was not unusual, but his tone was. there had been many situations talked about and what they would do with some of their stuff. he's giving us the bunkbed, and he had a deal for the washer and dryer. he told me that anyone who will clear out the junk in the back and the stove and dresser on the porch can have the washer and dryer. moving and getting rid of that stuff requires a truck, and moving the washer and dryer requires a truck also. so, while we are moving our house this weekend, we are going to take a load or two to the dump, and then i can have the washer and dryer after they are gone!! ha! that saves us a lot of money, and i get a NICE set (close to $1500) for free!

housing and sliced fingers

so, we were able to find a place to move into. actually, my neice found it for us. she was at work and talking with a co-worker who mentioned that she had a house that was going to be opening up for rent. turns out the rent is $400 a month, and the deposit was only $200. so, we automatically took it without even looking at the house. at that price, we can't afford to not take it. there are no utilities included, but even then, the price is still going to be less than anywhere else. it's a 3-bed, and actually has enough room to put the two older kids in their own rooms and still have an office. but, i'm not sure that i'm going to yet. AND i will actually be able to put my table in the kitchen!!!
last night, brent came up and informed me that there was a realtor that was going to be showing the house at 1pm today. AAAAHHHHHHH!!!! my house was not clean in the least, and i had been doing laundry all day. so, i called a friend and she came by after she got off work to help me clean. i cleaned my entire house and got all my laundry put away by 1am. turns out, the people who looked at the house are making an offer! they might get the house sold before they leave and not have to worry about renting it out.

i woke up yesterday morning to elizabeth screaming in pain. turns out that taylor had gotten a hold of the scissors i keep on the fridge. they were cutting hair off of ponies, and stuffed animals. and then taylor decided to cut his sisters finger. i just barely got the story today: apparently she was complaining that her finger hurt so taylor decided he was going to cut it off for her. (i occasionally tease the kids when they complain that something hurts, that we are going to just cut it off. i guess taylor took that a little more seriously than i had thought.) the bandaid on her finger makes it look huge!

moving

so, we learned the day before i had shannon that we had to move. the people we are "living" with have decided that they need to get rid of some debt, and the house is one of them. they are going to rent it out.
why can't we rent it, you ask? the zoning of the house is a little bizarre. the house is split into 2 separate apartments, and the zoning is for a single family house. it would take a lot of work to make the house suitable for a single family again. so, in order to rent out both sections of the house, they need to rent it to siblings. neither of us have any family who needs a place to live (actually, i have no family in the area at all). therefore, it isn't possible for us to stay here.
we have been looking everywhere for a place to move to. a 3-bed in rexburg is around $700. (housing in rexburg is slightly inflated) and we haven't been able to find anywhere that we could afford the deposit to. we looked into govt subsidized, and they won't let us in because we have bills that are more than 60 dys overdue. the application for the govt places states that if you have bills that are overdue, you don't qualify for govt subsidized (what! that makes no sense, i know). we did find a place for about $575 a mo, but one of you has to be a student. and i haven't decided whether or not i'm going to be able to handle school yet.
my neice was at work one day and talking to one of her co-workers. her co-worker mentioned that she had a place that was going to be up for rent in little bit. no thinking anything about it, she went home and was talking with her mother-in-law, who immediately put things together. they called the lady who had the place, and got it for us. it's $400 a mo, $200 dep, and a 3-bed. we haven't even seen the house, and we had no idea what was included and what wasn't. at that point, we were past caring and ready to take anything we could find. we did find out that there are no utilities included, but even then, i think it's only going to run us about $600 total a month. i don't know if there's a washer and dryer however, but even if there's only hook-ups, we'll think of something.
the guy who's currently in the house is supposed to be moving out sometime this week. and we should be able to move in sometime next week. depending on the state he leaves the house in, we might be able to work out a discount with the lady for going in and cleaning up after him. we'll see what happens.

weekend

wow! it's been almost three weeks since i've put anything up on the blog. i've been trying to recover from having shannon, and this has honestly been the last thing on my mind. so, a little bit of updating is in order.

we are all doing well. we blessed shannon yesterday. my dad did the blessing, and shaun was able to stand in the circle! (ah, that was a surprise) my parents were out here for candices endowments. she went through on friday, they came up here on saturday and left to drive home after sacrament on sunday. it's a long trip for such a short visit. but it was a lot of fun. we didn't really do anything, just sat around and talked. but it was still nice to have them here. candice and my dad's parents also came up. mom, dad, and candice stayed with us, and grandma and grandpa stayed in IF with my great aunt.
my parents got to experience my daughters attitude. they had a great time with the kids. we are no longer putting elizabeth in diapers during the day. it's past time and then some for her to be potty trained. there are times that i tell her to go in and go potty that she tells me that she either doesn't want to, or it's not time yet, and her attitude is clearly apparent when she says it.
my mom made shannons blessing dress, of course, she's made them all. when she got here she realized that she didn't have anything for the other kids, so they went shopping and taylor got new socks that fit, and elizabeth got new panties that fit. they also got elizabeth a new coat at DI. they apparently had to talk her into it though. it was the only one there and she didn't like it at first. it's way cute and fits her perfectly.

shannon alexandria enters the world!

had to have the pics of the kids holding her!
so, this is our newest little angel. we named her shannon alexandria. she weighed 7 lbs 1 oz, was 19.5 inches long, and had a 14 inch head. we did have a few problems, but they are now fixed. mom had gestational diabetes, and the baby had a hard time regulating her blood sugar from it. they had to check her everytime i fed her and as a result her heals are bruised. to get her sugar to stay up we had to supplement with formula. i hated doing it, but it meant that she was alert and awake when i fed her, and would actually wake up to eat.
both are home and doing really well. the other kids think she's the neatest thing since sliced bread. taylor helps out a lot, i can send him to get diapers and water for me when it's time to feed and change her. and elizabeth i send to get the wipes (that's all she can reach!).
btw-for those of you that are close and can come, we are going to bless her on the 23rd of nov. my parents will be here and then they don't have to figure out a way to come back out again. sacrament starts at 9A and you might want to get there early so you have a seat in the chapel.

moving?!

yes, it's true. we have 5 weeks to move.
not sure yet what we are going to do since we can't just find a place that is the same price, free! we're looking, and will keep everyone posted.

okay... so here's the details. our "landlords" need to cut their losses or file bankruptcy. he's quitting school after the semester is over and they are moving back east and in with his parents. in so doing, they are going to rent out both sections of the house. they are leaving right after finals are over for the term. that's 6 weeks away, and they need time to be able to clean and repaint. therefore we have 5 weeks.
finding a place isn't the problem, it's coming up with the money to do it.

Trick or Treat!

So, the night before Halloween we went to Meleleuca to trick or treat. Taylor and Elizabeth had fun and got plenty of candy. Taylor's costume was a hit. Elizabeth was a ballerina and loved it.
This was the night of Halloween when we went to Grandma Williams and got some more goodies, and chatted. We were able to finish the costume a bit more, but I didn't get the head/helmet done unfortunately. Taylor still wants me to try to do it. We'll see how that goes.