Our Halloween

We had our ward Halloween party last night. Nathan was a very cute bumble bee and Mialee was a lovely princess!
She loves her wand and crown...
Notice his stinger....so cute!
Sampling his candy.....OH SO GOOD!!!!

Presenting Princess Paisley

We are about to leave to go Trick or treating with some friends and we thought we would should off how beautiful a princess Paisley makes. Jason makes a pretty cute Harry Potter. He came in second at his work costume contest!

Paisley's Birthday

Paisley's New Room

We finally finished Paisley's room. It was so great to have Dad hear to paint and cut the chair rail and put it up! He even painted her bookcase white so it would match. Paisley didn't even recognize her room after we had moved all her furniture back in. Dad was also nice enough to repaint the green with me after I went and got a new shade that I like a lot better!! Thanks Dad!!! We love Paisley's new room!

Speaking of updates, any news on David?

Leslee can you fill us in on any new news about David and his health issues? We have been praying for all of you and hope things are improving or that you have obtained some answers.

Birthday Beginnings for Paisley

Some of us went a little crazy buying Paisley birthday presents so we decided to spread them out a little. Last night we gave Paisley an early birthday present. She loves her new keyboard. It plays a lot of songs and has a lot of fun sounds. She is also a very good dancer. It was a lot of fun to watch her change the music and dance according to the beat.
Here is our big two year old this morning! She is so cute! She loves to take pictures and pose for the camera. Happy Birthday Paisley!!

More Activities with Mom and Dad

We've had some more fun this past weeek. These pictures aren't in order. Yesterday we made the Cornwall's recipe for carmel corn to eat. It was very yummy. It seemed like the perfect Halloween treat. We also made carmel candy cars to take to some of the people that have been lending us the tools we have needed to get all our projects done.
Last week we went to a pumpkin patch to pick out the perfect pumpkin for us. Paisley had a lot of fun. We haven't carved it yet, hopefully we can carve it before Halloween!

Last week's mutual activity was going to a corn maze so we all went along. We had a lot of fun and finished in second place! Go us!!

Dad and I have painted half of Paisley's room and Dad and Jason worked on putting up the chair rail. Today we plan to finish her room so she can start sleeping there instead of in the basement. That green color on top is a lot brighter than I had wanted, but oh well. It'll be cute!

The Whelchel Families Christmas Rotation

Dear all who read on the blog,



I will be sending everyone an e-mail with the specific Christmas information on it. In an effort to simplify our family gift giving and recommit to the idea of thinking more of giving and not receiving, I'd like to try a new simplified gift-giving style. Introducing.......a family rotation - Meaning, we will not be doing a separate cousin and sibling rotation this year. Each sibling family will give to another sibling family including all of that sibling's family. This does not mean purchasing gifts for each family member, but giving a gift that can be enjoyed/shared/used by all members of the family. Each year we will take turns coming up with a theme as a fun way to prompt gift ideas, however, you are not restricted by the theme if you don't wish to be. Mom and Dad like the theme idea and if you want to give them a themed gift, they are excited to be included. I think we will try this for two years and see how it goes. I will be sending out the rotation letter tonight. I love you all. Please post questions here and I will check it over the weekend to answer them.

Martissa

Any update on Carleton's Sister?

Can someone let us know when there is new information to share? Carleton, you, your siblings and Mom are all in our prayers.

Valley of Fire

Today after having scripture study with the kids, I got in the car and headed down to Valley of Fire State Park. This is the sight of my race. In case you didn't know, I am now the proud owner of a marathon/half marathon and 10k Race. My friend who used to be the owner/manager moved to Iowa and gave it to me. Today I had to go meet with the rangers to pick out a new course. Our old course had us starting Lake Mead and having to use their boat docking area as a parking lot and then shuttling our runners over to the start and back again after the race. The new course we have put together takes Lake Mead totall out of the race and puts it solely in Valley of Fire which seems appropriate since that is where it derives its name. We have the full marathoners, halfs and 10k all starting at the same place and the halfs and 10ks run only on that road and finish without running on the main road. The full marathoners will have to run another 13 miles on the main road but they are NOT the majority of our runners. I had never seen this portion of the park before today. As many times as I have been there I have NEVER gone off the main road. Well I missed the best part. Now our runners will run through the best part. Without sounding prejudicial, I think it not only rivals Snow Canyon but surpasses it. That says alot. Anyway, we have postponed it for this year and our first running will be the Saturday before Thanksgiving in 2008. I have my work cut out for me.

Quick send James a birthday greeting, last chance

He usually comes online around 8pm mtn time or so if you want to quick send him a birthday email. Its too late to get him a package on time but I am sure he would take anything at any time. Hehe.

ElderWei@mylds.mail.net

FIRES, FIRES, FIRES

Its horrible out there. Nutro paid for Lewis to stay at a hotel last night in Victorville due to the I15 being closed down from the Running Springs Fire. He said it was a wall of smoke, ash and orange blotches everywhere as he approached the Cahon pass. My brothers oldest son, Tony was evacuated from Valencia due to the Malibu fire I think. We aren't sure where he slept last night, he was trying to find somewhere other than an evacuation center. I hope all is well with the Haralsons and that Lewis gets to make it home sometime today.

Family Night

We found a pumpkin patch in town and ended up having quite a fun time. There was a bounce house and blow up slide and hay maze. We spent an hour there and brought home a pumpkin that we successfully carved.
I found a neat book in a Deseret Book magazine that gives fun ways to teach gospel principles for Family Home Evening. Tonight we learned about Joseph Smith and ended by making the sacred grove out of gum drops. Mialee is sitting next to our pretty creative sacred grove.

So Far with Grandma and Grandpa...

We have worked really hard, but still managed to have fun. Jason and I got the bright idea to take down the one wall of wall paper in Paisley's room that the former owners painted over. Just as we had begun to pull off the wallpaper we knew there was a problem. Pulling off the wallpaper also pulled off the paint underneath and the paper on the dry wall. This left a big mess (and a panicked Stefanie). Luckily Dad is handy with spackle and we are currently under construction in Paisley's room repairing the damage. We decided we will leave the wallpaper and paint over it like everyone else did.
While Dad was off fixing Paisley's room, the rest of us were pulling weeds. We took out a couple flowerbeds to prepare for grass. We don't have pictures but so far we have taken down all the tops of all the bushes in front and all the pampas grass in back. Our yard and house sure look different now. We just have to some how rip out the heavy duty stumps to the bushes in front and axe out the pampas grass roots in the back. Then we will rototil the dirt and lay some sod!
Last night we made some Halloween cookies. We have some friends to deliver goodies to and we hope to have some left for ourselves!

Paisley didn't understand how we could possibly give away all those cookies so she insisted on having one to make sure they tasted ok (I think Jason insisted a couple times!)
We have worked really hard and some of us are sore, but there is still a ton of work to be done! Plus, a lot more fun to be had! Tonight we are going to a pumpkin patch to pick out this year's jack-o-lantern!!

Mourning Blue Bunny Ice Cream Shoppe

We learned tonight that the local Blue Bunny Ice cream Parlor that we all know and love is closing its doors tonight at 11pm for GOOD. Oh wo is me. The local manufacturing plant is staying open but the parlor isn't making enough money to stay open. How sad is that?

Next Saturday

Next Saturday I am having fun fun fun! I have a "ward" Halloween party & right after that I have another Halloween party at someone's house in our ward. It will be great. For our ward Halloween party we are watching a show and having treats. Halloween is coming soon. Is everyone decorated? Everyone have a costume?

This week at our house....

We had a craft afternoon on Tuesday and Mialee and I did lots of projects. Thanks for taking a 3 1/2 hour nap Nathan!
One night we had a family evening at the Kindergarten she will be attending in the Fall. The theme was: If you give a mouse a cookie....hence her face. She thought she was now five because we went to the school, so I had to explain that, no, she is still four, we were there as visitors.
Nathan got an early b-day present that I happened to stumble across while buying Mialee's Halloween costume. We went on an hour long bike ride this afternoon and he still cried when it was time to come inside.
We pulled our turtle tent out of the cupboard and have had it up all week. Boy has that been so much fun! Who knew all that kids could do with a tent. If your child is ever bored..... put up a tent!

Birthday Celebration!!

We just returned from McKay's 9th Birthday festivities. We hope he had as much fun as we did. Shelley fixed a great meal for the family ( we ate at Chuckarama but had we been hungry we would have feasted with them). We had cake and ice cream and got to all hang out together. I hope when Shelley has time she will post some pics from it. Nicely done Shelley and congratulations again McKay!! So fun to see Grandma, Grandpa and Layne too.

Happy Birthday to the October Kids

Tracy's post made me remember I want to make a happy birthday post to all the October Birthdays in the family. There are a lot of them. I hope they are great! Perhaps we can get some posts of the birthday festivities! We will for sure be posting about Paisley birthday festivities towards the end of the month.

James information

I have gotten another request for James info. I thought I would post it here in case anyone else needs it. I will put his email first and then the mission office information. All mail and packages get sent there. His birthday (21st) is on the 27th.


ElderWei@myldsmail.net


Elder James Whelchel
Taiwan Taipei Mission Office
Floor 4, No. 24, Lane 183
Chin Hua Street, Taipei
Taiwan

Thanks for thinking of him and remembering him in your family prayers and through the mail/email.

James's news

Dear Family and Friends, how are you all doing?! I am doing really well! I moved from Yong He to the city of XiZhi. I was asked to be a Zone Leader (Pusher) to work along Elder Anderson from Idaho. He loves to run and work out. It will be a workout companionship and work hard time. I really enjoyed General Conference. I learned alot, especially about the family. Do you all have a Preach My Gospel? If you do not, I suggest you all get one. It is such a wonderful book and really works wonders in and outside the mission field. I loved it before my mission and definitly love it now. How are things with all of you? We had an awesome English Evaluation Night last week. We made a Haunted House and I was wrapped in tissue paper as a mummy. We used the candy from my parents to feed them full of food! They loved it. I also was mailed new running shoes. They have been a miracle and it is awesome to break them in. We had alot of fun miracles this past week. Elder Tuveson went Senior companion and trainer last week. He is really nervous, but has been really awesome. His trainee is from Nevada and is 1/4 Cantonese. We had 4 new investigators the past two days. It was a really big miracle. Elder Woo really loves to work and I have had an awesome time working with them. They have bonded really well and will keep YongHe on its feet. With this move I ponder on my mission. While I am not trunky, one can not stop but ponder as the time runs down. It is the time of serious reflection on what one wants to do with the time left. You either hit it hard or you let it slide on past. Last transfer was too fast. I have only a few left. It is do or die time. Die in being, laziness. I want to do. I love you all and am greatful for your prayers on behalf of me and my family. Be strong and have a happy halloween. Love Elder Wei

Sunday Afternoon

Mialee's 3 craft buckets.... (notice how full they are)
Mialee has been so, and I quote, "BORED", lately, so we went to Michaels and restocked her craft buckets. This afternoon while Nathan slept, she and I made a bead butterfly and some jewelry.

She shared some jewelry with her baby.

Pottery Continued

We had a very fun time!

Are we Potters?

My friend came over this afternoon and did pottery with us. After several attempts with the pottery wheel, we resorted to our own, freehand creations. As soon as they dry, she will come back and we will have a painting party.

We created an elephant, some snowmen, a snake, a heart collage, and some turtles.

Halloween is Coming Soon

OH YA! I love Halloween. Don't you? We are making our way through decorating! We have a pumpkin already! I think we should have waited. Any way, it is pretty large.

Family News

I called Jan and Carleton about this right when it happened and due to the marathon have had opportunity to talk to Shelley about it but feel that the rest of you should know. Daniel has announced his plans to serve a mission. He met with the Bishop in between conference sessions this past Sunday and is preparing to go. Tonight he attended the young adult ward family home evening. He even called my parents to tell them the news. He talks openly about it and is moving forward. I ask that you all keep him and us in your prayers. Thanks so much.

Hardworking FHE

In preparation for Mom and Dad to come visit and help us get a lot of work done with our house we started working on the backyard. We have a long list of things we are going to have Mom and Dad help us with, so we figured we better get started so we can get the list done by the time they leave. We are wanting to put sod down in the backyard in the next week or two but we first need to clear out some over grown, unwanted flower beds to prepare them for the grass. The part of the fence where the flower bush is still up is how that whole side of the fence used to look, now it is completely cleared out. We need to finish up some finer details in getting a lot of the weeds and things out of the dirt but for the most part that section is done. We still have another bigger section that has become infested with weeds. It will be more of a challenge to get that section cleared. We also have several pampas grass bushes to take out so we can extend our lawn towards the back fence. Man, I'm tired just typing all that, and this is only the backyard. We still have several huge bushes to remove from the front yard and some major tree trimming to do. Home ownership is HARD WORK!

You may notice Paisley is playing in the dirt and think "that is very unlike Stefanie to let her play in the dirt." Well she was such a good helper and she was having so much fun that I turned my head away and didn't pay any attention to her getting so dirty and we gave her a bath later.

Marathoners....

How are your body's feeling today? I am still exhausted knowing that you ran that far!! :):)

Conference Weekend

What a wonderful conference we just enjoyed! Conference is always a tender time for my heart as I recall the Pleasant Grove days, watching it as a family with our cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate. So, my little family enjoyed our cinnamon rolls while we watched it this weekend. Thanks Mom and Dad, for the fun tradition, but especially for instilling in us the tradition of watching conference. Hope everyone was able to gain from it as much as I did. Love you all.

Marathon???

Wasn't the marathon this week? Am I in the wrong month? Tracy, Shelley, help me out here..... :)

My Wonderful Wednesday

Our ward has an annual wonderful Wednesday instead of a Super Saturday. Above is what I made. The frame doesn't have a back, it gets its back from the color of what ever wall its hung against. The middle, is a wooden plaquen with a polished steel cut out of the Salt Lake Temple and since Lewis and I were married there, I had to have it. Then we did one of those handy dandy hold em all thingies. I had a good time.

Alaska Cruise

From the store?

You may think we just came home from the grocery store, well, you would be right! But we didn't buy any of this at the grocery store. When we got home from the grocery store our across the street neighbors called us over to their house. The husband drives a semi truck for tony's pizza and as a result they get a ton of frozen food that falls under that company. They received a shipment today and didn't have enough room in their three freezers for all of it so they gave us some pizzas and paninis. It was very nice of them

Side note: while at Walmart grocery shopping we discovered some sun dried tomoato basil french bread in the bakery section and it is DELICIOUS!