Halloween Adventures 2020

    Oh where to start?!  Halloween...our FAVORITE time of year!  Leading up to the actual day of Oct. 31st we did our 2nd annual "Doll Drop."  This year of was the BEST!  We laughed/cried sooo hard with each "Special Delivery."

    The kids and I had the best time picking out the most perfect dolls at DI.  Chris was once again the master artist.  I re-created our "message" that went with each doll--with our phone number on the back just in case someone really didn't appreciate the gesture--we were only called once (by some Sister Missionaries who then quickly changed their minds and passed the doll along:)

    I think they turned out BEAUTIFULLY!!!  Seriously so impressed with my husband's' artistry.  Who knew he would be using his talents like this YEARS after high school art classes?!

    Our first drop was to our good friends, the Johnsons.  This family may love Halloween a little more than us which is why we HAD to drop the first doll there.  HOLY MOLY!!!  They have one of those fancy "Nest" doorbells so the whole thing was caught on camera!😂👻. You can't get away with anything these days!😂. So here's the video they caught of us driving by, turning around, then parking and watching from a short distance away.  The entire video is about 15 minutes because it took FOREVER for them to open the door.  We were sending text messages to the girls from Tatum's phone (because they don't have her number).  Messages like, "Please open the door...it's cold out here!"  And, "I'm getting angry..."  Totally worth the wait for the reaction we got.  My son, Ethan shortened the video up to just show the highlights and added the music.  So while they were FREAKING out inside, we were laughing/crying outside.  It was even funnier to get the video weeks after!

    The Johnsons then promptly passed the doll onto another deserving family--whom I did not know so she screen shot the whole FaceBook conversation the doll sparked.  Apparently the teenage daughter slept on the floor of her mother's room that night because she was soo freaked out.  I was laughing/crying at all the comments, "Burn it!!!  That's the ONLY way to get rid of it."  "DON'T LET THAT INTO YOUR HOUSE!"  My husband asked, "A teenager sleeping on her mom's bedroom floor brings you joy?"  Umm...YESSS!!!  This is EXACTLY how I had hoped our dolls would be received!😂😭👻💀

    This beauty went to our Branch Missionaries.  It was actually one of the Elders birthday on the night we dropped it by so she came with a balloon and cupcake.  Once again, we parked somewhere nearby.  We saw the blinds open in their house so we knew they were home.  Max dropped the doll, banged loudly and we hid.  His banging is scary all by itself so once again, we waited.  We thought they might not be home but then we saw the blinds quickly close...then FINALLY one of the Elders opened the door.  It was hilarious to hear the grown boy yell, "NOOO!!!  NOOO! NOOOOO!!!"  and then sit down on the doorstep to stare at it until he figured out if he wanted to pick it up or not.  Once again, we laughed until we cried.😂😭. Then they passed the doll onto Sister Missionaries (who at first called us to come get it but when they realized it was all in fun, they quickly passed it on to other missionaries).

    Our third doll went to our good friends, the Parks, who were crazy enough to ask us to watch their cat while they were away for fall break.  So we put her in the pantry to await for their arrival home.  Guess it got quite a rise out of their youngest.

    Our final doll flew with Max to Idaho for our son, Ethan, to have some fun with.  He enjoyed taking the doll shopping with him and pretending like it was a real baby.  And he was able to get some jump scares out of the roommates.

HALLOWEEN:

We had our normal night at home out on our front porch with our neighbors, the Thurmans.  Max went out with friends (once again as Pennywise the clown) and scared/chased lots of people and Tatum and her friend just did normal door to door Trick-or-Treating as a "Strawberry" & "Pineapple."

    Well another fun Halloween in the books for the Meekers.  Now with less than a year to go, we're already planning ways to once again spread our  "Halloween Cheer" to even more people next year!

Tatum's 13th Birthday!!!

     It's official...I am OLD.  NO MORE kiddos for us.  We've entered the TEEN ZONE--well, our oldest is 20 already so I guess I'm just older than I feel.😜    

    Well this girl has been looking forwards to 13 for a long time.  She was MOST excited to get her own debit card AND to be able to pay tithing online...it's the little things for her😂. All she wanted for her birthday was dinner at her favorite restaurant--Si Senor--and friends over for an Escape Room and a slumber party.  (Oh, and a tortilla blanket😆)

    After researching every Escape Room in town, I found the PERFECT one in Mesa--The Doll House.  I made the reservation for all of us--an adult is required to be in the room with kids under 16 which was great because I didn't want to miss out on the fun and I definitely wanted to see what all the rage was on Escape Rooms.  

Chloe, Tatum, & Talia

SOO MUCH FUN!!!  (Technically you weren't supposed to take pictures because they don't want them shared on social media which would ruin the mysteries and clues of the rooms.  I am not a big social media person and had NO intentions or ruining anything for them.  We were allowed to use our cell phones for flashlights so I kinda just turned off my flash and caught some pics of this amazing place because I LOVE ALL THINGS HALLOWEEN!!!  I just couldn't NOT document this trip.  So NO SPOILERS ON CLUES FROM ME!!!)

Thanks goodness for Talia who had done other Escape Rooms before.  She was the bravest of the three--she lead the way in everything!

Here were Tatum & Chloe more than happy to let Talia lead😂😱😱😱

We had a full hour to make it through the two rooms and it took us the ENTIRE time!!!  There were dolls falling out of the ceiling and plenty of jump scares and screams--even Bloody Mary made an appearance in the mirror😱  I honestly didn't think we were going to be able to do it but we did with 2 seconds to spare!!!  IT WAS SOO AWESOME!!!  I would absolutely recommend this Escape room to anyone.

We came back to the house and had pizza/ice cream cake and a slumber party--I'm pretty sure the girls only slept about 3 hours that night😴  But oh well.  A great time was had all around.  What a great way to turn 13!!!  Happiest Birthday to my favorite teen girl💗💗💗

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The coveted "Tortilla Blanket."
Now everyone wants one😂

Fun Lunch Date with April!

    Just wanted to post this memory because man...this is the hardest I've laughed in MONTHS!!!  I have known April J. for 10+ years.  I have taught all 4 of her kids AND her husband piano (and still teach her 3 girls).  Even when they moved to Michigan for two years, we FaceTimed lessons every week until they moved back.  So we have a long history and she is one of my dearest friends.

    This past week, we went to lunch at Morenos (we both LOVE their salsa and shrimp toro tacos).  While we were at lunch, April received a text from a man at a Home Depot in Mesa who had just received permission to sell her the floor model of a Halloween decoration.  (I was the one who told her to check out the Home Depot Halloween decor this year because it was pretty cool). The decoration is a $300 12 foot skeleton.  They have been SOLD OUT EVERYWHERE!!!  There is even a FB page dedicated to people trying to find these skeletons to buy and how they set them up in their yards.  People have driven hours and hours to find these things.  So April of course asks me, "Should I do this?"  And my answer is, "YES!!!  MOST DEFINITELY."  So off she drove to Mesa to pick up the skeleton (which she ended up getting a 20% discount on because there was no box so it really was a steal--they are currently selling on Ebay for $1800!)  She texted me asking if she could "hide" the skeleton in my garage over night until she could break the news to her hubby.  Once again, I answered, "YES!!! MOST DEFINITELY!"  So here we are "hiding the body."  

    She broke the news to her husband and all was good.  Her girls were SOO DANG EXCITED and they picked him up promptly the next day.

    So let this be a cautionary tale to all husbands who let their wives hang out with me...my answer to anything having to do with Halloween (and puppies) will ALWAYS be "YES!!! YOU ABSOLUTELY SHOULD!"  You have been warned...😂👻💀🐶

Ethan off to BYU-Idaho!!!

     Well, the day finally came.  Another kid has left home😢😢😢. And it was almost offensive how EXCITED he was about it😉. It hurts this mama heart more than I can express but truth be told...I am REALLY excited for him too.  He's off to find out who he really is and I can't wait to see what he does.

    My dad made the road trip with us.  We took 2 cars and 2 days to drive up to Rexburg and then hung out for a couple days.  

    Before he left, we had to do ONE MORE HOLDING LOLA pic.  This was such a fun impromptu idea I had from a baby puppy pic we first took.

 

    We got him all moved into his apartment and met most his roommates.  They are all a bit older than him but seemed really cool.  Ethan ended up not having a roommate in his room--last minute change of plans or something💁--so it looks like he has a room all to himself this semester (great for Max if he flies out to visit).

    We took a little trip out to see the famous Teton Mountain Range.  We drove out to the Grand Targhee Resort which actually took us into Wyoming.  It was breath-taking.  They had a ski lift up the mountain which we of course jumped right on.  W.O.W.

    We said our goodbyes Saturday night and left our Ethan in Rexburg.  We stayed the night in Idaho Falls and were up bright and early to make the long 14 hour drive home.  Great road trip--we hit Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming.  Crazy proud of my two grown kids.  There is no place I would rather either of them be right now in their lives--not even home.  Spread your wings baby boy.  Love you to the moon and back.

First Day of School 2020!

 OH HOLY MOLY!!!  It's been a year!  SOOO excited to have my kids back to IN PERSON school after the Eternal Spring of 2020.  So thankful for these schools moving forward and getting us back to life--it's not the popular thing to do right now but that's a whole other blog post that I'm NOT gonna do:)

YAY FOR HERITAGE ACADEMY!!! Back to school Wednesday, Sept. 9th:

Lola Visits Xander

     Probably my most favorite litter of all time was the litter I had last November/December--my reindeer litter.  I just LOVED every single one of these 11 puppies.  I kept Lola and when I went to the shelter to pick her up after her surgery, I met the nicest couple who was at the shelter picking out their pup.  (They are HUGE donors to the shelter so they had first pick--they initially asked to see my pup but was quickly told that she was unavailable:). So they had narrowed down to 3 other pups and they had them in all one room.  I walked in to get my pup and I was introduced to this couple as the foster mom.  They had a hundred and one questions for me instantly so I stayed and helped them narrow their choice down to "Donner," the beautiful chocolate lab with the blue eyes.  Well, this same couple already had a trip planned to Canada over Christmas and they once again sought me out--getting my personal info from the shelter after I said it was okay--and asked if I would keep their pup while they were gone.  Of course I did and a great friendship has developed since then.  We send each other texts/pictures/updates regularly.  

    We decided to get these two together again.  So Lola, Tatum, and I loaded up to go to Tempe to visit Xander and his family.  WOW...this dog is living in style!  He lives in this super posh condo right on Tempe Townlake.  He goes to "doggie day care" 3 days a week so that his owners can have time to pursue their hobbies--painting and marathon running.  We got there and met Barry at their complex, we parked in the underground garage and then hopped on the elevator--Lola's first elevator ride:)--which opened up right into their condo.  The two were SOOO excited to see each other.  It was instant connection and sibling love again.  

    After lots of wrestling, we headed down to the lake for them to play in the water.  Lola actually jumped right in!!!  I could't believe it!  All of the training (maybe torture?) that my boys did this summer worked!!!  She loved the water and was showing Xander a few tricks!  

My dog has a crooked tongue...

    We had a great time and had two REALLY TIRED pups afterwards.  I'm so glad that I am able to keep up with a few of these sweet pups I took off the Reservation almost a year ago.  Makes my heart happy:)