Pumpkin Carving

Silly Kids! Tait had already carved a pumpkin at his friend Carters B-Day party, so he just went around helping out his little brother and sisters. Tait talked Sinjin into wanting a pirate etching on his pumpkin, so of course, I did it! Does it even look like a pirate? I know their not the best pictures, but we had fun. It's my favorite part of Halloween time!

90 Year old WW II Veteran at Costco

Today I wasn't feeling very well. I took the day off from teaching, then realized that I had errands to run. We went to pick up Thane, went to the library then decided to go to Costco for some lunch. As we were sitting in the very crowded cafeteria, I noticed and old man sitting alone right behind where the line forms. As people walked by him, he would smile at everyone, but no one smiled back! My heart was broken! He was wearing an old Army jacked adorned with metals, and every once and a while he would look down and make sure his medals were strait.

We finished our food as I watched him to make sure he didn't leave before we could go talk to him. When we were done, we walked right up to him and said "Amara and Sinjin, look at the medals on his jacket!" He smiled so big and put his hands up in the air (almost Halleluia- ish) and said "I am ninety years old, and I don't have anything to do all day, so I come here and smile at everyone!" Then he said to Sinjin "is it your birthday? I have something for you." Then he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out his wallet. He grabbed one dollar bill for Amara and one dollar bill for Sinjin (while we were protesting of course) and said "Oh, don't worry, I have lots of money and nothing to do! I am Ninety years old, I was born August 12, 1918!" He repeated himself a few times about smiling at everyone and when his birthday was, then we asked him about his medals. He pointed at each one and told us they were for being a brave soldier in WW II. We thanked him for sharing with us and told him we loved his jacket and went on our way.

I am so grateful for that experience! I am not the one who usually goes up to total strangers and starts conversations, I know I was guided to Costco today! He left a lasting impression on my life and my childrens' lives as well, and I hope we brighted his day also!

I was Tagged...

I've been tagged by my friend Tonya...I'm supposed to post the 4th picture from my 4th photo directory and tell about it. So here it is:

This is a picture of us in March 2006 while we were visiting my Sister Lisa in California. She lives in Atascadero, and we drove up to visit Hurst Castle. It was freezing cold the whole time we were visiting her, but it finally warmed up enough that day so we could take off our jackets. After visiting Hurst Castle, we went to see the sea lions on the beach. It was fun, we need to do it again!





I now tag Erica, Shelly, Molly, Jilane...and whoever else reads this. Thanks Tonya, that was fun.

Trunk Or Treating at the Church

Here is our family at our trunk.
And Sinjin with one of his faces!!

Last night we went Trunk or Treating with our ward. It was so fun! I am not a big fan of Halloween, but this year has been less stressful because I made the kids choose something from the dress up box, instead of going out and buying things. There were a few things we had to buy for accessories, and we made a trip to DI, but it was fun being creative. Our ward really gets into decorating their cars and even the mom's and dad's dress up. I actually decorated my car this year, are you proud of me?! :)

Sinjin is Dr. Q.T. Patootie


Amara is Dora the Snow Princess


Tiernan is Hannah Montana
do you like her homemade microphone?

Tait is a Zombie Doctor

I must say, if there was an award for best dressed family, it would be the Hancocks! They all dressed up as Nintendo characters. Baby Evey didn't like her hat very much!
There was a "Spook Alley" that the Young Men and Young Women put together for the kids. My kids are always too scared to go in. It's really scary! There's a chain saw at the end, so it gets pretty loud!

The award for funnest car would be the Jesienouski's with their "Bad" fortune telling gypsy, great job Taylor. This year she took over the job from her mom! Tonya had a ghost that wouldn't leave her alone! The kids tried to help her find the ghost (she had it hanging on a stick over her shoulder so it looked like it was following her around!) Very creative Tonya!

Also at the activity was a carnival where the kids could go fishing, toss bean bags, and do a Cake Walk! Each one of the kids "won" a cupcake.