Our Happy Halloween...

So as I scroll through our Halloween pictures, I realize that I really didn't get enough pictures. I'll have to set up something to get decent pictures of the kids in costumes... but for now these pictures will have to suffice for grandparents, aunts, and uncles.

Michael was a T-rex... here is the first-time try-on when it came in the mail. He loved it!... and I was happy to have talked him out of being an ankylosaurus or coelophysis.

Michael the T-Rex.

After much unsuccesful searching for some elements for my hoped for costumes for the girls, I dug in their closet to find that their costumes from last year still fit! Saved me much time and $ to use them again... and they were actually into it this year.

Bekah the inchworm.

Abby the inchworm.

Here is a video of our try-on night. They were all diggin' the costume thing...



Between then and Halloween night, Michael got to wear his costume to five different parties... it was a busy week! Here are some (not so good) random pictures...

Chasing Matt Hill...


With friend Caleb Rowley (their home is okay, by the way)...


Fun times sharing a trampoline...


Making spider cupcakes for preschool class...


Paul and I even gave into a "costumes required" party. Paul was Harry Potter, which was not a far stretch since people say he looks like Harry Potter all the time anyway (AND we actually found another use for his medical school graduation gown!).


I was Moaning Myrtle...


... and thought it wise to label myself since I didn't just want to be a generic toilet seat... woman... or something. Not many people were altogether into Harry Potter anyway... so I guess I was still kind of a generic toilet seat woman. Oh, well...


On Halloween night, we went to a Halloween extravaganza put on my an evangelical church in the area. It was truly an extravaganza complete with magic show, bounce houses, game booths, face painting, candy galore, etc. etc. etc. Michael and Bekah were diggin' the bounce house... Abby wasn't too sure. It was quite the celebration, and I hope we'll go again next year!

We came back home to trick-or-treat to a few well-known neighbors.


And in closing, a Halloween dance for you (sorry its so dark, but they are sweet ghostbustin' moves)...



Now we have the candy to work through! Hope you had a good Halloween, too! What was your favorite part??

musical meld...

*****if coming for a fire update, please see the thread below!*****

we are resurrecting our music sharing experiment. those of you who haven't shared please do so! there are many of you from whom we are still excited to hear...

and don't forget that i've added every song i could find to the playlist on the sidebar to the right...enjoy!

incidentally, did anyone see toby's masterful teaching on prepositional phrases..?

from general conference to giggling girls and gays it has been a big month here in california. we have officially had more visits to the bloggert this month than any in the past year...and i have really enjoyed interacting with you all and hearing your thoughts.

one recent addition around here is the jukebox. and the jukebox is the point of this most recent post.

music has played a very important role in my life. i love music. it does things to my mood and takes me to emotional spaces i can't reach on my own. there are innumerable instances of significance in my life where music has been the catalyst. and with the event of ipods i am able to take control of my musical life as never before (did that all sound a bit melodramatic? yeah).

what i would like to do is give you three situations. for each of these situations i want you to think of the song you would turn to. if you list your three songs in a comment, i will attempt to locate the song and place it on the jukebox. this will allow you to share songs that are currently enriching your life and that may benefit others.

a caveat...don't think too hard. find songs you have seriously listened to in the last day, week or month. we're not looking for a groundbreaking selection, but more of a snapshot into your current life and what is shaping it. still too heady..?

okay, here are the three situations:

1-you are starting to fix dinner. you are tired. you need a pick-up to help your motivation. what song do you turn to?

2-you have had a stressful encounter. you are feeling anxious. what song do you turn to for a return to serenity?

3-you are on a walk, in the tub, on a jog or a bike ride and you want to be introspective. what gets your meditative thoughts flowing?

and if you're really into this a fourth..:)

4-you are at the top of a powder run, biking a black diamond chute, taking your kick-boxing class to town or pretending to be rocky on your treadmill. what song has the beat and energy that fires you up?

California Fires...

Many of you have been asking about the California fires and how close we are to them.

Here is a map to show you... you have to zoom it in yourself for Redlands to come up. We are to the east of LA, and slightly northeast of Riverside. We are to the south of the San Bernardino fires.




As you can see, we aren't immediately close to the San Bernardino Mountain fires that are affecting Lake Arrowhead and Running Springs. The base of the fire in the mountains is around Arrowhead Springs, which is about 15 miles from us. Once it got dark, I could see the flames from the little park across from our backyard.

Here are some of the minimal affects it has had on us:

It's smoggy and smelly. It just looks gray everywhere and smells like fire all day. Looking to the North of us... where we can usually see the San Bernardino mountains there is nothing but smoke. You can see some small particles in the air.

Air quality warnings. There are warnings about the air quality and doing outdoor activities. Michael's preschool stayed indoors today, where they usually spend about 1/2 the day outside. I've been keeping the windows closed and recirculating the air.

School closings. Our school district has canceled school tomorrow. Our missionaries are also staying indoors. The Highland missionaries have been moved temporarily.

The conditions in Southern California make fires a major concern at this time of the year. There is only 3% humidity in the air. Temperatures are in the 80s-90s. And worst of all, the Santa Anna winds (which are seasonal, started last weekend and will last for several weeks) are strong and unpredictable. On Sunday, the winds here were consistently about 30 mph with gusts of 40-50 mph. Most of these fires have separate causes like a spark from a telephone line, spark from a construction zone, and even a case of suspected arson.

The scary thing is that, in these conditions a fire could happen anywhere and spread fast.

So I'm not one to worry a ton about things I can't control. But I do think it is prudent to stay updated and take some precautions. I spent tonight doing a MUCH needed consolidation/organization of our files and records. I'm putting those "must take" things in a central place in our spare room. The gas tanks are full, and we have a standing reservation in Spanish Fork, if needed (and/or wanted!... it would be fun to visit...). And I might just keep up with my laundry this week. I think it's just good to think about these things.

But what I'm really thinking is that we have nothing to worry about when you consider how many people are devastated and/or displaced.

We are keeping posted on my Aunt Sarah and Uncle Eric Peterson in Fallbrook who have been evacuated from their home.

Jan and Christine's home is next to theirs... but they are living in Rexburg for the winter. Eric is the bishop of his ward, and he has been helping provide and protect his ward members. Some of the homes in their ward have been burned down, but Sarah says that miracles are being witnessed as well. They expect to be out of their home for at least another 2 days.

We are keeping posted on our good friends, the Rowleys (Emily and Caleb are Michaels bestest friends... and we're pretty fond of Missy and Brian, too... ;) ), who live in Lake Arrowhead where 400+ homes have been lost.

They left Monday morning, packing up a (very) few essentials... not thinking they needed to be too worried. They are staying with his parents, realizing that it is more serious than they imagined. It might be weeks before they can return. They are hoping for the best.

So keep us Southern Californians in your prayers. We love you all!

Welcome, Will...

On Saturday, I became the proud aunt of William Samuel Risenmay. He looks precious.... see him here in a video Matt made. If it doesn't bring tears to your eyes, you aren't human. I can't wait to see Little Will.

Early Morning Peek-a-boo...

We love it when everyone is feeling well at our house and wakes up on the right side of the bed. Here is a little early morning peek-a-boo (in two parts b/c our camera only takes 30 sec. video). Abby is behind the curtains, Bekah is on the left...





Michael is, of course, singing in the background.

thanks mom...

so this weekend we were graced with the presence of the isaac women. i was on call and only saw them in passing the first night they arrived. michael was sick with the stomach flu the next night and they saw amy only in passing on saturday night as she was tied up succoring our michael's first serious bout with unremitting vomiting...we were very happy to have visitors and thoroughly enjoyed their company limited as it was. amy was particularly excited to see melinda's belly.

for michael there were several highlights. he was interested in the names of melinda's family members, and while he didn't get to use their names in his limited contact with them, he could have if called upon.

there was a package from granpatty that michael loved...the arrival of the big river cd has brightened our weekend. despite little sleep, i came home today for dinner and settled into the warmth of this sweet broadway musical and felt a flood of emotions as nearly each song recalls a story in my life...trying out for the high school musical with 'river in the rain', singing 'maybe leavin' with elizabeth for the talent show, practicing 'arkansas' with matt taylor for his tryout, singing muddy water, river in the rain, world's apart with my little brother, jammin' with my siblings to 'waitin' for the light' with our clarion band, singing many of the songs at the olympics in front of an international audience, seeing the show at timpview high school with our family, and hearing mom complain about the RM smoking on stage during the production (a former student of grandpa evans was the director), listening to all the songs together on road trips.

another funny memory was made tonight as michael was in the other room with the stereo flipping through the songs. i was on the phone with stevie and amy was tied up with the girls. michael found the song, 'waitin for the light'. the introduction starts out with huck finn saying, "all right i'll go to hell...". michael heard this introduction and was fascinated by the introduction (huck puts a lot of emotion into the statement)...he played the intro over and over and over and over and over (10+ times) before amy was able to jump to his side and discuss the nature of the introduction and why it was probably not appropriate...great times.

so here is his encore singing along with the soundtrack that granpatty greatfully sent us...thanks for the thoughtful gift!

A California Autumn...

So I really miss Utah around this time of the year. It all starts with Conference Weekend... that reminder that it really is fall (since I don't have the changing leaves to tell me), and I am missing out on the beautiful colors in the mountains. But, in my second autumn as a temporary Californian, I realize that it isn't all that bad... knowing that our great weather will extend into the "winter" months, and I have many good park days with the kiddos to look forward to.

Anyway. There was, of course, Conference weekend. It was so nice. Paul was home the whole time (home, but not *always* awake...), and the kids were really great about staying in the room and quietly coloring or playing with different things. Michael played with these apostle cards almost the ENTIRE time. Most of the time he had them divided into football teams, running and tackling each other.


Michael had a preschool class trip to the pumpkin patch. Here are a few pictures... because I had the girls with me, I didn't get many pictures of Michael and his class...


Instead of picking out a big pumpkin like the other kids, he found "a four-year-old pumpkin with two baby sister pumpkins."

But Abby (pink) and Bekah (green) found bigger pumpkins...







The girls are "talking" a lot now... "saying" the last word of whatever you just said. It is fun to hear their "words." Here they are learning "pumpkin."



And of course, autumn means Cougar Football. So this autumn, we are also inducting Abby and Bekah into the Frandsen Cougar Club (a free tutorial for the Peterson clan!)...



And of course, there is the all-seasonal High School Musical II dance-off...



So it's been a pretty fun October so far. We have some great company coming to stay with us this weekend, and lots of Halloween festivities to look forward too. Unfortunately, the night we decorated the house for Halloween, Michael thought it was actually Halloween night. He wasn't too put out when I told him it was three weeks away, though... and luckily I have more time to come up with costumes!

So Happy Autumn, everyone!

Who should YOU vote for???

So... I know, I know... the presidential race is still far away. But here is a neat-o quiz you can take... 11 questions on key issues, you answer, and it tracks your answers against nominees' positions (all 100 of them...). It gives you your "top three" nominees.

Make sure you drag your arrow across the bottom... it gives the names (helpful) of the nominees and a statement of their positions.

Can anyone guess who my top nominees were??

a musical favorite...

well, thank you all for your input on new music (well actually there were only a few who made suggestions...) anyway, michael wanted to get into the action so i have included a video of him singing a recent favorite of his. some of you may recognize this from a show you've seen. some of you may have sung it yourselves. a select few of you heard clarion sing this at the slc olympics 2002...

anyway, here is michael buble frandsen...



cute huh? he has never heard the broadway version. we have been singing the gospel truth from big river for stand-bys recently at night.

in addition, we will be adding certain tracks to the playlist that you suggest to us for everyone to hear. so far, stevie has suggested the most music and i will reward his diligence by introducing ya'll to a bluegrass/pop group with refreshing clarity and minimal twang...nickel creek.

Dino-Football...

What are these, you might ask?

To the ordinary observer, the answer would, of course, be DINOSAURS (I'm teaching D in preschool this week...).


In our house... not necessarily so. Observe how the common grouping of dinosaurs can be transformed into two football teams, which form a line of scrimmage and proceed to execute a passing play--complete with our cougar players.



Right before your very eyes! Voila!

Sorry, the camera angle didn't capture everything... so we can't be sure whether or not it was a true catch. Better not count that as a touchdown.

Yes... he did this for much of the day.