Pumpkin Face Lift

Pumpkin carving took on a whole new meaning this year. I think the fact that we are always joking around that Julee is the only kid we know that has had a plastic surgeon since birth did not work in this poor pumpkin's favor...

The O.R. is prepped and ready to go.  Note the neatly lined up surgical instruments.

 

Dr Alexis is ready to begin

 

A pose for the medical journals

 

 Assistant surgeon Julee steps in to assist

 

 The insides are exposed with a clean incision

 

 Time to clean out the insides

 

 Even a surgeon gets a little bit of a weak stomach sometimes

(I LOVE this picture!)

 

 Not looking so good for the pumpkin at this point

 

 The lines are drawn and incision marks are made

 Pumpkin comes through surgery with flying colors - everything went as planned.

 

Kind of makes you wonder what happens while I'm away that doesn't get photographed huh?

Apple Picking

.While I was in Florida, Rick and the girls went apple picking with the Elders Quorum. As usual, Alexis was excited to go and Julee was less than thrilled especially when I told her she had to go. I think she was pleasantly surprised at how much fun she had climbing around in the trees.  Both girls picked a bunch of apples and each came home with a pumpkin to carve.  I was bummed that I missed the activity, but appreciate the modern technology of cell phone cameras and text messaging that allowed me to kind of sort of be there.

Julee, Alexis, and ward friends

Alexis goes straight to the top

Julee's attempt at giving her mother a heart attack

Rick gets in on the fun

Peek-a-boo

I'm not sure any apple picking was actually going on here

Julee at the pumpkin patch

Alexis at the pumpkin patch

(later on you'll see the monstrous 15-lb pumpkin she picked out)

This is one of my favorite pictures of the day - running through the apple orchard

Time to play catch up........

Have you ever been at that point where you have so much to catch up on that you don't even know where to begin?  That's where I am with the blog these days.  I've thought about just starting from today but there's too much GOOD STUFF that you would miss out on.  I can't even fathom catching up all at once so I'll try to keep the bits and pieces in some kind of order.  To begin, I will tell you that back in late August/early September (just about the time school was starting) I started working outside of our home for the first time in almost 5 years.  Working for XOS (X-ray Optical Systems, Inc) as their ERP Applications Specialist is an awesome opportunity and I am truly loving it!  I work with great people, enjoy what I do, and still get to be home when the girls are home.  In October, I spent a few days in Florida at a user conference for our software product leaving Rick and the girls to fend for themselves.  They all did great while I was away so I will have to think about planning a personal vacation sometime soon.  Anybody interested?  It was fun to have them all be excited when I came home and of course I had to bring presents - even if it was a little odd that I bought hoodie sweatshirts in Florida for my 2 beauties in New York.