Busy Weekend!

I haven't ever done two posts in one day, but I have had quite the weekend that I would like to share. It all started last Thursday night when Matt's tooth pain went from a dull ache to being so bad he couldn't sleep. We called the dentist on Friday, but it was his daughter's birthday, so he called in a prescription and told us to come in on Monday. We got in my 8:30 on Monday and Matt got a root canal, but the dentist was unable to finish it because it was too deep or something. He referred us to an endodontist (did I mention that our dental insurance is a joke?) and we got an appointment for December 10th. Merry Christmas to us! Because of this, my mother-in-law was generous enough to take Shannon for a few days so that I could get Matt to the dentist and go to the doctor for my check-up (yes, I'm still pregnant). She came and got Shannon Monday morning. Well, on Monday night around 11:00 we got a phone call. I didn't get alarmed until Matt shot up and said, "WHAT?!" Then my heart stopped. We raced down to American Fork because my in-laws' house was on fire! We got there and everyone was standing outside freezing and watching the fire trucks and rescue vehicles. We quickly found out that everyone got out safely, thanks to a neighbor who saw the fire and went and banged on the front door to wake them up. Shannon was scared to death at a neighbor's house, and she was very happy to see us. Somehow the fire started in a garbage can along the side of the house, spread up the side of the garage, and went into the attic all the way up the direction of the vault. Most of the damage is from smoke and water, but it will be months before everything is repaired. The kitchen, dining room, mud room, and one bathroom will all need new floors and they will have to get a new roof, of course. In the mean time, their insurance company is renting them a furnished house and taking good care of them. We held Shannon very closely that night. It is really amazing that nobody was injured and nothing of real value was destroyed. I am grateful for a caring Heavenly Father who really watches out for us.

Baby Shower

My friend and neighbor, Ann, gave me a fantastic baby shower. This is a bouquet of diaper roses that she made. I thought it was very creative and cute!

This is how well I made out. I got a diaper genie, lots of diapers, and some very cute clothes, so I think we're set for a while. Very nice!

This is the game where you try to guess what kind of melted candy bar is in the diaper. Ann even microwaved them briefly so that it would be extra gross. I love chocolate, but for some reason I always lose at this game.

The guests were 3 of my young women, 2 young women leaders, my sister-in-law, Kate, my mother-in-law, my friend, Paula, and Ann and her son. Here everyone is trying to think of the ending of a nursery rhyme. I did very poorly at this game. You can kind of see the food on the table in the background. We had a very nice spread! Thanks Ann and everyone who came!

Gingerbread Festival

I'm finally posting about our day last Saturday! I took Shannon and met my sister, Jeny, and my nieces and nephew at Thanksgiving Point for the annual Gingerbread Festival. Jeny and I went last year, just out of curiosity, and some of the houses were so impressive that we had to go back this year. Anyone can submit a gingerbread house and people bid on them and buy them. The proceeds go to a charity. Here are some of my favorite entries:

There were 6 birdhouses like this. I couldn't believe the detail, and every bit is candy! They were very pretty.

This one was a compilation of buildings from around the world. The frozen pond is melted candy. The clock on Big Ben is handpainted with chocolate on white frosting.

This was a scene under the ocean. There is a dragon behind it, if you can tell. Not a whole lot of gingerbread in this one, but lots and lots of candy!

This was the best, in my opinion. Each one of the narrow little windows is made of melted candy, and they had lights on the inside. Jeny and I couldn't even begin to imagine the time it would have taken to make all of those icicles and other details. It was just amazing!

There was music, so of course Shannon really enjoyed herself. That's my niece, Kelsey, who stepped into the picture.Aunt Jeny was nice enough to pay the dollar for everyone to decorate a cookie. Shannon did a great job spreading the icing, but decided the candies belonged in her mouth, not on the cookie.
Shannon loves her cousin, Spencer, but she can barely reach his hand. He is a very tall boy (I think around 6 foot 5). They both had a really good time walking around together and looking at the Christmas trees.

Happy Halloween!

Here's Annie! I tried to find some orange spray for her hair, but the only thing I could find was neon orange, and that would have looked funny. I promise she wasn't sad when I took this picture. My camera is just really slow, so she had already said cheese and smiled before it finally took the picture.

Here she is with the big pumpkins we got. I have to say, Halloween was a little disappointing this year. Shannon refused to take a nap, so she was very grumpy. She didn't go trick-or-treating (which I don't really care about), but the saddest part for me is that she went to bed before we got any trick-or-treaters, so she didnt' get to see any other kids dressed up. We went to a trunk-or-treat last week that was pretty fun.
Here is a terrible picture of our carved pumpkins glowing in the dark. Mine is the ghosts in the window (I always cheat and use a pattern) and Matt's is Wonder Woman. She even has a lasso, but you can't see it in the picture.