This is Halloween, everybody make a scene!

Today was one of my favorite Halloweens EVER!!! I had a jam-packed day, but I'm glad of it. Jessie came with me to get my costume. I have been gone, so I didn't really have a chance o make or come up with a clever costume. Jessie made the suggestion to go to the Scera theater and see if I could rent anything from their costume department. I have a huge wrap on my hand and arm, so I was having a hard time coming up with any ideas. Jessie came up with a winner: a pirate wench. That way my arm could be part of the costume! We got everything I needed, and a tutu for Jessie's "tooth fairy" costume. Total to rent both of our things:$15. That's it! I was so excited that we got such great costumes at killer prices!
After getting the costumes settled, we headed to Kyle & Ashley's to build a haunted gingerbread house with Braden. Check it out:

Braden loved the black icing and the black jellybeans. Can you tell? (Look for the black ring around his mouth)

While we were keeping Braden occupied, Kyle and Ash tried to carve their pumpkins. Braden didn't like how slimy the pumpkins were, so he mostly stuck to decorating the house. Check out how good of a multi-tasker Ashley is. Addie needed to be rocked, but Ash kept carving!
Kyle and Ash weren't able to finish their pumpkins because the rest of the family came over with $.50 CORNDOGS! Sonic was running a holiday special. I hadn't had corndogs in so long, and they tasted so good!
After dinner, Kyle, Ash, Braden, & Addie got in their costumes so they could go trick or treating in their neighborhood. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you BYU's top athletes:
BYU football coach Kyle "Bronco Mendenhall" Isenbarger, star BYU baseball player Braden "Quick Glove" Isenbarger, track phenom Ashley "The Flash" Isenbarger, and head cheerleader Adelaide "Sweet Cheeks" Isenbarger! Who knew there was so much athletic talent in the family?

So we went out with Braden to a few homes. It was one of the best times I've had with them, it was so much fun to watch Braden go up to the doors and try to say "trick or treat!" And their neighbors really delivered- one house even put up black tarps around it so you couldn't see what was coming. They had three different teenage guys dressed up as statues and they jumped out to scare you! So fun.
Jess and I had to leave early so we could get ready for our stake dance, which was being held in a barn in Payson. We had some pretty great costumes, people! The dance was a blast, and they had hay rides for those who needed a break. Most of the time was spent gettin' down on the dance floor, but I did get a chance to go on one ride. So fun! And one of the best things about the party is that there were hardly any immodest costumes! If anything, the guys were less modest than the girls. But it was a great night and my best Halloween yet!

Diagnosis: Broken hand!

Here was my schedule for part of today:

11:45 Plane lands from LAX/ Costa Rica trip
12:15 Leave airport
1:15 Drop off luggage at my house, shower, and change REALLY quickly!
2:00 Doctor's appointment
2:15 Xray
2:30 Find out that my hand is broken in 3 places!!!

I have an inch-long diagonal break in my palm, and two broken knuckles. You know you did a good job when two different doctors call your break "gnarly". My family doctor is sending me to a hand specialist tomorrow. Unfortunately, he's thinking I will need surgery. I hope not!

Today was a good day!

Well, not really, but there were some DEFINITE highlights!
- Being able to accomplish a lot at work and get done some things that have been on the back burner for awhile.
- I found out our Costa Rica trip is going to be one day longer than we thought! YEAH!
- Jessie surprised me at work today with my favorite- A PUMPKIN SMASH JAMBA JUICE!!!! Yes, people, it really is FALL!! Woo hoo! And she is the bestest.
- So You Think You Can Dance had the Vegas auditions. It just made me SO excited for the upcoming season! (My team, Jess!)
- Glee was so much fun to watch tonight! Good music, funny jokes, awesome people over to watch it, 'nuff said.
- I'm updating my blog! I've seen a lot of my family updating their blogs lately, and I decided to get my trash in gear!
Now, it's off to bed! Let's see how tomorrow goes . . .

Meeting new people is fun to do. Fun to do. To do, to do!

Tonight was kind of crazy, but it was a lot of fun. Jess and I got some people together to go watch our ward softball team compete in the semi-finals. We all got bundled up- I pulled out my winter coat- and headed to the field for an 8 o'clock game. . . except no one was there. As it turns out, the game was an hour before, so we missed it! Dang it!

Well, we decided to get some softball in our systems anyway, so we watched another game. And had no idea who we were rooting for! It was pretty amazing with 8 people bundled under blankets, watching children run around in bare feet, or jump on bleachers, seeing people get hit with the ball, cheering for both teams, you know.

After rocking out to the radio on the way home, we decided we were too wired to go to sleep, so a bunch of us congregated at Matt's house for a showing of . . . wait for it . . . WILLOW! Being "old folk", we talked and joked through the movie about the 'good old days' and how we watched Willow all through our childhoods. I don't think I have laughed that hard for a VERY long time!

Let me leave you with a shout out to my girl, Aubrey, who came up with the quote of the night, "It takes that long to do the stupid ritual?! Oh wait, I forgot they have to MARINATE the baby!" Oh I love it!

General Conference

This is the best weekend of the whole year. Well, the two of them since Conference is semi-annual. Anyway, I had an amazing time watching Conference this weekend. There were a lot of talks given with the power of the Holy Ghost, with love, with blunt language . . . in short, it was PERFECT! Elder Holland's boldness especially floored me. He is an amazing man and is not afraid to take on difficult topics, or speak candidly! Love him.

I had to run the Conference lunch at Branbury, so I missed most of the morning session on Saturday, but Jessie recommended that I check out the MoTab singing "Come, Come Ye Saints" when I got a chance. Oh. My. Gosh. Tears streaming down my face by the time I was done watching. Mack Wilberg certainly knows how to work a choir. He knows their strengths, their weaknesses, and how to manipulate the music to make them tug at your heart! What a blessed man. If you haven't watched it or can't remember it, they have a video streaming on lds.org. So great!

I have to say that my most favorite part of the weekend was not actually related to a specific talk or song, it was the surprise I got when I looked in my email before the Saturday afternoon session and saw the sweetest note from my Mom. I once again teared up and cried a little. It was so wonderful. Thanks, Mom. I love you so much!

What an amazingly uplifting weekend. :)

I just fell in love . . .

. . . with the Masterpiece Theatre version of "Sense & Sensibility"! No joke! Jessie had the great idea of putting together a Jane Austen Night during the Priesthood session, and we invited some ladies over for desserts and a flick. It is three hours long, but the whole time I was mesmerized! You have to check it out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxXffditEgA

LOVE IT!

And, yes, I have already ordered it on Amazon.com!

BYU vs. USU

Jessie and I scored tix to the BYU game tonight! Jessie's friend, Carly, and her husband, John, invited us to watch the game with them, and they had two extra tickets. Unfortunately they weren't together, so Jess and I had to move seats three times before we found a space in the bleachers near them where no one was sitting. We ended up in the top of the stands, but the view was great! BYU won 35-17. We were in the season ticket-holder section, so all the fans were very vocal about the game. Oh wow.

Thanks Carly & John for a GREAT time!

Oh my dear, how I miss you!

Girl, it has been WAY too long!

Today was an "I miss Lindz SO much!" day. I was looking back over my England pics and just started to cry! She's just too busy because she's all grown up and dating a boy!!!!

Love you, Bug.