The boy who started the theme this year since he wanted to be Bobba Fett

I tried to get Luke to be Luke Skywalker, but he insisted on Vader. He had a sweet breathing machine to go along with his costume.

At the trunk or treat
Chewbacca (Maddox), Anakin (Noah), Little Mermaid (Lucy)

• My costume is in Star Wars - Ahsoka is in the new Clone Wars movies (she's Anakin's Padawan) which means only die hards and 10 year old boys had any clue who I was. But there aren't a lot of girls to choose from so this was the best I could come up with.
• The best thing said about my costume all night was by one such boy who said "I want a lego of you" (from the new Lego Star Wars game coming out soon....thanks Ethan you made my night)
• We LOVE the trunk or treat! Our kids get to play with all their friends and so do we!
• Happy Halloween Everyone!

Isn't this too cute?

You can win it on her blog.

We moved the couches and table and taped down some picnic table clothes to make room for everyone. Steve made Chili and Kami brought Pumpkin Bars....we ate and carved our hearts out.

My mom helped Claire carve her pumpkin. The best part was that when my mom cut out the eyes Claire tried putting them back in like they were a puzzle. I love the pumpkin design because I think every pumpkin I ever carved as a kid was this design.

This has nothing to do with pumpkin carving...but isn't

Sophie just so dang cute!


Some of us take our carving VERY seriously. Yes, Trent is using a
measuring tape to make sure his lines are the right length.

Kathy: Hey. Did you see that there is a Claim Jumper in Vegas by Danny's house now?

Timmy: Yeah...I was so pissed when I saw that, we need to go there.

Tayson: You said the "P" word

Luke: What's the P word?

Todd: It's a word we don't say, that means you're mad

Luke: Oh I know what word it is....piece. Like ... you wanna piece of me?

I saw this article off my MSN page today and it peaked my interest since I'm a middle child (4th of 10)

We Schultz kids always joke about the 3 families (old, middle, and young). For example, I am the oldest of the middle family. So how does 10 kids affect birth order? Is there 1 oldest, 1 youngest and 8 middle kids? Not in our family we all have dual roles (except George who is the oldest of the old family and Mark who is the youngest of the young family).

Anyways back to the article.

It got the older kids in the family spot-on. Higher education, medicine, engineering.
George = doctor
Steve = PhD, Engineering professor
Sherry = Engineering and MBA

It said middle kids are good at negotiation, peacemaking and compromise. Sounds good to me, but then it talks about machine operation....what the heck? We even have a doctor in the middle family (thanks Danny).

Youngest cracked me up. They love the limelight and gravitate towards artistic and outdoor jobs (such as administrative and clerical). I guess we'll see how the youngest turn out in the family since 2 of the 4 aren't finished with their schooling.

I don't want to brag...but could he be any cuter?

Last night was a bad night. After FHE Tayson said his tummy hurt and "couldn't" read. Rather than fight him on the issue I decided that I would just read to he and Luke. So we sat on the couch and read for about a half hour and his tummy just felt worse. So while Todd took Luke downstairs and put him to bed I went into the bathroom with Tayson. He was making so much noise screaming and crying that he was going to throw up that I moved him into the bathroom in my room. BIG MISTAKE! He made it into the bathroom barely and puked EVERYWHERE! I wanted to get mad at someone but I couldn't the fault was completely mine. Had I just let him stay where he was there would have been no mess to clean up but I didn't want the girls to wake up so I moved him. I cleaned up while he took a warm bath.

I realize that Sophie can almost walk and talk .... but her room is finally done. I of course was only the financial backer of the project. Timmy did most of the labor and Kati did all the design.







The polka dots are Wall-Pops. The polka dots were actually quite a fiasco. We ordered them online the week Sophie was born and they were back ordered. I got the white ones about a month ago and the yellow ones a few days ago. I had already cancelled my order and decided to order some on e-bay. Then I didn't love them so I went online again today to see if any stores carried them. Luckily, the BYU Bookstore carried them so I went during lunch and got blue and green. They didn't have any pink which is the main color I wanted but they had blocks so I bought those and cut them into circles. Yes it was a lot of extra work but it was so worth it.

The only problem .... I have 50 polka dots from e-bay if anyone wants them.

Sarah, Kris and I

The whole group

Me, Mike, Hank, Sarah, Kris and Damon

The best part about these costumes is the fact that Kris made them.
She was the amazing vision and seamstress behind all of these outfits.
Talking the boys into dressing up with us was a major challenge.

Cagney and Lacey

Suzanna and I

The whole 70's Group

Tanya, Elena, Darin, Me, and Suzanna

Amy (snow skier), Jenny (Minnie), Kati (prisoner), Me (cat woman), Hayley (poison ivy) and Shauni (bat girl)

Shauni, Hayley and I all worked at Nu Skin and we didn't like going anywhere alone that day. I'm not sure what I was thinking wearing an outfit like that to work....the things we do on Halloween!

Roller Derby Girls

Amy, Me and Shauni

No we aren't trying to show off our rears...we had nicknames put on our jersey's. Amy was "princess", I was "web" (not because I worked on the web because I was clumsy), and Shauni was "Sunny". Trying to find 5 pair of white roller skates was a HUGE challenge. We went to just about every DI in Utah to get them.

With our "Coach" Ryan. He had on sweet polyester pants and had a whistle.
This was after going to dinner at The Outback.

Man I LOVE dressing up!! I can't believe I haven't really dressed up since I had kids. I always just do something lame so I don't get made fun of at work.
I think I'll go crazy this year and dress up with my kids.

That AC/DC is cool again? Last night at my first YW activity (I just got called to be the 2nd counselor) one of my beehives said "I love AC/DC!" when their new song came on in my car. I think it's so funny that they aren't just for people my age anymore. (I wonder if I shouldn't play that music when driving with the YW....oops!)

That Sophie is HUGE? I saw a brand new little one last night and when I got home to feed and put Sophie down for the night I realized she is just so big already. Part of me loves her getting bigger because I LOVE that she smiles, and coos, and will soon be sitting up and eating baby food, then walking and before I know it talking back! But part of me just wants to hold her and not let her grow up.

That I can't lose the last 4 pounds? I just have so little motivation to get the last few pounds off. Is it because I can squeeze into my clothes (not that it's cute) or because I don't have the energy to fix healthy food when Todd or Timmy is gone or the fact that I have slept in 3 mornings this week or are the last 5 pounds just stubborn and emotionally attached to my waist?

That I am addicted to Facebook? I recently joined to talk to a friend from St. Louis and then the flood of old friends came. It is soooo much fun to see every one's families and talk to them and I just can't get enough. Perhaps that is why my blog has been suffering. I must find balance!

That I am so grateful for my family? I have the best hubby in the world, my kids are fabulous and I have an amazing extended family on both sides. I don't know what I would do without Todd's love and support. I love that I get to see my family all the time. I love meeting Heidi for lunch whenever we need a break from work. I am so blessed.

That fall is the best time of the year? This is my favorite season. Is it because my birthday is in the fall? Or the beautiful leaves in the mountains? Or school being back in? Or the fact that I get to wear sweaters and boots? I love fall!!!

and finally.....did you know?

The face of a penny coin can hold 30 drops of water. (just a fun fact from my iGoogle page)

I have so many great Halloween pictures so for the rest of the month all flashback posts will be of past Halloween costumes. Today I'm putting up the kids costumes. I am one of those mom's who loves to dress the kids in a theme. I'm afraid that Tayson might be outgrowing it...how sad for me! So I have to decide if I theme or don't theme this year. What do you think?

2002
I think this onsie is hilarious. Todd's great-grandpa bought this for Tayson when he was born.


2002
I made this costume for Tayson's first Halloween. I was on maternity leave bored to tears watching Martha Stewart on TV when I saw these trick-or-treat bags so I made this for Tayson's costume and now it's his trick-or-treat bag. I think it's the last time I did something crafty!


2003
Tayson in his Lion costume stealing candy.


2004
Tayson loved Tigger when he was 2 so we did a whole theme with the boys and Lexie was Piglet (but I couldn't find the picture with her in it).The whole time he was wearing his costume he would go "woo hoo hoo hoo" just like Tigger - soooo cute!


2005
Tayson and Lexie. Tayson loved Darth Vader and kept saying
"Luke I am your father". He hated wearing his mask.


2005
Sweet Luke as Yoda.


2006
We went for the Zoo theme. Claire was a leopard, Luke a monkey, Tayson an elephant and I was the zoo keeper.


2007
This was my first year of no theme with the kids (although the boys were both super hero's).

I am cleaning out my office at work and moving to a different one (I got a new job...yippee!). I didn't realize what a pack rat I am at work. I have bins and bins of junk to throw away.


These files date back over 10 years....what in the world do I need these for????


Seriously? Did I really keep these Cd's and a zip disc?
I haven't even had a zip drive in like 8 years.


These gems are only good if you know Nu Skin history and just how old all of these products are.

And just for the record I'm throwing it all away and only keeping what I really need. It's about time I got rid of this stuff.

I guess I should also put down that Todd and I both started new jobs this week (this is for you Steve). Todd is working with a Consulting company named Perficient as a lead technical consultant on their ECM (enterprise content management) team. He's traveling now and will most likely be gone 4 days a week most weeks. My new job is still here at good ol' Nu Skin as the Director of Regional Web Marketing for the America's, Europe and South Pacific. We are both really excited about our new jobs.

Today is my big sisters birthday. I have posted so many times about her because so much of who I am is from being her younger (but not smaller) sister. I have SO many great childhood memories of Sherry.

**This picture is of my Grandma Giboney with Sherry and I when I was a brand new baby**

Here are a few of my all time favorites:

Christmas Presents: When Sherry and I were in high school (her senior year my sophomore year) we decided to buy each other presents. In our family we draw names and only get 1 sibling a present (there are just way too many of us to buy for everyone) but we decided on our own to get each other something. Sherry kept talking about how excited she was to share the present she was buying me and led me to believe that she was buying me a sweet new jean mini skirt. I was STOKED! So I spent a big chunk of my babysitting money at Dillard's and bought her a Liz Claiborne wallet. Christmas morning came and we opened our presents. Sherry loved her wallet and when I opened my present to my utter surprise it was NOT the sweet mini I was hoping for but the Dirty Dancing cassette tape.

Money: One time we were riding home and I was on the back of the banana seat bike with her when I spotted a $20 bill on the side of the road. Sherry came to a VERY fast stop and we skidded out on the cinder (little black very sharp rocks instead of salt for snowy roads that took forever to wash away in the spring). I went flying off the bike and scraped up my knees and face pretty good. Sherry kept the $20 since she was "older" and I think she still owes me $10!

Sherry is my idol!!! If you know her you know that she truly is AMAZING and can do EVERYTHING. I am so grateful for the influence she has been in my life and continues to be even though we live way too far apart.


My First Triathlon with Sherry and Heidi.
I never would have done anything this crazy without Sherry.



Sherry and I finishing my first half-marathon. Once again something I NEVER would have done without her influence. (btw...she had been finished a long time and came back to cheer me on and run me in the last 400 meters)

This is for you Todd. We really missed you tonight at the game. It looks like you need to practice a little more with Tayson. Taking 4 kids to a basketball game during bedtime wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The kids were good and I only had troubles when I had to take Luke to the potty and when we were leaving. But the promise of ice cream cones on the way home did the trick and they all jumped in the car and buckled up fast.



**A few funny things to note: watch how crazy Tayson runs, and that the rebound hits him in the head (his hands are not up), and listen to the crazy boy next to me I have no idea what he was talking about but he kept talking about the "Chinese boy" and talking about the Chinese....it's crazy.

We love you and miss you and can't wait for you to come home!!!

My blog is officially 1 year old. I can't believe I've been blogging for a year already. This Christmas I am going to buy myself a present and print this baby out for a journal. So if any of you have successfully printed yours into a book let me know where you did it.

A few fun stats on my blog:
My profile has been viewed: 422 times
I have had 228 absolute unique visitors and 1153 visits
I'm not sure how RSS readers work with google analytics though....

I love blogging and plan to keep this going for many more years to come!

This weekend I went to St. George with my parents, Timmy and Sophie to watch Sherry run in the St. George marathon. We left mid-morning Friday and got there around 3:00 PM. Sophie was great and we didn't have to stop once.

Sherry was AWESOME!!! It's really no wonder why she's my idol. She has been nursing a hip injury the past few weeks so my mom went into full doctor mode and worked on her forever Friday night after dinner. The race was cold and rainy so I didn't take very many pictures. Sherry said it was perfect running weather, but not the best for spectators. Rain or shine we were there to cheer her on! Her goal was to finish in 3:45 to qualify for Boston next year and she told us she was going to run with the 3:40 or 3:30 pacers. We showed up at about 3:15 to be there on time - good thing too because she came cruising in fast at 3:26!!!


Here she is coming in very strong. Look at her knees that's how you can tell she's feeling good - no shuffle!



My mom and dad worked hard to get an ice bath at the finish of the race. My mom borrowed a kiddie pool then my dad got some bags of ice on the way to the race. In order to fill it with water my dad was taking a big trash bag and filling it with water from the drinking fountain - talk about dedication.
Even in the freezing cold Sherry sat down in her ice bath, all wrapped up with a warm cup of peppermint tea. People looked at her like she was CRAZY! But it worked so well, she wasn't even limping the rest of the day. We would see people who did the race and you could pick them out so easily because of the "shuffle" but Sherry was walking so normal. I'm not sure if I would be able to sit in an ice bath though.



Timmy, Danny and Ethan - the cheerleaders!


We are hoping to do it next year - Sherry, Danny and I (not running together of course, I could never keep up with those two). Hopefully we can get in.

Wanna join us?

This post is inspired by the email I got from Mark this week. He is on a mission in California (only 9 more months to go). Every once in a while I attach pictures to my emails for him to keep up with my ever-growing kids and fun things we do. So this week to spice up my email I sent him the picture of my new hair do. Here is what he wrote in response (exactly how he wrote it grammar and spelling unchanged).

"haha, When I was looking at the picture my comp looked over and asked "is that your mom" and I was like nah dude thats my sister, my mom is alot older than that. It just reminded me of all the times that people thought mom was grandma and it made me laugh. but dont tell mom that."

I am kid #4 and Mark is #10 we are just under 16 years apart in age. I have so many hilarious memories of Mark as a baby since I was practically his mom. George and Steve were both on missions and Sherry left for BYU soon after he was born (I think he was a week old at her graduation) so I was the oldest kid at home.

Once I went to the grocery store with my dad and we took Mark (just the 3 of us). The checkout gal thought my dad was some sort of pervert hanging out with a high school girl and "their" baby until I called him dad. Then she prolly thought he was so sweet to take care of his daughter and "her" baby.

When I took a year off from BYU I thought I should take a class or two at the local community college so when I went to find out about classes I took Mark with me (as always) and the lady helping me thought he was mine and treated me like some dumb high school drop out - I was SO MAD that I practically yelled at her as I walked out and no I didn't end up taking any classes.

And there were the sweet Chinese ladies at my mom's dry cleaning place who NEVER believed my mom and I when we would tell them he was her baby not mine.

I'm sure I could go on forever with stories. I was at Mark's birth and don't mind at all being confused for his mom. I sure hope my kids turn out as great as he has.


Mark with Dad and Mom
Seriously could he be a cuter kid?


Mark, Me, Jeannie and Timmy
This was the summer after my freshman year at BYU.


Here I am with my "boys"


Jeannie, Me, David and Mark
Nice muscles David...look at his ribs you can see everyone of them
I'm not sure why but we always made silly faces in pictures.