Super Angie... harouxi-n --Japanese for Halloween.

Dallin was very helpful and a wonderful big brother, although it was really hard for them to go Tan's speed. I did hear that Brennan took advantage of Tan's slow speed. He would run up to a house, get candy, and then run back and wait for Tan and take her to the door...tricky little guy!

Do Geishas make the same peace sign that other Japanese girls do in all their photos? This one does!

Watch out! Its Dallin as a transformer.

Brennan...aka...red belly dragon, not a dinosaur!
LOOK AT MY CANDY!

Doesn't it look like they are skipping?

Its BUBBLE BEE hiding in our front bushes!

A very happy girl! She fell asleep so fast afterwards.

On the hunt for candy!

Tan got lots of candy and her Hello Kitty bucket got so heavy, Rick had to stuff his pockets full for candy.

We stopped by the climbing gym to show off our costumes. Dallin's old summer camp coach, Amy, was there. She was a cabbage patch kid (but she couldn't climb in her jumper, so she was wearing a staff shirt and jeans). Dallin was thrilled to show her his moves and she was so proud of him.

Dallin took this picture of me as a Geisha. I LOVE my costume and makeup!

Tanith learned to say TRICK OR TREAT. It seems her favorite is suckers. Her ladybug costume was quite the hit!

Brennan was a Red Belly Dragon! (again..for the 3rd year!~)

Rick took the kids out and they had so much fun. Tan demanded on walking the whole time!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!

--Super Angie

Super Angie...Halloween sweetness

I am staying home while Rick takes the kids out trick-or-treating. I have planted myself in the front room, by the windows, so I can see the kids coming by etc. One of my neighbors has a daughter--probably 12??-- with down syndrome. Her older brother (highschool) was walking her around, house to house. He was so tender with her...making sure she was safe crossing the street, checking on her costume to make sure it was straight (shes a witch with a big cape). He would lean over to talk at her level....it was just so tender to see this teenager taking his sister trick-or-treating, instead of riding his skateboard or hanging with his friends.

Ding dong....two little kids-- maybe 6 and younger??--were standing there dressed like a cowgirl and a power ranger. I am dressed like a Japaness Geisha, complete with a wig and makeup. The little cowgirl looked at me and said, "HEY! YOU WERE THE SINGING LADY AT CHURCH!". Wow...I feel so special. I only subed once and already I am known.

Halloween memories:... I have such fond memories of trick or treating around spiritbrook...always a wet, windy and cold night of course. We always decorated for halloween. Paul would hang fake siderwebs out on the front porch and in the trees. I think I will do that next year...makes it more fun to walk onto a spooky front porch.

I remember my dear neighbor, the Hewitts would always give away coloring books.

Remember how you always knew who gave away full size candy bars? We had a neighbor who was the announcer for the Super Sonics basketball team. Sometimes he would do king size snickers. WHOA!

The bigger kids would always to mulitple neighborhoods, filling their pillow cases two or three times.

I remember sitting in the front room, sorting all my candy. My mom told me today that she used to "help" sort the candy--taking the ones she liked! lol

I don't know how people don't love Halloween...its so fun seeing the joy on all the kid's faces as they go on their yearly march through the neighborhood on search of the best candy!

I'm handing out DUM DUM suckers...yeah, that kind of sucks as a treat, but if I had chocolate, the bowl would already be empty. Oops! lol

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

--Super Angie

Super Angie..Brennan's Birthday

Yes, Brennan's birthday was in September, we celebrated yesterday with a costume party. All the neighbors came and a few friends from other places. The cake was a spider cake, unfortuantly I didn't get a good picture of it, but it had licorice legs...very cute!

They had fun doing the pinata and running around in the yard.

Until next year...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG BEAR!

--Super Angie

Super Angie...Vertical addiction

Last night, Rick and I went to Momentum to work out on their seriously awesome treadmills. Yes, we have a full workout room in our basement, but once in a while its great to use these treadmills. They track vertical feet and the incline goes up to 30 % instead of the typical 12%.

Rick is training for his big trek coming up, so he wore his mountaineering boots and a 50+ lb back pack. Amazing honey!

I plugged in my shuffel and let loose. I climbed 3000 vertical feet in 63 minutes, got my heart rate up to 178 and burned over 1000 calories! YEAH BABY! I love how I feel afterwards-- hot for a few minutes and then suddenly very cold, and I have to bundle up. Then I feel like throwing up. Its great! :)

It was really a good evening to go to Momentum (or Mo-Town like some of my friends call it). I saw my good friend Tyler. He has been working at the gym since it opened, but his recent schedule is always changing and we usually don't see him. It was nice to catch up.

I also saw a good friend who turns out is a major LURKER on my blog. HI LURKER FRIEND! ;) You looked fabulous and I'm so happy to hear how hard you have been climbing, inside and out. WAY TO GO GIRLFRIEND! (and by the way Mom, this lurker friend calls her grandma GAGA too!)

Another friend recently got back from England, so it was good to catch up with her as well.

I'm so addicted to climbing...I can't wait for ice to start coming in. Reports are that in Rocky Mountain National Park and in BC Canada, ice is already in. Its only a matter of time before I can start climbing in Provo Canyon. :) This weekend, we are going dry tooling again--this time taking Michael from the gym. YEA!!!

--Super Angie

Super Angie...freaking out

So, I have lost around 15 lbs since the beginning of September by doing that wicked diet that natural body builders use. I have also gained a lot of muscle too and lost fat. Yea! I'm looking quite hot, if I do say so myself! (grin)

Anyway, I took about 1-2 weeks off with normal eating and some travel. I gained 3 lbs because I have a horrible habit of eating crap while driving back and forth to Colorado. Anyway, now I'm back on the wicked diet and I'm freaking out today.

I strongly believe that when you store fat, you also store emotions with them...so when you loose the fat, the emotions come loose, full force. Its hard to deal with. I'm really freaking out! (this pic is right after I did 30 chin ups! YEAH BABY! I can also bench press 95 lbs!! )

--Super Angie

Super Angie...Thursday for Moms

I am inviting all who want to join me Thursdays each month....

1st Thursday of each month--LDS temple session at Mt. Timp temple in American Fork, UT. 12:00 chapel

2nd Thursday of each month-- indoor Rock Climbing at MOMENTUM in Sandy, UT (in South Towne Mall parking lot) 12:00-2:00

3rd Thursday of each month-- mom and me music class 12:00-12:45 or so...at my house!..>FREE...please let me know if you want to come, so I know how many people to prepare for. All ages of kids would enjoy this.

4th Thursday of each month-- indoor Rock Climbing at MOMENTUM in Sandy, UT (in South Towne Mall parking lot) 12:00-2:00


I'd love to have you join me each week, or just once a month.

--Angie

Super Angie...What the Heck-Vote for Beck!

The 3rd and 4th graders at Dallin's school are coming up with election slogans, like "Oh my gosh, Vote for Josh", "Don't go potty, vote for Tatti" and "Bring the bell, vote for Ella" (sorry if I got any of those wrong)

Dallin and Brennan think those are just hillarious and so we helped them come up with more.

HE'S A STALLION, VOTE FOR DALLIN!
TIRED OF HENIN? GET OFF YOUR EGGS AND VOTE FOR BRENNAN!
TAN TAN, SHES OUR MAN!
DON'T WANT TO BE IMPALED WITH A STICK? THEN VOTE FOR RICK!
WANT MORE TRAUMA, VOTE FOR MAMA!

Of course the boys would only hear them once and go off chanting them and before you knew it, they were completely different--except for the Rick one...they like the idea of people getting impaled with a stick. Go figure!

Whats your political slogan?

--Super Angie

Super Angie...this old man, he played six...

Last night, while driving home from the rock climbing gym, we had such a fun time singing. (It was late...past 9pm, the sky was pitch black ((or as Dallin would say, Pitch Dark)) with a sprinkle of stars. I love driving the Highland highway, all the way to the mouth of American Fork canyon because you can see the mountains and the canyon and the space between the two, and at night, sun down or dawn, it just looks neat with the different natural light. )Anyway, we were coming home and Dallin started singing.

We sang This Old Man, The Ants Go Marching, I love to see the Temple, and a bunch of old favorites. We just sang and sang. It made my heart cozy knowing my kids were happy and healthy and enjoying life.

I am loving life right now. I love my husband and never knew marriage could be THIS GOOD. Rick and I make a crazy couple, which I am sure shocks most people. I look more like his daughter then his wife. But we work. We are best friends and just work well together.

A lot of people hurt me bad after I got divorced and re-married so quickly. I actually had one friend tell me I shouldn't be going to the temple anymore and that I was gonna go to Hell. Wow...how Christ like, right? A lot of friends dumped me and had excuses why they couldn't do stuff with me. These "friends" taught me a lot about what a friend is and how I want to treat others--especially when they are going through such an emotional time. Even if you don't agree with what they are doing, you don't run away (sometimes it was literally a friend running in the opposite direction!!) from a friend. They need a friend...

Jenny Meek noticed the difference immediately in how happy I am. I thank her and her mom...her mom rocks!

Sure, Divorce sucks and all that, but I'm glad Mark and I got divorced. He is happier and so am I.

Rick is such a great dad to the kids. He loves them and wants them to be the best they can be. He teaches them good manners and they respect him. They love to cuddle with him too. He helps them so much with their self esteem, be it with gymnastics, reading, math or rock climbing...he cares. Even though they are hard at times (who has kids that aren't hard at times??), I LOVE my kids and truly know the meaning of JOY with them.

Rick and I climbed hard last night. I had climbed earlier in the day with Dawn and guess what! I LEAD!!! I have been so scared of leading recently, but she said just the right things and I did it! I did two routes with her and lead one route with Rick. I top roped 2 other routes with Rick as well. I am SOOOO proud of Rick last night though... he climbed two 5.9s! He has had serious problems with his fingers for the past year. In fact his doctor wanted him to have surgery. Another doctor said his finger strength is far below normal. He is working daily at building up that strength, so last night's climbs were SO IMPRESSIVE. Earlier in the week, I climbed HARD with Mindy and Julie. What wonderful friends. I am so blessed. Thanks Girls!

--Super Angie

Super Angie...big bear

My big Bear... so sweet!

Such a happy boy!

This is Brennan's favorite shirt, but its too small for him, so I said I would take his picture...to always remember the shirt!

Peek-a-boo Brennan

Eye See You!

Beautiful Smile

I love you Brennan!

--Super Angie

Super Angie...Seattle trip #12

On Saturday, with Rick having returned early, we met up with Jeff and Laura and DSW shoe store in Factoria. WHOA BABY! I am in love! I found a cute new pair of shoes that I plan on taking with to China in December. Jeff got a smokin' hot pair of shoes as well. Very fun!

Then off to the zoo we went. Woodland Park Zoo is amazing. Even the kids noticed how much better it is then Hogel Zoo, but then again, Seattle is a bigger city and there are a lot of very weathy people up there who like to donate to the zoo. Anyway, we had such a great time at the zoo---even with Tanith demanding to push the stroller (and then screaming and pitching a huge fit when we wouldn't let her).

After the zoo, we dropped by IVARS in Crossroads and just really had a nice time as a family. It was fun chatting and laughing with Jeff and Laura. Dallin donated some of his fries to them to take back to Enzo as a treat. :) Dallin also ate most of my clam chowder--chowder boy!

We said goodbye to them (hard to do! I miss them already!!!) and then we headed to Crossroads mall so Rick could run into Starbucks for a drink. Oh man...I miss Crossroads and I miss the Seattle coffeehouse scene. After getting back into the car, he admitted that he also liked the scene. It would have been fun to have just hung out at Crossroads, enjoyed some different ethnic foods (the Russia is sooo good!), but we needed to get home to pack. I did duck into a costume store and found the perfect Geisha wig. I can't wait for Halloween!!!

This was such a great trip. I saw friends, family, my old stomping grounds...so many memories. I can't wait to go back again!

--Super Angie

Super Angie...Seattle trip #11

We went to dinner at Ruby's Diner (AGAIN) with Jeff and Laura.
We enjoyed our time at the Redmond Towne Center, even though Tan threw up after dinner. YUCK!

--Super Angie

Super Angie...Seattle Trip #10

The whole reason we went to Seattle was for Rick to do some training on Mt. Rainier--SOLO-- to test out his equipment for his upcoming trek in South America.

Its not possible this late in the season to Summit Rainier without some serious permits, but thats okay. Rick wasn't interested in summitting...he wanted to go to Camp Muir, stay over night and come down.

To read what happened, visit his blog.

--Super Angie

Super Angie...Seattle trip #9

We had a great time visiting Uncle Jeff and Aunt Laura.

Of course, ENZO got a lot of attention, love and a lot of balls thrown for him!

Dallin took a liking to "cousin Enzo" right away!

Jeff let Brennan push the buttons to make the Mercedes top open and shut. SO COOL!

FETCH!

Tan got lots of love from Aunt Laura...but she was tired and had just woke from a nap, so she was a bit grumpy.

Tan did enjoy Enzo and later, at dinner, she kept asking where he was.

Again, she looks grumpy, but she loves her uncle and aunt!

--Super Angie

Super Angie...Seattle trip #8

Click on this collage to see the pictures better.

I met up with some of my friends from High school (actually Emily and Heidi and I were all in primary together too).

Emily Wiscombe, Erica Brehm and Heidi Bennett. We had such a great time playing at a park in Bellevue. (We were actually meeting in Bell Square, but there was a fire alarm went off and we were asked to leave the building. Strange.) The older kids were in school, so all the kids there were 4 and under, except Brennan and Dallin, but none-the-less--everyone had fun!

I had forgotten how funny Heidi is. She had us all laughing. Emily is such a great mom and I found we actually have a lot in common when it comes to parenting. And I am soooo happy that Erica sent me an email a few weeks ago. She had found my blog through Emily's. Its been great getting re-acquainted with her. :)

Thanks girls! I can't wait to do it again!!!

--Super Angie

Super Angie...Seattle trip #7

After stopping by the Temple, we drove to Redmond.
Park time!!

Tanith LOVED swinging at my childhood park.
Heres my house--it used to be red though and have a natural
brick fireplace--dumb people who bought it!

Spiritbrook Park in Redmond...I had tears in my eyes
watching my kids play at the same park I played at...
when I lived in this house (while my parents were in Germany),
I would take Dallin as an infant to this park.

Memories!
--Super Angie

Super Angie...Seattle trip #6

On Friday morning, we drove by the Seattle LDS temple and I decided to stop for a moment. The boys went to check out the fountain and Tanith enjoyed the statue of the little girl walking from her mother to her father. So sweet.

--Super Angie