. . . halloween {briefly} . . .

. . . it's a necessary evil . . .

. . . every year . . .

. . . hi ~ i'm stephanie . . .

. . . and i'm the halloween grinch . . .

{let's dress up like weirdos and beg for candy from strangers ~

wrong on so many levels!}

. . . these little cuties

make it worth it, though . . .

{l-r elliott/almost 3; halleigh/8; tagg/3; colby/2 months;

addison/9; tate/5; cameron/6-ish months}

. . . pretty addi with authentic firestar hair . . .

{minus the really big bangs.

she wore sponge curlers to school

and didn't get kicked out of class.

yes, dr. audrey guydon ~

i'm still bitter about amanda

being sent home in seventh grade!}

. . . beautiful halleigh

rocking the superstar unitard . . .

. . . they make 15-year-old

stars costumes look fabulous . . .

. . . tough guy tater tot

as a studly baseball player . . .

. . . he is dangerous with a bat . . .

. . . no ~ really ~ he is dangerous with a bat . . .

. . . stand clear! . . .

. . . tagg as a one-winged buzz lightyear . . .

. . . to infinity and beyond! . . .

. . . elliott loving life as woody . . .

. . . with candy! . . .

. . . together they're a hoot . . .

. . . cameron finally woke up . . .

. . . thrilled to be wearing his buzz onesie . . .

. . . and baby colby {aka toby/ferris}

was the most darling skeleton . . .

. . . but the BCOTN award . . .

{best costume of the night award}

. . . hands down . . .

. . . goes to our brand new

one-day-old bishop . . .

. . . uncle sam sherwood . . .

{we've heard rumors of a movement to celebrate halloween

always on the fourth saturday of october.

please vote for that if/when it comes up on a ballot.

wouldn't it be nice to not have it on a school night? thanks!}

. . . are bell peppers on sale? . . .

. . . that's bill's question

nearly every week

when i ask

if he has any requests

from the grocery store . . .

. . . here's why . . .

. . . he loves them stuffed . . .

. . . the fact that

he never actually eats

the pepper itself? . . .

. . . details . . .

. . . the important thing here

is flavor . . .

. . . flavor in the form of

ground beef browned with onion,

and the diced pepper tops,

rice cooked in chicken broth,

diced tomatoes,

corn {cooked, cut off the cob, and frozen last summer},

worcestershire sauce,

salt, pepper

and a little sharp cheddar on top . . .

. . . sorry ~ specific amounts not available . . .

. . . plus ~ you never know

exactly how big the peppers are

or how much filling they'll hold . . .

. . . i always end up with extra . . .

. . . just keep it in a casserole dish

and reheat . . .

. . . last time drew was in town,

he single handedly

ate about five pounds

{his estimation}

of it in one weekend . . .

. . . we'll miss him . . .

. . . our awesome bishop . . .

. . . phil chiles . . .

. . . passed away unexpectedly

this morning . . .

{photo taken at young women in excellence 28 september 2011}

. . . he was our dear friend and neighbor . . .

. . . compassionate . . .

. . . loving . . .

. . . selfless . . .

. . . one of a kind . . .

. . . we pray for his sweet family . . .

. . . and we will miss him . . .

. . . she belongs . . .

. . . to the

church of jesus christ

of latter-day saints . . .

. . . what a happy day

for the hansen family . . .

. . . daughter number two . . .

. . . halleigh anne . . .

. . . was baptized . . .

. . . and even though

she loved wearing

her beautiful white dress . . .

. . . she just couldn't help

but sneak in

little touches

of her very favorite color . . .

. . . from head . . .

{doesn't she have just about the cutest freckles ever?}

. . . to toe . . .

. . . that's how i knew

she'd love the quilt

i made specially for her . . .

{please notice tagg giving us the "eye"}

. . . turquoise ~ because she loves it . . .

. . . with just a teensy pinch

of cheetah thrown in . . .

. . . because she's a wild child . . .

. . . a good teacher . . .

. . . can teach just about anywhere . . .

. . . even at camp geronimo . . .

. . . competing with high adventure activities . . .

. . . like a zip line, or rappelling, or the rifle range . . .

. . . and the kids really listened . . .

{i was in charge of treats ~ now that i can handle!}

. . . colby's big day . . .

. . . today was a great day

for colby tyler johnson . . .

{age ~ nearly 7 weeks}

. . . his daddy gave him a name

& a blessing at church . . .

{the sun was a little too bright!}

. . . {almost} our whole family was there . . .

. . . we missed drew & jessalyn . . .

{please hurry & graduate!}

. . . afterward, all the grownups

ate delicious breakfast treats

like bagels, muffins

& homemade cinnamon rolls . . .

. . . while the grandchildren

{in honor of steve jobs}

entertained themselves

with iPhone games . . .

. . . budding geniuses . . .

. . . it's been a long time coming . . .

. . . but ~ conference weekend

seemed to be as good a time as any

to finally finish hand stitching the binding . . .

. . . and, as always, i obsessed

and used every last scrap

to make the back . . .

. . . sometimes a "name" doesn't come easily . . .

. . . this was the best i could come up with . . .

. . . giving credit where credit is due . . .

. . . and the big reveal . . .

. . . cloudy days in arizona

usually mean windy days . . .

. . . hence the "ruffly" edged photos . . .