Friday was just another day until I got a call from a friend's husband letting me know he was on his way to meet his wife at the doctor and they needed my help with their kids. She was about 23 weeks pregnant and they couldn't find a heart beat. I was speechless when he called because I didn't even know she was pregnant. They hadn't told anyone except their two oldest kids and were waiting to break the news this week on their Thanksgiving visit with family. She gets sick at the beginning and loses weight and with jackets she was able to hide it. I've only known her for a little over 4 months so I wasn't really aware of any real "changes" in her energy level or her tummy. My heart sank and was filled with so much sadness only to be replaced by the joy that the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Plan of Salvation can bring to someone going through something like this. How grateful I am that this family we have become close with shares our faith in Jesus Christ and knows that He has a plan for each one of us. She was able to have a priesthood blessing in the hospital from our Bishop and her husband and I know that has helped comfort her. They were worried that it could take a really long time for her to deliver but it went quickly and physically she is feeling pretty good. I will attend a short graveside service tomorrow with them and then they will be heading out on their vacation to be with family. I hope and pray they will be able to find comfort with family at this sad time for them. Things like this make you stop and reflect on the fact that we are not in the drivers seat and God has a plan for each on of us. As I was talking to her today we realized that her husband had planned to be out of town until Friday night and decided to come home on Thursday night. Just another tender mercy and blessing.
Halloween
I didn't really know what to expect for Halloween this year. I was so sad not to be able to hang out with all of the great families in Higley Groves that we usually see. I didn't know what the weather would bring and if my kids would be trick or treating in snow or rain or just freezing temps. It turned out to be a beautiful day - about 63 degrees and the night was beautiful as well - just chilly enough but not freezing. Everyone here dresses up! Even some of the high school kids. The houses are a lot further apart then what my kids are used to so they talked Del into taking them in the Rhino for awhile. Some people in our neighborhood do a haunted house that everyone goes to. I think it was too scary for Carli but Lindsey and Sydnee said it was fun. Melinda Jensen and I sat on our driveway with a fire and handed out candy. The kids had a half day of school so we carved our pumpkins that we hadn't gotten to earlier in the week and roasted pumpkin seeds. So Yummy!
Lulu the Dancer
Sydney and Sydnee - cute little chefs!
Three little witches - Carli, Jolie, and Savannah
Ready to go get some CANDY
Happy Birthday Carli
I can't believe my baby is 7. She really is a special and very STRONG spirit! She can be hard but also so much fun. She amazes me every day at how smart she is. One night we were reading scriptures and Del's jaw was dropping at the words she was able to pull off. She loves school and started taking piano lessons recently. I'm so grateful to be her mom! She definitely keeps me on my toes.
Company
I love having company! My mom and sister came for a week and we got to do some fun stuff. We celebrated Carli's birthday, went to see some Amish communities, went to the John Johnson Farm, and did some shopping. They got to see beautiful Fall Colors and also a little bit of snow which they never see in Las Vegas. My kids love having them here and fight over who gets to sleep with who every night. I'm glad that even though they are far away they still will come visit.
It's really funny to see my mom with MOJO. She has never been a pet person but for some reason she really likes MOJO. When it is cold outside I leave him in the house when we leave and she always wanted to turn on a TV show for him! So unlike her...
What is wrong with this picture?
There are a couple of things wrong with this! The first one is that snow should never under any circumstances be on top of pumpkins. The second one is that I had to use my flash to take this picture because it is still dark when we wake up! We were happy to learn it was going to get nice at the end of the week so our trick or treating wouldn't be so freezing so I was a bit surprised to wake up to this. But, I have to say it is so BEAUTIFUL to have a little bit of snow with all of the bright leaves still on the trees. The kids were so excited. I tried to take a picture of Sydnee before she left but she was too cool to pose for me this morning so I just have Lindsey and Carli. (and Mojo)
Who is doing this?
Every night we go to bed with all of our little pumpkins by our front door. When we wake up, one or two of them are in the middle of the grass and they all have bites out of them! I think there some crazy raccoons that just like to mess with us. Maybe all of the raccoons just like to mess with the Tanner family since my sister in law just found a raccoon up on top of her kitchen cabinets. It had come in through her doggie door and climbed up on top of her cabinets! 
Kinda CRAZY!
NYC
We made it NYC. We parked the motorhome in Jersey City and thought we would be thrifty by taking the subway in to the city to get to our hotel. Great idea but it was a circus act! Just imagine... 4 adults, 7 kids, at least 14 bags. We had about a 10 minute walk to the subway. We had to change trains and then got off at 42nd street and our hotel is at 47th street. I wish I had pictures but all of our hands were so full that we coulnd't take any pictures. We tried to find elevators in the different subway stations so the kids didn't have to drag their bags up the stairs. Both elevators we found had the strongest urine smells I've ever smelled. I thought Sydnee was going to have a nervous breakdown. Her nose is VERY sensitive! It's always fun to watch my sheltered children take double takes as they get over the initial shock of all of the diversity in this city.
One of the things my kids have really been looking forward to is seeing Legally Blonde. We saw it tonight but last night we decided to wait outside the theatre after it was over to get pictures and autographs with Bailey (Elle Woods). A lot of the cast members came out and were so great to pose for pictures with the kids. We saw the play tonight and it was FABULOUS! Lindsey didn't leave the edge of her seat the entire time. All of my girls were in heaven. I loved it and Del even enjoyed it. The last show is Sunday night so we really got lucky to get tickets.
This is Bailey signing the girl's playbills.
Top of the Rock
