Halloween Time!

We had a great time during Halloween this year - it started with a neighborhood party on Saturday, followed by a carnival and trunk or treat at the college on Tuesday, a costume parade at the elementary school on Wednesday afternoon, and then trick or treating around the neighborhood Wednesday night.  

Let's just say there's been no shortage of candy at the Beatty residence for a couple of weeks.

Here is Mathison's costume:

I love the mischievous smile on his face in this photo!  I wanted to use more paint on his face, but with his sensory issues this was as good as it was going to get :)

I told Jefferson that he'd officially outgrown trick or treating...that is, unless he wanted to take his brother around the neighborhood.  A few months ago, I found an adult clown costume at the DI which was an exact match to the child-sized one we'd had for over 10 years...what are the chances of that happening?  Of course, Jefferson would never turn down an opportunity for candy so he agreed to dress up:

The two of them got a lot of smiles from the neighbors; Jefferson can be such a good sport with his little brother!

We also carved some pumpkins the night before Halloween.  Mathison decided to draw on his  pumpkin instead, and this is what he came up with:

That's a black widow spider on the top, with the word "BOO" framed with bones.  I think he did a great job; he seems like quite the artistic little guy!

DSC Homecoming Week

We had quite the exciting week.

It was Dixie College Homecoming Week, and on Tuesday night they crowned a new homecoming queen.  Krissia decided to try out....

...and ended up winning the competition!

She looked lovely and showed great poise and confidence on stage.  In fact, in a private meeting afterwards, the judges remarked how her poise, confidence, and genuineness won them over in interview.  They knew from that point she would be the winner.

Krissia with the DSC Homecoming Court

Meeting with the judges after the competition

It was quite the busy week for Miss Kriss, with several activities to attend daily.  The busiest day of all was Saturday, starting with a special community meeting in the morning.  Afterwards was the Dixie College Homecoming Parade:

This was followed by the tailgate party and the football game.  During halftime, they introduced the royalty and their escorts:

Krissia with her escort, Gage Miller

The Alumni Banquet was held a few hours later.  Krissia and the other royalty members were introduced to the audience:

And Krissia was asked to perform a special musical number.  She had played her competition piece at the Alumni Assembly the day before, so she decided to sing instead.  She made it a family affair by asking me to sing with her, with DEl accompanying us on the piano and Jefferson strumming along on his guitar.

At the conclusion of the banquet, prior members of the Program Bureau were asked to sing some of the traditional Dixie College songs.  They invited current students who know the songs to join them, and Krissia was able to go up and sing with her father and other alumni:

It was a wild, wonderful week...but her days of representing Dixie State College are far from being over.  By winning Miss Dixie State, Krissia has earned a spot in the upcoming Miss Utah Competition held next June.  We're excited to support our beautiful daughter once again at the state pageant!

July Recap - 4th of July/Gubler Family Reunion

Our family had a wonderful time celebrating the 4th of July with the Gubler side:

First, there were many fun activities at the LaVerkin City park:

We left around noon to rendezvous with my siblings and their families at Micah's house for swimming and water games.  I failed to get any pictures, but we had a blast showing off our skills on the diving board...including a killer belly flop contest.

In the evening, we met at Grandma and Grandpa Gubler's house for dinner, a talent show, and fireworks.  There was yummy food and drinks to be had:

Cousins to play with:

And daddies and mommies with kiddos:

After dinner, it was time for the talent show.  Most of the family seemed excited for it to start:

                           

Except for Grandpa:

There were lots of kids with microphones:

 

Some card tricks:

And sport demonstrations:

Some of the moms even got in on the action:

 

Everyone did a great job and received a certificate when it was over:

And Grandpa even finally cracked a smile:

At dusk, it was time for the fireworks.  Unfortunately, the fire danger was too high for regular fireworks so we made do with snap-its and sparklers.  I think the kids still had a good time:

 

 

We can hardly wait for next year's reunion!

Oh Happy Day!

This guy was recently given cause to celebrate:

He and Krissia were in the kitchen together when I noticed a slight difference in their heights.  Last time we measured, Krissia had her brother by 1/2 inch.  But this time when I put the two of them back to back, Jefferson was taller.

We know Krissia is about 5'10" 1/2, so Jeff must be around 5'11".  I don't know if he's going to catch his dad or older brother (who are even at 6'1"), but at this point I think he's satisfied with knowing that he'll always be taller than his sister :)

This topic reminds me of this post from when our family lived in Price.  In it, I was lamenting how Krissia had just reached my height and would soon pass me up.  It's hard to believe it's happened again - this time, with my third child.  Before I know it, Mathison's turn will be here.  How do I keep these crazy kids from growing up?!

A First Time For Everything

Wow - it's been a while since my last post.  Now that I use Facebook, I'll often find myself just putting a quick status update on there and neglecting to add it to my blog.  I'm going to try and find a better balance between the two.

This week, we had a first in our family.  After 22+ years of marriage and four kids (two of them grown), we had our first set of non-surgical stitches.

Or, in this case, staples:

6 of them.

Yep, Mathison banged up his head on Monday.  It happened at school, soon after he got off the kindergarten bus.  There's about a 15 minute time period before school begins, and they let the kids play outside during that time.  Mathison was chasing a girl and took a running jump off of a platform...not realizing there was equipment above him.  Scalp wounds bleed a LOT - and this was a big cut - so he ended up looking like he'd walked straight out of a horror movie.

The worst thing about it was the school couldn't get a hold of me.  I'd been called in to sub at the preschool where I worked last year and had my phone on vibrate.  Imagine my surprise at seeing DEl at the door an hour later and being told he was taking Mathison up to the hospital for stitches!  I rushed out to the car to check on him, trying not to panic at his blood-soaked hair and shirt.  Luckily, it was a slow day at the preschool so I was able to leave and accompany him and DEl to Instacare.  Mathison was very brave during the process, only getting a little upset with the last few staples.

I'm hoping this will help Mathison be a little more cautious in the future; however, this could be an empty wish as I caught him trying to turn somersaults in the living room an hour after coming home from the doctor.  We are supposed to leave the staples in for 10 days, keeping the area dry and protected during this time.

How one is supposed to keep an active five-year-old boy from running around for a week and a half is beyond me...we're just doing the best we can and crossing our fingers!

SLC Family Vacation

While Krissia was busy with rehearsals during Miss Utah week, we took the boys on some adventures.  The first place we went was Hogle Zoo.  It must have been school day or something, because the zoo was VERY crowded with groups children.  It made Mathison anxious to be around that many people, so eventually he and I made our way over to the train ride and play area while Dad and the big boys took their time at the exhibits.  Here are some of the animals we encountered:


Proud peacocks:

Gangly giraffes:

Outrageous ostriches:

And a terrifying tiger:

However, I was able to capture the rarest sight of all...

...a "bunch" of Beatty boys :)


Mathison was less than thrilled in the above picture; again, he was feeling overstimulated by the crowds.  However, he was eventually able to settle down and I managed to get a few good pictures of him:

On Friday, we hiked the Timpanogos Cave trail.  Talk about brutal; it is 1.5 five miles of vertical punishment!  We stopped several times along the way, and Mathison was able to complete the hike all by himself.  Here we are along the trail:

The inside of the cave was very beautiful and fascinating with all of its different types of crystals.  Mathison knows about stalactites and stalagmites and how they're formed, so the cave guide appointed him her special "helper".  It was so cute and made him feel so important!

Inside the cave:

On Saturday, we did a little shopping and then went to a movie.  Overall, we had a great time in SLC!