Lisa and John

Introducing the 2009 Halloween Pratt Family Line-up…….

First, we have SON OF MARS–THE ROMAN GOD OF WAR by Calvin

Next, we have ROBIN HOOD by Ivan

THE GORILLA by Reed (Don’t be too scared)

PRECIOUS PENGUIN by Avalon

ZEEBRA by Lisa

And, finally, FARMER JOHN by John

Including PEACHES, the chicken

Yes, he brought a LIVE chicken to work yesterday for his company’s Annual Halloween Party.  They were giving out CASH prizes and so we needed something for pizazz.  And, IT WORKED!!!  John won an Honorable Mention award with a nifty $100 bill attached.  Thank you, Peaches, our $100 chicken!

Happy Halloween, everyone!  We hope it’s a great one!

Love, the Pratts

It has been a very busy month!  I haven’t had any time to blog.  I’m super busy now, but I thought I would update a little.  Up above are some of the pumpkins we grew in our garden.  Calvin asked everyone what they thought the total weight of all these pumpkins were.  I guessed 130 pounds.  The actual weight???  131 pounds!!  Am I good or what?  Today the boys have carved the two biggest pumpkins.  Unfortunately, earlier last week some “hooligans” smashed some of our pumpkins in the night.  (Why would someone do that?  Those were my heard earned pumpkins!!  I weeded and cared for them from seed!!)  Anyhow, we still had some left.  Maybe in a few days I’ll post some jack-o-lantern pics….

(Oh, here is one Ivan did a couple of weeks ago.  Too cute!)

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Here are the boys making apple juice.  It was Ivan’s idea.  They cut up the apples and blended them with a little bit of water.  Then, they squeezed out all the juice with the help of a towel.  It was VERY tasty!  We’ll have to do it again!

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We had a very fun Jungle Safari Cub Pack Night.  Calvin earned his WEBELOS award.  Here he is pinning the pin on me.  We made monkey faces where the boys would put knee-hi pantyhose on their heads and then pull them off.  Very funny!   I got a pic of Ivan doing it.  Too crazy!

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A very special highlight of the month was the birth of Kelsey Marie Pratt.  She is my niece and I got to witness her birth.  Elizabeth was amazing as she birthed her second child.  I’ve been trying to figure out the perfect word to describe how amazing she was.  But, alas, nothing fits just right, but these come close.  Awe-inspiring…  Majestic…  Powerful…  Beautiful…  (Does she even look like she just had a baby?  Wow!)

A little Angel.  Born on earth.

Avy has found a new pastime.  A couple days ago John interrupted me when I was doing dishes so that I could see Avy dancing in the living room.  (It was laundry day, so you’ll have to bear with the laundry everywhere!)  This dancing is a new hobby of hers.  So far, so good!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Ok, so it resembles more like exercise. Ha!  More on that later!

On Monday Reedy turned 5.  We decided to enjoy the last little bit of nice weather and have the party outside.  So, we cleaned up the carport a bit and decorated for a fun party.  Balloons, crepe paper, food, you name it.

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(I’m not exactly sure how Ivan got this picture, but I do believe he was on top of our mini-van….IVAN!!!

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This is our Birthday Boy!  Five Years Old!!

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Whenever we have guests, they have to take the “Garden Tour”.  Today was no exception.

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Another cute shot of Avy.  This boy has a gift, I tell you!

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And, here is Reed with the Guests of Honor, Brother and Sister Nelson.   Reedy just LOVES Sister Nelson.  She had to be invited to the party.  Reed loves Sister Nelson because “She gives me treats.  I will NEVER be mean to Sister Nelson.”

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I didn’t take pictures of the food, but I made yummy chicken enchiladas.  There were some veggies, salad, pickled beets and cobbler provided by the guests.  We stuffed ourselves!  Here Reed is opening his presents.  He loved them all!

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Avy shares a moment with Sister Nelson.

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Joe, Liz, Emily, Mary, Michael and Natalie.

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Calvin, John, and Grandma Pratt.

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Reed decided he didn’t want a cake.  (Fine with me!)  He came up with this idea to serve ice-cream in the shape of  a Snowman.  It was a cute idea, so I decided to run with it.  Brayden looks on as Reed blows out his candle.  He only wanted one!

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So, we made Snowman Banana Splits.  Chocolate chip eyes, maraschino cherries for the nose, and whipped cream snow.  They were very tasty!

Reed, we love you so much and we are glad you are in our family.  You are always happy and fun to be with.  You love to sing songs and read books and you are one special kid.  We are glad you are growing up!  We love you!

I’m glad Ivan got this picture, because today when we woke up frost had killed all of the leaves in the night.