Halloween Festivities

Halloween is always such a fun and anticipated Holiday around our house.  I took the girls to Walmart and let them choose whatever costume they would like.

 Hailey was a princess/fairy so she says.  She was so excited to be in kindergarten and to be able to have her own class party and walk the parade route through the school classrooms.

 Ashley decided to be a Southern Belle.  I loved her costume and it fit her personality so well.

Lindsay wanted to go simple and not have to change during school so she was a cat. 

On October 30th we went to Heather's wards carnival/trunk or treat and had a great time.  Lindsay did not go with us since she was invited to a Halloween party.  I was so worried that Lindsay would be sad that she did not go to the trunk or treat since we were not letting the girls go door to do on Halloween with it being on a Sunday this year.  When she got home her bag had more candy then Ashley and Hailey's and she had a fun time. 

Halloween night the girls took turns opening the door to pass out candy.  I felt bad not letting them go door to door, but not once did I hear a complaint.

Ashley the big 1-0!!!

Ashley was so excited that she would be able to move into the older group of Activity Days, at church, and be with her big sister once she finally turned 10.  She loves going to Activity Days and has so much fun making crafts and being with her friends.  She is such an amazingly smart and fun girl.  She is doing really well in school and the teachers love her.  She loves to read and I never have to remind her to do her homework.  She is doing really well at piano even though she does not like to practice very much.  She has been a huge help by taking Hailey outside to play so that I can get stuff done around the house.  She just bought herself a skateboard with some of her birthday money and is getting quite good at it.

We decided that for her birthday it would be fun for the girls to decorate their own cupcakes.  They then went into the living room and watched Diary of a Wimpy Kid on our projector in which we had a TON of junk food and pizza for them to snack on.

 She received a lot of fun gifts and especially loved the card that I gave her that informed her that the next day I would take her to the store to get her an aquarium and fish.  She was so excited.

 After the party and while waiting for parents the girls decided to play on the structure at the park.  I am so glad that Ashley has good friends that are a lot of fun to be around. 

Hood to Coast

And he did it again, he is amazing I am telling ya.

Ever since we have lived here in Portland my sister has tried to get Mitchell to run Hood to Coast with them.  He practiced a couple of times one year and then decided that he was not in shape enough to continue on.  This year was his year to run the race.  Some people in our ward came together to make up a team, "DC Synergy." 

Two weeks before the big day Mitchell had not ran a single mile.  I was so worried and kept telling him that he needed to drop out or he would kill himself.  He was confident that since he had been biking so much to get ready for the High Adventure that he would be ready and able to run.  He decided to run one mile and was in such pain for the following week I thought there was no way!

The day of the big race he decided that he needed a new pair of running shoes.  If you are a runner you know that this is a NO NO.  You do not buy shoes and not break them in before such a huge run.  He tried on the shoes, bought them and jumped into his van to head out for the big race.

Along the way he was able to text message me or call me so that I could know how he did.  I was so happy when I was told that his first of three legs was complete and he was in good spirits.  He said that his third leg, being in the middle of the night, was a hard one and he was running on 1 hour of sleep in 24 hours but he did it.  In all he ran 16 miles.  

The girls and I decided to meet up with his team at the finish line.  It was fun to visit all of the sponsor booths and get free stuff.  The girls made these signs in support for their dad and his team. 

 Another amazing accomplishment!!!  He did it and had a great time with is riding van.  He is excited to run again next year and wants to crush his running time!



Hailey is 6!

 I can not believe that my baby is six years old!  She is such a sweet girl that makes me laugh every day.  She is very witty and does not even realize it.  Yesterday she came up to me and this was our conversation:

Hailey:  "Mom you are not stupid you haven't been in a car accident."

Me:  "Yes, I have been in a car accident."

Hailey:  "Oh, sorry, I accidentally called you stupid." 

She lights up the room and is such a sweet heart.  I am not sure what I am going to do in the next coming weeks when she is not the baby anymore.  She is so excited to be a big sister.  When our nephew Blake was born we visited them in the hospital.  Blake was sad but Hailey really wanted to hold him.  She held him so softly and was the only one that could put him to sleep.  It was such a sweet and tender moment.

We decided to have a princess party for her birthday.  She enjoyed decorating crowns with her friends.

 You can not have a party in the Couch household without playing 7-11.  The kids love this game.

 Ashley decided to be a clown and make balloon animals for the kids.  She was really funny and the kids had a great time. 

 I am a bad Mom and did not make her birthday cake.   She decided that cupcakes would be good enough.  Whew!  The best part was I did not have to make them.

 She had such a fun birthday party and got a lot of fun birthday gifts.  We love you little Hailey Jojers!!!



So Proud!

A year or so ago Mitchell, and the other scout leaders, were thinking about this years High Adventure and what fun adventure they would go on.  I remember one day Mitchell mentioning to me that he wanted to cycle the Oregon Coast and that he thought that the boys would be able to do it and that it would be fun.  I kinda laughed because Mitchell did not even own a bike, let alone ride one since we had been married.  How in the world was he going to ride the whole Oregon coast? 

Well, this thought was the beginning to MANY MANY MANY hours of work on Mitchell's and the Scout Troops part.  Mitchell spoke with other scout troops that completed the same adventure, spoke with police along the coast route to see if it was safe, came up with the route, had weekly Saturday rides with the Scouts so that they could be in shape for this HUGE task that was ahead of them.  As the time got closer I realized this was really going to happen and I was so excited for him!

The night before he was to leave we went to my sister Heather's house for dinner.  Mitchell and Paul went upstairs and when he came down this is what I saw!!

 He kept telling me that he was going to shave his head and write the miles that they were going to ride into it but I did not believe him.  I guess I need to listen better.  :)  The boys loved it and Mitchell had fun with it. 

I was lucky enough to drive Mitchell and the boys to Astoria where they would begin their six day journey.  I had some time to spare so I rode along with them for their first 18 miles from Astoria to Seaside Oregon where they ate breakfast.  When Mitchell drove off with the boys tears went down my face because I was so proud of them and all that they had set out to do.  They were actually doing it after MONTHS and MONTHS of hard work and many hours of riding.  It was amazing to see how well the boys worked together and supported each other.

On that Friday I decided to drive down to watch them go through the finish line.  We met up at their campground and had a fun time playing on the beach with Mitchell and some of the boys.  Afterwards we said our goodbye's and the girls and I went to a comfy hotel room.  :)  In the morning we had fun riding alongside Mitchell and encouraging him.  It was so hard to see them have to conquer a huge hill because you wanted to just push them along, they were so tired, but almost done.

 When the boys were approximately 10 miles from the boarder that was when they received the most flats and problems.  The girls and I, and another family were waiting for three hours while they were stopped due to problems.  Mitchell said it was one thing after another, but once they got on their way everything was great. 

There were chase cars so we knew that the boys were getting close.  The girls held up signs and blew horns as each boy went through the finish line.  They decided to let Mitchell go through the line first, which was really a cool thing to see. 

It was amazing to see that each boy actually finished and without too many problems along the way.  Two boys fell and had scrapes, but nothing major and a mother (two mom's went on the trek also and rode the whole way!) fell and was not hurt because of her helmet. 

 They did it!!!!  What an amazing feat to be able to say that you rode 388 miles in six days from the top of Oregon to the California boarder.   (As a side note, Mitchell  kept getting made fun of because the numbers on his head were incorrect as to how many miles they rode, it ended up being more since they had some detours along the way.)

The next day at church Bishop had nothing but good things to say about Mitchell and the Scouts.  He was so proud of each of them.  During Sunday School we were informed that Mitchell and I were to go and speak with our Bishop after church.  Mitchell was upset because he was not even home for 8 hours and would already be released from his calling.  As we went into the office our Bishop said that he was so proud of Mitchell and wanted to call him as the new Young Mens President.  Mitchell and I were in shock!  He really thought he would be released out of Young Mens so he was so excited.  He has done a great job with the boys and is a great Young Mens President.

They are already planning next years High Adventure in which they will kayak the San Juan Islands in Washington.  How fun!!!

Visit with Grandpa's and Grandma

In July Great Grandma and Grandpa Couch made the trek from Oklahoma to California where they stayed a couple of weeks and then on their way home they stopped by our house to see us.  We had a wonderful time.  We were also able to visit with Grandpa Couch who was their chauffeur.  :)  It was wonderful having them here in our home. 

We enjoyed a lot of visiting, Mitchell took his Dad fishing with our neighbor and we even snuck out for dinner and lunch.  They were only able to stay about 36 hours, but it was wonderful!

Grandpa Couch came with presents galore for the girls.  Grandma and Grandpa Couch and Nana went on a cruise and got the girls a lot of fun trinkets and gifts.  Grandpa was really good at making sure that each girl got the same amount as the other.   

 It is always fun when Grandma's and Grandpa's come.  We look forward to seeing them as soon as the baby comes in a couple of weeks.