Our favorite hideout

"I love to eat candy in the cupboard with my baby sister," says Olivia. "But sometimes my mom tells us not to. We like the cupboard because it's fun, and it's like a little car. We just love it in there."

The enablers

Allison is addicted. She can't sleep without her pacifier. She uses it at naptime and bedtime. But lately, she has refused to take many of her naps. Instead she messes around in her crib, often spinning and bonking into the rails, then giggling. She also spends time yanking on her pacifiers while gnawing on them. This is the fourth one she's ruined in the past two months. I don't know how much longer we can support her habit.

Invisible ink

The other night, Olivia and I read a mystery book in which the characters used invisible ink. She was very interested and asked a lot of questions. I told Joe all about it, and being the wonderful father that he is, he knew right what to do. The next morning, he directed Olivia to a "blank" piece of paper on the counter. She immediately wondered if it had a secret message and told us we needed heat to reveal it -- just like in the book. Joe ran a lighter across the back of the paper, and Olivia squealed with delight as the words appeared.



To make a secret message, use a toothpick to write with lemon juice. Let it dry, then carefully run a flame across the back of the paper to make it appear. Don't hold the flame in one place for too long or you'll light the paper on fire. Our second time around, we found it was easier to use a candle and to move the paper instead of the flame.

You look like a monkey, and you smell like one too!

Back before the snow hit, my sister Laura and I were lucky enough to take a free trip to Hogle Zoo with the kids. It was a nice day, although a little windy. My other sister, Jackie, joined us halfway through, but somehow she eluded all the photos.

Olivia and Allison loved the animals. Olivia says her favorites were the baby elephant and baby giraffe. Doesn't everyone love babies? Allison was interested in everything, particularly any water features she spotted: "Oh! Water! Penguin's water!" and "Oh! Water! Elephant's water!"

First real snow day

Once Upon a Dream

Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Ariel, Mulan, Jasmine, Snow White and Belle all in the same room -- it's almost too much excitement to bear.

We surprised Olivia with tickets to Disney on Ice Princess Classics. She dressed herself as she saw fit. The first adventure of the night was taking TRAX to the Energy Solutions Arena.



Then we took our seats in the lower bowl -- Row 19.



The show was really cute, and Olivia watch the whole thing intently. We can't say as much for Allison, but she did do a lot of clapping.






At the end of the show, Olivia wanted to get closer to the ice. We went down to the two-foot barrier, which you'll see below. She sat there looking glum, because the guard wouldn't allow her to touch the ice.



The gloom faded quickly, though, and Olivia now has this to say about her experience: "I loved the show, and I want to see it a trillion times!"

Ballerinas

I can't get this video to turn upright, even though it is saved upright on my computer. So weird. Anyway, tilt your head, because this is cute.

Joe and Marie

Six years ago, God gave us a gift -- each other. We still look at our marriage that way. I can't imagine that two people have ever been more perfect for each other. We feel so blessed, so we take good care of our gift.

To celebrate our anniversary, we went to Logan, where we met while attending Utah State University. First, we visited the temple there, and then we went to dinner at The Bluebird, which is where we used to eat when we were dating. My grandparents had their wedding luncheon there back in 1954. Joe ordered an Ironport soft drink from the old soda fountain to add to the ambiance.



After we had our fill of Bluebird chicken, we went dancing at Elite Hall, in Hyrum, which is also a little piece of history. People have been dancing there since the early 1900s. Joe took me swing dancing at Elite Hall on our second date, and we have been dancing together ever since.



We're a little out of shape, but just as in love as ever. I will never stop thanking my Father in Heaven for my other half. When I'm with him, I feel valued and secure and validated. He is never critical and always supportive. This guy is my biggest fan, and I hope he knows that I am his.

Here's to eternity.

Where is your father?

A couple of Sundays ago, we were enjoying a relaxing afternoon. I was making dinner, and Allison headed upstairs to play with her daddy. About 20 minutes later, she came back down looking like the beauty you see above. Mascara. "Where is your father?" I asked. I was afraid to visit the scene of the crime. We marched up the stairs and into the bedroom, finding clues along the way: black streaks on the walls, eyeshadow ground into the carpet. And there he was. His feet were dangling from the bed. His face was wrapped in a pillow. Daddy was fast asleep.

Tricks and treats

We got in the Halloween spirit this year with a little pumpkin carving. We got bolder than ever before with a couple of new techniques -- power drilling and shaving. You'll see the results below. You'll also see that Olivia chose Ariel for her pumpkin. Allison just made our lives more difficult by throwing goop around the kitchen and dancing in it, then by insisting on putting her feet in the pumpkins.



The girls loved their costumes this year. They were especially excited about the makeup -- even Allison, who would gaze at herself in the mirror again and again.



We went to our neighborhood's annual trunk-or-treat, where Allison got a lot of practice with all her new Halloween lingo. Click on the videos for some cute action.

We rounded out the evening with the good old-fashioned door-to-door thing. Both girls had ultimate endurance to hit up house after house. Allison was a little hesitant at first, but soon started walking right in to people's houses. One family had done an awesome haunted house across their entire front yard. Olivia went through it twice and loved it, despite the eerie ambiance and scary people popping out everywhere. That girl has some serious guts for a 4-year-old. Happy Halloween to my beautiful girls. I had so much fun experiencing Halloween through them.