So, apparently this is who I am now.

Sooooo, this happened today...

Brad's department at work made a wax museum tribute to Robin Williams for Halloween, and his employees all voted that he should be Mrs. Doubtfire.

I truly do not know what to do with this.

In other, more normal news, my eight year old was a totally epic ninja.

With his friend E, who is also an ninja.  Apparently, this is the Elsa of elementary-aged boys.

This little guy occupies the tenderest place in my heart.

Happy birthday Magoo!!

First day of school.

Before he left for work this morning, Brad asked if I wanted to meet him for lunch or if I'd rather bask in my aloneness.

I'll be basking.

Tonight, when I was setting out plates for our buffet-style dinner, I had a near breakdown.  

We only need five plates now.

It was a very quick trip to Utah, but I'm so glad I got to spend some time with my family.  Jenny hosted this dinner with the nearby siblings and I loved every minute of it.

Although, this may have been where the real party was...

Jessica's new home.

After driving for two days (during which we got to take a purely delightful break in Fort Collins to see Braedyn, Julie, and Lauren Johnson, who were dropping Braedyn off at CSU), we arrived in the great state of Utah.  Today, we went up to USU and got her all moved in and her pantry shelves filled.

It was impossible for me not to relive my freshman days at BYU as we got her settled into her dorm room at USU.  Poor Jess got to hear story after story of scratchy sheets, dips in kitches, and freshman romances.  It was all I could do to leave and not move into her dorm room with her.

By evening, I had run out of excuses to stay, so I had to leave her there and drive back to my inlaws' all by myself.  It wasn't pretty, and I probably wasn't safe to drive.  On the way, I stopped at The Training Table to drown my sorrows in a stroganoff burger and cheese fries.  It helped considerably.

When I arrived at the Bitner homestead, Lois greeted me with this:

"I thought you might need this," she said with tears in her eyes.

She knows me so well.

Jessica's birthday!!

She wanted a low-key celebration, so we invited a couple of her friends to join us for dinner at HaNaBi.

Then we all came home for some brownies and ice cream.  This girl does not like cake.  I don't know what to do with that...

Abby and Kaylynne stayed the night, since Jess and I will be leaving tomorrow morning to drive out to Utah State University, where she'll start as a freshman.  It would be an understatement to say emotions ran high.

 Today, I got my brief taste of Real Summer.

 After a delightful Mi Ranchito lunch with my sisters, we congregated at my parents' house with the kids to do what we do best--sit on the porch, drink cold beverages, and solve the world's problems.

Lukie thought the best part of the day was that he perfected his trampoline flip.  I thought the best part of the day was the whole day.

Just for fun, Lois got a bunch of coins at the bank and had the kids do a Money Dive in the pool.

Today, nearly everyone headed home, but our family and Becky's family stuck around Bear Lake.  

 How cute is baby James??

We decided it would be a good day to check out Minnetonka Cave.

It was very educational.

 Because it is simply impossible for me to see too many shows, Jess, Gyllian, and I went to see Beauty and the Beast at Pickleville.  It was cute, but no Juanito.

 Personally, I felt the high point of the show was at the end when the Beast magically turned into the Prince.  Much fancy lighting and special effects happened, during which the actor shed his beast costume and reappeared as a dreamy prince--with his zipper down and reflecting the stage lights like a beacon.  The whole audience erupted in laughter as the suave prince did a quick zip-up.  Too bad he didn't think it was as funny as the rest of us did.

Daddy-Daughter Love.

Moments like this are the reason I love Bear Lake.

In my opinion, no Bear Lake trip is complete without an evening with Juanito Bandito.

 We were SO not disappointed!  Juanito and all his Bitner groupies.

Every year at Bitner Bear Lake, Becky comes up with some game we all play.  This year, she dreamed up "A Minute to Win It--Bitner Style".  As usual, it was awesome!

We were divided into six teams, and for each event, each team had a member compete.  This was the first event--the player put a tennis ball into a pair of panty hose, placed said panty hose over their head, and tried to knock as many cans off the table as they could in one minute.  Not for the easily humiliated.

 Another event: smear your nose with Vaseline and move as many cotton balls as you can from one bowl into another in a minute.  I hate to brag, but I was super good at this.

 

Adam wasn't too shabby either.

Then there was the Toss the Ping-Pong balls Onto The Peanut Butter Sandwich...

...and the Move the Oreo From Your Forehead To Your Mouth Without Using Your Hands (you can see that both Brad and Pepper exhibited extraordinary skill).

 And the controversial Bubble Blowing contest (everyone had their own opinion about what constitutes a countable bubble).  Luckily, the refs stepped in and we all parted friends.

Another great Game Night.  Thanks Becky!!

Luke was baptized tonight!

We took advantage of our visit to Utah to have his baptism among our family.  It was awesome.  Since Uncle John is a bishop, we held the service in his ward and lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins.  Grandpa and Grandma Larson were there in spirit, cheering him on from their mission in Nauvoo, and Grandpa and Grandma Bitner came despite Aunt Kate going into labor that afternoon.  Grandpa had to go deliver baby Zoey at 4:00, but he still made it in plenty of time for the 6:30 baptism.  It was a banner day for Bitners!

(Because of all the excitement, I was so dumb and didn't get a big picture of all the family--both from the Larson and Bitner sides--that came to support us.  I'm just sick about it.   It was a truly great occasion and I loved being supported by our families.)

Our last child to be baptized.  What would we ever do without this boy?

We got a special treat when it turned out Michelle and Jeremy Wharton were in town and able to join us.  These are great friends and our best neighbors from Michigan.

I should also give a shout-out to Lois for all the cute decorations and the amazing cakes for the gathering afterward.  I just love my friends and family!