HALLOWEEN!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN. Halloween in our family always lasts more than just one day! So here are a few pictures of what we have been up to the last couple of days.

My parents are tearing up their kitchen, so we decided to have everyone over to our house for Sunday dinner and pumpkin carving! Here are the results! I love my old school retro triangle face pumpkin - simple, but AWESOME!

I made cupcakes for Mare's birthday and I liked them so much I made more for my neighbors. I really like the "one-eyed monster!" Some of the grandkids hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa. Walker wasn't too happy. Sorry about that!

Last but not least, Walker chillin' in his Halloween Jamies!!!

ADDICTION!

Hi, my name is Teylor Mauss, and I am addicted to THE TWILIGHT SERIES!!! So I need to thank my older sister Whitney, for introducing me to these books. She told me how good they were and me being my usual self, "oh really, well I hate to read so thanks but no thanks." She gave me the first book anyway and it sat collecting dust on our desk for a good month or two. Well, last week while Walker was sleeping I had an itch to read it. I think it was calling out my name. I decided to start for a half an hour and see where I would get. AND - 2 hours later I was in LOVE! What great books! I read all three of them in about 72 hours total. Which is really wierd for me, because I don't read. I would way rather pick my split ends - and ususally I have other things that I could be doing. I seriously could not put the books down! I was mad when my sister gave me the third book on Saturday - I was way too busy this week to start it and it just kept looking at me from our kitchen table. SO - I read it in one day! FINE BY ME! After reading for so long Jake called me a "book worm." (hardley) Once I was finished he was excited to "have his wife back." OH MAN i can't wait till the next book comes out. I really should have spaced the first three out a lot better so I wouldn't have to wait so long. I would recommend these books to EVERYONE, even if you don't read. AND they are really easy reading! Oh and I am way for Edward!!

Tagged!

I have been tagged - so here it is! 4 Jobs I've Had: 1. Mrs. Fields Cookies (yes, I wore an oatmeal color shirt and good times with Muranda) 2. Credit Union Service Center (good times with Kim) 3. Clear Channel Broadcasting 4. New Freedom Mortgage/First Horizon Home Loans (more good times with Kim) 4 Movies I can watch over and over 1. How To Loose A Guy in 10 Days 2. Teen Witch (YEAH!!) 3. Clue (really, it is good!!!) 4. Christmas Vacation (i love watching it with my dad - he laughs so hard) 4 Places I have Lived 1. my moms stomach 2. Sandy 3. Holladay 4. Sugarhouse 4 guilty pleasures 1. Shopping 2. eating anything called a "treat" 3. buying holiday decor when I don't need it 4. AND shopping -ok I need to add one here - Thanks Tori for reminding me - I LOVE HOTDOGS! just plain - nothing on them. I find myself going to Home Depot for lunch to get a hot dog!!! I do love the gas station hot dogs and this great hot dog joint in Midvale, Johnny Beefs! 4 Favorite TV Shows 1. The Hills and Newport Harbor (this counts as one) 2. The Office 3. Greys (which I may boycott - to dramatic for me now - bring back the old days!) 4. Biggest Looser - what a great show! 4 Places I have been on vacation 1. Hawaii 2. Boston 3. Mexico 4. Florida 4 Favorite Foods 1. a good salad 2. anything from PF Changs 3. French Onion Soup (it has to have tons of cheese on top and an onion ring) 4. Lion House rolls - OOO with lots of honey butter 4 Places I would rather be right now 1. on the beach at Turtle Bay watching the whales 2. at the mall shopping 3. at the World Series 4. Canal Street in New York (i have never been, but I AM SURE IT IS GREAT!) 4 Websites I visit daily 1. My blog/friends blogs 2. people.com 3. ESPN.com 4. yahoo.com Authors I love 1. Ok so I don't read that much, ok at all, but I just started reading the Twilight series - OOOO I LOVE STEPHENIE MEYER!! Great writer! I also have read a few Dean Koonz books in the past! Things I would like to know how to do 1. Golf (so Jake would be happy) 2. Knit/crochet a blanket (like a full on Afgan) 3. Draw 4. Garden - like pick out flowers and make my yard flow. Things I worry about (i must add - Jake's famous line is "you just need a little bit of Faith") 1. our budget 2. Family - mine and Jakes 3. What the world will be like when Walker is older 4. making everyone happy Happy moments 1. Marrying Jake 2. Having Walker 3. hearing Walker wake up - going in there to get him and he has a huge smile on his face 4. Sitting with Jake and Walker watching a great game Things I want to do next year 1. Organize my house 2. be a better gardner in the summer 3. Go to the US Open 4. Go to a MLB game People I am tagging 1. Morgan 2. Debby 3. Jill 4. Tori

Practice Round!

Halloween is such a fun time of year! When I was young I used to LOVE getting dressed up! My mom usually made our costumes - and I was so excited about it! Jakes mom was the same. One year he wanted to be Daryl Strawberry so she put him in a baseball outfit and spray painted his body with black spray paint! There has gotta be a picture of that somewhere!! Now that I have a child, it is so much fun to dress him up! So we dressed him in his costume and got some pictures with his cousins! The good news is he dosen't mind his costume that much. Luckily I was able to find one that was pretty easy for him to handle! We went to Engh Gardens with Jakes side of the family, and JC Penney with mine! It sure was fun! Jackson, Annie, Walker, Luke and Bowen

Boston, Ashton and Walker (Ashtons costume - SO CUTE)

Bowen wins for costume of the year!

Walker, Bowen, and Luke chillin in the pumpkins.

SO CUTE!!

Witches All Over...

Have you been to Gardner Village? I think it might be one of the best places around! Not only is it a GREAT place for home decor shopping and good food, but in October, witches take over the gounds. They set up all these pretend witches around the shops. It is so much fun to go out there and see all the witches. There are some flying on bikes in the sky, some knitting by the Quilt Shop, some mixing up a potion, one in the lake in a boat, and even one in an out house - her name is "witchie poo" - hilarious! I went there today with a bunch of my friends and their kids. I acutally went last week too, but I love it so much it was fun to go again. There are so many places for photo ops - I love it! And it is fun to get all the kids together and see them so happy to see all the witches! Even though Walker dosen't know what the heck is going on, I think he still enjoys it! I highly recommend going there to check it out and then eating at the "Naborhood Bakery" or Archibalds for lunch! In the late afternoon, they offer hay rides with witches.

Just chillin in the pumpkins!

Grow Old Along With Me...

Four years ago today Jake and I entered the temple to be married for time and all eternity. I don't know where I would be without him in my life. He is the rock of our family and keeps me in line when I have a bad day. His favorite quote to me is "all you need is a little bit of faith!" There are so many things I love about him, just to name a few - I love that he has so many hobbies. He is always wanting to do something whether it be golf, skiing, fishing, running, or working on our house. I love to see his face light up when we walk in to Cabelas. I love that we can just sit and watch TV or a game together and we both end up laughing about the same things. I love that he calls me at home during the day to see what "walkie talkie" is doing. I love that he calls me his "Y." I love his silly jokes and his silly rhyms that he sings to Walker. I love that he is such a motivated worker and does all he can to support our little family. We have had our ups and downs - and I wouldn't want to have them with anyone else! Happy Anniversary Jake! You are the best

Grow old along with me

The best is yet to be

When our time has come

We will be as one

God Bless our love

God bless our love

26.2 - Minus the Mauss Family

WARNING: This is a long post - it may take a few to read! Sorry about that! I woke up this morning at 4:45 to get Walker a bottle and my first thought was "the runners in St George are getting ready for the marathon." I guess you could call today a "sad" day for the Mauss family. After talking to Mare (Jakes mom) every year since 1987 someone from the Mauss family has run in the St George Marathon that is going on this weekend. This year - no one from the Mauss family ran it! I guess you could call it a "tradition" that we go down to St George conference weekend and cheer the runners on, friends and family, in the St George Marathon. I have been going down to the marathon since 2001 to watch Jake and his family run. So for this post I would like to dedicate it to the Mauss family and state my many memories from each year.

-Driving down to sunny St George! This year it was 65 degrees down there, but every year that I have been it has been so hot! I love coming up on the red rocks and sitting out in the sun!

- Eating pasta Friday night! We always go to the Pizza Factory the night before the race so the runners can get their "carbs" and be ready for the race! It is always packed there and we always get the HUGE table on the top floor!

-Sleeping all 13 of us in a 3 bedroom condo! Runners get the beds - the rest get whats left over!

-Seeing Jake and the other runners wake up at 3:30 to eat a quick breakfast and head to catch the bus that goes up the canyon to the start line.

- Getting the rest of the crew up at 7:00 so we can make it to Snow Canyon (aka mile 16), park, then make the hike to the top to cheer on the runners. Generally we have strollers and little kids with us so this is a hike:) But it is TOTALLY worth it!

-Waiting at mile 16 and having Mare ask for a swallow of Coke! Nice - she dosen't want Gatorade or water - she wants Coke! ha ha! Also bringing up bananas, orange slices, Ibuprofin 800, and LOTS OF HUGS!

- Running down the canyon to get to our cars - trying to back up on a one way road - to drive to the park (aka finish line) to see the runners finish. We are always in a hurry because most of the roads are closed so it takes long to get to the park.

- On the way to the park seeing High School bands playing on the street, homeowners out with their hoses to hose off the runners, and lots of crowds cheering them on.

- Finally getting to the park and desperatly looking for a parking spot.

- Standing along the red fence at the finish line waiting for our runners to pass. This is where the tears start to come. It is great to see so many people finish the race. You can always count on one guy carrying an American Flag, one old guy who has on a shirt that says "This is my 50th marathon", and a BUNCH of bloody, chafed nipples! The best - Jill and I just yelling out names to see if anyone looks over. "Alright Joe!! Keep running you're looking good!" And buying flowers from the man in the wheelchair.

- Seeing your family and friends cross the finish line - what a great accomplishment!

- Walking through a SEA of people in the park looking for your family.

- Finally finding your family and getting pictures with them and their medals.

- Can't forget - telling Jake to snag me a free popsicle (they are only for the runners)

- Walking (or helping Jake walk at this point) with Jake to the tennis courts to sort through NASTY SMELLY SWEATY clothes to find the items that he threw off at the throughout the race.

- Going back to the condo - everyone laying around and the CLASSIC Justin comment - "I'm a man down." And stopping with grandma to pick pomegrantes at some random house by the park!

- Shopping while the guys are at preisthood. Then when they come home watching Post Season Baseball or a college football game.

-Getting up Sunday - enjoying Aunt Lindas GREAT breakfast and I love that Pomegrante salad then watching conference -(or sleeping through it - what ever you prefer)

- Leaving at noon - and already getting excited to come back next year - PRICELESS!

If you have not been down for the marathon you should go. Sometimes it seems crazy getting up early and getting the kids ready and frantically running around St George to see the runners, but it really is so much fun! Everytime I am there I always think "next year I am going to do it!" Well, last year I tried and during training I got up to 8 miles and then quit (I don't want to talk about it!) So maybe next year, eh?

Congrats to all that finished - Allison Bryan, Sarah Featherstone, Debby Barney and Kelly Gardner. Here are a few pictures from last year!

Jake running in 2006 - his 6th time!

Thanks for getting me the popsicle!

"WITCH-CRAFT"

The other day my friend Muranda invited me over to her moms house to make a decorated witch hat. Her mom had gone to Swiss Days and saw them there and said that everyone was buying them. Of course I wanted to go make a craft, but I couldn't really picture a decorated witch hat. Well to my suprise - THE CUTEST THING EVER! Her mom had all kinds of "decor" to hot glue to the hat. Some of the items were scarecrows, skeletons, spiders, spider webs, candy corn candles, and halloween and beware signs. You just stuff the top part of the hat with batting and put cardboard under the brim and start decorating. I seriously think it turned out so cute! I would highly recommend it for a fun Halloween craft. I put it on my island as a centerpiece! Thanks Muranda and Valecia for a great day crafting!!