I'm available for parties...

Backyard haircuts (in the chilly autumn "breeze") just work out great for all parties involved!! I really seem to have quite a way with the scissors and I do think I have found my true calling-at least everyone leaves with a smile on their face...

Simple Joys (fall edition)

So this first one is the farthest thing from a "joy"- I was chatting with a friend at church yesterday outside of the nursery, as Mr. Cael had no interest in attending and playing with his peers, whatever...Cael basically stayed in my pocket, but then ventured right across the hall to the bathrooms where he got his fingers caught in the hinge side of the bathroom door-OUCCCHHHHH!! His poor little fingers looked "not good," but fortunately with some cold running water and serious TLC and the good fortune (??) of being squished between his knuckles instead of on his knuckles (eeww), he is on the mend and is going to make a full recovery! Amazingly, or not amazingly, his biggest concern after the initial painful shock of squishy and tears, was to peel the loose skin off of the back of his dented fingers. He had to do that immediately so that he could continue to live on this planet (maybe just a little OCD??)...

This is the good stuff here-3 year old humor is the best!! These 2 could not have been more pleased with themselves and their clever use of Mr. PotatoHead props (fyi- we've got Darth Tater and Donald Duck going on here)!! It's pure comedic gold...








This absolutely makes my fall!! We have been waiting 4 long years for our burning bush to burn....








This is the "did she actually mean to take a picture of that?" shot and she actually did- this is my new ironing board cover that I did this weekend, compliments of cute Nadine at Material Girls Quilts(thanks Nadine!!). I was a winner of a blog comment contest she did and I do love my ironing board! This was a fun and quick little project-I still don't really want to use the iron, though...

More football, More pumpkins...

I am such a blogging novice- this picture was supposed to wrap-up the post, mmm...
Anyway, Curtis had a teriffic game this afternoon with some great tackles, a fumble recovery, and super sportmanship (and who doesn't love the good sportsmanship?) and they WON!! Coach Goff may not have a voice for the next few days, but we WON!! And to top it off, Gramma Sharlene was there (thanks, Gramma Sharlene) to witness all the excitement!! Hooray!!

I just like this picture of my oldest 2 , Morgan and Curtis, smiling at the same time and everything!!

Miss Kendell (with a little help from the dad) created this little beauty for the 5th grade Columbus Day boat rally, unfortunately, the wind prevented the vessels from setting sail just yet (sorry about the semi-blurry photo, but Kendell is sailing for the "Land of The Hand" and I'm sure everyone knows exactly where that is?? ...

One of the best things ever was visiting the local pumpkin patch!! Cael was in heaven with pumpkins everywhere and then he even got to ride in the orange wheelbarrow-watch out!! The big bonus for us along with the pumpkins, of course, were the delicious "Wahington-esque" apples that we were able to purchase and have been munching (in Cael's case) and devouring (in everyone else's case) ever since-YUM!!

Shiny, Happy People...

My cute husband, Mr. Goff, is very fun and friendly- two of my favorite things about him! He is especially easy to talk to and as pleasant as can be, so when we encountered a less than peppy cashier during a family adventure to our local Sam's Club...

Peppy Cashier, we'll call her "Joy"/ "Lady J" says: (she actually says nothing)

Mr. Goff: "How are you doing tonight?"

Lady J: (silence)

Mr. Goff: "We'll I'm doing good!"

Lady J: (silence)

Mr.Goff: "Are you having a good night?"

Lady J: "uuhhh..."(mumbled very quietly)

Mr. Goff: "I'm having a good night!"

Lady J: (silence)

Mr. Goff: "So, anything exciting happen around here tonight?"

Lady J: (silence)

Lady J: "Your total comes to $$"

Mr. Goff: "Okay!!"

Lady J: (silence)

(At this point the card is swiped and I am totally hoping for the machine to ask if our cashier was friendly today, but no such luck...)

Mr. Goff: "You have a great night!!"

Lady J: (silence)

Mr. Goff: "I know I'm going to have a great night!!"

Lady J: (absolutely nothing)

**Even though Lady J was having an "introspective" night (ah, sure), I'll bet she'd be a total hoot at a BBQ or some other celebratory function-maybe not. Actually, she would rock at the "quiet game" or maybe even a staring contest, don't even get me started with 20 questions, but probably not charades...

Wherever you are, Lady J, I hope you are doing good and that you do have a super great night!!

Grampa Ikie 1923-2008

Grampa LOVED his garden!! He wanted good soil so he could plant beautiful flowers and peaches, apricots, apples, tomatoes-everything delicious, everything to share with his family and friends. When we moved to Utah 9 years ago, Grampa Ikie and Gramma Ruthie came over one afternoon with cornstalks and pumpkins from their garden to go on our front porch. We felt so festive, and not only did we get to enjoy the bounty for the fall, we got the pleasant surprise of pumpkins actually growing in our front yard the next summer-bonus! (although we have since attempted to keep the pumpkins growing exclusively in the back...)
Here's Grampa and young Curtis on Curtis' very 1st Duck Hunt, a tradition that has spanned at least the last 50 years (Curtis laments the fact that he has not been alive long enough to have attended each and every one of them-it has truly been an annual highlight and the early morning breakfast buffet at JB's is the cherry on top, except that the breakfast buffet is pre-hunt, so I guess it could be the cherry at the bottom?? It's a cherry, anyway)... Grampa Ikie and Grampa Randy having one of the best days ever...

Football, Snowy Weather, & Grampa

Our weekend started with some of this...

with fall/winter weather that was like this...

Cute Paul concocted this super dahlia cover/protector from impending frost so the flowers could make it for one more night to be displayed at sweet Grampa Ikie's viewing...

Goofy-face Cael was so excited to wake up Sunday morning- "It is snowing, Mom!!" He was ready for some serious snowman action, but by the time we got home from church, the snow had melted away, but we are all sure it will come again another day-like next week...

Monday was a sad/sweet day. Our cute Grampa Ikie was laid to rest next to his beloved Ruthie. Grampa (Bapah Ah-kee, as Mr. Cael would say) would be so proud of his 8 handsome grandsons, who were completely honored to be pallbearers for this darling man, an absolute classic. Knowing that families can be together forever means everything...

**as a bummer sidenote, about 20 minutes before the funeral, it was discovered that Grampa's house had been broken into and robbed, with a variety of things "removed," the largest being his gold Oldsmobile. There are some things in life that are lame, but seriously, does it get much lamer than this??

October has arrived...

Here are the sights and sounds of early October at the casa de Goff...

We love Conference weekend! Great messages, beautiful music (we totally caught a glimpse of my SIL, Jen's cute mom, Risa, who is in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir), and incredibly, the children of the family didn't seem to mind not sitting nicely in the 2nd row in the cultural hall (our usual spot, with soft chairs, though) for church services. They will so be in Sunday best next week...

My lovely ladies are absolutely delighted with the jazzy dance costumes they have inherited from my cute neighbor-the choreography that these ensembles have inspired would dazzle you (Straight up, Paula Abdul, watch out)...
We finally harvested our pumpkin crop- 2 1/2 measley pumpkins! They are lovely pumpkins indeed, don't get me wrong, but the "daddy," "mommy," and "baby" pumpkins (thank you, Cael, for the clever names there) do not hold a candle to the bumper crop of 14 pumpkins that graced our garden last year! Oh well, we love what we've got and we'll be thankful (and we'll come up with a new strategy for next year's garden, like weeding regularly)...




What did turn out beautiful and abundant are our dahlias!! Paul's cute Grampa Ikie has always had a special way with this beautiful flower, and the green thumb (not to be confused with green jeans) has been passed on to my industrious husband, who is so gracious to share the bounty!! Actually, if you have any extra pumpkins you want to swap for dahlias...

October is here!!

1 Miss Kendell
+
1 Speedy Green Scooter
=
1 Scrapey Face, 1 Scrapey Knee, & lots of good sportsmanship points...
(too bad about the brand-new leggings she was wearing that are now shredded, good thing they were a red hot super clearance bargain buy, and if I knew how to link to a certain post on Kari's blog, I could show you the same injury on Cousin Jack this summer from the same speedy green scooter; we'll try to be done with the scooter injuries...)

Kendell queries, "What kind of parents go to the zoo without their children?" It is a completely valid question, to which the answer is "the kind of lucky duck parents that have only 2 tickets (compliments of the dad's employer) to a swanky business buffet that happens to be held at the zoo." Did you know they did catering at the zoo? I did not, but now I absolutely do- we are truly so wild and crazy...
Paul braved the "smell here" area, but perhaps the supposed "special rhino fragrance" is like a high-pitched whistle that can only be heard by certain animals?? -We weren't privvy to this swell stench, so sad...
There were 3 giraffes out when we got here, but I guess 2 of them didn't want to pose with me. The third one wasn't fast enough to get out of the frame, maybe if I would've been decked out in khaki from head to knee...
And last, but certainly not least, Zander and Mr. Cael love their awesome new trick-or-treat buckets/ hats! The lady at the store said Cael could pick one out as a bonus, but when he just couldn't part with either the mummy or Dracula, the lady said he was fine to take both of them, whew! It is supposed to storm tomorrow, so at least the boys can keep their festive Halloween heads nice and dry...