a SUPER Halloween

Having Halloween on a Saturday meant it was a long and full weekend!

The 30th: During the day we went to Gymnastics, came home and got changed into the kids' costumes. They were so excited for their class Halloween parties at preschool and they had a great time. Played games and did a costume parade and got to pass out treats to all their friends and of course get some in return. After school we got lunch and then went to vivint for their family trick or treating! There was a great turn out and lots of fun to see everyone. There were fun games set up and of course way too much candy. The kids look forward to trick or treating at Dad's work every year.

That night we had a big Halloween party in the Mead's backyard and it was so much fun. Bounce house, cotton candy, fire pit, chili, food, toilet paper mummies, donuts off a string and pin the spider on the web. It was a blast. There was something for everyone and the kids ran wile hopped up on cotton candy and sugar from the day's events. We popped a hole in the bounce house (luckily towards the end) and partied hard. It got pretty cold but no one seemed to mind. It was a wild night!



Halloween Day I woke up early and went with my neighbor Kathryn to run the Haunted Half! I had signed up for it awhile ago but never quite found the time to get out and run to train (I had been working out though). I told myself after just having done a full marathon, a half would seem easy and refreshing and there was no reason that I should not get my best time. I set out with that intention and made myself run as fast and hard as I could. The course was not very easy, some rolling hills and a steep climb at mile 12.5 but I stayed ahead of the pacers and would not let myself slow down. Paul and the kids met me at the finish line with cute posters and I crossed right at 2:00 according to the clock so I was nervous to see my actual chip time since I knew it'd be close. I got the print out and: 1:59 !!!!! My best time ever and finally under that 2 hour mark! So so happy.

Caitlin loved her sparkly supergirl costume ("NOT superwoman, superGIRL" she would correct anyone who made that mistake) and perhaps more than her costume she loved getting to wear makeup and glitter hairspray.

Nolan has had his Batman costume for awhile now and it's a favorite. He loved the muscles on it and he told me a few times "I'm really the real Batman right now!"

Robin was the cherry on top. He was so adorable and made the perfect sidekick.

Paul and I got in on the action with Wonder Woman and Captain America and had fun being the SUPER family.

We started trick or treating around 6 that evening and had so much fun. We drove the RZR to some farther streets and then nearby the kids rode their bikes from house to house. They loved it! We pushed Maverick in the stroller and he loved picking out candy from the buckets. The kids knew just what to do and had so much fun. Our neighborhood is a lot of fun on Halloween.. lots of outdoor movies, yummy treats like scones and lights and music. We even had a "Headless Horseman" riding the streets!

When we had finished trick or treating we came home and had dinner. Our kids love passing out the candy almost as much as giving the candy so whenever the doorbell rang it was exciting. Nolan took a few cues from Paul and was telling people "Nice costume!.. You look great!... Your welcome!" It was hilarious.

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Fall time: days get cooler (only a little though, its actually been amazing weather for October!), nights are shorter and everything seems to start to go into fast forward heading into the holidays! Here's a brief recap of our month:

1st: We were invited to the Idina Menzel concert at UVU. We decided to take the older two kids, hoping for a night full of Frozen songs but it wasn't quite that. By the time she sang "Let it Go" Caitlin was too tired to really get into it like she would have. Nolan was king of cheering the loudest at the quietest moments. It was a funny night, however there is no question that Idina is an amazing singer with an amazing voice!

2nd: Paul and I went to the BYU vs. UConn game with Woodleys. It was a little rainy so Megan and I made full use of their BYU ponchos. We also discovered red velvet waffle sticks in the VIP tent that were heavenly. With a BYU win it was a fun night!

3-4: General Conference weekend was great. I felt like I got to listen to the talks a lot more than in years past. We had our traditional yummy scones for breakfast and enjoyed the day with family.

6: The kids had their last soccer game. They were sad to end the season, they loved being on the team with their cousins and neighborhood friends and having Paul be their coach. And I loved squeezing one last season in when we only had to be at one game a week! Caitlin was definitely the leading scorer and ate it up. Nolan loved just running around and being a part of the action. He was way more into the side squabbles than ball handling. If they kept score in tot soccer, it definitely would have been a winning season!



6: Nolan started a sports class at the Pleasant Grove Rec Center. Each week they focus on a different sport and they have stations set up. The kids move around the stations and practice certain skills. We were all excited to go watch him. Although when we showed up they said parent participation was encouraged. Trying to play catch with Nolan while juggling (bored) Caitlin and (naptime and needy) Maverick is not the easiest. And of course my independent little Nolan took a look around and said, "Why is everyone just playing with their Moms?!" Haha he rather do things on his own! So we try to juggle and he's had fun and done really well. Football was probably his favorite. And then soccer.


9th: Caitlin and Nolan also started back into gymnastics class and they love it. They both work really hard and look forward to it each week! They have new teachers this session but are able to go at the same time and haven't skipped a beat!

9th: We went to Cornbelly's with the Deelstras and had a great time. Their theme this year is Minions so there were lots of fun things around that the kids liked. Including "a real life minion!" Caitlin of course got face paint and the rest of us of course got cotton candy and kettle corn. They have a "corn beach" which is a huge area filled with corn kernels that was funny to play in. And the slides, bouncy things, and other games are always fun. They also did fireworks which was a special treat!



10th: I took a cooking class with Whitney and Nan who were in town for the weekend. It was so much fun! We made Bagels and Schmear and I learned a lot!

15th: We went to Gardner Village and walked around spotting the witches. It was very hot and crowded but we still had fun! We found all the witches on the scavenger hunt and got our cookie for the bakery!


15th: We planted (and by we I mean the landscapers) 30+ trees in our back yard and extended the flower bed area. We are excited for this change and to have a little more foliage and privacy in the backyard. It was a fun project to see come together.

16th: We threw a baby shower for Rebekah and baby Reese. The theme was "Once Upon a Time" and it turned out adorable. We are so excited for Bekah to have her baby in November! If her mothering skills are even half as good as her babysitting skills her baby is in exceptional hands. Bekah and Jordan will be wonderful parents.





17th: My cousin Jenna Goulding married Riley Smith on the 17th in the Payson Temple. There was a lunch and reception that night and it was a great day. My parents were able to come in for the weekend and attend.

23rd: Girls night! We ate Thai food in Salt Lake, saw the Thriller halloween dance show, and grabbed desserts at Gourmandise. Always a fun time with these ladies.


24th: Used our Cornbelly's bounce back passes for one more visit for the season and enjoyed the beautiful weather!


24th: Cassie threw a witches' Harry Potter halloween party and it was a blast. All the theme details were executed perfectly and it made it want to brush up on all my Harry Potter trivia.

27th: Caitlin got to wear her costume to dance class, so of course Nolan wore his also. We carved pumpkins that night and the kids liked opening them up and scooping the seeds out but didn't stick around much after that. So Paul and I carved them as fast as possible so we could light them up before bedtime!


29th: Paul and I went to Garth Brooks World Tour concert and I am not exaggerating when I say it was one of the BEST concerts I have ever been too. It was a blast. We didn't even realize what big Garth Brooks fans we were until we were singing along to every song at the top of our lungs. He sang all his classics and gave 4 encores. He seemed so down to earth and genuinely pleased that we had all come to see him and I would go again in a heart beat!

a word about me

I was talking a friend a while ago who said reading her grandmothers journals let her get to know her grandmother a lot better. This blog is my journal, although I started to wonder how much people reading down the road would learn about strictly myself.

A lot about me is projected through my family. They are absolutely my world and my life revolves around them. And I don't think that's bad-- I love it. My main interests, goals and hobbies are having a happy family.

BUT in an interest to preserve who I am between and underneath all of my mothering and wife-ing and for anyone who might want a deeper look into ME... Here's what's going on in my life right now:

Cortney Pelton Dickson
Age: 28

Goals: my biggest goal as of late was to run a marathon. It's something I never thought I would do and after I had Maverick I decided I needed a big goal to get back in shape and that's what I chose. It was a great experience and I've very glad I stuck with my goal and completed it. My next goals would be to run a half marathon in under 2 hours and also to finish the Book of Mormon by the end of the year.   

Health: In May I was having lots of symptoms where I felt like something inside of me was out of balance. Mainly that I was constantly fatigued, irritable and had daily bad head aches. I also felt like my metabolism had stopped. It was just really hard to function and be a fun mom so I went in for some blood testing and found out I have thryoid issues. After meeting with a few doctors and lots of bloodwork, I am now seeing an endocrinologist who diagnosed me with "Postpartum Thyroiditis" where basically your thyroid shuts down after child birth and your body is forced to reconcile and try to reboot the thyroid, which swings you between being hyperthyroid and hypothyroid in a pendulum of symptoms. The treatment plan is the get on medication (a thyroid supplement) in order to try to balance out the thyroid and kickstart it back to normal function on its own. Sometimes the thyroid will recover and sometimes it will never fully recover. It is also something that will most likely happen after every subsequent birth. So I've been dealing with that several months now. It's frustrating to me that my body is having issues. It's frustrating to me that everything can't just work normally and I feel like I don't have the time and extra energy to be going to doctor's visits for myself and finding courses of action and constantly having blood work done. But I also know that I need to get everything in alignment and stay as healthy as I can. So I'd say my overall health right now is OK because it could be a lot worse. But it's not where I'd want it to be.

Interests/Hobbies: traveling, cooking (not baking, I'm not good at that but I love eating treats more than food!), shopping, event planning (I LOVE planning parties and gatherings and I'm currently helping coordinate my neighbor's daughter's wedding).  I also like working out. It's a love/hate because I wish I didn't have to but I always feel so good when I do and I enjoy it while I'm there. 

Fears: I'm afraid my kids will grow up to be brats, really trying to prevent that. I'm also afraid of anything happening to me or my family that would be out of my control. I definitely have fears but I really try not to think about the bad things because I feel like it's wasted stress. 

Struggles: I hate disciplining my kids, it's the hardest thing for me always feeling like the bad guy and having to tailor my discipline to what each child will respond to. I also have a hard time waking up early. My only time to work out is in the morning at 6 AM before Paul's goes to work and I always feel better when I do but it's really hard for me to wake up early and put forth the effort especially when I feel like I don't see changes. I also am constantly working on being more patient, not being judgmental or gossiping, and being better at small talk (especially when I'm in random work settings with Paul).  

Strengths: I'm a good friend and I'm considerate. I'm reliable. I think I'm good at balancing things because we live a very busy life. I wear a lot of hats (mom, wife, wife of an executive, sister, friend, daughter....) Sometimes it can be hard to juggle everything but I think I do a pretty good job.  

Guilty pleasure: My #1 would be Dr. Pepper, especially a "dirty Dr. Pepper" which has coconut added. I know it's not good for me but I love it. 

Favorite scripture: 1 Nephi 7:12 (This one has been my favorite for a long time)

Favorite hymn: "Because I have Been Given Much" In general I feel extremely blessed in my life and I really have nothing to complain about. Sometimes I feel like things are too good to be true, and maybe that's the case. Maybe be have huge challenges coming ahead of us but that's ok. I know that we can handle whatever comes our way because we are rooted in the gospel and I have an amazing companion by my side. I'm so incredibly grateful to find myself in the situation I'm in.