Happy Halloween!

Ethan and Madeline

Friday, I had a little fun doing a photo shoot of the kids together.  My favorite picture I have of the two of them was taken when Madeline was 18 months and I was hoping to get another favorite.  I also have a free 8x10 canvas coupon and I want to get one of these printed with that.  I think I have a favorite, but still not totally sure.  What do you think?

I so love these two.  And I'm glad to have captured the love they have for each other too.

Halloween Funnies

The kids spent most of yesterday evening trying to think of what I could be for Halloween.  Madeline said I should be a unicorn.  "All you need, Mom, is unicorn hoofs and a unicorn body and a unicorn face and a horn!"  Just that.  Simple.  But Ethan's idea was my favorite.  He said I should be a fan.  I could make a hat with blades and a sign, that as Ethan said could say, "Turn me on."  haha!

And here are their Halloween jokes . . .
Ethan:  Knock Knock
Me:  Who's there?
Ethan:  Twig
Me:  Twig who
Ethan:  Twig or treat!

Madeline:  Knock Knock
Me:  Who's there?
Madeline:  Log
Me:  Log who
Madeline:  Trick or treat!

My funny kids

A Fairy Princess and Her Hero

I was in the middle of making dinner when Madeline decided it was time to take her curlers out.  She'd been wearing them all day in preparation for the neighborhood Halloween party.  I was impressed she'd left them in so long and so I helped her take them out.  And then we couldn't resist trying her Fairy Princess crown on too with all those new curls.  Then all she wanted to do was try on the dress and the wings and everything else and I figured I should get the photos taken of her while her hair was still curly.  So an impromptu photo shoot began.  I was enjoying myself immensely, and was happy when Ethan wanted to join in too.  One or two hundred pictures later, I noticed the smell of burning coming from the kitchen . . . oh yeah . . . I was making dinner . . . the marinara sauce and meatballs simmering on the stove were COMPLETELY burned and glued to the bottom on the pot and the house smelled horrid!  Yes, we ate cereal for dinner.  I mourned the loss of a potentially delicious meal.  But after looking at the pictures, I think it was worth it.

Dinosaur Land, Day 2

I may or may not have gone crazy taking pictures of Day 2 of our trip, but there was a lot to photograph!  Our first stop that morning was to visit the grounds of the Vernal Temple.  It was beautiful and peaceful.  I love stopping at every Temple we pass.

 We also had to say goodbye to our beloved hotel room.

 And off to Dinosaur National Monument we went!

 Lots of dinosaur bones . . .

 And a huge Allosaurus

 Then we took a driving tour through the National Park.  This was my favorite part of our trip, by far.  The scenery was beautiful and interesting and there was not a soul in sight! 

 Turtle Rock

 Elephant Foot (the kids really liked these!)

 We spent some time throwing rocks in the Green River as well.  The cliffs across the river made for a great echo, and we had a grand time shouting and hearing the echo call back to us.

We also took a little hike up to see . . .

 the petroglyphs.

 I loved this part so much because we were able to enjoy the beauty without crowds of people. It really felt like we were the only four people in the entire world.

 The only downside was that MOM (that'd be me!) forgot to bring water.  Whoops.  Hours and miles of nothing . . . good thing our van didn't break down.

 On the hike back, Madeline left her own little mark in the land.

 We finished off the tour at Josie's Cabin. 

 And how was the car ride home?  Wireless headphones (which Madeline called earmuffs!) and a DVD player made it just lovely.

We sure had a fun trip.  Short and sweet.  I'd do a short trip like that anytime.  Long enough to be fun, but short enough not to get tired out!  Both kids hope to return to Vernal sometime.  It might not seem exciting to most, but we just might have to go back.

Dinosaur Land

Last week, we took a little family vacation over to Vernal to spend some time in Dinosaur Land!  Ethan could not have been more excited.  We spent the first day in the Dinosaur Museum there, and Ethan was very excited to pose in front of every dinosaur.  He knew all of their names before getting to the name plates, and even corrected Todd on one occasion.  It was pretty funny to see my little dino genius in his element.

 Looking fierce . . . or something . . .

 Compairing wing-spans

 After the museum, we checked into our hotel and then went swimming.  It was really fun because we were the only ones in the pool!  We swam until Madeline's lips were purple, then we stuck our feet in the hot tub and went back to our room.

Madeline's favorite part of the trip was the hotel.  That night, after we went out for dinner, we went back to our room and played The Game of Life.  The kids loved it, and we had a great time.  Going to bed took a REALLY long time.  Too much excitement and wiggles, but that's what makes a vacation fun!

More on our trip tomorrow.

Waiting . . .

 . . . for the 31st.

Sticky Note Land

We went to an open house at my dad's work the other day.  The kids were each given a cube of sticky notes while we were there and immediately I knew what was to come.

 It didn't take them long to put them to use, bringing me and Todd "Dad Mail" or "Mom Mail" every 15 seconds or so.  They were running back and forth for a good half hour filling my room with pictures they could draw on the notes and quickly as possible.

"And don't worry Mom, there are so many left!  This is just the beginning!!"

Last Soccer Game

Ethan enjoyed playing in his last soccer game of the season yesterday.  We sure have had fun watching the games.  He really loved it and was sad to have it end.  The last two games he started to really figure it out too, and actually got in there a few times to kick the ball!  We were proud of him and glad he had the experience.  The Sharks finished the season with 4 wins, 2 losses, and 1 tie (gotta love soccer).  They really did great!

 Ethan with his two buddies!

Bride and Groom

I know I don't need to post dozens of wedding pictures here, but to finish off the wedding posting week, I thought I'd share a few nice ones.

Wedding Details

I guess I really just prefer photographing inanimate objects.  Because as I went through all the wedding photos I took, my favorites were the ones I like to call "wedding details".  And these inanimate details were the majority of my photos too.  Pictures of the bride and groom are still in the editing phase, but until then, I'll share with you Wedding Details: