Happy Halloween!

Pre-Halloween Fun

Our Halloween fun started a whole week before Halloween.  I kept teasing the kids that we should just cancel Halloween because of all the chances they had to wear their costumes, get candy, and have fun prior to the actual day.

It all began with our cities Halloween costume contest.  My mom and the grandkids entered and boy were we in for a treat!  Mimi, Kate, AND Madeline all won for their age groups.  FIRST PRIZE.  Poor Ethan and Quinn.  They were in the same age categories and Kate and Madeline, or else I'm sure they would have won too, right!

 Madeline, my darling scarecrow won a $50 gift card to Target for her costume.  That made both her and me happy.  Especially since I made her costume.  It's been a long time since I've sewn anything like this and it was really fun to make.

 Here is the one day Cooper was planning to be a construction worker for Halloween.  But that didn't last too long.

 He opted for the most comfortable doggy costume.  That made me happy since Ethan and Madeline both wore it too.

Later in the week, we enjoyed trick-or-treating at my Dad's office where they were able to get a ton of candy with very little work.  Always a highlight I'm afraid!  It was really fun.

And here's my little skeleton:

And some closer looks at Mario:

 Then on Friday, the kids got to dress up again for their school Halloween Parade.  Here is Cooper and me waiting for it to start.

 Bapa and Mimi and Oliver came too.

 That night we went to Cottonwood Heights and enjoyed free ice-skating and a carnival and Raelynn's rec center.  They kids had such a blast.  again.  And got more candy. again.  Tis the season!

Cooper had fun his first time ice skating and could have lasted a lot longer than Todd's back!

The snowy owl and the scarecrow with the princesses!

And the boys too!

By the time we finished all the parties and fun, I couldn't believe we still had Halloween Day!  What a great week we've had!  Busy and super fun!

October in Pictures

 We had a great harvest this year.  This was our final potato and carrot harvest, thought we'd been enjoying them already for weeks.  We still have zucchinis and tomatoes out there, which is really weird, but we are about to rip them out.  I'm soooooo tired of eating 2 zucchinis every day.  For real!

 Ethan and Madeline have taken a liking to carrying Oliver around.

 Especially Madeline.  She loves it!  And Oliver is almost always laughing when she's hauling him down the hall!

We keep forgetting to close the bathroom door.  He's unrolled three whole rolls in the last couple weeks!!

 Cooper's last eye doctor visit was encouraging!  His eyes are improving and tracking much better.  Much less crossing with his glasses on!  It was such good news.

 I think he might go cross-eyed with his glasses on because they always look like this. I promise I clean them multiple times a day, but he is three after all.

And Oliver is almost 1.  What can I say?  He is THE CUTEST.  I'm totally in love!

 Construction Cooper is pretty cute too!

xoxoxo

Cornbelly's

We went to Cornbelly's last weekend.  I shouldn't have been surprised it was so packed, but seriously, it was insane.  So crowded we couldn't find a place to park!

 We didn't spend a whole lot of time in the maze.  Our 7 minutes of wondering put us back at the entrance so we opted to just go out and play games.  Lol!

 Cooper just liked the big tractors.  No surprise there!

 But he also really liked the slides he could go down with Ethan and Madeline.

In the end, the favorite activities were the rat race and rat wheels.

Oliver

Cooper

Madeline

Ethan

Family Pictures

I love my people.

Moab

Family Vacay 2015 took place in Moab to celebrate Mimi's 60th Birthday!  We drove down to Moab the morning of her birthday and decided to embark on the hike to see Delicate Arch first.

 I'll admit, I was not prepared for the hike.  I thought it would be an easy hike, but soon discovered it was in the group of hikes considered "strenuous".  Um yeah, especially when you have to carry a three year old for part of the way.  And when you are totally not in shape!  Ha!  Luckily my sister and Dad helped with Cooper so much since Todd had Oliver in the backpack.  But wow, it was totally worth it!

 Turning the corner and finally seeing Delicate Arch was stunning.

 We sat for a long time just starring at it and marveling at God's creations.

Oliver was happy to get out and eat and wiggle.

 Under Delicate Arch.  I was sooooo dizzy up there with the wind swirling around and looking out at the drop-offs.  Good thing I had my hubby to hang on to!

 The kids loved it too.

 After dinner, we celebrated Mimi's birthday at the hotel.  This was one of those weekends where I just felt so completely grateful to have such an amazing mom.

 Loved by all, my mom has done nothing but spend her life blessing others with her service and her spreading of joy.

  More hiking the next day.

 My cute cute girl!

 Cooper loves Mimi and Bapa.  And he LOVED playing in the sand on the path.  He rolled around it in and got filthy as all good three year old boys should...

 Oliver was happy if Todd kept moving...and fell asleep every time we got back in the car!

 Landscape Arch was awesome.

 love this kid!

 Skyline Arch

 Bouldering

Ethan was a little too fearless for my liking...

 My little buddy!

 Love these two boys!!

What a great little trip.  We played and hiked hard and then in a blink, it was over.  A good little vacation.  A fun time with family.  Amazing scenery.  Yummy food.  No sleep.  Just right.

Happy Birthday Mom!