Halloween 2017

All ready for Halloween!

Halloween is a stressful day for moms. After all the work of putting together costumes, gathering props, buying bags of candy, and carving pumpkins, the big day finally arrives. Then there is the stress of getting everyone out the door in their costumes. And this Halloween was especially busy for the mom in this house. She was literally running around like a crazy woman from 8:00 am - 2:15 pm.  So here is a rundown of her day.

7:45 Get Mark and Dax to school. Don't forget to take pictures of them in their costumes because they will run around playing basketball and soccer all day, so when they get home they will be sweaty and their costumes stained.

8:00 Pick up donuts at the store for Mark's Halloween party.

9:00 Take Seth to preschool. Well, actually drop him off at the neighbor's so they can take Seth to preschool while Mom hurries to the school for the Halloween Parade. Even though the parade starts at 9:30 if you don't get there early you will never find a seat (not to mention a parking spot).

9:30 Halloween parade! It is fun to watch the boys (and all the other kids) walk by, especially because Mom scored a chair in the hallway!

10:15 Halloween parade ends. Run over to Dax's class and drop off the stuff for the Halloween party.

Dax was a cute little Harry Potter!

10:30 Head to Randy's school. He dressed up as Where's Waldo and invited Mom to the Halloween party in his class, so she thinks she better be there.

Dad was a great Where's Waldo!

10:50 Arrive at Randy's school.

11:15 Leave Highland and head back to Lehi. Seth is having a Halloween parade at the end of his preschool.

11:40 Seth's Halloween Parade and Trick-or-Treating. Seth led the parade and he was very intense about following the line. In fact, he left the whole class behind. He was the only kid that said thank you to everyone for candy, which made Mom very proud.

Seth led the way on the trick or treating parade.

Seth's preschool friends

12:00 Lunch. Seth and Mom scarfed down lunch and got everything ready for Mark's party.

12:40 Back to the school to set up for Mark's Halloween party. Mom is the Room Mother. She had some great helpers and the party went really well.

This was a fun activity. Suck up the jello as fast as you can!

Mark was chosen to be wrapped as a mummy.

Classic cookie on the face game!

2:15 Mark's Party ends at two o'clock. Help clean up and then gather the kids. It's finally time to go home.

Mom seriously ran around all day long, but it was totally worth it. The fact that Seth's costume had ModgePodge all over it from a preschool activity, which is nearly impossible to get out, didn't stop her from washing, scrubbing, and praying most of it out. She got a 10 minute breather just before dinner before sending the boys out with Dad in their costumes.

The pumpkin that ruined Halloween! 

This year, Mark decided to go as a baseball player, which is just right because it's easy. Dax wanted to be Harry Potter because he has enjoyed reading the books with Dad (they're on #4!) Seth had the cutest idea of all. He wanted to be an umpire. The costume was easy, and he was the only umpire we saw this year, and probably ever!

Dax was so excited to be Harry Potter. 

He especially loved having a wand!

Mark was a baseball player...again! I think this might be his costume from here on out.  

Seth was the most darling umpire you ever did see!

But he's not afraid to call you out!

The boys and Dad looked amazing. It really was a fun Halloween!

At around 6 o'clock, Dad took the boys out to knock every door in the new ward. He and they boys had fun meeting new people while Mom stayed home and answered the door. It was a slow year for trick-or-treaters, which Mom didn't mind a bit! It was the only slow part of her day.

P.S. The day before Halloween we carved pumpkins. The older boys did most of their own carving, which was so nice. Mom helped Seth, and all of the jack-o-lanterns turned out amazing!

Dax is the most independent pumpkin carver. 

Seth wanted to carve Frankenstein. 

Mark does pretty well at carving, but he is not a big fan of the insides! 

I love that they design their own faces! 

Dax added ears to his vampire pumpkin!

All lit up for Halloween!

Anniversary trip to TWIN FALLS??

The boys always have more fun with Grandma!

Dad finally had a winning idea for an anniversary. He arranged with Grandma to take the boys and reserved the nicest room in the Manti House Inn. The plan was to go down to the Temple where it all started. We'd spend time at Fat Jack's Pizza and the Basin Drive-In as well. We might even squeeze in a hike or a drive up the canyon if the weather permitted. We were all set and it was all a surprise until Dad checked the Manti Temple schedule the week before. The cleaning had been extended by two weeks and the temple was closed! We had to cancel all our plans. Luckily there was no financial penalty.

That left us struggling with a new plan. We immediately looked around at which temples we could visit that we hadn't already been to. As we looked, Twin Falls seemed to make sense because it was close to Grandma and had a temple. In addition, we'd never seen Shoshone Falls or Twin Falls, so at least there would be a little adventure. Beyond that we didn't have much of a plan.

We dropped off the kids at Grandma's house on Thursday afternoon of Fall Break. They were happy to be at Grandma's, but they were a little skeptical of what we were going to do without them. "Mostly kissing," we assured them, and they lost interest quickly. Then we cut across the state to Twin Falls. Grandma and the boys had a ton of fun, and Melanie showed up with her kids, so with Steph's family there were plenty of cousins. They went to a pumpkin patch and also to a kid's play place. Grandma was enjoying them so much that she decided to keep them right on through Monday, which was a work day for Dad, but a day off for the boys.

Stephanie had fun burying children in the corn pit.

Not the face! Not the face!

Dax was fully buried.

There were really big slides, too.

Seth got a little sick from sitting in the back.

Everyone went to see Grandpa at his office.

"We went to a family fun place with a rocket and a rocket hat." ~Seth

The boys picked out REALLY BIG pumpkins at the pumpkin patch.

Meanwhile Mom and Dad had a nice time in Twin Falls. We really liked the Perrine Bridge. We stood under it and listened to the cars rumble by overhead. We also enjoyed visiting Shoshone Falls and Twin Falls. These two are drastically different. Shoshone was donated to the city as long as it would be used for the enjoyment of the citizens. It is beautiful and pristine, surrounded by a massive park. Twin Falls was used for a power plant. The fall on the right was dammed and the fall on the left runs between 8 am and noon and all day on weekends. It was pretty sad to see the way Twin Falls isn't a real waterfall anymore.

Perrine Bridge spans the canyon.

It's pretty cool to hear the cars thunder by.

The water was really green.

It looks like something you'd see someplace important.

That narrow point is where Evel Knievel tried to jump the river.

Look how relaxed Dad looks without the kids around!

There were some cool vistas from the canyon's edge.

Shoshone Falls was worth the trip.

It's a massive cluster of cascades.

Dad has to take the selfies. He is a pro!

Twin Falls used to have two waterfalls. You can see where the right side has been dammed up.

This chute can be turned on and off. Luckily, we caught it when it was on.

We were afraid we were going to get chased off the power plant property, though.

The middle day of our vacation was rainy, so we visited the temple in the morning. It was really nice. The people in the small temples are so friendly, and the temple was small. They asked us to be the witness couple before we even got past the desk, and later we found out there was no chapel. Instead we sat in the ordinance room for 20 minutes in silence. It was really nice to just sit and enjoy the peaceful spirit. After enjoying a leisurely session, we did a little shopping and then hung out at the hotel. It was nice to go at a slower pace and not feel rushed. We don't really do restful vacations, so it was good for us. We came home Saturday in time for Stake Conference, but we didn't get the boys back all the way until Monday. It was a unique anniversary trip, but we loved being together.

It was really windy at the temple, but the rain stopped for a picture.

This is temple #33 in our book.

All the selfies were washed out. Dad needs to work on that.

Fall Adventures

Mom Loves Fall!

We love Fall! Okay, Mom loves Fall! It is her favorite time of year, and it has nothing to do with her birthday. She loves the gorgeous colors that cover Utah's mountains when Fall arrives. So she tries to plan as many outdoor adventures as she can.

This Fall, we were able to go on two different Fall drives as a family. The first drive took us on South Fork road up to Big Springs Park where we had a lovely picnic. We also wandered around and enjoyed the gorgeous leaves. We saw turkeys along the road which was fun, too.

The turkeys didn't seem to notice the fall leaves at all.

There were about 25 turkeys along the road.

We love the South Fork Road drive because it is so close.

The boys were excited for a KFC picnic.

Nothing quite like shorts and stocking cap weather!

No matter how bright the tree, it never looks the same in a picture.

We walked along the dirt road behind the park for a little while.

Our boys are always good for pictures.

Dad wore the right color for this photo!

We stopped and took a picture at the overlook for Bridle Veil Falls.

We took a family photograph, too.

Another night we went over to Cascade Springs. We hadn't been out there in years, probably since Seth was tiny. The leaves were beautiful though, and the waterfall was nice, too. We love walking along the boardwalk and looking for fish (even though it isn't really the time of year to see them). We had a pizza picnic in the parking lot, and enjoy driving the Alpine Loop. It was a great family outing.

The trees were deeper red on the Alpine Loop.

What do people do if they can't drive to the mountains in 30 minutes?

We took hundreds of pictures.

Cascade Springs is one of our favorites.

Mom and Dad took a picture on the bridge.

The waterfall was running pretty good for Fall.

Mark ran ahead to find a fish (he didn't).

Dax actually wore long pants this time.

Seth stays close to Mom and Dad when he hikes.

Mom loves her boys!

Dad likes to take the occasional glamour shot.

Some other Fall adventures that Mom enjoyed this year involved awesome school field trips. Her first one was with Mark. They went to the Storytelling Festival which was a lot of fun. Mark even wanted to sit by his Mom on the bus which made her so happy. Mom also enjoyed going on two field trips with Seth. One to the apple orchard and one to the bus garage. Both were a blast.

Sharing a seat on the bus...

Seth couldn't believe how many apples there were.

He wanted to take a few bags home.

He was also very interested in the raspberries.

The trip to the bus garage was the best!

The tour guide made this field trip awesome.

Fall also means BYU games. We were able to go to two BYU games this year. Dad got free tickets from his principal for the first BYU game of the season. It was hot and miserable. Then, our friends the Gurneys texted us that there were some spare seats by them in the shade! We moved immediately. It was one of the few games that BYU won and we had so much fun sitting with our friends. Our boys are always happy at BYU sporting events.  Mom and Dad caught another game with the Gurneys later on, too. In fact, it was the BYU-Utah game! It was much cooler, but BYU did not pull out the victory. It was still a fun evening!

We had tickets in the scorching hot south end zone.

We were also on row one-in-front-of-the-rail.

Mom and Mark actually like these things.

Our new shady seat was a winner.

We all crowded in together, and I think everyone liked the game a little better.

Mom and Dad went to a night game.

Same good friends, same good seats.

The last Fall adventure that Mom wants to mention is the Women's Session of General Conference. She was able to get tickets for herself, Melanie and Alice. Then we found out that Steph and Abby had tickets, too. We were so excited that we could all meet up and go together. And the best part was going through Grandma and Grandpa's door because they are hosts during big events at the Conference Center. Grandpa scanned our ticket and Grandma checked our purses. We had a lovely evening. Mom was happy that she didn't have to go alone since she doesn't have any girls at home to how with her.

Steph, Grandpa in his official badge, and Mom

Grandma double-checked Mom's purse-- just in case!

The Conference Center was so lovely!