Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween...From the Hills!



Grandpa Richard was the "Spider Guy" this year. The kids were nervous at first but it only took seconds before they were playing along with G.pa. Ky loved it when G.pa would pretend to grab a spider off of him and then eat it...he thought it was so funny.


Double take.


Finally warming up.


Impressive Clark! The kids stayed far away from him this year.
I think He and Clint looked pretty amazing.


Cling (the white guy in the back) had a fake finger and ear that he kept showing to the kids...it is a good thing the kids love their uncles or they might never go back after this :)

Side Note: Dave came back with me later to see their costumes, the kids opted to wait in the car. So Dave and I snuck in their house and scared them and their guests...when we told the kids they thought it was great. Ellie wanted to make sure that I didn't scare Baby T(k)yson and April though. She only wanted me to scare Clint and Clark.


Our little Snow White, Kaylee


Kaylee showing off her new costume.



Princess Ellie



Ellie with her Daddy


Ellie with the two witches, Mom and Grandma Grace


Grandma Grace and the grandkids (Ky was out on a bathroom run, and Kaylee was asleep in the crib/maybe we should have made her Sleeping Beauty :)


Mom with her boys, Luke, Obi Wan and Princess Snow White, Ellie


The Cousins trying to take a good picture.


Princess cousins Ellie and Presley




Sky and Ky


The kids before the Trunk or Treat church party





Our little Ladybug Kaylee (She wore this only last year, but since it still fit I thought I'd get a few pictures of her in it.)


Watch out Ky is using the Force here!




Luke and Obi Wan in a lightsaber duel



Kyle was very serious about his Obi Wan costume



Blake was even more serious about his Luke Skywalker, X-Wing Fighter costume. Notice the Black glove that Blake added himself after watching, "Empire Strikes Back."




The kids visiting Dad at work for office trick or treating. They loved going to see their daddy, until the Giant Gorilla showed up and scared them. I had to carry Ellie around the rest of the day. Kaylee really got into the Halloween spirit here. She figured out really fast that there was something really good in those pumpkin bowls and she did her best to get as much of it as she could before her mom took it away.




I got to help out with Blake's Halloween party. We made Spider cookies and had witches brew. I was excited to have an excuse to dress up for the day. Thanks April for the cute tights and the idea.

The kids had so much fun this Halloween season. They got really in to all of the spooky stuff. The highlights included: Cornbellies, Hee Haws (Ky's preschool), The Halloween Train (With G.pa and G.ma Sandy) Ellie continues to talk about the Lion that scratched her hair, the princess that was dirty, and that the train stopped and went backwards. The boys were more impressed by the Robbers that G.pa almost gave a dollar to, the Werewolf and the Man that was carrying his head. The kids loved the night we turned off all of the lights and told stories in the dark with our flashlights. Dad came out with his hand missing and a hook (fork) in its place (Ky was a little nervous about that) Dad also came of with his head gone and a pumpkin in its place and then he even came out as a ghost. I told a story of a bowl of candy that had a hand in the bottom that would grab you if you took more than one piece of candy. When we went Trick-or Treating Kyle wouldn't go anywhere near a bowl of candy that had a hand attached to it. G.pa and G.ma Grace threw a great Halloween party that included Mummy hot dogs and bread stick witch fingers. There you have it, a summary of the last few weeks...the goal now is to somehow get rid of all of the Halloween candy before I eat another piece!

I love Fall

I guess this is as good as it gets when you are trying to pose 4 children who would much rather be jumping in the river behind them than looking at mom and saying, "cheese" one more time!

Yummy! "Mom must not know that I got a hold of an apple...I better eat it fast!"
The Boys

Here's proof that I'm the luckiest and happiest mom in the world!

The girls
My Kyle

Here is one of the reasons I love living in Utah! There is nothing prettier than going up the canyon when the leaves are all turning colors. I love the smell and the feel of the crisp clean fall air. I love a good excuse to come home to soup and hot chocolate. I love seeing all of the pumpkins and witches that are sitting on everyone's doorstep. Fall is a fabulous season!

A few weeks ago we took the kids up the canyon for FHE. They loved throwing the rocks into the river, using the sticks as lightsabers, and chasing each other in the leaves. I loved watching them laugh and smile!

Cornbellies

Here's this years Cornbelly crew.

My little Ky! There isn't a cuter kid on the planet...when he's in a good mood!
Princess Ellie and Queen Grandma Sandy


I'll take this one

Wow, my mom can jump!

Look at this cute boy! I love how happy and how excited he gets for everything we do.

My little beauty!


Yes, you're beautiful too!



I love the smile, and the hair!
Blake raced Dave and I around this track at least 10 times...Dave and I were done, Blake of course could have gone 100 more times - Oh to have the energy of a kid!


My kids talk about this place all year! I think it is because they are secretly petrified of "the creature." It is a big blow up monster that you walk through. It is dark inside and they play scary music...there are no monsters or anything like that (well unless you go with your uncle Clint who will undoubtedly run ahead of you, hide and grab your feet causing all little children to never dare enter again!) But this year they psyched themselves up enough to try one more time. We all made it through - although given the chance they would have bolted through the nearest emergency exit.

The kids love the pig races, the giant trampolines, the go carts, the 3 D haunted maze, the pumpkin patch, the slides, the duck race, the animal train, and the list goes on and on - No wonder they can't wait to go every year!

My baby is 1!

Happy Birthday Sweetheart! You've stayed my smallest baby and I've loved it. (You've been in the less than one percentile (in height and weight) but moved up to the 6th percentile at your 1 year check-up - good job!) You get away with a little bit more than the others did because I think you're littler than you are...but I'm so glad you've been willing to stay "my baby!" I've loved watching you learn and grow and I'm so grateful you picked our family to come to!

Cake #1 Compliments of G.ma Sandy

Yep, I think I like it!

Cake #2 Compliments of G.ma Grace
(I know...my kids are so lucky!)

I hope I don't have to share!

Now, that was good!


Here are some of my favorite Kaylee Pics...She is such a doll!


My little Kaylee bird. I'm not sure where I got that little nickname for you...but it seems to fit and your brothers and sister have joined the fan club so I guess you are our little bird. We all love you so much. Blake, Kyle, and Ellie love holding you and giving you hugs and kisses. They all get so excited when you so something new. For about two weeks after you learned how to stand they would each come running to me tell tell me that, "Kaylee is standing!" They did the same thing while you were learning how to walk. They were so excited! They are also very protective: They are always letting me know if you have something in your mouth, they make sure all of the doors are shut and they take away all of the "dangerous" toys. You're not so sure you like all of "moms" around here. You get pretty mad when they take things away and when they don't let you go everywhere they go.



You have been our quietest calmest baby. When you wake up you just start talking quietly in your crib...Often I go in to check on you and you are just sitting there playing. As soon as you see me you scramble to your feet as fast as you can and you start smiling and giggling. I love how you wave your arms up and down in the air when you get excited. You have such a happy contagious smile. You are a little shy. After you give someone a big smile you will usually bury your head in my shoulder and cling on a little tighter. You will still go to everyone...for a minute then you want to come back to your mom. You definitely watch and know when your mom leaves the room...you've gotten the instant tears down pretty good.



I love giving you food that you love because you eat it and say, "ummm"the whole time - you also
let me know when you don't like something because I get to spend the next 5 minutes cleaning it off the floor! You also give me the head shake when you've have enough...and if I don't get that you'll push my hand away. The last week or so you've learned how to give the ornery pouty face when you get in trouble. I secretly think that is pretty cute too. Happy Birthday my sweet little baby...I love you so much and can't wait to play and cuddle with you in the morning!


You are starting to be quite the showoff. You love making sure people are watching and then you perform and laugh until everyone around you is smiling. You love playing on top of the toy table and you love climbing up the first step of Blake's ladder (you feel so big when you get up there!) You also love pulling out all of mom's pots and pans and then hiding in the cupboard.


You love soft babies and stuffed animals. You pick them up and put them over your shoulder and pat them and cuddle with them. It is so cute! You also love pulling out all of the clothes out of your drawer. Your favorite things to do are to go down slides, play outside and have your mommy and daddy chase you. You just light up when I put you on top of a side, you start waving your arms, kicking your feet and smiling - then you laugh the whole way down. I love it! You've learned if you take certain things (like daddy's remote) that you'll get chased...so you've make a habit of taking off with it and then looking back to make sure daddy saw you.

School

School Time:

We had a great summer, and honestly I was really sad to see it end and send my little Blake to ALL day school and my sweet even littler Ky to pre-school. Now I didn't cry when I dropped them off but I'll admit to feeling a little lonely and sad the first day...I also kept looking at the clock to see what time it was. I wish I could be a bird on their window seal and watch what they were doing all day! I opted to put Blake on the early bird schedule so that he would be home at 2:15 verses 3:30. The down side is that Blake has to be dressed, fed, and out the door by 7:40. It is a little early but I love when he comes running in the door at 2:15. I just wasn't ready to give up my baby for that long! (I know technically they are gone the same amount of time...I just like having him home earlier :)

And then there is my little pre-schooler. He is still a little attached to his mom, so the first two days didn't go without tears but now he loves it. He gets very excited when it is his turn to put up the weather on the calendar. And he loves having his own backpack and showing me all of the things he makes at school. He is constantly singing the letters and their sounds and pointing out every letter he sees while we drive.
My first first grader

Blake's BF from kindergarten. He was so excited to see him there. This is in front of his brand new school North Point Elementary.

Kyle all ready to go...Ellie can't miss out on a photo opt.

You look so grown up! I love you Ky and can't wait till you come running up to the van and start telling me all about your day.

GTU

Good Things Utah! My sister-in-law, Wendy was able to get 10 VIP tickets to GTU. Luckily I'm closely enough related and was invited :) It was so much fun, and it was a great show! Marty and Reagan and special guest Richard Hatch (Battlestar Galatica) were the hosts. They were great. It was fun to see how they acted "off" camera. Reagan is now my favorite...she was very personable and fun with the audience. The cooking segment was super yummy PB cup cupcakes...and yes, we were able to get our own...which I managed to drop 2 times before I ate it! After the show we were able to make the craft of the day. It was a very cool 13 day countdown to Halloween. My kids love it and I love the new cool Halloween decor on my wall! Thanks Wendy...it was a blast!

Me

Here are a few things that I've been up to the last month in between carpools, soccer games, changing diapers, cooking, cleaning, stopping fights, temper tantrums, and hugging and kissing my babies...I know how could I have possibly gotten anything else done? The thanks would go mostly to my amazing wonderful husband that is constantly changing his schedule around so that I can go and do things and to my kids grandparents who are so willing to watch and help out with my kids...so thanks!!

This past spring I was out talking with my neighbors and we decided it would be fun to run the Prove Half Marathon. Some of them had never ran before and they did awesome! It was so nice to have such fun girls to train with. About a month before the race April moved around the corner (yippee) and was nice enough to help me train. The morning of the half was perfect. I love running down the Bridal Veil trail...one, because it is downhill and two, because it is so beautiful. This race was particularly fun because there were so many people I knew running it to cheer me on. Thanks girls!

April and I


My neighborhood running buddies



Three weeks later I finished my first Sprint Tri. I was so nervous about the swim but it ended up being o.k. All of the credit for this new feat in my life goes to Wendy! Thanks so much for convincing us all to do this! The Tri quickly took over as my favorite way to compete. I loved switching things up. The best part of this race was doing it with my husband. I loved having him there and he was amazing!! It felt great passing the finish line! Thanks to Wendy, again, we also had lots of other family and friends that she recruited to join in the fun.

Wendy's recruits

The Bike


The run
The biker, the swimmer, the runner (can you guess who's who?)

Then last night I found out my Stake was doing a Tri...so I did another one this morning, and I loved it even more than the last one. The course was really nice (along the Thanksgiving Point Golf course) and my husband and kids drove around and cheered me on the whole way. Thanks family for all of your support!


I also had a great Birthday thanks again to my husband for taking me out and spoiling me and thanks to my great friends for taking me out to dinner, for my parents and my in-laws making me my favorite dinners, and for all of the phone calls and birthday wishes.

Last weekend Dave and I were able to fly down to Vegas for our Anniversary. Thanks Honey for the Best weekend of the Year and for the best 8 years of my life. I love you so much and am so grateful everyday to be married to someone who makes me feel loved and special every single day. You're the greatest and I'm the luckiest, happiest girl in the world! In Vegas we relaxed, slept in, ate great, and went to two amazing shows that I would recommend you all see if you get the chance. We went to Lion King with my cousin Vanessa and Jake. The show was amazing and the company was fantastic. The next night we went to Phantom and that one was the best I've ever seen, I know I'll be seeing that one again!