Halloween Overload

We kicked our Halloween season off with our ward trunk-or-treat the weekend before Halloween. That was followed by five more Halloween parties and one Preschool Parade all before the week was over. Oliver asked to be a tiger this year. I didn't buy him a costume because I was sure he would change his mind. He remained adamant until the day Sam brought home the Old Navy costume, at which point he decided to be a duck. Whatever. He warmed up to the tiger costume and is still roaring around the house. In fact I took him to Costco yesterday as a tiger because he refused to remove the costume. He totally got the concept of trick-or-treat, but with his own unique twist. He roared it so it sounded like he had something stuck in his throat. Sam and I were cracking up because he came up with it all by himself. Ruby, who has less say in the matter got to be an adorable little ladybug. She too absolutely loved her costume. Anytime she found it around the house she would bring it to me to put on her. It is really soft and cushy so I think she feels like she is carrying around her blanket when she wears it.




At Oliver's request we went to pick our pumpkins out at the pumpkin patch with the little wheelbarrows. Unfortunately the snow the day before left the field too muddy for the little wheelbarrows and the pumpkins frozen and yucky so we opted for the crate of pumpkins outside of Walmart. At least we got a couple pictures of our attempt at festivity!

Obviously the candles were more enticing than the camera.


We split up into girls' and boys' teams to carve our pumpkins. I think I won the pumpkin carving lottery on that one. As it took Sam twice as long with all of Oliver's "help". Ollie was mostly interested in scooping out the guts. And so Sam kept filling the pumpkin back up for Oliver to empty.


Oliver had a Halloween Preschool Parade and he even threw candy to Ruby, Grandma and I. The kids really didn't grasp the concept of staying in a line, but it was cute just the same. Oliver loves his teacher. One of his favorite games is to play Mrs. Karie. The game includes him bringing me things and me pretending to be Mrs. Karie while I "draw" the object on the board and tell him what letter it starts with.



Most of our candy (and we have a lot) came from the trick-or-treat at Sam's work. It was great, it was indoors and there were loads of candy all close together. I'm sure after the massive load of pictures that I just posted you will be glad to hear that I forgot to take my camera to the Halloween party at Grandma & Grandpa Peay's house as well as the one at Grandma and Grandpa Ross's house, the Halloween dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Cornwell's house and the Halloween party at Grandma Peay's school. They were all super fun though, what a great Halloween! Fortunately for us we get to keep on living it up as my children refuse to put away their costumes!

Horsey Horsey On Your Way...

We invited some friends over to Grandma and Grandpa's house to ride the mules last week. The kids thought it was great, even Ruby took to it like a natural. We have lived far away from family for so long, I am just now grasping how awesomely wonderful it is to live close by. I absolutely love that we have three awesome sets of grandparents within 20 minutes of our home. We are definitely blessed.

I'm Trying To Be Like Jesus

Last week for Family Home Evening we took the kids to Temple Square. It was nice to make peace with that place after our last visit was so horrendous (see my post from last December if you need an explanation). We have a picture of the Salt Lake Temple hanging in our home and thought it would be good to show Ollie the real thing. He calls it "his temple." When we visited the statue of Christ Oliver was quick to point out the "owies" in Jesus' hands and feet. He then began cataloging all of his own mishaps. I guess he just wants to be like Jesus, I don't mind.

Too Close for Comfort

These pictures of the Herriman Wildfire were taken from Oliver's bedroom window. When we left our home Sunday evening to visit family in Provo all we saw was a bunch of smoke on the other side of the mountain. However, on our way home we noticed that the fire had crested the mountain and was quickly headed toward town. We were greeted by roadblocks and long lines of traffic as the roads leading to our home were blocked off to aid in the evacuation. Our place was about a mile outside of the evacuation zone so we were never in any real danger, but it was still a bit nerve racking to watch the huge flames decend down the mountain towards us.

Absolute Nightmare

Although I think that I have cute kids, who take good photos I would absolutely not describe us as a photogenic family. Why? Because being photogenic implies that you are good at, or enjoy, or for the very least sit still while your picture is being taken. Not so in our case. It took us two different photo shoots and some impressive photoshop skills to have everyone smile at the same time.

The day of our pictures I thought that things were going really well, I had talked to Oliver about getting pictures and he was super excited about it. He was even excited to get dressed up. It turned out however that he thought I was talking about a baseball pitcher and when there was no ball and bat, just a guy with a camera things went downhill fast. I had such a humiliating experience that I haven't even bothered to pick out or order any pictures yet and we got them taken almost two months ago.

All I can say is kudos to photographers, it can be a rough job.

Donut Falls

On Saturday we decided to hike to Donut Falls up Big Cottonwood Canyon. I went several times as a kid, but Sam had never been there and we thought it would be a good hike as it is easy enough for Oliver.


"Hiking" for Oliver pretty much meant take ten steps and then crouch down to examine rocks, dirt, leaves, bugs, etc.
It also didn't help that he found his "special" rock at the bottom of the trail and insisted on lugging it up to the top to throw in the waterfall.
Eventually we did make it there. When I was little I remember going up to the "donut" where the water falls through a big hole in the rock, but there seemed to have been a landslide or something because getting to the top required some pretty technical skills that we didn't quite have -at least not while toting kids.

We opted just to throw rocks into the river for a while. That has always been one of Oliver's favorite past times and Ruby seems to be picking up on it pretty quick.

To avoid another drawn-out hike down Ollie got to ride on daddy's shoulders for the return trip. They took turns making up songs about hiking and playing "I Spy With My Little Eye" all the way down the trail. At the bottom Oliver refused to get into the car because he wanted to do it all over again. We promised to do it again. So, if you know of any other easy hikes around here let us know.

The Children's Museum

On Friday we went with our friends to the Salt Lake Children's Museum. We got there at the same time as a huge preschooll fieldtrip so the place was crazy but the kids didn't seem to mind. They both loved it! In the past when I have taken Ollie there he gets stuck on playing in the water and we never get to try anything else - boring. This time though he explored everything, (except for the girly playhouse).

He spent quite a while operating the crane in the construction area. He took it so serious - he refused to smile.
Ruby on the other hand was all smiles a giggles, she loved the baby area.
This week was "farm" week at Oliver's preschool so he has been pretty stuck on farms. I don't know how many renditions of Old MacDonald I have heard from him this week, usually he calls him "Cowboy MacDonald" (I guess that is why he thought the above outfit was appropriate while playing farmer at the museum.) One night this week as Sam and I were laying in bed we heard a very lively "E-I-E-I-OOO" coming from his room.


Ruby loved to drive the cars, should I be nervous about her turning 16?

All in all it was a super fun day and if we find another half-off coupon we will try it again!

Preschool Begins

Oliver officially started school last week, preschool that is. He goes to Mrs. Karie's preschool and he absolutely loves it! He already had his first field trip (to Wheeler Farm) and his first experience with show-and-tell. He asks everyday about going to school and it is a rare moment if I can get him to take off his backpack. I am so glad that he loves it, but just a little bit sad that he is getting to be so big. He was definitely ready for school. He has become so inquisitive lately, everything is "why this" or "why that". I am glad that Mrs. Karie gets to field the questions for a few hours a week. My brain needs a break!

Grandma's Hat

Grandma Ross got Ruby this adorable hat for her birthday and I promised to take pictures when she wore it, ta da! She left it on all day long, I was amazed.

We jumped the gun

With the colder weather and the start of college football Sam and I are getting excited for fall and sweaters and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. We got really excited this past weekend to go and see the leaves turning colors so we loaded up the kids and drove to Cascade Springs. Unfortunately our enthusiasm was ill timed as all of the leaves were still green. Oops. We did find a few red leaves (five to be exact). Either way we had a good time and are glad we went. We will try to see the leaves again in a few more weeks, perhaps we will consult mother nature before we take off next time.