Halloween 2016...

Yay!  I have been wanting to be Rosie the Riviter for a few years.  This is the year that I finally got around to making the costume happen.  My hair was killing it!

This is the ward party.  Mikayla was a butterfly princess.  She made it very clear that I was supposed to take a picture of her jumping!

Mark was SpiderMan!

Julie was a zombie cheerleader!

Jack and Maxine were both Star Wars.  He was young Luke or young Anakin and Maxine was Rey from the new Star Wars 7.  

We have SO MUCH CANDY!

Prepping for Halloween...

We decided to head out to Sleepy Hollow to do the corn maze and have some fun!

You could take pictures with these people from Star Wars.  Mark thought they were hilarious!

Jack had to take a picture with Darth Vader.

Mikayla just wanted her picture taken.

It was nice but drizzling on and off.  I had a buggy eye so I've been wearing glasses for a few days.

We ran into Dana and had fun hanging out with them.

Trike races were a big hit.

The sunset was very nice too!

Ewww guts!

More guts!

Mark kept using the battery-operated saw chitter away at the inside of his pumpkin.

Maxine worked on hard on her Star Wars pumpkin.

Our finished pumpkins!

Yay!  Bring on the trick-or-treating!

Hooligans...

So Maxine switched piano teachers to Merril's cousin, Kristen Ostler, and she lives in Washington.  Sara said that Maxine has outgrown her so we decided to move up.  We go in the afternoon, before the other kids get home from school so I hang around for 30 minutes with the littles until it's time to pick up her.  We went to the park and I told the kids not to get wet.  Turkeys.

Oh well, you're only young once.

Bubbies birthday! He's 3!

How does this happen??  My baby is 3!  We celebrated up with Grandpa and Justin first.

He's excited about it too!

One of the kids, I think Maxine, gave Mark tic tacs for his birthday.  He loves them!

Mark is growing up so fast!  For weeks I've been saying that his birthday is "coming up" and he'd look at the ceiling.  As it got closer, he started saying that his birthday was "coming down."  

He's such a lovey guy, almost always says "thank you" and "I'm sorry" without being prompted, and stays up later than any of my other kids at this age.  We're phasing out his naps because he can make it to the evening without one.  If he does take a nap, he's up late.  Love you buddy!

Red Bull Rampage...

The Red Bull Rampage is a bike race down a plateau in Virgin, UT.  The Red Bull organizers ask for local Search and Rescue to work the course and be ready to assist in case someone crashes.  Merril really wanted to do it last year but we had already made plans.  He insisted that no matter what, next year he wanted to work at the rampage.  

He got his wish!  He worked up at the top and on the track towards the top.  Here he is up at the start of the track.

The money was great for hanging around all day and watching cool jumps!

Halloween is coming...

Yay Halloween time!  I painted a jack-o-lantern on the lawn again.  I like it.

I finally finished some Halloween slipcovers for my regular couch pillows.  They turned out so cute using freezer paper stencils, a first for me!

We went to the park down at the pond and the swans were very bold.  Mikayla got pretty close.  Before I suggested she step back a little.  No fear in that one.

Tanner's Homecoming...

Jeannie's son, Tanner, finished his mission in Peru and it was time to come home.  Patiently waiting...

I can't imagine how hard it is to wait for 2 years to see your own son or daughter.

He did great!

Fall Nights...

When the night is right with the perfect combination of zero wind and awesome temperatures, we tend to be outside.  

Kids play, neighbors chat.  It's fantastic.

Mark was being a doll.

I promise, he is naturally tan.