Halloween

                          We partied ALL weekend for Halloween this year.  From eating "spooky" foods,                                                        

to attending an adult only Halloween party (that's Tim McGraw and Faith Hill ya'll),

 to making Halloween sugar cookies,

 to carving pumpkins, and another pumpkin party with friends (pics are on my phone),

 to Benj's work trunk-or-treat,

 to our ward trunk-or-treat,

 to class Halloween parades.

We were so exhausted, that we skipped trick-or-treating on Halloween night all together.  Plus, our kids (and me) didn't need any more candy!  We stayed home and had our own little party.  We made our mummy pizzas, lit some candles, handed out candy  and watched Spooky Buddies.  :)   And yep, the kids were o.k. with that.   Hope you all had a fun Halloween!

I Can be Crafty...

There's this website called Pinterest that I may be a tad bit addicted to.  Basically it's a virtual bulletin board where you can collect all kinds of things you like from different websites or blogs.  I have "pinned" many recipes, crafts, kid items, tips for the home, etc.  It's like getting a new magazine in the mail every day (and yes, there's a pin of that quote.  :)  And a couple of weeks ago, I made my first craft from my "I can do this!" board.  If you know me well, you know I'm not really a crafty person... I would rather go out and buy a wreath than make one.  But I'm pretty proud of this.  There was quite a bit of running around (2 different trips to 2 different craft stores), but I did it!! 

You can find the wreath tutorial here. 

First Day of School

It's the first day of school!

Lexi is in 3rd grade and Ava is in Kindergarten... I can't even believe it. They were so excited this morning. No big breakfast in this house today, the girls were too stoked to eat much. Lexi has P.E. on Mondays, so she couldn't wear a skirt. But she sure was excited to wear her new Converse shoes. :)

Ava goes to school from 8-10:30. This new schedule is going to take some getting used to. She loved her first day and can't wait to go back tomorrow. And thank goodness for a.m. Kinder... she is napping as we speak.

Summer Wrap-up

Here are just a few pictures of what we've been up to in August:

Swimming lessons

The girls were here for 4 weeks, 3 times a week

Ava was a bit timid at first in the water, but did just fine and passed to the next level. (I signed them up for Level 1 two times, just in case) Lexi did just fine and probably should have been in Level 2. But we didn't do lessons last year, so she got to do Level 1 twice.

Mt. Charleston
We went up to the mountains one weekend to get out of the heat. We had a picnic and found some cool logs set up like teeter totters. After playing, we went for a fun hike.

Newport Beach, California

We went to Cali this weekend, just to play at the beach. It was so fun, the kids have a blast, it's hard to get them to leave. I am all sunburned, but I'm glad we got this last getaway before school started today.









Reese loved the ocean and the sand. The girl wouldn't sit in one spot for a minute. She mostly wanted to walk the beach, in the wet sand by the water. :)

Benj and the girls made a sand truck

This picture cracks me up. Ava was laying on her tummy and Reese copied her and laid down too. Wanting to be like big sister, I love it.

There is our summer wrap-up! Now on to school starting and getting back into a routine... I'm ready!

Hope you all had a wonderful summer!!

Lexi's Baptism

It's 3:15am and I can't sleep... so why not update my blog?
Lexi got baptized at the beginning of the month. She looked beautiful in her white dress. And she was especially excited to be getting baptized with 3 other friends from her primary class.

My parents

Noah, Lexi, Anna, Sam

We are so proud of the great decision Lexi made to be baptized! It was a special day. Thanks to all the family and friends who came to support her.

Montana

The girls and I road tripped it up to Montana in July, before Benj flew in for our family vacation. We had such a good time hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa. Here are a few pics:

Tea party on a rainy afternoon

Yard games

Romeo wanted to play too :)

Darby Logger Days

The duck pond

Helping Grandpa mow the lawn

Running through the sprinklers

Here is just a random pic of Reesey in her denim diaper.

It was so good to be home and to enjoy family. Thanks mom and dad for such a great visit!!

Summer Vacation

This summer we took a family vacation to Yellowstone National Park and Jackson Hole, WY. It was a lot of fun! On our way to Yellowstone, we went through the ghost town of Virginia City, MT. It's an old mining town that is all set up for tourists, it's pretty cool. We visited the giant candy store and got stocked up on sweets, and the ice cream parlor as well. But the biggest highlight (especially for me cuz I've been wanting to do it for a LONG time), was riding horses!

Lexi and I got to go horseback riding on trails through the forest. I rode Tiny and Lexi got to ride Irish. It was so fun, I totally want my own horse now. :)

We stayed in Big Sky, MT (an awesome ski resort town... I could totally vacation there every season ;) the first night and on our way up, we saw a bear. Really, there is a bear in this picture.

Yellowstone

We saw elk and buffalo in the park.

Old Faithful

Jackson Hole



The beautiful Teton mountains.

We rented a canoe and headed to the lake for the day. This is it on our van... the girls named it the Silver Bullet.

Reese lasted about 20 min. on the canoe. Benj had to dock and her and I hiked back to the picnic area. Lexi and Ava got about 2 more hours on the boat. They had a blast.

We spent that evening in Jackson. Dinner and more ice cream and running in the park. It was great just being outdoors where it wasn't 100* plus and the nights were cooler! We had such a good time as a family and made lots of memories. :)