This Is Halloween!

The much anticipated night of Halloween has come and gone.  The kids had a great year trick or treating with friends.  Parents are no longer invited for the older kids.  That's just not cool.  :)

 Dave was our cutey pie "swashbuckler"  probably stuck swabbing the deck. 

 Rachel and Emily were the first to decide that they wanted to be pirates.  Apparently I live with a family of thieves.  LOL.  They went trick or treating with Taylee and Sophie and friends. 

 Ben took the original route with the Pirate Ship costume.  Yes, this took many hours of combined effort to create but it was a fun and unique costume.  And, it bounced when he walked like it was hitting waves. Surprisingly, it took quite a bit of ingenuity to make it balance properly after it was finished.

 Then there was Sarah.  We bought this fairy princess costume at Costco at the beginning of October.  She wore it every day for a couple weeks...then suddenly, she informed me she no longer wanted to be a fairy princess.  She wanted to be a skater and I needed to buy her some rollerskates.  HAHA.  She had a tough lesson in, you get what you get and you don't throw a fit.  In the end, she chose to be the fairy princess.  She loves Halloween.  She and David went trick or treating with DAD and had a great time.

So, another Halloween has come and gone.   Sarah has thought of 10 costumes that she needs for next year.  The older kids have almost exhausted their candy supply after a week+.  On to Thanksgiving...

Fall Leaves Falling All Around

We had such a lovely fall this year.  After a very wet August we had a very warm September and October.  As we tried to enjoy the last of the good weather we took a couple of Fieldtrips as a family. 

 This was Silver Lake up big cottonwood canyon.  Unfortunately, we left a little late in the day and the sun was own by the time we arrived.  This made it fairly chilly.  Not ideal conditions for a fun time with kids.  But, we did do a little walking around until we all decided we were too cold.

 It's quite a trick to get five kids to pose for a picture.  Oh well, a good one of the big kids.  :) They had to be coaxed to sit for 4 or 5 pictures and I still couldn't get the perfect one. 

 Yep, we are all cold, as you can see. 

 Next event, I took the kids to Corn Belly's because I had a work activity there.  The big kids did a little babysitting until I rescued them.  Funny thing, they did a good job keeping track of the babies.  Once they left, I lost Sarah.  She wasn't far but had just located an adult who was helping her find her mommy. 

 Dave and Sarah loved playing in the giant corn sand box.  Me, not so much.  Allergies and corn dust are not friendly to eachother. 

 We also went and enjoyed the Thanksgiving point Gardens.  This is a giant hill that the kids loved rolling down.  Yehaa!

 Dave managed to face plant in this tall grass.  I'm not sure how...but it was kind of funny.  Flop. 

 And these are just a couple cute pictures of the babies because I love to take pictures of their cute faces. 

For some reason we have been really busy this year.  We haven't done any hiking which is pitiful.  We will have to change that when spring comes.  At least we go to enjoy a couple outdoor activities.  Loved this fall. 

Emily's Baptism

 This was Emily's special day.  She was baptized Oct 11, 2014.  She was so beautiful in her cute white dress, but most of all, with her happy glow.  She was so very excited to be baptized.

 Nathan baptized Emily.  He did a thorough job.  There was no need for re-do. 

 We had a nice bunch of family show to support Emily.  We appreciate them so much.  There is a feeling of love and happiness that comes from spending time with family that we can't get any where else. 

After the baptism everyone came by our house for lunch.  We ate chicken salad sanwiches with lots of yummy sides provided by the rest of the family.  It was  perfect day.  I laid down totally exhausted at the end...but so thankful that Heavenly Father is leading Emily on the right path. 

It's Great to Be Eight! Emily Parties

 Emily's birthday day was a little dull.  We had to plan her party for a week after her birthday, so we kept things low key.  We had a cheese cake and went shopping with an MP3 player that Emily could rock out when she cleans or needs a few minutes alone. 

 On Oct 10th we had the real party.  We painted pumpkins, ate pizza and cake, and played party games.  Oh, and who would forget presents.  It was a blast.

 I will tell you what, this was the cutest bunch of little girls ever.  The were all from nearby and all got a long swimmingly.  They were kind and inclusive to everyone.  The made the party a success. 

It was truly an excellent party.  Excellent fun.  I was crazy for doing the party the same weekend as the baptism...but it all worked out.  A whirlwind of fun.  I loved it.  More importantly, Emily loved it. 

October Conference Weekend

 We invested in the ROKU this conference.  We decided we just had to have a way to watch conference live, and since we are a streaming family, and since you can get live streaming of BYU  TV on the Roku, we decided it was worth the investment. 

So, we managed to get all the kids to sit down for one session of conference.  I took the pictures to prove it.  :)

Sarah's Firehouse Adventure.

Sarah had her first field trip this week. They were able to visit the firehouse that is close to Sarah's preschool.  Since my work schedule doesn't allow for things like fieldtrips, I enlisted the help of my mom to go with Sarah on her field trip.  The night before Sarah was excited, but she woke up the next morning not wanting to go.  She was afraid of the firemen.  :)

Lucky for me, my mom arrived and her fears were drowned out by the chance to hang out with grandma.  Off they went and Sarah loved it.

 Aren't those little preschoolers cute with there fire hats. 

 Sarah learned all about fire safetly from the firemen.  She came home and told us all about it.

She learned how to crawl below the smoke to get out of the house.  And of course, you can't end without playing at the playground next to the fire station.  Sarah had a great day.  Thanks Grandma!