Halloween recap

So isn't it fun to read about Halloween when it's almost Christmas?!? We had a fun halloween and did a lot of festivities up until the day. It's great when your kids get older and actually start getting really excited about holidays which makes all the preparations worth it.
First it started out with pumpkin carving with friends. The girls stuck their hands in once to clean out the pumpkin pulp. They sure get grossed out from it.

Next we went to a fun Halloween party. Thanks Megan for inviting us! We were Princess Peach and Mario if you couldn't tell. :)

With all the Halloween festivities, I think the kiddos had to dress up about 4 times. Good times! On Halloween we went over to Eric & Jamie's house for a 3-person birthday party. We celebrated Ammon, Eric, and Nate's birthday all at once. The kids dressed up as Ursula (M&M), Ariel (Little A), and Flounder (CJ). Tick-or-treating was great with the older kids. They ran from house to house. CJ just wanted to eat the candy as soon as it was given to him. I think next year he'll be running!

Mowing the lawn

I don't know what it is but as soon as CJ hears the lawn mower he goes bonkers. He wants to push it soooo badly. James came up with a way to solve the problem. (patent pending)

Camping

We only got out one time this summer to go camping! We need to do it more often because the kids love it. We went to Shafer Butte above Bogus Basin. It was really pretty up there, but the campground spots are VERY close together so you don't feel like you have much privacy. We met up with Harris & Carson and had a great time. There were small walking paths around the campground that the kids ran around and explored on. One last thing..camping with a 1 year old is dirty and you can't ever sit and relax because they want to jump in the fire :)

Gotta love Little A's attire!

Funny thing about this picture. The kids found a tent stake stuck in the ground. They thought it was the coolest thing and worked on trying to get it out for a good 20 minutes. Of course they had no idea it was a tent stake or even what a tent stake was.

Little A

Had to post Little A's first day of preschool. She was SO ready to start since her sister had been going for a couple weeks already. We were in McCall the previous weekend and she managed to fall off her bike onto her face, so she had battle wounds to boot. She loves her teacher (she went to the same preschool last year) and had a great first day!

The Wedding

So back in August (I know, it's October now) my brother was married. The last one of us kids to get hitched! They had a beautiful ceremony and reception at the sky box at BSU. It rained all day, moving the ceremony from Katherine Albertson park to the sky box, but it was still a fun evening. I even had the privilege of making their cakes, and with the help of Holly they turned out great! (I could have done without the rain spots that got on the cake) Here are some photos of the event. Thanks to all the friends and family who came and visited!

(Our best family picture of the evening)

The Groom's cake

A toast by Jamie's sister.


I love this pic! (taken by Jessie)

Nothing cuter...

than a baby's bum! :)

Tablerock

My sis made a visit the end of July where we tackled the hike up to Table Rock. I've never done it before and didn't know what to expect. I strapped CJ to my back and all of us were off. (M&M, LittleA, CJ, myself, Ame, Izzie, & Steph) It was a faster pace at first because the kids were excited to be hiking. Then as we trudged along, the pace got a little slower and slower. At the end, near the top, it gets steaper and steaper and it took a lot of coaxing to get all the girls to continue walking. At one point, to give Little A a breather, I carried her. It was definitely a workout, but we made it! The girls were very excited to be at the top and have a snack. The trip down was much quicker. Too quick for Little A where she slid and skinned her knee. Sad at the moment, but stoked to show her Dad later that day. Good times!

CJ's first haircut

Last month CJ had his first haircut. He had curly little locks around his ears and it was really making him look like an old man :) I was torn to cut them off, but am glad I did. He is starting to look like a little boy now. Love this kid!

(Before & After)

Our first grader!

M&M started first grade earlier this month. She LOVES it! Her teacher seems to be really nice and she was excited to have one friend in her class. No bus this year so we either drive, walk, run, or bike to & from school. One thing she was so looking forward to was eating lunch at school. I made her take a lunch the first day and she came home that day and asked "Mom, can I PLEASE have school lunch tomorrow". We have compromised and do part hot lunch and part cold lunch. She picks the days to have hot lunch so it works out great. She was also stoked about having 4 recesses during the day. "Mom, that's 4 recesses!" It's fun having her so excited about learning at school and being so willing to come home and do her homework. I hope her love for homework stays around. :)
Now Little A on the other-hand isn't fond of having M&M at school now. She keeps asking when does she start school and is already talking about her first day of Kindergarten (that's in a whole year!) She asks me at least 15 times a day if she can go to someone's house or if so & so can come over. She just misses playing with her best friend now.

Park time!

The summer is almost over and I haven't posted much about it. Here are some random shots of us and friends at Settler's Park. Love that park!