Happy Halloween!

You can't have Halloween without carved or painted pumpkins and we did both! We had a great time with my family as we carved and let the kids paint. Capri was especially excited for her "bag dress," aka garbage bag with holes, and both of them thoroughly enjoyed the pumpkin experience.

Capri the artist:
Roman's exceptional work-check out the eyes, big nose, cheeks and smile. I know, he is a genius.And here is my masterpiece, Jack, with Capri's painted purple, then carved by daddy, pumpkin:

Halloween was a week long celebration for us, which was great as the kids got plenty of use out of their fabulous costumes. Before we get to them, however, I have to highlight some of my Halloween fun. Every year the girls in my neighborhood host a Witches Night Out. It's big. Everyone has to dress up, there are plenty of games/activities planned, and of course, tons of delicious food. The best part is definitely hanging out with this group. We had so much fun chatting and laughing!

Here is the whole group:
I love these girls! This picture portrays exactly how we spent most of the night, Cheri and I laughing uncontrollably, even for the sake of a picture (we tried taking it 3 times with serious "witchy" faces, but to no avail for Cheri and I!):

Annelise Ross, me, Cheri, Jenn Phillips, Katie Bond

Ok, now we can get to the utter cuteness that is my kids dressed up, Roman as a knight, Capri as a princess (Cinderella to be exact), and Karoline as a dragon. Don't you love the theme?!

Here they are ready for the Primary Halloween Party, which was fabulous because they got to load up on games and candy while wearing their costumes as they should be worn (without the sweaters and coats on top!):Here is my princess...literally!She even had the glass slippers:My handsome knight. Thank goodness Roman was so excited about his sword because a knight wasn't exactly what he wanted to be. Ironman will have to wait until next year when his mom isn't worried about doing a theme!Me and the cutest dragon you have ever seen! The rest of these pictures were taken the night of Halloween. Considering the night was freezing cold with rain, we decided to go trick-or-treating early so we could head home to party with the Nielsons, Curtis', and Fords.Drew, Harry, I mean Tanner, and baby Lala as an adorable kitty:
My sister was awesome enough to dress up for the kids. Here she is as a pirate with baby London as a strawberry...and a darling strawberry at that!
The boys and their babes:
Nothing could have made this night better for Roman and Capri than to have their cousins to join them. Here is Kaleb as Yoda, Roman, Spencer as John Lennon (awesome that he already knows and loves the Beatles, he must be a Curtis!), and Eli as a ninja:

Trick-or-treating in the cold rain, not my favorite part, but the kids had a great time. How is it that they could care less that it was wet and dreary out there? Thank goodness it meant we came back with just enough candy to keep smiles on their faces, but not too much to put pounds on mine! As far as the rest of the holiday, this has been my favorite year. The kids loved putting up all of Grammy's old Halloween decorations, singing songs such as "What Are You Going To Be?" and "I'm a Mean Old Witch," going to all of the parties (they had one at school too!), and of course, dressing up. Good times.

GO UTES!!!

I know, I know. We had a rough game on Saturday, but we are still doing awesome and I am so proud to be wearing my red! We have had a great season and I think it's only going to get better as we dominate the team in blue. ;) Thank goodness my kids have realized what it means to be Ute fans and have their cheer down as they scream, "Go Utes!" while throwing their fist in the air. Hey, you have got to train them while they're young.

What really has been fun is getting together to watch the games. A few weeks ago, our great friends invited us over to watch the game on their huge movie screen. We brought the kiddos, had lots to eat, and enjoyed watching Utah win. Annelise was awesome to take some fab pictures of the kids in their Utah gear...

Karoline and Ute fan #3:
The funny thing about this picture, was that right before it was taken, Karoline had completely fallen over and Annelise has the pictures to prove it. But we got it right the next time around:The kids loved playing outside while we watched the game. They have the perfect setup living in the courtyard so the kids have plenty of room to go crazy:
They both thought they were pretty cool on the skateboards!
Danny didn't quite make the cut, but you see Capri, Sam and Roman:
Thank you Brian and Annelise-you were so great to host us all!

Gardner Village

We have started making a habit of going to Garnder Village every year before Halloween to see the witches. This year was no different and in fact, we went twice. Once with my friends and again with the family. It was so nice to have such perfect autumn weather on both occasions and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

These are the best of friends and our kids. It was kind of insane trying to get our kids to take a picture, but you get what you get and I think this is pretty darn good:
Capri, Roman, Karoline, me (with no makeup on and after running so sorry!), Mikayla, Nicole, Naomi, Erika, Carson, Jessica and Charlie. Wow, we are getting to be a big group!

The next trip included a pony ride which the kids absolutely loved. I didn't even need to hold Capri's hand this time, she was so brave! Roman kept telling me to look at all the poop (which was mostly just mud, but I am sure there was poop too) so I was glad to stand back and just take pictures of my cowboy and cowgirl:

We also did the petting zoo. Roman and Capri have always loved animals, but Capri maybe even more. However, she is getting to be a bit of a priss these days and didn't want to do much more than touch them. Here is Roman giving these big bear hugs to every goat and sheep he can see, and then Capri who is barely touching it and saying, "no mom, this is good," when asked if she would hug them. I was dying laughing because I realized she is definitely her mother's daughter, I hadn't touched a single animal and wasn't going to start!
Since Cheri has gone back to work, my mom has been taking London. She is always up for coming along, baby in tote, and I love that it gives me extra time with my niece. What's even better, is that our outings usually include Susie and Drew with her baby Isla, which means a lot of babies and a caravan of strollers. I love it!
My mom and baby London:Drew, baby Isla and Grammy:

Baby Isla giving us smiles:

And last, but definitely not least, baby Karoline (with one shoe on and pants that I made too short!):
My favorite part of our outing to Gardner Village came last, the throwing of the leaves. My kids were in heaven as they gathered up as many leaves as they could and then would throw them up in the air. They were laughing so hard and could not get enough of it! And honestly, what is better than hearing your kids laugh?


It doesn't get much better than this for fall!

Petersen Family Farms

We love our neighborhood farm (I may have mentioned this before!). Yummy produce all summer long and into fall, and then they offer the best pumpkin patch for Halloween. The kids were so excited to finally be going to pick out a pumpkin. We found some beauties and even got a tractor ride in. Great way to start the Halloween season!

Capri and her great find:

Roman was enthralled with the tractor, of course!
Our littlest pumpkin:

Where Dreams Really Do Come True...

Disneyland was a huge success. We had such a great time and the kids couldn't have been happier. I never thought I would be the type to do Disneyland for more than a day, but I was so glad we were there for the five days. We were never in a rush, we could do our favorite rides multiple times, and it never got old-it was awesome!

There is something to be said about watching your kids so full of excitement. It makes you so happy as a parent! So take a look at our fabulous week where our dreams really did come true:

Our bags are packed...
The first night there, we spent checking out our hotel and Downtown Disney. We stayed at the Grand Californian Resort and Spa. A-MAZ-ING! The place was incredible from the mini rocking chairs in the lobby (so the kiddies can watch a movie while you are checking in), to the bunk beds in the room, to the heated pools (with slides!), and let's not forget the convenience of being in the park. You couldn't ask for more!

Downtown Disney brought good food and balloon swords and flowers. Roman and Capri were so excited about them that Tucker and I were rethinking the whole park thing, maybe we can get away with just this...ok, maybe not.

The whole family:
The famous Mickey Mouse in flowers-you just have to get your picture taken here, no matter that Roman wasn't having it!
California Adventure...we have an "R" and a "C!"

World of Color show...this is a must! I was getting a bit emotional throughout the production:
Roman loved the Monsters Inc. ride...and pretty much every ride there:
While Roman and Daddy were on the "scary" ride of Haunted Mansion, Capri insisted on staying with me and posing for the camera:
Roman wasn't too much a fan of the characters parading around, but he did love it when any of the workers had one of these, a light-up bubble gun. You can imagine how he felt when he got one for himself:

Yes, it was one of the greatest vacations ever!

Rain, rain, go away...

We got to Disneyland and were greeted with rain. Ugh. The first day spent in the park, we had great weather in the morning, but by afternoon, we were drenched and had to come in for a change of clothes. Fortunately, we were able to head back out later that day, but the next morning it was pouring again! I was thinking, well, that's it. We just lost out on one of our park days. No, no, no. Not with our family. Everyone decided to buck up and brave the rain. Nuts I tell you! So. Glad. We. Did. We had a great time, in our ponchos and all, walking onto every ride. What was even better, was that by the afternoon, the rain was gone, but still no crowds. Awesome. The next two days brought perfect 70-75 degree weather...that was nice too.

Here we are doing what you should always do during a rainstorm at Disneyland, go inside for a show! The kids absolutely loved the playhouse disney show:
Grandma and Capri in their Disney ponchos (which were a mere $7-but let's be honest, they could have charged twice that and we would have paid!):
It was so cute how Capri treated her poncho like a princess cape-it had to be princess something!

Cousins make it that much better...

When Tucker and I were planning this trip, we thought it would be fun for the kids to have their cousins there. Thank goodness our families love Disneyland and were excited to join in the fun. Tyler and Mindy came with their three girls, Ava, Lily and Naomi, and Drew came with baby Isla. Plus, we had Grammy, Grampa, Grandma, Richard and his girlfriend Janneka. The more the merrier, right! Here are a few of my favorite family pictures:

The group on the Storyteller boat ride, Grandma, Capri, Drew, Isla, Grammy and Grandpa:

Naomi, Ava, Lily, Capri and Roman at the Winnie the Pooh (aka Winnie on acid, I swear!) ride:

Our Minnies Isla and Karoline:
Tyler and Tucker couldn't resist doing a little work while on vacation-here they are on a conference call:The girls, me, Drew and Mindy, on Pacific Wharf after eating some delicious soup in bread bowls, yummy!Capri and Grandma in front of her "favorite castle."Downtown Disney was always a hit, especially when you have Richard and Janneka skipping with you:The Nielson Crew meeting Mickey Mouse...and yes, Roman was a bit afraid!

Thank you everyone for coming-you really made this a spectacular trip being such good company!