Happy Halloween!

The Rugrats - dressed and ready to go!

We had a lot of fun this Halloween and were able to attend many parties. On Friday, I went to kids' school parade and was able to help out in Abigail's class. She had a lot of fun playing "mummy wrap", guessing the weight of a pumpkin, playing games, and coloring a trick-or-treat bag. Then that night, Aaron and I dressed up for our annual neighborhood party.

Matt, Karen and the kids came over Halloween night to have dinner and go trick-or-treating. The kids all had a great time going house to house and watching their treat bags grow and get heavier. Alex was in true form this year. He started out wanting to be a piece of pizza. I even made him a pepperoni pizza hat and a pizza box trick-or-treat bag. But as soon as Sophie came in dressed like a cowboy, he changed his mind and ran up to get his cowboy hat, boots, and vest. Gotta love that kid and his indecisive mind!

On Sunday, we went to my mom's house for a spooky halloween dinner of:

Hot dog mummies

Bone breadsticks with blood sauce

eyeball meatballs

worms

and graveyard dessert

Happy Halloween!

Our Getaway to Seattle

Aaron and I love going on little vacations together and we have been very spoiled this year! We decided we needed another getaway and chose Seattle as our destination. I had been once with my mom when we went to a staging conference but we never got to explore the city and Aaron had been years before. So, off we went and we had a blast!

First, I have to start out by saying that I LOVE my getaways with Aaron. He truly is my best friend and I love having time dedicated to each other when we go on vacations together. We left bright and early on Friday morning and arrived in Seattle at 11:30. We had no plans, other then a Seahawks game, and we decided to forgo a rental car. We found our way to the lightrail that dropped us off directly in the heart of downtown Seattle. From there we walked everywhere or took the city bus. We went to the Space Needle and enjoyed the beautiful view and a yummy cup of Hot Chocolate! We had to laugh because there is a Starbucks on literally every corner. Mmmm, gotta love their peppermint hot chocolate. We also enjoyed shopping and watching movies at the Pike Place mall. We found the yummiest mexican restaurant there!

We had so much fun walking through Pike's market where we watched them throw fish at the fish market and browsed through the farmer's fruit stands.

On the soggiest day in Seattle, we went to the Seattle Seahawks game. Thank heavens we bought some rain ponchos because we wore them the entire game. We had a lot of fun watching the game and making fun of the Superfan next to us. He never shut up the entire game..... "Run the Ball", "Get the Quarterback", CLAP CLAP CLAP, Whistle (and not just any whistle, his whistle was maybe one step down from a dog whistle - I'm not kidding. Our ears were ringing all night long). Oh, and it didn't stop for a time out or halftime. The only time he stopped was when he left to go get beer. By the end of the game, we were laughing so hard.

We also went on Seattle's underground tour. It was interesting finding out about the history of Seattle and walking under the streets.

Enjoying the view and hot chocolate from the top of the Space Needle

Gotta love public transportation

Hanging out at the Public Market

So soggy at the SeaHawks Game

Underground Seattle

Now its time to get back to life and reality. Thanks Mom and Dad for taking the kids so we could enjoy spending time together.

Fun at the Corn Maze

Thanks to Grandpa and Grandma Marshall, the entire Marshall family was able to enjoy a day at the corn maze. The kids had a great time taking a hay ride out to the pumpkin patch and loved being able to pick out their own pumpkin. They ran through the fields trying to find the biggest pumpkin they could.

After we found our pumpkins, we had a great time sliding down the hay slides and getting lost in the corn maze. Well, we didn't get too lost... Uncle Josh was great at reading the map and getting us through.

Afterwards, we all went back to Grandma and Grandpa Marshall's house to have pizza. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for such a fun afternoon - wish you were able to go with us. Get better soon!

Alex is the VIP of preschool

This week Alex got to be the VIP of his preschool. He was super excited. We made a poster he could take to school and his teacher made him this awesome crown!

The Triple Tornado

With the kids being off track, keeping the house clean is a CONSTANT battle. I don't know how to get it through their heads to put something away when they are done using it and before moving on to something else. So, today, I was upstairs talking to my sister and this is what I came down to find:

AUGH! I was getting hives just walking through the house. Needless to say, all friends went home, my children were called home, and we cleaned, cleaned, cleaned. There was some whining, a little yelling, and much complaining but things were put away, floors vacuumed and mopped, and a DI pile was started.

"Be aware that the tiny fingerprints that show up on almost every newly cleaned surface, the toys scattered about the house, the piles and piles of laundry to be tackled will disappear all too soon and you will miss them profoundly."

- Pres. Thomas S Monson

Labor Day Weekend

Over Labor Day weekend, Aaron and I took the kids to St George to spend time as a family. The kids loved hanging out at the pool and they especially enjoyed visiting the sugar loaf again. We took one day and went to Las Vegas. I really wanted to go to my favorite store, Kirklands. I LOVE Kirklands and Aaron knows whenever we are Vegas, I am going there. He is so nice, he drops me off alone to shop until my hearts content or until I have spent my limit, whichever comes first. While in Vegas, we also decided to take the kids to a magic show. We bought tickets to Rick Thomas and the kids had a blast! They were all mesmerized by the magic and had fun trying to figure out how he did it. When it was over, Alex came up and said "That is the best magic show ever." After the show, we even got to go on stage and take pictures with Rick and his tigers. We always love going on vacation together. It's nice to get away and spend time with each other.

Playing at the Sugar Loaf

Sometimes I have to take my own picture to prove I was even on these vacations.

Look What I can do!

Today, Alex accomplished a great feat. He learned to ride his bike without training wheels. He is getting so BIG! He came into the house and asked Aaron and I to take off his training wheels. We agreed and went outside to take them off. He was so excited he could hardly stand it. We took his bike out to the middle of the road and I helped him get on. He started riding with me running beside me and he says "Watch how fast I can go, Mom" and proceeds to speed up. I start yelling for him to slow because we have not yet learned how to stop, turn, or even get off the bike. Luckily, I caught up to him and told him we had to start out slow until he could learn all the fundamentals of bike riding. It didn't take him long and now he is riding like a pro. He is so proud and so are we! Way to go Alex!

Raspberry Days

It has become a tradition in our house to drive to Bear Lake and join in on the celebrations of "Raspberry Days." We loaded up the trailer and headed up Thursday night. There is always a small crafter's fair and the kids, well mostly me, likes to wander through and see all the fun crafts. We even found a booth there selling "True Hawaii shave ice" so, of course, we had to stop. Hmmm, they were good, but still nothing like the shave ice we enjoy in Hawaii. Oh well, it still hit the spot on that hot, sunny day. The next day, Grandma and Grandpa McGee came up and we all spent the afternoon playing in the beautiful waters of Bear Lake. The kids are so amazed that they can see the bottom and had fun walking far out into the lake. They had fun finding all the little seashells along the shore and bringing me their collections, which I discreetly left on the beach when it was time to go.

Saturday night, we all headed out to the rodeo. That was a lot of fun and the kids even got to go down and compete for a prize. They tied a ribbon to the tail of a calf and set the kids loose to chase the calf down and try to grab the ribbon. We were laughing so hard! At one point, Adam was really close to getting the ribbon and Alex ran so hard. It was a great night!

We had a great weekend up in Bear Lake and can't wait to do it again. Plus, we bought some YUMMY raspberries and came home and made this:

Now we have delicious raspberry jam that we can enjoy all year long!

Here is our home away from home

Aaron and the kids enjoying their shave ice

Playing in Bear Lake