Halloween Schmalloween

I will make no attempt to mask my feelings -- I do not like Halloween. I'm not sure why, but I really never have liked it. I don't know if it's because I think dressing up is silly or what, but I suspect it has a lot to do with going door to door asking for candy that other people have touched. Also, since we moved to Utah, the fact that it's usually snowing on Halloween doesn't help.

Anyway, notwithstanding my disdain for this holiday, we participate every year because the kids love it -- and because Mel loves it. (Like I said, the kids love it.) She really enjoys making costumes and they all get into the excitement of it together. I can't help being entertained by them, however, and every year Mel does a really wonderful job with their costumes.

The kids are allowed to dress up in costume for school, but they can't wear just any costume -- it has to fit in with some certain theme they are studying. So one of Bradley's options was to dress as a tall tale character, and he decided on Johnny Appleseed. Not too difficult, but very cute.



Lindsey's class could dress as something one would find on a farm, so she decided to go as an adorable little kitty cat. She looked great, and again, it wasn't difficult.

Nathaniel elected not to dress up, and the seventh graders were permitted to wear jeans and t-shirts instead of costumes, which he was all about.

Now, for the real deal, on Saturday, they all had different costumes. Nathaniel went as the Star Wars sith dude, Darth Maul. Mel did his makeup -- pretty darn scary.

They all looked great -- Lindsey was Sleeping Beauty, Bradley was Jedi Knight Obi Wan Kenobi, and the star of the show was Joseph as Han Solo. He was applauded everywhere he went, and not just by us -- he looked really cute. He was so proud of his costume. He kept saying, "Look at this, Lindsey."

The ward Trunk-Or-Treat and soup dinner was a great success. We had a great time, even though the rainy weather forced us inside, and instead of trunks we set up tables. Not quite the same effect, but it was warm and the kids still had plenty of fun. Chris set out a pot of dry ice, which ordinarily he uses to create a very spooky effect with lights and music in the back of the van. Oh well, it was fun anyway.

After the Trunk-Or-Treat we took the kids up to Lindon to a friend's house -- they had constructed an extremely elaborate pirate ship in their yard, with lights, music, cannons, smoke, and singing skeletons. It was really quite unbelievable -- in the dark we couldn't get a good picture of it, but it was really just amazing. Then we took the kids to a haunted train ride, which again was super-elaborate -- I just can't believe how into Halloween some folks get! The kids really had fun, except for my sensitve Bradley, who, like me doesn't care for being scared. He didn't want to go on the train, and I was more than happy to sit out with him. We wen't back to the van where he handed me a Kit Kat and said, "This is for not making me go in there." Sweet sweet boy.

Han was all tuckered out by the end of a very long night. Another Halloween gone, thank goodness. :)

Now That I'm Six

Our sweet baby girl has turned the ripe old age of six, and we celebrated with a full-on birthday weekend extravaganza. Following are some photos of our three celebrations, although due to my lack of patience and expertise in using this program, they are out of order. (The lack of patience comes in because I am not going to redo this post, though I probably should.)

First up are some pictures from her Sunday evening family gathering, when those members of her family who live in the area came together for some delicious cake and ice cream. This was actually her second "party," so she was pretty excited by this time with all of the attention.

She was of course thrilled with the lovely gifts from wonderful family members.

These princess decorations were courtesy of Two-E.

Chris had to leave town Monday for work, and Monday was her actual birthday. So the pair got up early and went out for breakfast together. I planned for him to take her somewhere like Mimi's Cafe, but her choice was The Creamery for donuts. They made several delicious selections and had chocolate milk to wash them down. Mmmmm.

Ok, her big Princess Luncheon was on Saturday, and I have to say that we outdid ourselves for this party. It's not our usual style to go all out, but we wanted this to be a special birthday for our wonderful girl, so we pulled out all the stops.

We wanted to have an actual sit-down luncheon for Lindsey and her friends, but as you may know, in our tiny apartment, we don't have a table set up. Chris was a big help in getting our table and chairs out of storage for the event, and with the addition of Mel's divider screens, we set up a pretty little area for the ladies to lunch. I must admit it looked really nice.

Aunt Becca sent tiny teacups and saucers, and we used them to set a lovely table. We served finger foods -- heart-shaped sandwiches, fruits and veggies, and tiny, adorable cupcakes from the Cocoa Bean.

Lindsey's lovely princess friends arrived and were seated for lunch, and everyone seemed to enjoy their food.

Very soon there was a knock at the door, and a special visitor arrived -- Snow White had heard there was a Princess Luncheon and came to join her fellow princesses.

She played games with the girls and also spent a few minutes discussing Princess Etiquette.

A sweet Princess Lindsey.

Some of her royal friends.

Making a wish . . .

Lindsey and Snow. Fun times.

What a lovely group of Princesses. It was a wonderful party.

Another year has passed, and my baby girl is another year older. She's growing into such a beautiful girl, so sweet and thoughtful and kind. She's incredibly smart and amazes me constantly with the things she understands at such a young age. She loves to help me and to take care of her brothers when they will let her. I can see the nurturing future wife and mother in her daily, and though it saddens me to think that one day she will grow up and leave our home, I know she will be everything to her own family someday.

My darling girl, I love you more than words can express. Every day with you has been a joy and a blessing, and I look forward to continuing to watch you grow and succeed.

These photos below have nothing to do with Lindsey's birthday, but again, I'm not redoing it.

The other day, Joseph was sitting at the counter eating a banana, and when I turned around, this is what i saw:

I never posted about the wonderful date my sweetie took me on to Snowbird with his conference for work. (Mostly that's just because I haven't posted since June.) They had a day when spouses could come, so we went to Snowbird for some pretty cool activities -- alpine slide, zip line (which we didn't do because the wait was 2 hours), aerial tram, etc. We had a lovely dinner, and Chris almost broke his leg on a mechanical bull. The activities were fun, but mostly I enjoyed so much that we were just able to spend several hours together, with no distractions, just doing whatever we wanted to do, and just being together. It was wonderful.

OOPS!

Life is Grand

We set out last weekend for a week of vacation -- a few days in Kanab, where Chris had to work for a week, and then a few days at the Grand Canyon. We were so excited to get away together as a family and spend some time having fun.

Since we drove down on Sunday after church, the kids couldn't spend the drive playing video games -- you can sort of see their distaste for that policy in action.

At the hotel in Kanab -- and when I say hotel I mean MO-tel -- the kids and I kept busy by swimming in the pool all day. At first Joseph was very timid about going in the water, but by day two he had shed his floatie and was trying to get away from me.

The hot tub was a little too hot, and the pool was pretty chilly -- it was hard to find a comfy balance. Kanab is really windy, so there was always a breeze keeping things cool.

I love taking photos of the boys jumping into pools -- they are always so funny. This one looks like Bradley is jumping on Lindsey's head.

Double jumpers.

My cutie little swimmer.

Doing a "Mario Bros run" into the pool.

The hotel was far from luxurious, but it was clean, and the kids loved the pool. And they had free breakfast. Is there anything more wondrous to kids than free, all-you-can-eat breakfast? You'd have thought they were in heaven, being able to eat all the eggs, bacon, pancakes, sausage, and muffins they could hold. It was funny to watch their excitement and wonder what I have done to create this phenomenon in them.

Check out these skinny legs!

One day we visited the Little Hollywood museum of sets from old cowboy movies. It was sort of cool, and the kids thought it was great. Here's a jail set, which Bradley liked.

In Kanab there's a really cool place called Jacob Hamblin Park, and we spent a lot of time there. The kids really enjoyed the playground, and the surroundings were beautiful.

Lindsey's upset because I made her pose for a photo when she wanted to go swing, and Joseph seems to be asking himself, "What mischief can I get into next?"

Having a little lunch in the park . . . what a bunch of handsome boys!!!

My beautiful baby girl.

Could this kid be any cuter??

After playing at the park in the hot sun, we went to Wendy's for a cool treat. Mmmmmm, Frostys!

My crazy little monster . . . there was an older lady who stopped me in Wendy's and said, "That little boy has a mind of his own, doesn't he? He's something else!" I had to agree completely.

Snuggling with mom at the hotel. I love these moments. Those eyes absolutely melt me.

We visited a pretty sweet place called Moqui Cave, which was basically a cool cave that had been turned into a museum of all the neat things that had been collected by the man who once owned it. There were some cool things to see, and the kids really enjoyed the artifacts and the rocks that glowed under blacklights.

Next we checked out Kanab Canyon, a pleasant little spot.

The kids enjoyed the movie set museum enough that they wanted to take their dad back to see it after he was done working for the day. Here we see Chris in a cowboy bathtub.

Bradley pretending to pull the wagon.

My crazy boys.

They had to ride the merry-go-round thingy in front of Honey's grocery store.

A little down time in the room . . . cartoons.

Kanab City Pool is a great place to spend an afternoon -- except that if the warmish spring wind blows when you're soaking wet, it feels like an arctic blast. Despite my inability to regulate my body temperature, the kids had a great time!

Back once more to the park -- Nathaniel played a little catch with his dad.

Friday came, and we hit the road for the Grand Canyon. How horrified was I to see this heinous bridge over the Glen Canyon gorge. Not cool.

The kids, especially Bradley, thought the bridge was super-cool.

Anyone who knows me well knows that bridges over water are my biggest fear . . . I was freaking out on the bridge, and I was still over the land!

Dam.

Our first glimpses of the Grand Cnayon. It was truly breathtaking.

Setting up camp . . .

Having a little dinner to warm us up.

Settling in for the night.

Looking so cute in his sleeping bag, which of course he did not stay in for long.

Snug as an adorable bug in a rug. Yeah, the kids slept soundly and were plenty warm, even though it was freezing cold! (It was unseasonably cold when we were there, of course -- we have pretty bad travel timing, but what can you do?) I tossed and turned and eventually ended up "sleeping" in the van. I hate being cold!

And in the morning we find Joseph in Chris' sleeping bag . . . and not quite ready to wake up.

Cooking a yummy breakfast on his brand new Camp Chef stove.

All ready for a big day of hiking in the Grand Canyon.

And we ended up stuck in the car, in the pouring rain . . . and hail.

Once we got on the shuttle bus, Joseph was in heaven!!!

We saw a few elk hanging around. Pretty cool.

The rain meant we couldn't cook our planned camp meal, so we went to Wendy's instead. Gross. And Joseph's expression says it all. He seems to be saying, "You expect me to eat that?"

One cool by-product of being rained out -- we took the kids to see the Grand Canyon IMAX movie in Tusayan, which they really enjoyed.

Eventually the sun came back out, so we headed back to the rim once again.

I couldn't help taking about a million photos of this beautiful boy. He's so scrumptious!

Checking out a beautiful view.

Venturing down below the rim, on Bright Angel Trail.

Sunset was beautiful.

Yes, Lindsey has to go potty. (Side note: like most moms on family vacations, I spent a great majority of my time taking kids to the bathroom. It's just life, but I had to vent a little.)

Joseph was slow to wake up again the next morning . . . he almost seems to sleep better in a tent than at home. Hmmmmm.

Helping dad cook breakfast.

A few last looks at the Canyon, Sunday morning, as the weather started to warm up a little.

The kids worried me to death dancing around at the edge of the rim -- they seemed to have no clue about how dangerous it was and were just so excited to explore and check things out that they didn't notice how nervous they were making me. I tried not to be too overbearing with them, but I was pretty worried a lot of the time.

Joseph wonders what the big deal is.

On the road home . . . a little sad to leave.

Eating Oreos, watching "The Wizard of Oz." What could be better?

No kidding . . . driving down the road, watching "Oz," and what do we see in the distance but a rainbow. Too cool.

This adorable smile captures our happiness at being almost home. It was a long drive!

Much like this post, it was a long, long week. We had lots of fun being together and doing some pretty cool stuff. I can't wait to go back to the Grand Canyon and do some real hiking down to the river . . . maybe someday.