Thanksgiving 2010

For Thanksgiving we went to Lander, WY to visit my grandpa. We didn't know if we were going to be able to make it because of the blizzard warnings the day before we planned to leave. But the roads opened and we headed out. My camera started acting up as soon as we got there. The lens kept getting stuck. Grrr...stupid camera. These are the only pictures and I didn't get any with the kids and their Great Grandpa Crook.

My grandpa.
Lander had one of the best city parks I think I have ever seen.
They had a little of everything. It made me wish I was a kid again.

We went to the sinks & rise. The river disappears into the mountain and then reappears on the other side.

Bill was only able to be in Lander less than 24 hours because he had to work at the firestation the day after Thanksgiving. My grandpa drove the kids and I back on Saturday.

So, I don't have any pictures of our actual Thanksgiving dinner. The kids had fun but it was stressful. My grandpa isn't around kids very often and has different ideas about how to raise them. I'm glad I finally got to show my family where I was born and some of the things I remembered as a kid visiting my grandparents.

Fall Photos 2010

We have had a beautiful Fall this year. I wanted to get the kids pictures taken before the weather turned to cold. We went out Saturday and today it is snowing. What a difference a few days make. Good timing. The kids got tired of taking pictures about 5 minutes but I hope I got a few decent ones.

Rachel

Jared

Ellie

Fall Soccer

Jared played soccer this Fall. It was only 4 weeks long because we live in a cold climate. I'm glad it was a short season. I don't know how many more 30 degree Saturday mornings I was willing to do. Jared had a great time, learned a lot, and scored a goal during his last game.

Halloween 2010

We had a fun filled October celebrating Halloween. I was worried when Halloween fell on Sunday this year but the advantage of living in a small LDS community is that Halloween was celebrated on Saturday, the kids even went door to door trick or treating on Saturday evening. The weather was even perfect. My kids went without jackets in the evening, at the end of October, in Idaho. Amazing!
Rachel wanted to be a witch.

Jared a ninja.

Ellie a ladybug.

Trick or Treating, they never ran out of energy. They kept running from door to door. The only thing that made us stop is Jared having to finally go the bathroom. haha

David & Sonja. Sonja sewed her own pumpkin dress. They joined us for trick or treating for a little while.

Loading up on candy.

Half the kids we went trick or treating with aren't even in the picture.

Ellie and her friend Mei.
The kids went to a carnival Wednesday night. Ellie brought her friend Paisley. They were both ladybugs.

Jared never kept his mask on.

The kids got their faces painted. I can't believe I didn't take a picture of Rachel.

Rachel & Ellie got their nails painted.

One of the local grocery stores brought their Giant shopping cart for the kids to ride on. Highlight of the kids night.

I can't believe October has come and gone.
Time to take down the Halloween decorations.

Carving Pumpkins

I am such a party pooper when it comes to carving pumpkins. They are messy, slimy, and just a pain to deal with. For the sake of my kids I suck it up. This year was actually the best by far, they are all old enough to practically do it themselves. I only had to step in and help a little with the carving. I did find pumpkin all over my kitchen. Oh well, the kids had fun and Uncle David & Aunt Sonja came over too.

I was surprised at how much Ellie did by herself. She loved picking out her design, here she is poking her design into her pumpkin.

Rachel did her pumpkin almost completely on her own. I only helped carve around a few of the difficult edges.

Jared had pumpkin in his hair and face. He decided to do a mummy pumpkin.

Who let David play with the knife?

Num, num num...I guess my nephew in her tummy was craving raw pumpkin???

And the finished products.
Rachel's pumpkin, Ellie's pumpkin, & Jared's pumpkin.