Trick or Treat

Saturday was filled with fun! We had my parents, sister, and brother come down to celebrate Halloween with us. We had dinner, then got the kids ready to go trick-or-treating that night. We changed up the costumes a little since it gets pretty cold at night.
Brooke was ready to go this time! She got right in her bunny costume and had a great time walking around and getting treats. She was happy as long as Dad was there to hold her hand and walk beside her. After we got home, Jay turned his back for about 5 seconds and when he turned back, she had two suckers and a tootsie roll in her mouth! Yes, we've had to ration the candy in our house!
Jax dressed up as a lion, but ended up acting more like the cowardly lion! He had been sick that morning, but acted fine as the day wore on. He said he wanted to go with the group, but every time we walked up to a house, he would just sit down on the porch and wait for the door to open. He was pretty mellow and only made it down a couple small streets. I carried him down to Wendy's house so she could see their costumes and by that time, Jax and Brooke were done.
Sierra didn't have another costume this year, so she went as an angel again. When the others went home, she said she wasn't done, so I stayed with her and we finished walking around the whole neighborhood. She said she wanted a whole bucket full of candy and she got pretty darn close! There was one house we went to where she knocked and the door suddenly swung open and a guy jumped at her with a scary mask on. At the same time, another guy came running out of the garage onto the front porch. She didn't scream or jump or anything! She just stared at them. It was pretty funny and they were surprised they didn't scare her.
Alex jumped right in and had to make sure he was in the front of the line every time we went up to the door. He definitely likes suckers since he picked those out the most! Geoff and Alanna didn't stay too long, but we're glad they came down.
When we got back, we had donuts and watched Halloween is Grinch Night. Jax went right to bed, but the girls were pretty wired. It took a little bit for them to calm down and get to bed that night! Hope you all had a Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

We kicked off our Halloween activities by carving pumpkins on Thursday night. The kids have a blast getting messy with the pumpkin guts. They don't mind the icky, slimy, squishy, feeling at all! I think we decided that next year Jay and I will get all the pumpkins cleaned out before we even start the carving. Sierra actually did okay cleaning hers out, but the other two just make a mess!

They picked their patterns out and the carving commenced. They turned out great this year!

Friday was a crazy day! Brooke did not want to wear a costume, so it was a bit of a chore to get her dressed. Then we headed over to help with Jax's preschool party in the morning. We played Halloween Bingo, made popcorn balls, read stories, and acted like Halloween monsters. When class ended, all the parents were in the parking lot so the kids could trunk or treat. Who knew it would be snowing!

Then we headed straight over to Sierra's school to get a spot to watch the Costume Parade. It was so fun to see all the cute costumes the kids were wearing. The only problem was the fact that they walked by so fast, you couldn't see all of them well enough!

Sierra also had her first Halloween party right after school. She had fun decorating cookies, making spiders, and doing pumpkin bowling. Then it was home for pizza and movie night. We have to do it all again tomorrow night!

School Pics

I took Jax and Brooke over to Sierra's school on picture day to get their pictures done since I wanted them all to match.

Jax went first and watched as the guy hit himself with the chicken and was being goofy. Jax was laughing so hard at him and then he turns to me and says, "Mom, that guy is funny!" Needless to say, we got a pretty good picture of him.

Then it was Brooke's turn. I set her up on the pedastal and the guy started in with his antics. She just stared at him. I was reminded again why I haven't taken her in to get her pictures done for a while. She never smiles. It is even hard for me to get a smile out of her when I'm holding the camera at home! He couldn't get her to crack one little grin, so he told me to come stand by the camera to get her to smile. I told her to show me her teeth and smile and she finally did... once. At least we caught it and her picture turned out cute too.

On the other hand, Sierra will be getting retakes as her eyes were half closed. She came home and told me that she looked sleepy in her picture! Hopefully the retakes will be better!

Silly Sleepers

I know that I probably look amazing when I'm asleep, but it is always funny to check on the kids and find them in the wierdest positions. Whether it's falling asleep in the stroller, wearing dress-ups, on Mom and Dad's floor by the dog, or waiting at the top of the stairs for Dad to get home, it always makes me laugh!

Bye, Bye, Summer

Wow, we had such a busy summer. Here's some of what we did:

For Labor Day, we hiked up to the G in Pleasant Grove. Jay had promised Sierra that we would go see what it was made of. I took Cole and Sierra, while Jay brought up the rear with Jax and Brooke. He had to carry Brooke the whole way, so he definitely got his exercise in. The trail was pretty steep and was only wide enough for one person, so it was quite the experience. It was a good thing we took our dog, he ended up pulling me all the way up and down the mountain! Sierra did great! She hiked and kept up with me until we were about 90% of the way there, then she decided she was too tired to go any further. So I grabbed her hand and Cole pulled us the rest of the way there. We stopped at the top for some snacks and more water. It took us about 2 hours, but it was a lot of fun. The view from the top was amazing and I'm still surprised that all of us made it up there! We were also able to take a long drive up Mirror Lake Highway to the Provo River Falls. It is such a beautiful drive. We stopped at 7-11 to stock up on treats and Slurpees, and we also took a picnic lunch with us. The weather was cool and we played in the water, hiked around, and even went canoeing in Uncle Kyle's raft. We'll have to plan a camping trip up there for next year!

It was nice to play in the water on some of those extra hot days! We went to the splash park in Riverton with our neighbors one day. We packed a lunch and played out in the sunshine for a couple hours. The water area was cute and not crowded at all! They also had a regular playset area there that the kids all played on. We'll keep this on our list of free, fun things to do for next summer.

For Pioneer Day, we decided to spend the day playing in the sprinklers, then we set up the tent and had popcorn and movie night outside in the backyard. I had Jay bring out the twin mattresses from the kids' beds so it was extra comfy out there. Jay and Brooke ended up inside for the night, but I stayed out with the kids. It was rainy and windy that night, but the kids didn't hear any of it. They slept like logs all night. I was up all night and swear there was a skunk trying to get in the tent to get at the popcorn crumbs the kids scattered all over. Yes, I know we were just in the backyard, but there are skunks and racoons all over in the fields around our house! Cole kept barking all night and I definitely smelled one! Needless to say, Mom was pretty tired the next day!

We also made the super long trip to Cabelas! We shopped there for Jay's birthday and Father's Day and go whenever we feel the urge. The kids love the fish, the animals, and the shooting gallery.

And here's one last bunch of pictures we took while we picnicked up American Fork Canyon. The kids love to be outdoors, hiking and climbing around. We have plans to do a lot more hikes next year. I think we'll be needing an annual pass!

Happy Birthday, Brooke!

Brooklyn turned 2 on Friday. I don't think she quite knew what was going on that day, but we still had a fun time!

Grandma and Grandpa Holt came and picked her up in the morning to take her to Build-A-Bear. They've done it for the other kids, and now it was Brooke's turn. I don't think my mom was very happy that I made her take the camera, but too bad! They showed her all the animals and she had an armful or about 4 of them...until they got to the end. Then Grandpa showed her the Black Lab and since it looks just like our real dog, Cole, it was all over from there. They couldn't talk her out of that one. She loved pushing the pedals to stuff her and fluff her. Grandma dressed her in a cute pink outfit, so they named her Colette. Thanks for taking her, she loves her dog!

After a long day at the mall, she came home and took a nap. I ended up waking her up about 4:30 so we could have her party. She was a little tired still and not quite in the mood. All she wanted to do was eat her Tinkerbell cupcakes! I think she still had fun and enjoyed playing with all her presents.

Some fun things about Brooke:

• She's our early riser! She's always the first one up in the morning and isn't happy until you get her a cup of milk and prop her up on the bed with pillows and her blankie to watch a "Baby Show". (Baby Einsteins)
• She has tons of funny things she does and faces that she pulls. She can lip sync, and pumps her fist and says "Yes!"
• She always wants to do what her brother and sister are doing, even though she's not big enough. If you ask how old she is, she'll say 3, even though we've been working on her saying 2 for a couple months.
• She loves dogs. She calls every dog, Cole. The other morning we woke up and found her lying on the floor asleep, right next to him. She's not scared of him one bit and likes to feed him and yells at him too.
• She has a potty mouth! She is always telling people to "Shut Up". At least she doesn't say swear words, but it is a little embarrassing having your two year old yelling that. She especially does it when we're driving in the truck and can't reach her and make her stop.
• She loves her blankie and drags it everywhere. It made it through Sierra and Jaxson, but I don't think it's going to survive Brooke. She also loves stuffed animals and won't go to bed and night unless we tuck her in with "Rar" (Teddy) and "Baby" ( a Snugglekinz Cheetah).
• She is Trouble with a capital T! She is always climbing on things and getting into trouble. She tries to pour her own drinks and usually just makes a mess. She gets into Mom's make-up all the time so she can look "pretty".
• She is such a busy kid and is always moving, running, jumping, twirling, climbing, you name it! She doesn't sit still long enough to read books or watch movies. She always has to be going.
• She loves Tinkerbell and Micky and Minnie Mouse. She's also into Barbie since Sierra likes to watch those shows. At bedtime she has to have her music on and it always differs between Barbie and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She loves to sing and knows all the words.

She is such a fun, cute little girl even if she runs us ragged! We love having her in our family. Happy Birthday, Brooke!

Temple Open House

We took the chance to go to the Qquirrh Mountain Temple Open House as a family last Thursday. We invited my parents to go along since everyone else in our family has already been. It was a good experience for us. When we walked into the Celestial Room, Jaxson looked around and said "Wow!". I think Brooke liked the Baptismal Font. She just kept saying "Water" over and over again. Then again, after we got in the car, I asked the kids what their favorite part was and Sierra said, "The cookies." (They gave out cookies and water after you were finished walking through.) Oh well, it's always nice to get away and feel the Spirit!