Trick or Treating

The sun could not go down quick enough!  The kids were so excited to go trick or treating.  We quickly ate the annual pumpkin pizza and then the kids got ready to go.  This year Harlee went with Allie, Nash went with his friend Ashton, and Joey took Tag and Gray.  Luke statyed home with me to pass out candy and watch Ghost Adventures.  I usually dread passing out candy because as soon as you get comfortable on the couch the doorbell rings again.  So we decided to make it fun.  Whoever gave candy to the biggest group would get $5.  Luke loves competition so it made the night fly by.  He ending up winning with a group of 8.  Joey and the boys were home first at 8pm followed by Harlee at 8:30pm.  Nash finally came home at 9pm.  They all scored tons of candy!  Joey shared a funny story about about Tag.  The first few houses he would say no thank you because he did not want any chocolate.  Then Joey reminded him that Luke loves twix and he did not get any candy this year.  So Tag started grabbing two twix at any house offering them and he would say "double twixxes".  Then he went a house where they were handing out full size candy bars.  He grabbed two and stated "Double Twixxes, tricks on you!" and then ran down the driveway to meet Joey.  Joey was trying not to laugh as he told Tag that he should not take two candy bars.  Tag then replied "Dad it is called Trick or Treat and that was a trick!"  Seriously this boy!  He is so funny and there is never a dull moment.

Halloween pumpkin carving

So I totally dropped the ball this year.  Life has been beyond crazy lately and carving pumpkins fell towards the bottom of the long list of things to do.  Harlee and Nash came to my rescue.  They received pumpkins at school and they helped Tag carve the pumpkins.  He was so excited!  They turned out so cute!  Just in time to set out for Halloween night! Now it is time to get ready for trick or treating...

Halloween Parade

With the kids all attending different schools, it made for a busy morning.  The first parade was at Traverse Mountain Elementary.  I got to see Tag and Gray parade through the cafeteria.  Since Tag was dressed as Mario he did the mario run through out the whole parade.  It was so cute!  The second parade was at Ignite.  The kids walked outside and actually had to hike uphill to get to where the parents were waiting.  Way to go Nash and Har!  So fun to watch these cute kids show off their costumes.  Hopefully they can keep them clean for trick or treating tonight!

Punching cards at Cornbelly's and the Ward Halloween Party

Today was the last real day of Cornbelly's.  It was FREEZING but we had several punch cards to be used.  So we bundled up and went to spend our punches.  We first started with french fries, cotton candy for Tag, and kettle corn for me. After eating round one we went over to the clown maze.  After the clown maze we finished the snack fest with hot chocolate and cookies.  I love being with my kids.  They are honestly some of my favorite people.  Loved the freezing fun with them.  After we got home we went to the ward Halloween party.  Joey and I awkwardly stood in the back and watched our kids socialize.  Tag even joined the Young Women for a dance to Thriller.  We were dying!  Such a fun night!

Primary Program

Today was the annual Primary Program.  If you have read the primary program blog post in years past you would know that this day brings a bit of anxiety.  Tag has never been able to do the program.  Well this year was so different!  Tag did the whole program!  We were so proud of him.  He even said his part!  Harlee, Nash, and Gray also participated and did an amazing job.  It is Harlee's last year since in January she will move to Young Women's.  It was so fun to watch them all perform together.  I love the spirit I feel as I listen to them sing and may have teared up several times.  So grateful for this special sacrament meeting.  *I neglected to take a picture when they were in their church clothes.

Mimi's Halloween Party

Tonight we had Mimi's annual Halloween party.  Jenna was out of town so it was held at our house.  It is always so fun to get the cousins together.  We had pizza and visited before playing a game.  The kids were put into two teams and they had to use a straw to move a candy corn from one bowl to another.  They all had so much fun.  Afterwards they decorated Halloween cookies.  I love that my kids have so many cousins.  I did not have any cousins that lived close by so I did not get to experience that blessing.  It is always so loud and I love it!  They have a lot of fun together and I would not trade those memories for anything.

Gray gets his bobcat

Gray has officially earned his bobcat!  I left the Daddy/Daughter activity and went to pack meeting.  Both Gray and Nash receieved several awards and then they did a little ceremony for the passing off of ranks.  It must be a new tradition but I got to paint Gray's face and in turn he got to paint mine.  He was a little more excited about this than I was.  So proud of how hard Gray has worked in scouts.

Daddy Daughter Activity

Tonight was the Daddy Daughter Halloween activity for Activity Days.  I love this special time that Harlee gets to spend with Joey and I get to observe the fun since my calling is over the older activity day girls.  Harlee dressed up as a witch and they enjoyed pulled pork sandwiches for dinner.  Then they carved a pumpkin together.  They did a pumpkin with crazy teeth and then the used the pumpkin insides to look like the pumpkin was throwing up!  After the pumpkin carving they got to have root beer floats.  Such a fun night and such great memories they get to make together.  Harlee will always be Joey's favorite daughter. 

Fall Break in our favorite place

Life has been beyond crazy lately and I was so excited to go and relax in St. George.  I love our time in St. George and the memories we get to make as a family.  I always joke that I lose ten pounds of stress as we get off on our exit.  We left around 6pm and stopped at Crabby's in Santequin for dinner on our way down.  I was not a fan but the kids loved the burgers.  We arrived in St. George around 10pm and quickly unpacked before going to bed.  We woke up ready to relax and that is what we did on Thursday.  We got the new internet set up which was such a blessing.  The kids swam and played all day.  Mimi, GP, and Brennan stopped by on their way to California.  We got take out for dinner and then went to play pickle ball.  So fun to just enjoy a day of no plans.  Friday we woke up with the plan to rent a boat in Sand Hollow.  We were so excited until we checked the water temperature- it was 69 degrees.  We decided it would be best to wait until it was warmer for our day on the boat.  Instead we went to Fiesta Fun. We started with bowling which was so fun.  Then we all played arcade games and the kids got to split the tickets to get special prizes.  We went home to swim before heading to Bout Time for dinner.  The food was not so great and a little pricey but we did get to dine with a celebrity.  It is a sports pub so they had different games and sport shows on the many tvs.  They had a life story of Jose Conseco and after a few minutes he walked in with his brother Ozzy.  It was so weird to watch him watch himself on tv.  We then went home and I had to work.  So Joey took the kids to play a little more pickle ball.  Saturday morning we woke up to do a little garage saling.  There were quite a few and we got a couple of nice pictures for the house.  Joey and I then went to Cafe Sabor for lunch and then to Home Depot to get some paint.  Joey was so nice to paint the bathroom on the main floor.  We chose a blue gray and it is so pretty.  Harlee and I went to do a little shopping at TJ - our favorite place!  We got take out for dinner and then watched the movie The Founder together.  After the movie we went to get Crumbl for dessert.  Definitely another amazing day!  Sunday we spent the morning relaxing and then went to Chili's for lunch.  We spent the rest of the day laying around and watching a craft show as a family.  I love that we all just relax together.  We then started to get the house cleaned and ready to leave in the morning.  This is always my least favorite part.  I seriously wish we could live there.  Until next time St. George!  We left you better than we found you!