Happy Halloween

Preparing for Halloween...

Jarom painted his box to wear, so he didn't have to carry all of that heavy candy around... such hard work for a teen... :o)

Jarom as Rat Man from the game Portal 2.  And his friend Grayson as a creeper.

I was able to capture a picture of Jarom and his buddies trick or treating around Lakeview Neighborhood.

Rian and her friend Addy were dressed as Miranda Sings...a YouTube sensation they love to mimic.  Such a funny pair.  

Raegan dressed as Mario, Tarin as blue Toad from Mario game and Ammon... was just mad that he had to take a picture... but was a zombie pirate.

Raegan went off with her friends, Tarin went off with her friend Emma... this left only Ammon with mom and dad to trick or treat.  Weird only doing this with one child.  They all had a great night with friends.

Scary...I know!  But this was my costume :o)

Fall Concerts

Jarom had a Fall concert at Westlake High School with another Jr High and some of Westlakes musicians.  It was a fun night.  Jarom does a great job, being first chair in baritone.  Sorry for the terrible pictures.

Rian had her Ensemble recital.  This included all students that participated in the Ensemble judging.  She worked really hard and did a wonderful job.

Happy 1-5 Birthday Rian!!

Rian turned another year older.  Thanks to Kiley, Trent's sister, I was able to take her to the Salt Lake Real game (Trent was out of town) a few days before her birthday.  It was a pretty cold night, but a lot of fun.  Had some hot coca and a win to seal the deal.  A great night together.

Morning of her birthday, we had the usual candles in the waffle to start the day of right.

And, the birthday fairy... came and decorate her bedroom door.

At school, Rian's friends decorated her locker to show her how awesome she is.

For lunch, I got the chance to spend time with her at Kneaders.  Happy Birthday to my oldest child.  Love you babe.

Fall Time

Kids were asking for some pumpkin bread... so let's make some!!

wrapping up the soccer season for the fall..

Rian

Tarin as goalie...she loves being goalie.

Not sure where my pics of Ammon and Raegan went, but they too had a busy season in soccer.

For Halloween, the kids loved having an orange porch.  I'm sure my dead plants added to the Halloween charm...  I did find this branch and added a black bird and spiders and webs. 

And of course carving the pumpkin.  Dad has some skills... we liked getting the slimy insides out and getting it already for the final product.

Fall Break Part 2 Riding the Train to Salt Lake City

 Saturday, we took the Front Runner or Trax up to Salt Lake City.  Trent left out of town for Tennessee.  I thought the kids would love to ride the train and enjoy the adventure.  Also,  I think the only time they had seen the Salt Lake Temple, it's been super cold and distracting crowds (Christmas Time).  So why not a little warmth and time to enjoy.

My little monkeys!  Long, fun ride up to SLC, then hanging on the straps when on the city train.  A few kids dodged my picture taking

Once we got off the train, we headed over to temple square.

Beautiful day to spend with my awesome kids!

Went inside the Joseph Smith Building, such a beautiful building with so much to look at.

Finally, the kids were hungry, so we headed over to City Creek Mall and grabbed some lunch and window shopping.  Ammon liked the fountains, Jarom liked the manikins and Tarin loves the nick-knacks.

Waiting for the train to take us back, the kids put a penny on the tracks...sadly we didn't get to see the result, but next time for sure! :o)

Silver Lake

 Friday of Fall Break, I decided to let the kids have a "vegg" day.  If it were up to me, we'd be busy the entire break...but they like down time and games and neighbors to play with.

I have this great neighbor, Shauna Freebairn.  I found out she likes to hike, so we decided to get out and do something about it.  Left the kids home to hang out, and took off to show Shauna the Utah county hikes that I know (she knows salt lake county stuff).  I took her up AF canyon to hike Silver Lake.  

The lake was like glass...so smooth and a perfect mirror to  maximize the beauty all around.

It was a wonderful morning.

Fall Break Part 1 Cascade Springs Picnic

Kids had a 5 day weekend for fall break.  I was glad to sleep in, no homework and of course...spend some fun times with my sweet kiddos.  To get out of the house, we went up the canyon to see beautiful fall sights and see Cascade Springs.  Sadly, most of the springs paths were closed for repair.  But it was still nice to be outside.

During our drive... Someone... got a hold of my camera phone.  Thought they were worth posting.

Yes, it was a spectacular view at one of the view points!

and the entire alpine loop was just beaming with color... Love these aspens!

We drove up from the Alpine side and drove out of the canyon on the Sundance side and stopped at our favorite park, South Bend Park up past Vivian Park.  Awesome trees to climb, balls to toss and food to eat...luckily it was cool enough they decided not to get wet in the creek...  Still a great afternoon!

Then we headed back to catch the movie that we were encouraged to go see.  I wanted us to see it anyway.  It was really nice to see this together as a family.