Trunk or Treat

Tonight we had a Trunk or Treat at the church.....complete with chili, cornbread, and more people than we have ever seen on a Sunday;)  It was a fun (but chilly) night.  A good little rehearsal for the real thing tomorrow night.

Pumpkin Carvin

We don't ever like to put our pumpkins out too early around here.  Just when you do, it freezes at night and your pumpkins are ruined:(  With days running slim and Mark out of town until tonight (Wed.) we had no choice but to carve them without him....a first ever.  We certainly missed our master carver, but us girls held our own and we got the job done while cranking some Halloween tunes.

 We had nice juicy pumpkins this year....with lots and lots of seeds to clean out.  The girls did well with taking ownership and I only had to get my hands goopey half as much as usual.  Emm still does not like the feel of those pumpkin insides...but she at least made an effort:)

 Her finished product.  She opted for one of the intricate designs that come with the kits.  You know the ones that are really too elaborate for a little tyke...so Mama ends up doing it:)

 Bay went for a more traditional approach...crafting it all by hand.  No patterns here please!!

 And Kars did what any other Hockey crazed girl would do.  Carve the NHL logo on her orange friend.

 Here they are all aglow.  Good thing we opted to keep them in another night....we woke to snow this morning....yikes!!

Pumpkins 2013

[feels like fall]

Nothing says fall to me like a Corn Maze and a Pumpkin Patch.  Well, actually there are quite a few other things, but these two are near the top of my list for sure.  {Have I mentioned how much I love this time of year....I LOVE IT.}  Lucky for us, there are several of these establishments within a half our or so.  Last weekend we headed south to Colorado to find one.  First we grabbed some lunch at Noodles & Company.  Man do we love that place and these two are crazy about the Mac & Cheese...I mean look at that ...CRAZY;)

 

 We were pretty excited about getting lost in the 15 acre maze..... We were a little disappointed that it wasn't more challenging.  Our biggest hurdle was staying clear of the mud and all the creepy critters that are part of the haunted version at dark.

 We split up to see who could make it out first.  These two made a good team and beat the rest of us.  They kept going back in and having us time them:)

There were other activities to do.  Like the petting zoo, where Emm visited a lot with the baby pigs.

 The girls also really liked the pedal carts. They spent lots of time racing around that track.

This little lady was all about dressing herself for the outing.  She is very fashionable and knows its all about COLOR right now.  So she put together this ensemble with every color she could find.....adorable:)

We then headed back North and stopped at the pumpkin patch in Wellington.  Sometimes Mark can't figure out why I insist on getting pumpkins from a patch and not outside of a Walmart....it's all part of the Fall experience I tell him:)

These are the beauties the girls picked out this year.  Kars wanted the biggest one, but we are not really in the business of paying 15 bucks for a pumpkin:(

Ahh...what an ideal Autumn day.  Wish it would last forever!!

Zion or Bust!!

Mark and I both celebrated a big birthday this year.... you guessed it.... the big 4-0.  We decided that a weekend of hiking in Zion National Park in the fall would be a great way to celebrate.  As the weekend approached, it was beginning to look like our big plans might be a no-go...everything just seemed to be working against us. First there was the news of the Government shutdown. Unless there was a miracle in the next few days, we knew we would not be able to go to Zion.  Mark convinced me that we could still enjoy a little getaway in some warmer temps.  Then the day we planned to leave, a lovely snow storm hit our area making driving unsafe.  We considered just calling it off all together, but the girls were so looking forward to spending some time with their cousins and Mark and I were really looking forward to our birthday celebration.  So after waiting out the interstate closure for a day and a half, we ventured out ...not sure what we would find.  What we found was an interstate packed with every Semi truck you can imagine.  We were literally bumper to bumper with semis for miles....now it wasn't the roads that were slowing us down...the lack of speed was:(

 We finally made it to Utah ...much too late....dropped off the girls at Aunt Jami's and headed south in the dead of the night.  It was late, we were tired of driving, but it was so fun to just be together and talk.  Oh and we made a quick stop at In-N-Out for some burgers which helped perk us up.

We rolled into town in the darkness, and were pleasantly greeted in the morning by this...what a difference a day {and several hundred miles}makes.

We got up early and headed out for our first day of hiking....destination Yants Flat in Dixie National Forest.

There really is no designated trail ...just more open terrain to explore.  And explore we did!!  We climbed and descended over and over for hours.  It was beautiful landscape...but man was it HOT by the time we called it a day.

I tried to convince Mark that we should drive to Zion and make history by being among the protestors, but he didn't want to waste any hiking time;) ...so sadly this was as close as we got

Zion in the distance

We hiked all day and after cleaning up...we headed out for dinner.  I was hoping to take Mark to Pasta Factory in St. George.  It is located in this quaint little complex called Ancestor Square and it has kinda been tradition to eat there with my sisters when we go on our girls trip.

Unfortunately they were closed, so we opted for Buca di Beppo instead....it was yummy.  We convinced ourselves that we had burned enough calories to justify getting a little treat.  So we headed for Nielsen's Frozen Custard (another favorite)...which was also closed :/ Oh well, we found Freddy's which was an acceptable alternative.

The next morning we headed for Ashdown Gorge just outside of Cedar City.  Mark and I have always said we would love to live in Cedar, and visiting the area this time of year just reinforced our desire.  I must admit the hike started out a little rough...and I'm not just talking about the terrain;)  Mark thought we could save a fair amount of extra walking to the "trail head" by taking a little short cut.  Well this shortcut was pretty much off the side of the mountain and it was steep with obstacles [rocks, trees] at every step.  My muscles hurt so bad from all the climbing the day before, I was really hoping for a nice trail.  I don't mind long hikes with up and down climbs, but I don't care for hikes where you have to constantly be watching where to step...I like to be able to get lost in my head a bit:)  ......I will admit I kinda lost my mind and patience at the beginning, but then we were back on track....right babe?

The canyon was gorgeous and we felt small and vulnerable within its massive walls.

We got the added bonus of beautiful fall colors to enjoy....my favorite:)

We had such a grand weekend, we were really wishing we could stay at least another night.  But it was time to say farewell to the palm trees and get back to our babies [who were having a great time with their cousins]

 

We headed north, making a couple of stops in Holden and Santaquin.  We visited the cemetery in both places and drove by Marks grandparents old home to see how it looked.  We had so much fun just driving around these cute little towns...lots of sweet memories.  These small southern Utah towns are so charming and I think I said "I would love to live here" in nearly every one we drove through....it's true...I would!!

 

We made it to Jami's with just enough time to visit a while and check out Scott's basement progress and then it was time for bed.  

 

We had to head home early the next morning and these two cuties were off to school....it was so hard to leave.

 We made stops in at both grandparents for a quick visit and made sure to pick some apples from Grandpa's trees.  Boy, do I hope the girls will always cherish sweet memories like this.

 Then it was lunch at Great Harvest ...really in hopes that we could snag one of their scrumptious pumpkin sugar cookies.  Bay just felt it wouldn't be fall without one...I tend to agree:)

So... Zion was kind of a BUST, but I am still glad we made the trip.  Even with the frustrations early on, it was so worth it!!  It was a great way to commemorate our milestone and another day we will get back there to do those hikes we had planned.

A big thank you to the Weavers for taking good care of our girls:)

Hereford Ranch Run

Kars and Emm participated in a Fun Run on Monday morning.  Their school holds this annual event at the Hereford Ranch just east of town.   The family that owns the ranch has "adopted" Deming Miller Elementary and they invite them out every year for the run, some lawn games and pizza for lunch.  It is beautiful out there...and luckily the weather cooperated for a perfect Fall day.

The run was broken down into grade divisions.  These girls ran their little hearts out.  I ran along with the 1st graders ...thinking I would help keep them encouraged. Emmrey caught sight of the finish line and she left me in the dust;)  She gave it her all and came in 7th in her group (4th girl)....so proud of her!!

Kars held onto a lead right from the start and never let up.  I was so proud to see her cross the finish line trailing only 3 boys ...by a smidge;)  She came in 1st place for the girls....fastest 6th grade girl....way to make your mark as the "new kid".

The goal for the run is that EVERY child finishes....no matter how fast.  As proud as I was of my girls for doing so well and running so hard, I was even more proud to see them cheer on kids who were struggling to finish.  I think the best part of the day was watching the kids rally and even go back and re-run/walk with classmates to the finish line:)  These two girlies of mine really shined and I couldn't be more proud!!

Denver Zoo at last

 Emmrey had asked to go to the Zoo for her birthday.  We wanted to take the girls when it "cooled off a little" since we knew from past experience that it can be pretty miserable when its HOT.  Then the floods came...literally...and we have been waiting until it was even possible to get there.  Well, at last the day came to make our trek to the Denver Zoo.

 

This Zoo is something else.  It is huge and there is so much to see....it's hard to pick a favorite.  We all enjoyed watching the Penguin feeding.  I think I could have watched them for hours...so funny. 

 

We also got to feed these beautiful Lorikeet birds.  They are native to Australia and their color is unbelievable.  We fed them nectar from these little cups.  All of us but Kars took a turn.  When she heard they might peck your finger....she was out.

Emmrey took the opportunity to practice her monkey bar skills which she has mastered...she fit right in;)

The weather was gorgeous...a little too warm for what we had anticipated.  We enjoyed a picnic for lunch.

Of course we had to follow that up with ice-cream while we waited for the Sea Lion show.

 We loved the Elephants and made a second trip back to that part of the Zoo to say goodbye.  Two of the elephants were named Kimbo and Bodhi....good names for sure;)

 These little gorillas had the time of their lives and we are already trying to plan a time to return.

 We stayed until the bitter end and enjoyed every minute of our day at the Denver Zoo...great memories!!