Happy Halloween

On Halloween we decided to go to Cornbellies at Thanksgiving Point. Steven and Ethan didn't come with us because they were leaving to go to the U of U blackout game. Ethan is a true sports fan to be willing to miss Cornbellies and trick or treating!

Ahhhh, Elsa playing in the corn! Then she cruised through the pumpkin maze below.

We went into this lizzard/beast maze thing. Right now we are in the heart chamber and had just been freaked out. We had so much fun that Gracie and I went through again with Jaime! Embarrassing to say but we only made it half way through. When we got to the stomach area, the beast had indigestion or something and made this super loud sound...we got the heck out of there.Mining for gems! Gracie and Mom competing in the duck races!

Lost in the corn maze!

Gracie looks like a model here. We had such a fun time at Cornbellies!

Dad took a moment to hold Anna! She was just starring at him, it was so cute.

Jaime's yummy stew that she makes every Halloween! Thanks Jaime it was fabulous as usual.

What a cute 50's girl!

Elsa dressed up like Minney Mouse!

Trick or Treat! There was a huge group of us (Steve and Jaime's friends and their kids plus family) that took the kids door to door.Dad and Michael joined in on the trick or treating fun!Ashli trying to make Michael jealous with her new boyfriend!

After trick or treating the kids sorted through their candy and the adults played a fun dice game. It was a fun Halloween! Oh and the UofU won!!! Go Utes!

Pumpkin Carving

It was freezing cold out so we all bundled up and headed over to Trunk or Treat. The kids were cute and scored with a ton of candy

Ethan (batman), Gracie (50's girl), Elsa (Minnie Mouse) with Mom

Steve fancied up the car and gave out candy while the rest of us turboed around.

My friend Melissa and her cute little boy Ashton were also there!

Melissa and Ashton....Trick or Treat!

Gracie, Elsa, and Ethan with their loot!Steve and Ethan carving a spider pumpkin

Elsa and I decided to carve a cat pumpkin (Callie would be proud)!Dad is methodical and ended up with a ghost by railroad crossing Family fun!Mom, Gracie, and Elsa cuddled up by our fancy pumpkins!

We were all happy with how they turned out! The cat will probably be my new Halloween tradition when it comes to pumpkin carving!

Young Womens

I Love working with the young women. They are a fun group of girls. I'm in the process of getting to know the girls. Tonight we had a Halloween fair. It was a stake activity. The girls were excited since there are only 3 boys in our ward and they are all 12!

Fun times

Me and girls

Laura (2nd counselor) and Emily (YW President) with girls

A visit to Alli's

I was able to combine a trip to visit Alli and her family with my Dad's retirement party. This is Alli's cute house in Huntington Beach. She literally lives a few blocks from the beach.

It was so much fun to spend time with Summer and Ben. I also love Abby, she is a good dog. The kids lay all over her and she lets them. Ben and Summer are so cute. We had fun going on walks and I loved watching them ride their bikes. Ben is a pro. Alli also made really good dinners. I also loved "Alli time" at night. We would chat and hang out after we put the kids to bed. I miss you Alli!

Seriously....check this spider out. I was playing with the kids in the backyard and there was this huge spider in the back yard. It totally freaked me out. It had a huge black spot with white dots around it. Its web is pretty impressive. I wonder if it is poisonous?

California Beaches

Huntington Beach

Ben playing in the ocean. Both kids LOVED playing in the waves. We jumped the waves for hours! The awesome thing about California beaches in September is there they are deserted! It is fancy, we felt we were on a private beach!

Corona Del Mar

Those seguls were just waiting for Summer to drop a strawberry! Alli and I would get up drop Ben off at school, make a lunch and head to the beach. What a life!!!!Summer and I walked along the beach to these rocks. She was so much fun and silly to be with. We laughed and laughed and had fun walking in the water. Amazing! I didn't want to leave.
I just couldn't get over how beautiful this beach is. See what I mean about it practically being like a private beach? Check out these waves! They weren't the kind you could body surf. There were coast guards telling people not to go out that far because the rip tide was so strong. I love the sea breeze and hearing the waves crash. We were still able to play in the water but didn't go out very far.

The last day we took a drive to Laguna Beach on Pacific Coast Highway! It was so much fun.

Huntington Beach Pier

My pretty sister! We decided to get ice cream and take a walk on Huntington Pier.

This is the only picture I have of the 4 of us...trouble that my eyes are closed. I love Huntington Pier. It is so relaxing and a fun place for the kids also. Huntington Beach always reminds me of trips to the beach when were younger and of course of Mema!

I loved walking on the pier watching the surfers and looking for seals and dolphins. Some guy caught this huge stingray. I was glad the stingray got away! Ben kept given the surfers a thumbs up when they would catch a wave.
Ben thought it was hilarious that he could put his hamburger in his mouth with no hands. What is a trip to California without going to In&Out. We went several times.

I love this picture of Summer. She is so cute. She loves In&Out that is for sure!

We went to one of my favorite stores by Alli's house...Trader Joes. The kids thought it would be so cool to wear there costumes to the store. People kept commenting on how cute they looked.

I was just getting ready to put Summer and Ben to bed after reading them a few stories. It was sad for me b/c I knew I was leaving the next morning so this would be my goodbye. I had a fun time with Alli and the kids.