Trunk-Or-Treat

We had our church Halloween party last night. So much fun as always.

Here's my motely crew:



Why can't I stop taking pictures of this cute little girl?

My kids loved the donut on a string game.

Who Is This Kid?

Carving Pumpkins

Ty Guy did his entire pumpkin all by himself this year! He drew his cleaned it out, drew his own picture and cut it out all by himself. When did this kid grow up so much?


Carter cleaned and drew his face too.

Paige was all about drawing on her pumpkin. She was very serious about the whole thing.

Our good friends, Yvonne, Brian and Mirabella came over to join the festivities. We have been carving pumpkins and celebrating Halloween with these guys long before we had kids. So happy to carry on the tradition this year.

Random Posts

FYI: In an effort to be completely caught up on posts (for journaling purposes) by the end of the year, there are going to be a lot of random posts on here. Bear with me!

Halloween Parade

Paige and I got to go to Carter's school on Thursday to see everyone's costumes and have a party with his class. He was so cute with his best little friend, who happened to dress up as a policeman (woman) too.



After the parade we went back to his class for apples and books. Carter read a book he made to me and then we read one as a class.

Paige was thrilled to hang out in Carter's classroom. Her favorite parts: the dry erase board and the doll, of course.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Future Cheerleader

My little girl LOVES cheerleading! The girls in our neighborhood cheer for Ty's football team and Paige has taken on the roll of their little "mascot." She can watch these girls pratice all day and knows all their routines. This weekend she helped them get ready for their big competition and polish their dance moves.

Love her cheerleading "pretty dress?" She insists on wearing it when she's with the girls.

We went to the compition with the football team to cheer the girls on. They did great!

Boo At The Zoo

Every year my mom, and now my dad too, takes the kids to Boo at the Zoo. The last couple years they have met up with Keith's parents and all of the cousins too.

My boys look forward to it every year and Paige enjoyed her first time this year. Thanks to my parents for taking them and to my mom for carrying Paige the entire time!


"I Shortcake." Paige wore the same Strawberry Shortcake costume my mom made for me when I was her age. So cute!

"Just call me Pops." That's what Carter told everyone. His Uncle "Pops" (aka Kevin) is on the SWAT team and Carter was more than proud to represent!

If Carter was dressing up as what he wanted to be when he grew up, Ty wanted to do the same. It was a little harder to find a mechanical engineer costume, but I think we did a good job.

General Conference

Every April and October our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, has a two-day conference broadcasted from Salt Lake City around the world. It is an opportunity for all of us to hear inspired talks from our church leaders. It is one of my favorite times of the year. I look forward to gathering together with my family in my home to listen to these inspiring talks. This time the kids decided to build a tent to sit in while they watched. They ate lunch and colored in the tent, while we listened. Such a great day!

Smokey Mountains: Horseback Riding

One morning all but two of us went on an hour horseback ride through the smokies, even Paige! We even rode a little of the while in the rain.

Ty guy was too big to double with one of us, so they gave him his own horse. As the mother to this sweet little boy, I was not happy about this decision, but he did awesome. His little horse, Sweet Foot, was so good.


Carter doubled with me on Indigo.

And Paige rode with Keith.

Unfortunately, Kevin was the designated photographer for the trip and was behind me in line, so every picture has this view.

I called this before we even started: I ALWAYS get the horse that apparently didn't get enough to eat back at the stable and prefers to sit and eat rather than stay with the group...sure enough! We said it was appropraite that Carter was on the horse that likes snacks!

So Fun!

Smokey Mountains: Ripley's Aquarium

By far, the best aquarium we've ever been too. This was one of our favorite parts of our last trip to the Smokies and a must do on our list again this year.

Ripley's does an amazing job: every kind of fish you can imagine (and some you would never have imagined), an awesome shark tank with two walk through tunnels so you feel like you are actually swimming with the sharks, sting ray feeding and a penguin playground with tunnels for the kids to crawl through the penguins habitat...among much more!

Keith took some incredible pictures of some of the fish, but he must not have uploaded them to the computer, because I can't find them anywhere...

Smokey Mountains: Laurel Falls

Finally, my computer is letting me post pictures again. Will I ever catch up?

The next day we hiked up to Laurel Falls. It's a partially paved trail, so it was a good one for everyone to go on. All the kids were troopers on the hike, hiking all by themselves up to the falls. Once at the falls, the kids loved exploring the water and making their own water slides.

After the falls we played in the river.

The current worked a lot better on the little bodies...O and I struggled to make it downstream.