Halloween 2016

We had quite a fun Halloween this year, with a lot of festivities and trick or treating! Maya and Brianna went trick or treating 4 times: the ward trunk or treat, Ryan's work, Treatsylvania at Lee Martinez Farm, and finally on Halloween night.

Maya dressed up as a Ballerina Skeleton (every time she told somebody what she was, she did a little twirl afterwards) and Brianna was a Cowgirl Skeleton.

This was our first makeup attempt. We were late for the trunk or treat and it was a little rushed, but still turned out cute.

For playgroup the Tuesday before Halloween we had a fun Halloween craft and a pinata. The kids loved it!

They did not, however, know how to really SMACK a pinata. Most of them did gentle taps, but they still thought it was cool.

One afternoon we made Halloween sugar cookies. I like to put the sprinkles on before we bake them, so they still look cute but we don't have to take the time to frost them.

Maya got pouty for a minute with Brianna got to do the rolling.

We found a cute decoration kit for a pumpkins from Target. And...Brianna is silly.

Treatsylvania was the Saturday before Halloween. We went with our friends, the Cooks. They have a cute little boy, and he was dressed up as a Cowboy. This is make-up attempt #2. We got some great watercolor crayons that work well for drawing on skin!

Maya was silent all night long. She didn't say "trick or treat" one time. She was acting really tired and not with it...it made more since once when we got home and were taking off her make-up that we discovered she had a fever.

The night before Halloween we decorated and carved our pumpkins. 

On Halloween Day Maya had a Halloween party at preschool that families were invited to. Brianna had a great time, but made it obvious she is not old enough for school yet! They had fun crafts and treats.

This is Maya's class. Her entire class. 3 cute blondies!

The last 30 minutes were spent in the gym doing gymnastics.

That evening my mom and dad came over for the festivities. We (I) have a tradition of making Jack O' Lantern pizza on Halloween. After dinner we did the make-up on the girls (final attempt turned out awesome I think!) and then Ryan and my dad took them trick or treating.

We didn't get a ton of trick or treaters at our door, but when they came, Brianna was all about handing out the candy. 

I love holidays with kids! 

October and Fall!

It has been an eventful month! The weather is still fantastically warm, and I'm trying to enjoy it more than wish it felt more crisp in the air. 

We have enjoyed many fall-time activities this month, along with Halloween crafts and fun too.

Our neighbor has a crab apple tree. Maya and Brianna were enjoying collecting the apples even though they were rotting and yucky.

For play group on the 11th we went to a pumpkin patch and got to take a hay ride!

See? Great weather!! One day we were hanging out at home not doing much, and Maya said, "Hey, Mom. Let's go do something. Like a bike ride!" So we strapped on helmets and went for a ride around the neighborhood - well, I walked (without a helmet). It is a whole new level when they start being so independent and not needing to ride in the stroller all the time anymore. 

The maple in our backyard has turned a magnificent shade of fiery red.

We had the cultural celebration for the temple dedication. What a night! As a young woman leader I was blessed to get to assist in the practices and other parts of getting ready for the performance. It was really fun (albeit stressful and annoying at times when the kids were super disrespectful to the leaders trying to get stuff done) and something I will remember forever.

We did have one relatively chilly day, and we had tea to warm us up!

Ryan and I attended the temple the first Saturday after it had opened. It is so beautiful inside and having it in our home town, just a couple of miles away from our house, made the whole experience even sweeter.

We have a huge amount of leaves to clean up after the fiery maple started dropping its embers!

Maya - Preschool!

Maya has started preschool. She is so ready! She can write/recognize letters, knows how to spell her name, can count to 20, knows many shapes and colors, and loves to make new friends. She is also really enjoying doing projects like glitter, drawing and coloring (her coloring skills impress me - she stays in the lines every time), painting, and PlayDoh. I am excited to watch her blossom even more this school year!

I decided she needed new school clothes. Isn't that part of the excitement of starting school? Granted, I mostly got her fall clothes so it's a still too warm to wear most of them. Little girl clothes are so stinkin' cute!

Horsetooth Rock Hike

For Labor Day this year we hiked up to Horsetooth Rock. The weather was gorgeous, and we had a great time. Garrett and Holly came with us, adding to the fun!

It took us 2 hours to get to the top. We had snacks and relaxed for about 30 minutes enjoying the view before heading back down.

Of course the girls wanted to climb!

And Maya REALLY wanted to climb. She's hard to see in this picture, but Ryan assisted her in climbing all the way to the top of Horsetooth Rock by herself. 

They made it!

I felt rather imbalanced with Brianna on my back, so we stayed at the bottom of the Rock while the others went up (I did try to get up, but only made it half way before I felt too nervous).

Maya explained that she had eaten tons of food during our break and had enough energy to hike down by herself. And she did - the whole 2 1/2 miles!

It was such a fun activity to do! We love spending time outdoors, and now that this season is nearly finished, I'm glad we had the opportunity to do this hike. 

We were pretty tired when we got back home, so we hung out around the house and then had picnic dinner in the family room and watched the new Jungle Book movie. All in all, it was a great day. Happy Labor Day!