Halloween 2017

Another Halloween come and gone, and another good one at that!

The pumpkin lineup this year (Davis's and Jackson's came from our garden):

Jackson's trick-or-treating map/plan he drew up one day after school:

He was so excited about trick-or-treating this year and really wanted to maximize his time! I seriously love this map. Surprisingly it is pretty accurate!

Davis had his first preschool performance and he was a cute little pumpkin. He did a great job singing the songs.

The cast of characters:

This year we had a werewolf, skeleton, Batman, and Cabbage Patch Kid! I thought all of them looked great, and most importantly, they all loved their costumes. Our kids talk about what they want to be for Halloween all year long and are already talking about next year. 

Jackson the werewolf

Bode the skeleton

Davis as Batman

Molly the Cabbage Patch doll

I took a million pictures of her because I thought she looked so cute! My sister-in-law Rachel crocheted the hat and it was darling.

Waving at her dad who was in the upstairs window :)

We had fun trick or treating around our neighborhood with friends. I was too slow to keep up with Jackson's group, but lots of candy was collected by all and everyone had a good time. 

Bode with his friends Roman and Cooper

Molly tried to eat everything as soon as she got it. She was so cute walking around with the pail. She really loved her hat/wig and kept trying to make the pig tails flop around. I loved that it kept her head warm!

Jackson with his friends Kru and Jackson C.

Davis and his buddy Levi

Hard to believe we are headed into Thanksgiving and Christmas!

Fall break

While seemingly all of Utah headed south to St. George for fall break, we headed north! We spent one night in Idaho Falls and the boys had a blast spending the night at Sean's parents' house. We headed up to Island Park the next day. Even though it was freezing, it is always so good to be at the cabin.

We were all hoping it would snow at least a little bit while we were there, and it did! We still got out the four-wheelers and had fun taking short rides. 

Molly enjoyed hanging out by the fire while drinking her Reed's Dairy chocolate milk :)

We went into Yellowstone one of the days to hit up Old Faithful and check out the new Grand Prismatic Spring overlook. It was nice because the summer crowds were long gone.

It was a cold day, which made it easy to spot hot pots and geysers from the steam. 

The hike to the Grand Prismatic Spring overlook was longer than I expected and it was definitely cold, but we had a great time. The view of the spring was so cool. I can't wait to go back again in the summer.

Molly and grandma in the Old Faithful gift shop

Luckily we didn't have to wait long for Old Faithful!

Warming up and exploring in the visitor's center

On our drive out of the park we stopped by one of the streams next to the road to feel how hot the water was. Even with the millions of times I have been to Yellowstone, I am still so intrigued by it all!

I am glad we were able to visit the park once more before it closed for the season a couple of weeks later. With our trip to Glacier this year, we didn't spend as much time in Yellowstone as we normally do. I will always have a special place in my heart for this area and I am glad my family loves it as much as I do! I am so grateful my parents have their cabin and that it brings our family together in a place we all love.

Molly: 18 months

I am a bit behind, but wanted to do an 18-month-update on Molly! She is so much fun right now and seems to really be coming into her own. She was officially our latest walker and started walking just a couple days after 17 months old (Davis only beat her by 4 days!) She was a pro in no time and is running all over the place now. She also loves climbing everything and doesn't seem to have much fear. She continues to grow and is topping the charts on height. When they showed me the growth curve, she was actually off the chart. I hope she stays tall and will love it as much as I do. 

She adores her older brothers and loves following them around and playing with them. She also loves music and dancing. She can't help but dance when she hears music. She even sings a little bit now and I think it is the cutest thing in the world with her sweet little voice. In general, she's a lot happier now that she is walking. She can definitely still throw some attitude and likes to get her way, but she is a really sweet girl with a funny personality. Unlike her brothers were, she's very guarded with strangers. However, once she feels familiar with someone, she really opens up and becomes your best friend. She also loves books and her favorites are The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Goodnight Gorilla. Other favorites include being outside and strawberry milk-- she has to see you put the syrup in or else she refuses to drink it! She is really starting to expand her vocabulary and knows where her belly, eyes, ears, nose, and tongue are. She loves to tease her dad by giving her mom kisses and refusing to give any to him. Deep down though, she's a daddy's girl (and a mommy's girl at the same time.) I have to admit, having a girl is a lot of fun. I loved getting to shop for her while I was in New York and I get excited to pick out her outfits each day!

Here are a few pics of Molly at 18 months old:

We sure love our Molly girl!