Halloween Fun 2012.

The older the kids get the more fun Halloween becomes.  

I love how enthusiastic they get about finding the right costume and it's so funny to watch them make up their mind about it.  They have something in their little heads and no one will change their mind.  No matter how cool Scott and I think they'll look, Brielle and Braden just have a mind of their own.  

Brielle wanted to be a mermaid, but not "the little mermaid", she just wanted to be a mermaid of the sea.  We easily found her costume at Walmart.  

Braden had set his mind on Harry Potter.  We went on a Harry Potter costume hunt with no luck.  We could not find a Harry Potter costume his size anywhere!  

So, two days before Halloween we decided to make it.  

Brooke was a butterfly and it worked out great because my friend Heidi had one, 

so we just borrowed it. 

On the 30th, Brielle had her 1st grade Halloween presentation.  

It was so amazing.  

Those little first graders sang their little hearts out.  I was amazed that they all knew the words to every song.  I think they practiced a lot and it showed.

Brielle was so animated and knew the words to every song. 

It was so fun to watch her perform. 

I keep going back to watch this one.  She got so into it! ha ha! 

I'm thinking this little girl needs to take some drama classes, she's quite the little performer! 

After the presentation, I got closer to take come pictures.  

I think Brielle was excited to see me!:) 

On the way out, Brielle insisted on showing me her work of art on the school hallway.  

The night before Halloween, Scott and I spent 3 hours making Braden's costume.  

I couldn't have done it without Scott.  

We are such a good team! 

I love a man who can use a sewing machine! 

What a good dad he is. 

On Halloween day, the school had a parade of costumes.  It was so cute to see all the costumes and watch Brielle and Braden showing off theirs. 

Here is our very own Harry Potter! 

That cloak took FOREVER! and we missed a few measurement and the sleeves were too short! 

Ah!!! But other than that, I think it looks pretty darn good. 

Too bad I don't have any photos of him wearing the hood, that is the part that took the longest. 

It was worth making it though, just to see Braden's reaction when he saw the final product on Halloween morning.  He was thrilled! 

He kept saying, 'that is exactly what I wanted!'

I went to Brielle's classroom before heading home...I said smile and that is the face she made! 

Silly girl! 

Later that day, our ward had a Halloween Party.  

Our little neighbor friends are so cute.  

I'm bummed Brookie is not in this picture.  

They all looked so cute!

Isn't that little Brookie the cutest little butterfly around? 

She was not a happy butterfly though, she was ready for bed! 

This is as 'picture perfect' as it gets...

The Clarke kids and the Jensen kids.  

I love the Clarke's! 

I'm so sad I didn't take a picture with the green M&M (my friend Heidi). 

She is so awesome and I'm so glad that we know them. Their kids are so sweet.  We've been so lucky to meet such great people here. 

Our ward Halloween party was awesome and they did such a good job with everything, except for the very disturbing and freaky looking babies or whatever they are called.  They were so awful to look at.  

Be grateful I'm only posting a picture of the back of it (well...this is the only photo I have of one, and I wasn't meaning to take one of them)....they were centerpieces for a few tables...they were so freaky...not my favorite. 

Scottie and I decided last minute, as in a few hours before the party that we wanted to be bandits. 

Our costumes look so simple but it took us a good hour to put them together. 

Dressing up for Halloween is never as simple as it seems.

But we are SO glad we did.  

It was fun!

I wanted to take an individual picture of all 3 children with that back drop but the only one who wanted to cooperate was Mr. Braden. 

It was mainly those bags that took forever to make!

(we didn't make the bags but the dollar sign had to be carefully cut and then we had to heat n bond it onto the bags.) 

We went trick or treating after our ward party.  The weather was amazing that day! 

We didn't even have to wear jackets.  

The kids were excited to trick or treat for about an hour.  

After that, Brielle was declining candy and was ready to call it a night! 

Braden, on the other hand, could have trick-or-treated all night long! ha ha! 

We had a fun and successful Halloween this year and I ate candy for breakfast way too many days after Halloween...

...I need to detox. :)

Visitors.

 Lanie and Clay came to visit us for a few days last week.  

We had been anxiously waiting for them to come for a while now.  

Lanie had to postpone the trip because of work at the beginning of October, so Brielle and Braden (and the rest of us) couldn't wait to spend some fun, quality time with her and Grandpa Clay! 

We headed to Mill Creek Canyon to roast some yummy s'mores on Sunday after Church. 

It was so cold up there!:) and all the leaves from the trees were gone.  

We had gone up there a week or two earlier and it was so beautiful with all the fall colors. 

But this time around there was snow on the ground. 

The kids thought their Grandpa and dad were so cool because they made their s'more sticks from tree branches.  

Clay and Scott are such good boy scouts! 

There is nothing like a good s'more. 

...and the smell of a bonfire. 

It felt so good to stand in front of the fire...

Later that night, we had Penny over for dinner and we visited for a while.  

It's always nice to spend time with family. 

On Monday, we headed to the park after Braden came home from school.  

Brielle was still in school so she missed this outing. 

Our little Brookie is getting so big and thinks she can just become a big girl! 

She is one busy girl!

She can't quite hold still and walks all over the place and climbs onto everything.  

That baby needs constant supervision...

I am just exhausted at the end of the day chasing after her. 

But she melts my heart every day and I love her to pieces. 

My children are honestly so lucky to have such fun and amazing aunts and uncles.  

Lanie sure knows how to make a kid happy. 

She gives them so much attention and plays with them. 

They just can't get enough of her. 

She buried Braden in fall leaves...

...and undoubtedly Braden thought that was the coolest ever!

Then we had Grandpa come and try and find him in the leaves...

Where is Braden? 

That night Clay treated us all to dinner to the Red Iguana downtown.  

It was yummy, but I still miss Guapo's in Virginia.  

We had such a fun, relaxing visit.  

It was a little busy with the children being in school and I wish we could have done a little more with them while they were here.  But, it's nice to know that they are only 3 hours away and we can pretty much see them whenever we want!:) 

Thanks for making the effort to drive here and sleep in an uncomfy futon and blow up mattress! ha ha!

We love you Clay and Lanie!  

Mr. Braden Broke His Arm.

Forget about who was going to win that ridiculous election yesterday...I was more worried about our Mr. Braden.  He was playing with our neighbor and they were climbing a tree in our front yard, which he knows is a no no, but I was across the street talking to my other neighbor and all a sudden I hear Braden crying and on the ground.  

I didn't freak out, I just crossed the street and came to see my little boy.  At first I thought, it was nothing serious, but Braden is a pretty tough cookie so for him to be crying for that long totally raised a red flag.  

I asked him to wave his hand but he was in so much pain he refused. 

I asked him a few times to touch his head but again he was in pain.  

He was guarding his arm close to his little body, just like Brielle did when she broke her arm a few years ago. 

I gave it a few more minutes, we went inside our house, gave him a drink of water and asked him again to wave his hand, but he just couldn't do it. 

My poor Braden. 

I decided to take him to the ER. 

We are so incredibly blessed to have amazing neighbors, they took care of Brielle and Brooke and one of them even let me borrow her car because Scott had taken our car to work that morning. 

Several x-rays later and almost 4 hours in the ER, they told us that Braden has a fractured radius and he is going to be in a cast for 4 weeks. 

He is doing remarkably well and in a little bit of pain, we have been giving him tylenol every 4 hours and I think that is helping him. 

He went to school today and has been a trooper through this accident!

I'm glad he's going to be okay and it's nothing more than a broken arm. 

These accidents definitely bring some perspective to how fragile life really is.  

Send your prayers our way...

Grand Canyon.

The Grand Canyon was amazing.

I wish I had more adjectives to describe how magnificent it really is. 

Pictures don't quite do justice to what our human eyes were able to see.

It testified to me that there is a God. 

We didn't quite realize what to expect when we got there.  

I thought it would take 30 or 45 minutes at the most...we'd see it and head home...but it was a full day thing.

They have buses that take you to see the different views.  

We were on the south rim of the canyon and it took us all day to make our way...we didn't even make it to the north rim or into the canyon.  

I honestly think you could spend a week there to be able to fully experience it. 

The precipices were pretty amazing and it is a long way down if you fall.

I was so nervous the whole time, watching every step the kids would take and telling them to slow down and not run.  It was a bit stressful, to be honest.

They kept getting annoyed at my nervousness and kept rolling their eyes at me!

Including the 'big stinker' Scott!!!:) 

But it was so amazing and I marvel that something this magnificent exists on this earth. 

Scott making me nervous on purpose...I kept telling him not to get too close to edge. 

But I do love this man so dearly! He is a hottie and handsome father of 3! 

I love you Scottie. 

We were there pretty much all day, enjoying the beautiful day and the beautiful views. 

Poor Brookie was exhausted! We all were, really, we got up at 5 that day...Brooke was a trooper though and she sure brings so many smiles to our faces with her cuteness. 

Brielle was being silly and I was terrified standing there so close to the edge of the abyss. 

Braden was ready to call it a day! 

The Grand Canyon is a must see for everyone! I'm glad we were able to experience it together as a family! 

It was a perfect way to end our vacation.