Halloween

Halloween was fun this year. Max really got into it. We went to our ward trunk or treat and went to a party at his school. We would have taken Max and Elizabeth trick or treating around the block, but Max was sick the actual day of Halloween. I was hoping to retake some better pictures of Elizabeth, but that never happened. So these will have to do. 

'Ironman' jumping in the blow-up castle at the trunk or treat

 'Little Miss Riding Hood's' turn

 A picture after we got home (don't mind the dirty faces and crazy hair)

Elizabeth saying trick or treat

Max with his teacher and two of his classmates

After his really short school party, we went to the park.

Max thought it was pretty awesome to wear his costume to the park.

Elizabeth didn't. 

These two make holidays so fun. I look forward to the next few. :)

Skeleton's everywhere

So Max is obsessed with the human body. he wants to know all of the names of the bones, muscles, organs, etc... his favorite one of these is the skeleton. he knows about 15 bones. It is the cutest thing to watch him recite them.

 We've been doing skeleton crafts,

 Skull pancakes,

and I found this costume on clearance for $6 and couldn't pass. he knows all the bones on this costume except the ones in the hands and feet (he only knows the phalanges :)). It has been so much fun teaching him about a topic he is so interested in.

Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Max's preschool went on a fieldtrip to a pumpkin patch. He loved it! 

He got to hunt for his own little pumpkin and decorate it.

He and his friend Callie loved climbing up on the haystacks

and the pallets the pumpkins were on. 

They were read a halloween story, went on a hayride and were given a little treat. He sure loves going to school and all it entails. 

The Jordan River and the Dead Sea

This is the Jordan River. It's not exactly what it used to be in it's former glory, (due to Israel jacking the water upstream) but it is still a sight to see.

Here is a little pick with some of the local vegetation.

So this is the spot where it is believed that Christ was baptized. They know this from archeological digs and from passed down history. There is a mosaic map from 700 A.D. that has the site near this spot also. You can tell where the water level used to be. It was really an awesome place to visit.

This is the dead sea. Here it's kinda rude to walk around with no shirt unless you are swimming or catching rays, hence a wife beater for walking around in. It's hard to see all the salt water built up on the rocks, but it was crazy!!

I am definitely not a floater. I never have been, but I had absolutely no problem in the Dead Sea. It was awesome.

  

Here I'm doing my best whale impression. At one point I tried to swim towards the bottom......It was a massive FAIL. plus saltwater in the eyes burned like crazy. p.s Dead Sea is 10x saltier than ocean, and yes that spanks the Great Salt Lake saline level.

This is a when in Rome moments for me. It's a mud covering thing, that everyone does when they go to the Dead Sea.

I know it's looks a little dumb, and maybe crazy, but man was my skin soft after my "treatment".

If you didn't know, the Dead Sea is the lowest elevation on land on the planet, notice the - 1262. From Amman to the Dead Sea you drop 4000 feet in a 20 min drive, talk about your ears popping a ton. We'll keep the posts coming, there's still a trip to Petra coming up.

Neils is in Jordan!

So Neils is in Jordan. He was given this amazing opportunity because he did so well on the Arabic tests that he took last year while we were in CA. The main reason for this visit is for him to emerge himself in Arabic. He was supposed to work a little bit with the embassy, but they told him it's a slow month so he just needs to go around and better his arabic. Today he got to go to Jerash, which is a beautiful two thousand year old city. He emailed me some pictures, so I thought I'd share them.

We definitely miss him (especially Elizabeth who asks for Daddy all day long), but thank goodness for Skype and email. He has internet in his hotel room so anyone that wants to communicate with him can. Life isn't the same without him, but we do enjoy spending time with everyone in AZ. It helps make our time apart go by faster.