Trick or treat grandma

We got dressed up just to go Trick or Treat to grandma.  I called my sister, Tiffany, and told her to do the same.  I went over to her house to help get her kids ready and we made the trek over (5 minutes).  It was so fun.  Avery's pirate costume was improvised while I was there at Tiff's house.  It turned out awesome.

Grandma got 'points' with this mama for giving fruit leather.  Nice grandma.

Woody was in heaven.

Buzz loved the new addition of the tutu to her costume to give it a little feminine touch.  :-)

I am not sure what she's looking at, but I just LOVE the look on her face here.  Too cute.

We got lucky!

On our way home from Denver Sunday, we stopped at the Gordon's house (Doug's sister and her family) after they had just landed an hour before.  Ethan and Sydney got some 'wiggles' out so they would fall asleep in the car.  Natalie's kids had just raked leaves in her yard into a huge pile and they had a blast jumping over and over...

Halloween party #2

I convinced Doug to fly in to Denver to drive home with us.  I bribed him by saying he would not miss out on seeing his friend and cousin, Adam and his family.  Doug quickly agreed, found a cheap ticket, and booked it.  I was thrilled to see him today and so excited to not drive home alone tomorrow morning.

Halloween Party--two nights in a row!  We joined Doug's cousin, Adam, for their trunk or treat tonight and were amazed at their carnival-style games prior to the trunk or treat.  We enjoyed a lasagna dinner (well, everyone else enjoyed it--cheese and I are not friends anymore) and then went to different rooms with games for 30 minutes or so and then outside to the trunk or treat.  It was a blast.  There was a witch with a gigantic nose the kids had to stick their hand up the nose to get a piece of candy.  Hilarious.

We were bummed our kids had a bedtime when we had to leave Adam and Meggin to get our kiddos in bed.  

Halloween festivities begin

Buzz and Woody were so excited to dress up and go to a Kayla's trunk or treat at her church building.  Ethan was quite jealous that Bryn was a princess because she was wearing a beautiful dress.  The next day he asked to be a princess.  That's my boy! :-/

They had a great time and Sydney walked around with her reusable shopping bag open and said "trick or treat" with a LOT of enthusiasm.  They both were in awe that people would give them candy when you said those words.  It was magical.  It was also cold, so they both begged to be done when we had visited about 75% of the cars in the parking lot.

Museum

We found a fun museum with lots of 'stuffed' animals to see.  Ethan kept looking for the moose.  We have a Cabella's close-by, so Ethan and Sydney recognize the taxidermy animals.  I wanted to take a photo of Ethan 'wearing' these antlers, but he was too short.  

My friend, Michelle, met us there and we went to lunch with her, but didn't take any photos.  What's wrong with me?

We ended up taking the kids home for a nap and coming back later in the afternoon mostly to see the space portion we'd heard about.  They had space suits for them to wear and pretend to be in a space ship.  Ethan and Sydney have no idea what a space ship is, but they loved the steering wheels and buttons everywhere!

Despite Kayla's best attempts to get Bryn in a suit, we ended up without a photo of the three of them.  Poor mama.

Bedtime in a new place

Bedtime has been tough--mostly the sleeping part.  Well, in getting them ready for bed tonight, I had to laugh as I watch Sydney try to climb the wall...well, backwards while I was brushing teeth and getting pajamas on them.  She can be so spunky!

Butterfly Pavilion

We had a relaxed morning after E&S didn't sleep long and were up in the night.  This is always the case for the first night in a new place.  Our first day in Denver we decided to go to the Butter Pavilion close to Kayla's house. It was absolutely worth every penny.  

Kayla and I held a real-life tarantula.

We saw tons of beautiful butterflies everywhere in the pavilion. They had us go into a holding room after leaving the pavilion and checked our clothes and bags in case any butterflies had attached to us and we didn't notice.

These three toddlers loved every minute.

We even had a few minutes before they closed to play on some flowers and butterflies.

They humored us for several photos.

But the highlight of the day was scaring butterflies and squealing as they flew toward them.

Colorado bound

When I left my driveway 90 minutes later than I wanted, I was quite anxious to begin an 8 hour drive alone with Ethan and Sydney. They do fairly well in the car--they don't have any older siblings to know that they could possibly get out of their carseats, but they are quite demanding for me to hand them things.  Being the driver, it was quite difficult to meet those demands.  

My friend, Kayla, mailed us her TVs that strap onto the back of the front seats.  Those little screens were like GOLD!  Ethan and Sydney were mesmerized for the first movie and it was nearly silent in the back seat.  

Kayla met me after I'd driven 5.5 hours and we played outside a bit before she strapped all THREE toddlers into her back seat and gave the doors an extra shove so they would close. They had a blast riding together and Kayla was a trooper.  I drove alone the remainder of the time through some of the most beautiful mountains I had ever seen.  Vail was breathtaking and I was amazed that I had never driven that stretch of road.  We stopped for dinner and continued on to Denver, arriving just 15 minutes before bedtime.  I quickly set up beds and put them to sleep.  They had completely missed a nap--despite my efforts to get them to go to sleep.  

You are my sunshine

I suppose if the warmth of the sun is leaving for several months, at least I have the company of two adorable kids.  They have their not-so-adorable moments everyday, but these are a few adorable ones.

We got an oil change and were given some pink carnations when we left.  E&S were SO excited.  Ethan carried them around for several hours...even while driving their little car.

They discovered the leaves fall off the trees when the weather is getting cold and sat and played in the leaves and Sydney squealed as the leaves blew off the trees in a strong breeze.  It was one of those moments that I sat and realized how lucky I am to be teaching them all about our world and everything I know.

We had Macey and Avery over for a bit to play and Ethan and Macey put on the crowns (from a July parade this summer) and played musical instruments with me while we marched around the house as if we were in a band and sang different songs.  Ethan calls the recorder his "trumpet" and doesn't yet know to cover the holes to make different tones.  Instead he plays it but hums while he does so it will sound like the song.  Love this boy and his musical delight.

Sudden Rexburg trip

Just before Doug crossed the finish line in St. George, I got a call that my sister's mother-in-law passed away.  Having lived in Rexburg for a few years and having spent many hours at her in-laws home, I was shocked and so sad.  Emmeli Sommer was one of the most beautiful people I have met and seemed to overflow with love for others.  She felt somewhat like a grandma to me an I wanted to see her when I was in town.  She lived just across the street from my sister, Katie, so I got the opportunity of popping in to see her and hear her cheery voice and Swiss accent many times.  I told Doug, "I am going to the funeral, whenever it is scheduled" and took Ethan and Sydney so Doug could work on his dissertation.  I knew they'd have a blast with their cousins anyway.

The funeral services were amazing with a feeling of peace and love so strong that I found myself overcome with emotion several times.  I felt her presence looking down on her family and friends with so much love.  It was moving and something I won't forget.

We spent time with cousins that afternoon and the following morning--playing so much that I also didn't take many photos.  Ethan and Sydney had a fantastic time with their cousins.

Saturday morning we went to Jacob's soccer game and Sarah sported Aaron's blanket from college that had a lot of...character.  We froze and ran to our cars once the ref blew the whistle.  It was so fun to see him play.

We went out to see the progress on the Sommer's house and then left for home (after stopping for lunch at Christensens--thanks again!) and Sydney had to say goodbye to her favorite friend of the weekend--Shelley.  We got home and received her school photo along with her siblings.  Sydney carried it around the house admiring it until it was so wrinkled, I asked for it to post on our photo board.  She looks at it once each day.  She is still confused whether her name is Emmeli or Shelley and I have to remind her that Emmeli is her older sister.

Wish we were visiting for a happier occasion, but were glad to celebrate a good life of an excellent woman.  Thanks Rexburg family for hosting us.

We love cousins (friends)

With 8 kids in Doug's family as well as mine, it means lots and lots of cousins for Ethan and Sydney.  They are starting to think that everyone they play with is a cousin--especially those whom we see the most.  First "cousin" is Quentin--my mission companion's son.  They love him and spent a good time in his backyard chasing each other.  I love listening to their squeals of excitement.

We went to St. George for Doug to run his second-ever marathon and stayed with Doug's good friend from growing up, Ezra and his family.  Ethan and Sydney absolutely loved playing with their "cousins" and didn't want to leave.  Lucas was playing a kazoo from a birthday party and Ethan went up and blew on the other end.  So funny.

They both loved all the new and exciting toys.  I barely saw them while we were there.

After Doug's race (no photos--boo!) it took me 30 minutes to find him.  He crossed the finish line earlier than I anticipated where he finished his last marathon in 3 hrs 50 min and this time he came across that finish line at 3 hrs 24 min.  He was pleased with his time and we are both convinced that, if he trains hard enough, he could qualify for the Boston Marathon.  He has really tapered off in his training the last 6 weeks prior to the race, barely running 3-4 times per week.  After an ice bath and some food, we headed to Tuachan to see the musical Hairspray.  It was a blast.  Doug could barely walk after sitting down for 2 hours, but it was a great time.

We started our drive home Sunday after eating dinner with Cindy and Ezra and Elise with their boys.  We stopped to see some lots my company is purchasing to sell to our clients and spent a few hours taking several photos of the development by Sand Hollow resort.  We were sad to leave the warm weather and head home to chilly Northern Utah.

We were welcomed to Fall weather in full-swing.  We've been trying to spend lots of time outside to enjoy our last few days of warmer weather.  We bought tricycles for E&S for their birthdays which they still cannot ride by pushing the pedals and they prefer to push them around the backyard and down the driveway.  They beg to go "get the mail" so they can push their bikes.

We have discovered a cool website where we can read books online.  Between that and watching "wheels on the bus" on YouTube, they are begging to see my computer screen a LOT lately.

Lastly, we brought a little present over to their (real) cousin Macey for her birthday and Ethan and Sydney were upset to leave the butterfly wings we bought.  Ethan, of course, wanted to try them on and ran around the house.  I love these kids.