Picking Apples

Before leaving Mom and Dad's, we went out and picked apples off their tree. We filled two grocery bags completely full for us, and the girls took some to the neighbors too. The girls' had so much fun, and I have never seen them eat apples so good. Apples fresh off the tree are the best. I am hoping to make some applesauce, but I think I'll wait until Nate's home to watch the kids while I make a mess.

Halloween Dinner

I've been getting emails full of Halloween food ideas. They looked like lots of fun, and I was itching to try some of them. After we decided to go to Idaho, I called my family and set up a Halloween themed dinner for Sunday night. Amy was gracious enough to volunteer her home. I emailed everybody some food ideas, and at 11pm Saturday night we ran to the grocery store to buy supplies. It seems most of the spooky food involves eyes and fingers...

Would anyone like some carrot eyes or cheese stick fingers? (If you zoom on the pictures you'll see the fingers even have knuckles.) Watch out for the olive tarantulas!

How about a big cheeseball eyeball?
We had orange jigglers. Unfortunately, I didn't have any mini Halloween cookie cutters to use for fun shapes, but I already found some for only .99 so next year we'll be better prepared.

Dad and Nate were put in charge of coating and cooking the chicken fingers. They did a great job, and everybody liked the recipe.

Dad, Mom, Kayla, Amy, Tyler, and Allie sat down to eat. We even had Halloween colored pop for our drinks.

For dessert we had worms in mud. Only the gluten people got dirt on top. We also found an assortment of Halloween candy to munch on while playing games.

Amy and Tyler pose for a picture. What a cute couple!!!

Angie was having fun teasing Amy about her new friend.

Jason was kind enough to cuddle with me for a while. There is just something wonderful about a snugly, sleeping baby.

Mom, Cory, Dad, Nate, and Kayla get ready to eat some dessert.

I hope everybody else had fun preparing such silly food. I never did get a picture of the hard boiled eyeballs. Next time hopefully the kids won't be so disgusted by the food. For some reason neither girl was willing to eat fingers even after I explained they were only cheese. It was fun to visit with everybody, but next time we'll have to do it when Nate doesn't have to leave so early.

Fun at Moose Haven

Friday afternoon we found out that Nate would for sure not have to work Saturday night. We decided we'd head to Idaho Saturday morning after Nate snagged a few hours of sleep. First thing we headed to Moose Haven to join the party. It was really nice to get to visit with everybody. Nate was able to play with the four-wheeler giving lots of rides. The girls were in heaven getting to finally see their cousins again. (My pictures all posted backwards for some reason so the first picture was actually in the evening and the last picture was when we first arrived.)
Morgan, Jordyn, Nate, Kayla, and Allie squeezed on the four-wheeler for a ride. Nobody wanted to be left out or have to wait a turn.
Look at all those cute kids. Jordy, Allie, Morgan, Kayla, Terra, Kaden, and Cameron.

Kayla was so happy to get to hold her nephews this weekend. She loves to play with the babies.

As we were driving up to the property, Allie got so excited remembering the four-wheeler. She couldn't wait for Daddy to give her a ride. As soon as we got there, she got the keys from Grandpa, and Daddy was willing to sacrifice and take her on a ride while Mommy cooked Kayla a hot dog.

Nate was glad to be able to help put up some insulation, Sheetrock, and tile board. We were all just happy to spend a little bit of time enjoying mother nature.

Allie's Big OOPS!

Allie has always been our child who likes to push the boundaries. She always wants to be in the middle of everything. She has trouble understanding that sometimes there is a reason Mom and Dad have rules. We are working at teaching her that choices have consequences, but obviously we still have some work to do.
Well, our friends are working on their yard. They are almost ready for grass, but first wanted to get curbing put in for flower beds. It ended up being a big mess because the guys did it when nobody was home, and they didn't do it where the homeowners wanted. After some arguing the cement guy came back, tore it all out, and redid everything. The kids were playing at some different neighbors house, but apparently they all had to go investigate. I walked over to find out the story and check on the kids. Kirsten and I were talking when another friend came by on her bike. We turned to talk to her. I looked back probably only 30 seconds later to see my dear sweet Allie walking along the newly poured cement curbing. It was like slow motion. Unfortunately I had a neighbor girl in my arms. Kirsten quickly turned and grabbed Allie, who suddenly realizing she's in trouble and has something really gross all over her feet, and starts screaming. We quickly change kids and go to find the husbands who are laying sod at a different neighbors house. They couldn't fix it, but decided if it had been about 15 minutes later the rest was already hardened enough she wouldn't have been able to do any damage. They had to call the grumpy cement guy to come back and replace the piece (fortunately she walked in the little piece and not the one that wrapped all around the house).
I was sick about the whole thing. We've tried and tried to get them to let us pay for the replacement cost (probably between $30-40), but they refuse. I'm still trying to figure out how to make them take the money.
Lesson learned: Do not take your eyes of little ones when wet cement is near.
Lesson Allie learned: Cement feels yucky, and the grownups aren't very happy when you walk in it.

Boo to You!

Halloween time always brings the fun of getting to BOO the neighbors. The girls were so excited the other night when we got a knock at the door and instead of a person there was a plate of brownies and a pint of vanilla ice cream (Kayla was thrilled they thought of her.). They have been making plans ever since for how and who to BOO next. We found a picture in magazine that they thought would be delicious.
The girls were so excited to unwrap all the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.
I think they were just looking forward to eating the leftovers after I made bat wings.

After the cupcakes finally cooled, we frosted them, added sprinkles around the edges, and made our bats on top.
Kayla was really having fun taking pictures. She wanted Allie to eat a cupcake for her, but Allie was not in the mood. She'd take a nibble and spit it back out. I'd question the cooking, but I think all the chocolate she'd just eaten was too much sweet.
TA DA!!! Plates full of cupcake bats and Halloween candy. We only are supposed to BOO two neighbors, but the third plate is an apology for Allie to take to the neighbors. But that is a story that is going to have to wait until I can come back later. Let's just say it involves fresh cement...

Pumpkin Patch

Friday since both Nate and Kayla were off, we decided to go have a little fun. We went to a Pumpkin Patch in Tooele to get our pumpkins straight from the vine. It was seriously huge. The girls were a little disappointed when we first started walking around. Things were looking really picked over. Then they looked ahead and saw the field of orange. Off they ran at full speed.
Allie immediately tried to pick up one of the biggest pumpkins she could find.
Daddy found a BIG one.
Mommy's is a little smaller.
Kayla almost couldn't hold hers it was so big.

Allie's was definitely too heavy for her.
A tractor picked us up for a ride back up front to pay. Kayla thought it was so cool.
Daddy even wore his pumpkin patch shirt to the pumpkin patch.
Allie said, "It was kinda scary."
We all had fun, and we probably paid about the same as we would have at the grocery store. After we left Kayla was telling us how much fun she'd had. Then we pulled up in front of the grocery store, and she said, "Why didn't we just get one here?" KIDS!!!

We're Home!

Disneyland truly is the Happiest Place on Earth. It was a wonderful experience. Totally worth every penny we spent and the hours upon hours of endless driving. The girls' were in heaven. They got to meet lots of princesses and characters, and even got the attention of some of Disney's Year of a Million Dreams dreamteam while wearing their princess dresses. Allie learned to swim like a mermaid in the hotel pool, and both girls are already ready to go back. We had to stop in Beaver Utah due to a snowstorm Saturday night, and when we woke up in the morning, Allie immediately started listing off the rides she wanted to go on that day. She figured we're in a hotel so we must be near Disneyland. Kayla joined her in listing all her favorite rides and experiences. Then she told me next time, we should definitely fly.
I'm still trying to sort through the piles of laundry, loads of dishes, and piles of misc. messes that tend to accumulate when you've been playing for 10 days. I will try and get pictures up soon.