Halloween Weekend

It's been non-stop Halloween fun the past few days.

At our ward's "Trunk or Treat" activity on Saturday Joy proved she could hit the broad side of a pumpkin at two paces. Of course, the point was to get the beanbag in the hole, but the game hostess gave Joy a treat anyway.

This year Daniel (literally) grasped the concept of trick-or-treating, and garnered almost as many sweets as his big sister.

On Sunday we visited my parents' home to carve pumpkins with Papa, Uncle Robbie, Uncle Sean, and--of course--Aunt Heather.

Here's how the Jack-o-lanterns turned out.

At Joy's school today all the kids came in costume. Harry Potter helped them decorated haunted houses, then they had a costume parade and a little Halloween program.

We did so many fun Halloween activities over the weekend that trick-or-treating tonight almost seemed anticlimactic. I didn't want to disappoint the kids, though, so I took Joy and Daniel to knock a few doors on our street. The neighbors on our block don't get many trick-or-treaters, so they were very generous with their treats. Happy Halloween!

The Fairy and the Cowboy

The big kids dressed up in their Halloween costumes today, . . .

. . . and we took a little walk . . .

. . . to a free Halloween party our community hosts at a local park. Joy had a great time on the inflatable bouncers.

Daniel spent most of his time just surveying the proceedings, . . .

. . . but he had a great time playing with the balloons once we got home.

Anna and Mat

We introduced Anna to our little play mat this week.

Joy showed her all the fun animals she can look at and play with.

Anna seems pretty intrigued by it all.

So do her sibs.

Haunted Shack

For our family home evening activity tonight . . .

. . . we made a haunted shack (an October cousin of the gingerbread house) out of graham crackers, icing, and candy.

It helps to have an engineer in the family.

He even carved graham cracker tombstones for the yard.

The candle really adds to the spooky ambiance, don't you think?

Family Fun

We had a relaxing evening at home tonight.

Anna chilled with her new blanket on Joy's bed.

Joy and Daddy played Monopoly on Daddy's iPhone.

Daniel played with the train set . . .

. . . and gave his little sister some kisses. Awwww.

And me? I had fun taking the pictures. I love that digital cameras allow you to take dozens of shots and just keep the one or two that turn out well. Huzzah for modern technology!

A Gift, Some Tunes, and Colorful Weaponry

We had a couple fun visitors yesterday.

Pink Grandma came in the morning, bearing a recorder and some colorful beads to make into necklaces.

She also brought a blanket for Anna, courtesy of Aunt Jennifer. Anna thinks it's swell.

Our neighbor Luke came over to play in the afternoon. He and Joy squared off using our inflatable light sabers. Use the Force, Luke.

Grandma let us borrow the beads until her next visit, so Joy suggested that we "dress up fancy" like Fancy Nancy does. Do you like my hat?

Of course, Daniel (aka "Chuck") thinks these colorful necklaces are boleadoras, and uses them accordingly (consequently, the beads are usually put away when he's awake). If you need someone to take down a runaway steer, Daniel's your man.

Fiery Furnace and Windows

On our last day in Arches . . .

. . . some of our group went for a hike in the Fiery Furnace. I stayed back at camp with the kids, since the Furnace is a labyrinth of stone and we didn't want any of the bambinos to get lost.

Phillip said the Furnace hike was his favorite part of the trip because he loved clambering around on the rocks.

My brother Andrew drove down for the day, and joined them on the hike; it's always great to see him.

In the afternoon my parents watched the kids while Phillip and I went on a date to the Windows. After doing so many activities at the speed of toddlers, we enjoyed hiking around together at our own pace. I sure love my sweetheart.

Here Phillip puts the South Window Arch in perspective. The Windows were impressive, but he still prefers his Mac. :)

We've had a great time at Arches, but we're getting worn out and it's time to head home.

Admiring the Landscape

We started our second day in Arches with . . .

. . . a rousing game of Duck, Duck, Goose . . .

. . . then a hike to Landscape Arch, one of the longest natural spans in the world at 290'. You used to be able to hike under it, but since 1991 three big slabs (the biggest was 70' long) have broken off the narrowest portion, so the park closed that part of the trail. Dad thinks the arch will crumble completely in our lifetimes.

While the adults admired the arch, Daniel got in touch with nature by doing a little sand painting.

Joy and Daddy went on a little hike of their own, . . .

. . . then we drove across the park to visit the massive Double Arch near the Parade of Elephants arches.

As sunset approached, everyone hiked up to Delicate Arch while I watched the kids back at camp. Sunset at Delicate Arch is a breathtaking sight, and Phillip has dozens of pictures to prove it. I'll just post one. :)

Tapestry Arch and Broken Arch

On our first day in the park we decided to take a short hike to some arches near our campground.

While Grandma and Uncle Rob watched Anna at camp, we hiked to Tapestry Arch with Papa and Aunt Heather.

We climbed right up under the central arch and got a nice view of the valley.

Daniel wasn't in a big hurry to get to the next stop, so we took turns carrying him most of the way.

If you look in the foreground of this shot, you can see a small stack of rocks called a cairn. In years past, some thoughtful soul placed cairns every few yards along the trail to help people find their way. The dirt path is easy enough to follow because it's so well trodden, but when you're hiking on bare rock it's nice to have the markers to show you where to go. I suppose that's like life--sometimes the right choices are obvious, but other times they're not so clear and I'm grateful for the Gospel to guide me.

Our last stop was Broken Arch. The arch is so named because there is a big crack at the top. It isn't actually broken . . . yet.

Road Trip!

My parents rented an RV this week, and we set off on a road trip to Arches National Park.

It was nice to be able to sleep on the long drive.

Anna slept like a champ in her new basket (thank you, Baby).

We pitched camp in the Devil's Garden, . . .

. . . then Joy climbed rocks with Aunt Heather . . .

. . . while Anna and I hung out with Uncle Rob.

More fun pics forthcoming!

Fun Times

It's starting to get chilly, but we're still finding fun things to do, indoors and out.

Like playing with Daddy's train . . .

. . . jumping in puddles . . .

. . . tossing a ball around out front . . .

. . . having a seat on Daddy's sweet ride . . .

. . . and testing out Anna's new Moses basket. I think it's a little small for you, Buddy.