Fall colors

We finally got some cooler weather towards the end of October, which makes me happy. I get so tired of hot weather. And it's always a really big deal around here when it rains! Everyone goes outside and runs around and jumps in puddles. After this drought, we'll never look at rain the same way again.

One afternoon I glanced out the kitchen window and saw Levi and Chloe playing on the swingset. They looked so sweet I had to go take pictures.

My parents asked me to take their pictures. I was really happy with how they turned out.

 My boys were helping by telling them funny jokes. 

This is the one they chose for their Christmas cards. The sun was shining right in their face, so Spencer and Dallin held up a big piece of plywood to block it. 

My parents are gorgeous! 

I took the rest of these pictures after church one day. I was trying out my new camera remote (which you can see in my hand), that I bought to take family pictures for our Christmas cards. 

Nice smolder, Spencer.

Dallin's holding the remote in this one.

Pretty fall colors! The trees are mostly all bare now.

Love that scrunched up nose!

So pretty! I especially love the lighting in this one.

Halloween 2015

I know we're a week away from Christmas, but this is not the Grinch. It's my Halloween post ;)

Spencer was a zombie for the youth dance and church party, but he totally missed Halloween because he was at a band competition all day and didn't get home until midnight. In fact he almost didn't get to go to the church party either because there was a football game that night, but he got special permission to get there late. The youth ran all the games at the party, and Spencer and Tyler had an awesome room where they popped up and had the kids shoot them with nerf guns. It was a huge success. 

Levi wanted to be a cowboy, which was super easy. He borrowed the vest and chaps from his cousins and gathered the rest from around the house.

Brennan dressed up as Tron. This is the one that took the most amount of work this year, but it was so worth it. We got El wire from amazon for $12 and I carefully sewed it to Spencer's old morphsuit. Then we spray painted an old wrestling helmet someone gave us and taped the El wire around that too. It looked pretty cool in the day but super awesome in the dark!! It was really bright and easy to see!

Dallin was another one of those last-minute deciders. He finally settled on a movie producer/director/videographer. He got the beret and movie clapper thing for Christmas last year. He found the awesome old video camera at D.I. in Utah last summer. 

These are the only pictures I have of Chloe in her Halloween costume, and I'm lucky to have them. Her preschool went trick-or-treating around the high school, which was fun for all involved, but it really wore her out. I took these pictures right after she got home from school, but then she was too cranky the rest of the day for things like crowns and pictures. I found this cute dress (which I like better than most princess dresses out there) at Goodwill for $15.

It took Tyler a long time to decide what he wanted to be this year, which is unusual for him. He finally settled on an old man, because he loves walking/talking like an old person. His inspiration is the old guy George on The Aristocats. It's his favorite Disney character ever.  

Peter was Igor. These three boys have so much fun together!

We got three pumpkins, and they worked in groups of two. This really works out best. They all did a good job agreeing on their designs.

Dallin/Levi                   Tyler/Chloe                  Spencer/Brennan (with braces - so clever!)

Of course we roasted the pumpkins seeds. This was my favorite recipe I've ever tried. Too bad I can't find it. They cooked at a very high temp for a short amount of time, and they were really crisp. 

Pumpkin patches

I need to hurry up and finish my Halloween blogs before we get to Christmas! We went to Avila Barn on Columbus Day, since the kids were off school.  

It was one of the most relaxing trips we've had there. We had plenty of time to walk around and take pictures. 

 Everyone gets to pick a pile of pumpkins for their picture. I love the variety.

A couple of people offered to take our picture for us so I could be in it (but they all turned out a little blurry). Anyway, they all commented afterwards that they couldn't believe how well everyone cooperated and held still and smiled. Yea, I've got them well-trained. 

Dave was able to get off work a little early and meet us there. He's so handsome! 

We took the hayride out to the pumpkin patch. It wasn't too crowded, which made us happy because last year it was packed. I think we went a little earlier in the day this year. 

That's not a pumpkin, Spencer.

                     Wow Levi, you're strong!

I was trying to find a picture of the two of us recently, and I couldn't believe how few we have. So I have made a conscious effort to take more. It helps that Spencer is a great photographer. 

Chloe went back to Avila Barn a few days later with her preschool. It was her first field trip and first school bus ride. She was beyond excited!

The next week I took the three youngest to a different pumpkin patch for Brennan's cub scout activity. 

 It's such a beautiful place, with lots of great photo spots. I love this one.

Then we did the corn maze, which has a map and a bunch of characters to find. Each one has a letter to help you decode a message. It's pretty much the same every year, but they like it. 

I don't know if it's because of the drought or something, but the cornstalks were extremely short this year. But the kids are all pretty short, so it didn't matter to them. 

No boring poses with my kids.