Happy Halloween!

We had a frightfully fun week of Halloween this year. Our ward had their annual Trunk or Treat on Tuesday, the school parade and class party was on Friday, and we went Trick or Treating on Saturday.



Parker insisted on a scary costume this year, so he went as a skeleton.



Spencer wore Parker's old lion costume. We practiced all month long on, "What does the lion say?" He roared all night at the ward party but refused on Halloween. It figures!





We made special stops to Grandpa and Grandma Lloyd's house, Marty Rudd's, and to Papa Tom and Grandma Vicki's.













When we got to my parent's house, Spencer pulled up a chair and started eating his candy. He refused to leave, so we left him with Papa and Grandma.



On our way home, we found a house with a bubble fogger machine--it was the coolest thing! The bubbles were white and filled with fog. When they popped, the fog came out. Justin had fun imitating a cat playing with the bubbles. I think the owner of the machine thought we were crazy.




We ended up with too much candy and a ton of great memories! It was a great Halloween!

Half Moon Bay

Two weeks before Halloween we made a trip down to Half Moon Bay. Each year there is a big Pumpkin Festival there and it is fun to drive through town and see the pumpkin fields before getting to the beach. We usually go every October to HMB, but we try to avoid the festival because the traffic can be crazy. Well this year, we decided to go on a whim. I am not a spontaneous person, but I thought I would live on the edge for once. The trip down was going smoothly, that is until we were just outside of Half Moon Bay. What should have taken us maybe 20 minutes took almost 1.5 hours. Traffic was crazy! But we survived!







The weather was beautiful. We found tons of shells, sand dollars, a crab, and a real live starfish! It was definitely worth the trip!

AZ or Bust!

We just got back from our trip to Auntie Jill's house. It was a week of fun, laughter, sleepless nights, and tons of memories. Here are just a few of the most memorable moments.

Parker dressed up as a Mexican wrestler, while unknowingly wearing the girls' Hannah Montana boots.




The Conference tent the kids built to listen to the Prophet like the people did during the time of King Benjamin. I called it the great and spacious building.



Oh, and just so I don't qualify as Mother of the Year again, this picturesque scene of the kids all sitting and listening lasted approximately 2.7 seconds. It was more of a conference chaos day with Jill and I shouting,"Sit down and listen to the Prophet!" LOL!

This is Spencie on the phone with Justin. He missed his daddy while we were gone and would blow kisses to him over the phone. It was so sweet!




We spent Monday at the Phoenix Zoo. Haylee and Parker posed by the gorilla statue they labeled as "Papa Tom."



The highlight of the zoo trip was feeding the giraffes. They have black tongues that are 18 inches long, rubbery, and rough like sand paper.







These pictures are of when Haylee got pooped on by a bird while posing for a photo op. It was awesome!







One afternoon, I caught Tyler reading to Spencer. It was so cute!



But check out Tyler when he saw that I had taken their picture. Classic!



On Tuesday, we took the kids to the Dinosaur Museum. Jill got us free passes through her library. It was awesome! Parker loved every minute of it!



The kids in front of the T-Rex.



Parker holding fossilized dino poop. We got to hold fossilized eggs, brains, toenails, teeth, horns, and skulls. The kids were in awe.



Spencer's favorite part was playing with the plastic dinosaurs. He liked to "Roar!"



My favorite part was panning for gold. Jill was calling me a "gold digger."




On Wednesday, we headed out to Gilbert to Mother Nature's Pumpkin Patch.




The boys got into a hay fight.



Tyler loved it! Anything Parker did, Tyler wanted to do too.







The 3 boys in their matching t-shirts from Grandma Vicki.



Check out these 2 nearly identical faces.



Parker and Haylee in the hay maze.



Thanks Jill and Mark for the wonderful trip! We love you!!!

Worth Every Penny

This was Parker's first year of playing flag football. He finally caught his first pass when he played his friend Derick's team, the Raiders. He was so excited!

On the Road Again

Our Accord hit the 100,000 mile mark in September. It has been a good car to us over the years. We purchased it a few weeks after we were married and it has been with us on all of our roadtrip and carpool adventures and it even brought both of our boys home from the hospital. Here's to another 100k!

Seafood? No See-Food!

We've created a monster! I will admit, it was hard not to laugh. Spencer thinks it is hilarious when he shows us the food he is chewing. It doesn't help that he has an audience (thank you Parker) to encourage him.

Scout Awards

Over the summer, Parker was able to earn quite a few of the belt loops, pins, and arrowheads for Cub Scouts. This is what he earned:

1 gold arrow
3 silver arrows

BB gun belt loop
Archery belt loop
Science belt loop
Marbles belt loop
Astronomy belt loop
Badminton belt loop
Flag football belt loop
Geology belt loop
Collecting belt loop
Heritage belt loop
Bicycling belt loop
Bowling belt loop
Swimming belt loop
Baseball belt loop and pin
Basketball belt loop and pin
Fishing belt loop and pin