Christmas Caroling

We were invited by the McQuarries to go Bad Caroling with them and the Hacketts.
Kevin's description: "Bad caroling is just like standard caroling but instead of trying to sound beautiful and inspiring, you just sing however you want. It sounded terrible and we looked silly and we had a great time. We hit specific families in the ward that would enjoy a terrible song."
Kev had made a top hat out of some poster board we had and then he cut a fabulous mustache out of some furry cloth. Always being creative and fun--perfect touch!


I'm pretty sure we enjoyed it more than the recipients, but boy did we get some good laughs at ourselves! The kids played in the snow at and between each house and paid no attention to their crazy parents. We had just had a wonderful snow storm which left us with at least 16" of snow and un plowed roads. We had all that whiteness around us along with that quietness that comes with snow. We ruined the stillness of the night with our out of tune singing but it truly was a wonderful Christmas celebration for me. Watching Kevin pull Rylan, Asher, Evan, and Carson in the sled while wearing his top hat and mustache was a definite highlight!

Asher wanted a turn to pull the sled. Rylan and Evan didn't think that was much fun!

And here are some pictures from that morning:

Our poor little tree is getting buried! Will it hold up through winter? But look how pretty all that snow is!

Pumpkin Time!

Last Monday we visited the Red Barn to pick out some pumpkins. It was colder and darker than anticipated but we still had fun!


Our "hay ride" over to the pumpkin patch was not really on hay, but the ride back we did get to sit on hay bales. We sang as many Halloween songs we could think of--2 whole songs! Once we got to the pumpkin patch the boys started out playing in the maze. Rylan had been there the week prior on a field trip with his preschool class but was still excited to play around again. He raced through the maze with the rest of us following to each dead end and turn around.

"How do we get out of here??!!"

The boys ran around for a bit, played on the tractor, and then we realized it was dark and gonna be hard to choose our pumpkins! Off to the patch we went. We weren't the only ones using the lights from our cell phone to pick our pumpkin. That added to some of the fun!

So last night we had our annual family Halloween/pumpkin carving party at the Holman's. We had a yummy dinner and then got busy carving pumpkins. Kevin carves ours every year while I'm busy with other stuff. This year I brought dessert so I got the cupcake decorating stuff out for the kids.

Rylan drew his own jack o lantern face on his pumpkin. Kevin carved it just how Ry drew it and it turned out so cute!

Kevin also carved his own pumpkin--spooooky!

Kevin's jack-o-lantern is on the top step. And there's Rylan's jack-o-lantern, right there by Abbi.

I made a Chocolate Lasagna for dessert because Amy really likes it and our pumpkin carving party was on her birthday! We sang to her, Kirra, and Asher. Asher will get another chance at blowing out candles on Friday!!

Garren had made some Rootbeer and Asher asked several times to drink some. So I poured a bit in a cup and gave him a sip. His eyes watered up, he backed away, pointed at the rootbeer and said "yuck yuck". Then he walked towards me with his mouth wide open ready for some more! We tried to get it on camera but only got a few chances because after a couple more sips he was done and opted for water. Good boy :)

"Yuck Yuck!"

As always, fun times!

Embracing Summer

The weather has been perfect and we've been enjoying every minute we get outside.

It's been quite awhile since we've been to the library for story time and we needed something to do. So away we went. Both of the boys stayed by me rather than sitting on the rug with the rest of the kids. But that's okay. I got to join in the fun that way, too!

Afterwards we played at the library park and had some fun there as well! Asher loves the slides where Ry is more of a lover of the swings.

This is where I usually get to buy fruits and vegetables made of wood chips. Yummmmm.

Have you ever tried the one eyed smile? Ry does it pretty well :)

Camping!

Camping around here is crazy! Of course, both times we went camping this year it was a holiday weekend. This is our Labor Day weekend camping trip. My mom went up the canyon early in the week and luckily found us a spot and it was perfect!
I sent our tent and sleeping bags up with Tami and her fam since our car gets real full real quick. I didn't think about that until we got up to the campsite and the Holman's weren't there yet! We knew they wouldn't be too long though. So we explored the sites and a bit of the area and took some silly pictures to pass the time.

While sitting around the campfire someone noticed a little wooly worm creeping along a chair. These unfortunate little things were caught and collected the entire weekend...the kids were so entertained with them!
We had planned on going to walk Cascade Springs Saturday morning. Well the morning turned into afternoon and we made it to the springs in the heat of the day. Good think it's late summer and not too hot. We all had a good time :) And Asher got a miniature nap...





Tami and Kacy planned some super fun and funny Minute to Win It games.




And even Asher joined in the fun!!
My grandma brought her trailer up and camped with us for the weekend. It's always fun having grandparents around.
And my grandma brought these monstrous marshmallows to roast. I've seen them in the store but this was the first time I'd had them. Holy Moly they are big! We also had an angel food cake dessert which is what is on Kev's roaster stick beside the monstrous 'mallow! I look at Asher's face in this picture and think he's thinking "Look at the size of this thing. Pure ridiculousness."
Yummy!

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

Since the beginning of summer we'd been saying we needed to go to the zoo. Then it got too hot. Then school started. But we still wanted to go to the zoo. So we went!

Tami and the twins picked us up after her 3 older kids were off to school for the day. They were sad to miss out. But since preschool hadn't started yet we knew this might be our last chance.

Just as we arrived at the zoo Kade's flip flop broke. Oh no! The gift shop didn't have flip flops or tape so he was a trooper and wore a broken shoe. Tami rented a wagon since Ry refused to give up his stroller spot. And then my boys ended up in the wagon with the twins--of course!

We all liked the monkeys of every kind. It was fun watching the baby orangutan swing around. We got to see the baby elephant, Zuri. North America's oldest African elephant put on a little show for us. They were fun to watch. I was surprised to see how big porcupines get. I always thought of them as smaller animals, but no. We saw an endangered Siamese crocodile eat some crickets for lunch and that was cool. The tigers were mostly hiding but when they did come out it was kinda exciting! We saw the giraffes, too...I love their skin! I should start wearing more giraffe prints :) I avoided looking at the snakes and creepy crawlies which is what the twins were most excited about! Rylan enjoyed the train ride even though he kept his hands over his ears for most of the ride. And really, it was the perfect day weather-wise to be at the zoo. Tami and I agreed that we enjoyed the zoo more than our kids but they just have fun being together so it was all good. We couldn't have asked for anything better (except maybe an not broken flip flop!)

These boys were not in picture mode this day!

I'm pretty sure they said this is the oldest African elephant in the United States. She's 50 years old and puts on a cute show!

Train ride!

I had to take a picture of the sloth for Kevin. But we thought this guy was so interesting to watch. I never knew their super long fingernails were used as hooks to help them get through trees. And I also never knew that they hang upside down most the time. Truth be told I really don't know much about sloths!

I enjoyed the zoo so much we might have to go back for Zoo Lights come Christmas time!