Fall-ing Behind!

I am fall-ing behind on my blog posts.  Oliver was really sick this past week.  I was basically a pack mule for 5 days.  He was such a trooper!  He hardly ever cried, but he really wanted mommy -and mommy only- to hold him.  I was happy to do it, but that was ALL I did.  So...the house, the laundry, the blog, and everything else got put on hold.  Now I am catching up!  He is feeling MUCH better.

Fall has been good to us.  We got a lot of use out of our Halloween costumes.  We had our ward party at the church with a good old fashioned carnival with a cake walk, fishing pond, face painting, ring toss, and a whole bunch of other great classics.  We have a pretty fantastic ward. The kids had a blast.  I remember going to my ward Halloween carnival as a kid.  It is always a bit nostalgic. 

My family did Indian Trail this year for our annual hike.  Cord stayed home with our little ones so I could go hiking.  It was a great trail and we had plenty of good conversations, good views, and good snacks to make for a lovely morning.  After our hike we headed back to my folks house for soup and spudnuts.  They were delicious as usual!  Mom bought an awesome new pot and we had some "witches brew" that bubbled and smoked.  The kids were mesmerized by it.

We headed to the Dinosaur Park Haunted Evening for some spooky fun.  We met with Brighton and Dax and crew for the event!  The cousins had a great time exploring and getting spooked by the dinosaurs and haunted decorations.  There were carnival games and prizes.  They had a costume parade for all the kids to participate in.  Gage we so cute walking by in his costume.  He was so exited to be in a "parade!"  He also loved seeing all the dinosaurs lit up with colored lights. 

On Halloween, I got to help at the school with both girl's class parties!  It was fun to be at the school on such a festive day.  Everyone was dressed up and excited.  Natalie is such a happy little thing.  She had a great time at her party.  We played lots of games and read spooky stories.  Gage thought it was pretty fantastic to get to participate as well.  I am the class historian for Libby's class, so I was just in charge of taking photos at her party.  What a great job right?!  I got to be part of the fun and hang out on the sidelines.  I love watching Libby in her school element.  It is fun to see her talk to her friends and interact with her teacher.  She is a good girl!

Halloween night, we had dinner at my parent's house and took a few pictures and then headed over to Granny B's to trick-or-treat with some cousin friends!  It was a last minute decision to go out, but we are glad we did.  It is always fun to be with family.  The kids are always such happy excited trick-or-treaters.  It really is pretty fantastic to get loaded up with treats.  Ollie was content to ride in the stroller and watch the kids run around the neighborhood.  Brighton brought doughnuts for everyone and Lorna made some homemade hot chocolate.  It was a great Halloween!

We were going to go to St. George this weekend, but we decided to cancel the trip!  Ollie had been sick and we were feeling a bit overwhelmed with the idea of going out of town.  So, we have been having a bit of fun around home.  Cord, me and the boys went on a hike Friday morning.  We were so surprised at how well Gage did!  He hiked up and up for about 3 miles without complaining or stopping.  It was so cute.  He was watching for deer and collecting sticks and chatting about this and that.  I only had to carry him for awhile on the way down the mountain.  Oliver took a nice nap on daddy in his baby carrier.  We live in such a neat place.  We are just minutes away from amazing hiking trails with beautiful views. 

We have been cleaning out our house!  It seems like I always get the itch to get rid of a bunch of stuff before I can do any Christmas shopping.  Gotta make room for the new stuff right?  :)  I am getting excited to start buying gifts.  It is so fun to think of things that will make everyone happy on Christmas morning.  This is such a great time of the year.  I love it!