Halloween!

 Carving pumpkins always proves to be an adventure.  This year, we carved in two shifts.  It was so nice outside that we gutted them on the patio in the early evening.  Then after dinner, we worked on giving our Jack-O-Lanterns some faces.  We had a fun/messy time.

 Jaren and Dad working on Jaren's scray/fiery guy.

 Libbie's always excited for me to catch her on camera.

 Tyce was LOVING his pumpkin.  We even gave the pumpkin some cute, big front teeth to match Tycie boy.

 Claire's puppy pumpkin.

 Mallory's kitty.

 Scary, fiery guy.

 Mia opted for a bat this year. Nice!

 Mustache pumpkin.

 Our traditional pictures after the big carve.

 We had a great Halloween this year.  Grandma and Courtney came to celebrate with us and go trick-or-treating together.  Jaren was a race car driver.

 Claire was Anna from "Frozen".

 Libbie as a stick person

 Mia the mime.

 The whole group all ready to embark on a candy-filled adventure.

 Mallory is Miss America.

 Olivia the ladybug.

Tyce as Nemo.  He went to three houses in the cul-de-sac.  He was content to sit on the steps and eat M&Ms.  I couldn't help but be happy/sad with how cute he looks and how fast he's growing up.  I loved watching his little guppy-bum waddle in this costume.  Most the kids were out with Dad for about 3 hours.  They got way too much candy.

Happy Birthday Dear Mia!

 Mia is getting so grown up.  Would you check out her long, luxurious hair? She's looking especially gorgeous on her special day I think.  Dad and I made her French toast with berries and cream before she headed out the door to school for the day.  She also took Ho-hos for her birthday treat because she says she'd never tried them.  After school, we jetted to the movie Dolphin Tale 2 and met up with Grandma Jill and Uncle Nathan.  Mia is a lover of dolphins so this activity seemed perfect.  For dinner she decided on steak fajitas and an Oreo cake for dessert.  I decided to do an ice cream cake with whipped cream, and it simply would not stick to the ice cream part of the cake.  Therefore, her cake made the "severely hideous cakes I've made" list.  Thankfully, she thought it was yummy anyway.

 A new Nerf hoop Libbie gave her.

 Said ugly cake. Cute girl though.

 Eleven candles? How did this happen?

Jaren sporting the sweet glowing glasses her basketball hoop came with.  We still haven't quite figured out their purpose.

What we've been up to this month...

 Spiderman wrestled spiderman. It was epic.  Spiderman won.

 We went to the zoo with Marci and her two littles.  It was a great  day for the zoo with no crowds. Our favorite! These two were asking to have their picture taken constantly.

 Wink/thumbs-up/smile on the carousel.

 Spreading their wings and leaving the nest.

 Tyce learned to climb chairs, tables, couches, counters and nearly everything else he shouldn't. On a happy note, he mastered the stairs so we don't have to use baby gates anymore.  Wahoo!

 The boys and I have gone on quite a few bike rides before the girls get home from school in the afternoons.  Many of them end in this way.  Jaren's ability to sleep is really something to be admired.

 Enjoying a warm evening in the yard, with some refreshment.

 Now I have two helpers in the kitchen.

Jaren is loving some independence in the kitchen.  He makes his own pb&j for lunch and toast for breakfast.  He's busy, busy, busy all moment of the day.  I guess that's why he can sleep in any position when he finally crashes.

August Fun

 This little boy is such mover and a shaker.  He loves, loves to climb and get into mischief.

 We were able to attend the Ogden Temple open house with my family.  It was truly gorgeous, there's nothing better than having nearly all my family in the temple together.  Families are forever.

 My parents with all their grandkids, minus Miss Olivia.

 Tyce is a plasma car maniac.  When we head out to the garage he sprints to get on one.  We've had a few close calls on our steep driveway because he has very little fear or understanding that he's putting his life at risk by trying to go down alone. Oh boy.

 He's also very attracted to the road :) Death wish anyone?  Hope he's cured of this tendency very soon.

 Checking out all Dad's gray hair...who doesn't do this on a perfect summer evening.

 His grossness never surprises me, but always intrigues me.

 On our last day of summer we got together with the Oyler chicas for some swimming in their neighborhood pool.  Fun!  Afterward, they all humored me by going to get shaved ice because I hadn't gotten around to that this summer.

 Claire with her rainbow ice.

 Jaren with his never-ending thumbs-up.

 Mia. Yes, she ate it all.

 Libbie refused to let me take a picture of her with her giant cake batter shaved ice.  They truly are as big as your head. See?

 First day of school. Yay from Mom and Claire.  Boo from everyone else. Claire is stoked to be in Mrs. Fenn's first grade class.

 Mallory is in Ms. Mickelson's 4th grade class.

 Libbie is an eighth-grader.

 Mia is in Ms. Decker's 5th grade.

 Cute sisters.

 Jaren also started preschool this year.  He's in Mrs. Flack's class two days a week.  This means that I only have Tyce at home during the day for 2 hours, 2 times a week.  The first day this happened, it was a little erie and sad, but mostly I'm enjoying a little quiet time to work or shop or do whatever I want.  Ha ha.

 Tyce is quite happy about eating dirt. Oh, and he's learned to do the slide by himself which he also thinks is pretty neat.

So happy these two have each other to play with (and torture).