Halloween Party

This picture is about as good as it gets. Too many little
ones wanting their moms. Aiden sure is hammin' it
up though.


Finished pumpkins


Roger, Analise, and Kayla

Ben, Hannah, and Rayna

Every year we have friends and family over for Halloween. This year wasn't any different other than the kids are getting older...and louder. We tried getting all of them together for a picture and that did not work out. I did get some though. We had a good night of fun, trick-or-treating, and some good food. Thanks to all our friends for coming!

The Costume

So last year was a struggle getting Aiden to wear his halloween costume but he finally gave in and wore it. NOT this year. I was working up a sweat just getting the thing on and once I did get it on he screamed and cried and screamed some more. Instead of being upset about it, I just took it for what it was and captured the moment. Jesse actually got some video of it. We were outside and some of our neighbors were coming outside to see if everything was okay. He's still cute, isn't he? Maybe next year we will have success...

Pumpkins

On Friday we carved some pumpkins. We contemplated putting Aiden to bed before we started, not knowing how he would act. He is two and curious about everything. As you can see, we decided to include him in the holiday tradition and he loved it. We had a really good time and I am glad it was something we could do as a family.

Haunted Hallow

The last time I ventured into a haunted house of any sorts I was in high school. Knowing that, you can imagine that experience was not the best one for me. I was with two of my friends and we screamed so much and so loud that my throat hurt for a week. I was seriously traumatized. When my teammates suggested we all go to the haunted hallow I was not thrilled but I thought that maybe since it's been 12 years later I might be able to handle it. I actually did okay. There were some parts that made me jump but I mostly laughed and had a really good time. The margaritas before might have helped a little and the fact that Natalie let me hold onto her arm the whole time might have had something to do with it as well. Maybe I will go next year.

Wellness Festival, Jackson Hole, WY.

The trip was suppose to include my grandma, however, due to a family emergency, she was not able to make it. My mom decided she still wanted to go and I was happy for it. I desperately needed some time away and I was excited to spend some time with my mom. The trip up was good. We did run into some snow and it actually snowed most of the time we were there but fortunately we were inside most of the time. The wellness festival was awesome and I learned a lot. I think my mom did too. I felt like they presenters were talking directly to her. We had dinner at a couple of nice restaurants and had breakfast at the Bunnery the morning that we left. Yummmmm. It was a great time.

Snowbird

So....my mom calls me on Tuesday and says, "what are you doing on friday?" It just so happens that I wasn't doing anything so I said "nothing, why?" She asks me if Aiden and I would like to for a hike? Well, yeah, that sounds like fun. What do you have in mind, mom? She then proceeds to tell me that she wants to take the Tram to the top of Snowbird and hike back down. Ummmm.....hmmmm.....let me think about this one. Just me and mom that sounds do-able. With a two year old....I am not so sure. I agree to it anyway. She really wants to go (and smell the roses) and says that if he is cranky we will just take the tram back down. So we meet up, take the drive up the canyon to Snowbird, buy our tram tickets and take the nine minute ride up snowbird mountain. By now, you are all thinking that we should have gotten back on the tram and taken the ride back down the mountain, but alas, we did not. We started to descend at about 11:15 am. Aiden started out walking and grandma gave him some dried fruit to eat on the way down, trying to keep him occupied. Now, you wouldn't think much of this except that everytime Aiden ate a piece of the fruit he had to sit down to do it. Great! We will make it down the mountain just in time for dinner. We finally make it down a couple of switchbacks and decided to stop to eat some lunch. On we went, tried a couple of things. Make shifting a hammock for Aiden to sit in (where at one point he catapulted him out of it and face first into the dirt) carrying him on the hip and finally on top of our shoulders- which ended up working the best. Half way down there was a thunder storm and some rain, which is exactly where you want to be when that comes around. I told my mom to tell me if my hair starts to stand up and whatever we do, do not stand under a tree. We took a wrong turn twice, maybe three times but finally made it down the mountain. By the time we got down the mountain and back to the lodge I felt like I was going to just kill over. My toes hurt, I have a huge blister, and every muscle in my body aches....BUT....I loved it. I loved spending the time with my mom and with Aiden.

Marshmallow

While visiting Granpa Ellis and Grandma Cindi, Aiden got to roast marshmallows and try out the smore's. As you can see, he really enjoyed it. He was reluctant with the fire at first but got use to it eventually. He also found that the dogs enjoyed the marshmallows too and loved sneaking a few to them. Thanks bud for being so generous!