All Hallows Eve

This year Halloween was on a Sunday so we did our celebrating on Saturday. It was an absolutely beautiful day! It was mid 70's and  sunny, which is very different from all the cold and rainy Halloweens that we had in Utah. It was such a gorgeous day that Chet just had to be outside. So while I made cookies for the ward trunk-or-treat Chet and the kids headed to the park.

The kids love the particular park that Chet took them to. It's a very unique park. With "futuristic" equipment, as Olivia calls it. I can't really explain it but it's a lot of ropes and bars for climbing on and through. It's also next to a wooded area that the kids and dog love to go exploring in. They have come home many times telling me about all the bunnies, roadrunners and lizards they have seen.

After the park it was time to get ready for the ward trunk-or-treat. Liv was a "candy corn witch" and Harris was "Jack" again.

When we got to the church there were so many cars there we had to drive around to find a spot to park! It was great! The kids buckets were overflowing with candy when they finished. Since they couldn't fit another piece of candy in their buckets we headed inside to the carnival the Young Men had made in the cultural hall. Harris was particularly excited for the game that Chet was in charge of, bowling. I don't think he even tried any of the other games.

Harris takes his bowling seriously.

Liv was in charge of setting up the bottles when the young men went to have their turn at the carnival.

One of the other games was "donut on a string". Liv was eager to play that game. Our friend was holding her donut and was purposely getting it all over her face and making it quite difficult to get the donut in her mouth. It was super funny!

One messy but cute face!

 When we were done at the ward party we headed home to get to the best part of Halloween... sorting and eating the candy!

Happy Halloween!

Pickin' Punkins

On Saturday we went to a pumpkin patch called McCall's Haunted Farm to pick out our pumpkins. It it pretty much like a smaller version of Thanksgiving Point. We saved getting pumpkins for last though, so we didn't have to carry them around all afternoon, and headed to the game area. On the way to the games there was a whole bunch of animals that you could stop and pet. Our favorite of those animals were the bunnies in their little bunny town.

I just love how the bunnies are all hanging out in front of the little buildings! Too cute!

The first game that we played was racing rubber duckys.

After that game we headed to the pumpkin pillow. It's like a giant pillow filled with air that you jump on like a trampoline. It seems really dangerous to me but the kids love it!

Liv had to sit down because her bounces kept getting stolen.

Harris could have stayed on this the whole time we were there!

When our time was up on the pillow pumpkin we went to the 'mine shaft'. Which was a slide that went through a giant hill. It was super fast!

 The kids go to do it several times before everyone else figured out there wasn't a line for it. When a giant line formed for the slide we headed to the pumpkin sling shot. It wasn't actually a pumpkin sling shot. It was a pieces of cut up gourd sling shot. It was ok though, they still had fun doing it.

 Liv's turn.

 Harris' turn.

Chet's turn.

When we were done playing we made our way to the hayride to the pumpkin patch. It was a fun ride through the whole farm and out to a giant field of pumpkins.

On the hayride to the pumpkins. Such a cute family I have!

Even though there were hundreds of pumpkins to choose from there weren't very many good ones left. However, we did manage to find a couple that we thought would make cool jack-o-lanterns.

Chet trying to find his perfect pumpkin. He takes his pumpkin carving very seriously therefore the picking of the pumpkin is of the utmost importance.

Every pumpkin that Harris passed he had to check out and then declare it was perfect and better than the previous one he had picked.

Liv making sure that her pumpkin is a good one.

Despite the wind and the cold day we had a really fun time. I think that next year, however, we will go a little earlier in the season. :) 

Halloween with Cousins

I think that this Halloween was one of the best we have ever had. The weather was so nice! (for Utah) I had a great time with my sister while the husbands took the kiddos trick-or-treating. They came home tired and loaded with candy. (Chet note - so, just down the block a little Harris quit. It was funny, he turned to me and said, "I'm done". It was funny.)

My tender lumplings, Liv and Harris, as Jack and Sally. Liv wasn't to crazy about being Sally but Harris said to her "it's Jack and Sally." So being the awesome big sis that she is she went as Sally.


Bestest friends. Cousins Olivia and Camille ready for some candy!Lil punkin Aubry in her costume from Build-a-Bear, from Auntie Lindsay. Could she be any cuter?! (Chet note - yes, you read that right her costume is from Build-a-Bear!)
More bestest friends. Cousins Ryan and Harris ready to go! (Chet note - I did the fine face painting job on both Olivia and Ryan. I know, I am awesome...)

Halloween Eve and Pumpkin Carving

So, every year we like to spend some time together and carve some pumpkins. Inevitably, this involves me spending hours and hours carving away at a pumpkin, it usually involves Jaime saying she doesn't want to carve a pumpkin but doing it anyway and the kids will inevitably start a number of pumpkins and we will finish...

Anyway, we'll keep this one short. Here are our creations:

You'll probably notice a theme to our pumpkins this year...

Anyway, Jaime went with Oogie Boogie.

This took me almost forever. Jack and Sally was what I was going for if you couldn't tell...

Liv started and let me finish this scary Pumpkin King creation.

Harris worked on and let Jaime finish this carving of Zero.

How are people supposed to get to our front door you ask? Well, unless you are going to buy our home, I really don't want you visiting...

Happy Halloween Eve!

HalloweenTime

So another Disneyland trip has come and gone. Siiiigh. We had a blast as usual. Here are some pics of our fabulous time. This giant Mickey jack-o-lantern is so cool! At night it is lit up and flickers like there is a candle in it. Love it!

As you know we love finding new characters and this trip was no exception. We saw a ton of new ones (check the slide show) and were so excited! You can imagine Harris' excitement when we saw these guys. Jack and Sally. From his favorite show "The Nightmare Before Christmas". We were lucky to see them. They were only out one other time over the weekend.

As I said Harris' favorite show is "The Nightmare Before Christmas". At Halloween and Christmas they redo the Haunted Mansion to match the movie. So of course we have to do the ride a million times. It is very cool at night because the whole outside of the Mansion is decorated with jack-o-lanterns. I tried to get a picture but it is just too dark. So here is my cute family waiting in line for the ride.

Silly kids waiting in line for Haunted Mansion Holiday...again.

On Sunday my Dad joined us at Disneyland. It was his first time there in almost 20 years! Liv decided that sitting in the very front on Screamin' was the best way to reintroduce him to the park. Dad was a sport and did everything the kids wanted him to do. I'm pretty sure he had a great time. :)

How cute is this pic! Dad and Harris did Autopia together with Harris at the wheel. Dad came away with just some minor whiplash. ;)

Being goofy with Grandpa while waiting for Nemo.

Heehee. Poor Dad. He loved every minute of it. Really.

Happy Halloween!!!

Tonight we went "trunk-or-treating" at Chet's parents' ward. There was a big ward party with dinner, games and then the "trunk-or-treat". I think that is the way to go. Fifty cars all in one place; no doorbells, no crossing busy streats, and you are done in like 20 minutes! The weather was amazing tonight. It was warm! I remember last Halloween it was snowing, so we nixed the "trick-or-treating" and watched Rudolph. Tonight when we were done Harris said, "this was the best "trick-or-treat" day ever!" I think he was right.

We also stopped by Jann's to "trick-or-treat". Harris-Zurg, Liv-Hermione, Ryan-elephant, Cami-Nancy Drew, and Trevor-football player.

Halloween bowling with Chrys and James.

"Trunk-or-Treating"

Yes, I dress up the animals.

Disney Bee and Princess Tiffany

FHE: Carving Pumpkins

Tonight for our Family Home Evening activity we carved pumpkins. This is always fun, because eventually Livvy cries because her pumpkin isn't perfect, Harris is more interested in watching The Great Pumpkin, and I break out in hives. (I'm allergic to pumpkins) But what would Halloween be without carving pumpkins?

Can you tell who is carved into the pumpkins?

Chet's Nana and Snow

Ever since Olivia was born, we have gone to the Robinson's once a week for family dinner. Having a weekly dinner has given our kids the opportunity to form close relationships with their grandparents and uncles. Even their "emo" Uncle Chrys enjoys playing with them. :) Seriously though, my kids looove the time we spend at Papa's and Grandma Wendy's.

This week's dinner included a special guest, Chet's Nana, who was visiting from California. Nana used to live with the Robinson's but moved back to California about a year ago. We had a great time visiting and catching up. We miss her and it was good to see her. Love you, Nana!

Also, we had our first official snow storm on Saturday night. The kids were so excited. Harris wanted to build a snowman. I had to explain that there wasn't enough snow. He was mad, but it was all melted by the time church was over, so he got over it. I don't think I am ready for the cold. I am, however, excited for all of the fun holidays coming up! We even got our Christmas lights up on the house! We didn't do it. We have Lights Up do it for us. It was either now or not until after Thanksgiving. Since we will be out of town after Thanksgiving it had to be now.

Happy Holiday's! ;)