Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween everyone! I am a terrible decorator so I didn't have a single Halloween decoration up. Quincy said she wanted to be a fairy princess and Eleanor wanted to be a Cinderella. I made a Cinderella dress for Eleanor, but when I tried it on her it was obvious that she would need to wait about 2 years to grow into it (yeah for my skills as a seamstress!) She ended up being a clown. A very cute clown I might add. Benjamin was a little frog. He was going to be Tigger, but grew out of his costume about 2 weeks before Halloween. I was Miss Piggy and Brandon was a surgeon (I know, a cop-out because all the stuff needed was easily obtainable through my workplace!) We had a great ward Halloween party that I was supervising as the Ward Activity Committee Chairperson. Lots of ward members brought chili for the chili cook-off and our youth put together a fun little kids carnival activity.

These pictures were taken at the Timpview 8th Ward Halloween party (which was MUCH better decorated that our own!) My parents are good sports to dress up!

Jack-O-Lanterns

We put off carving our pumpkins until just a few days before Halloween so that we had "fresh" looking pumpkin faces on our porch. The girls had a great time cleaning out and carving their pumpkins with their cousin Amber at her house in Springville. After carving pumpkins we picked the concord grapes from the vines to use to make grape juice. So yummy! We love fall!

Jeannine Stuy

Brandon worked with a wonderful woman named Jeannine Stuy at the grade school for many years and they are still friends. She celebrated her 50th birthday this week and had a fabulous party. We were all very happy to be able to see her again, it had been awhile!

Happy Birthday Eleanor!

Our sweet Eleanor has finally turned 3 (after much anticipation!) We had a fun party with family at the house. She is very blessed to have so many people who love her! We asked her what she would like for a birthday. All she would say consistently was a brown cake, with brown frosting, and lots of candles... so yes, she is only 3, but she has lots of candles (made into the shape of a 3, which you can't see in the pictures) on her cake. In addition, she got her very own purple bike.

Happy Birthday Princess!

New photos of the family

Thank you to my sister, Erica for taking these pictures. She is amazing for being able to get such good shots of uncooperative children! I was pleased with the way they turned out!

Bridal Veil Falls

The other day we took a drive up Provo Canyon and Brandon, Quincy, and Eleanor hiked up to the falls. I currently have the unpleasant experience of tendonitis in my right foot so I had to stay at the bottom with Benjamin. They had a good time, without any major incidents.... but mostly it was a good photo op.... I love the colors in the canyon right now!

Apples

Many of you are aware that Quincy and Eleanor both love apples. Quincy will tell you her favorite food is "apples and cheese". It is not uncommon for us to go through about 6 pounds of apples per week, and neither of the girls are very picky about the kind of apple-- they just love apples. I can't really complain either-- kids choosing healthy apples over junk food-- I'm all for it! However, because we don't restrict apple eating to just the kitchen I have the unfortunate experience of finding apple cores in just about every room of the house.... literally! The other evening I found these apple cores downstairs in our living room... If you are not able to see them very well I will describe them..... there is literally NO apple fruit left on these cores. the only thing left is the hard crusts that hold the seeds. At first I thought that maybe ants had gotten to the cores and "finished off" what Quincy and Eleanor had not eaten... but these were apples that they had gotten out of the refrigerator not 3 hours earlier and I don't think we have THAT many ants in our house! I guess I should clarify... Eleanor eats apples, and Quincy devours apples. Apparently one of these apples belonged to each girl and after Eleanor had her fill, Quincy was able to polish it off..... I'm impressed! Are you?!