Halloween

This, by far, was the funnest Halloween we've ever had! This holiday is all about kids and we had so much fun celebrating with Ave!

We tried out Wheeler Farm's festivities. It was just ok. Last year, we were up in Logan and the American Heritage Center was SUPER fun! Next year, we'll try out Corn Belly's! We were able to do a hay stack maze and Ave picked out her own pumpkin. We told her to get the biggest one she could find, and of course she picked out the littlest. Silly kid! We had tickets for a hay ride, but Nick's allergies were kicking in and we didn't have an epi pen with us. So, we had to skip it.

I bought Ave a costume at the beginning of October. I let her go loose in Kid to Kid (Best consignment store for kid items! Hands down!) and let her choose what costume she wanted. She saw a purple and black cat witch costume and fell in love! It was super cute!

Well, the day before her Pre School Halloween party, I tried to get Ave to dress in it. She absolutely refused. We had two princess dresses that her Grandpa bought back in March from Disney World. I tried the yellow Belle dress on and luckily it fit! Ave was in love all over again! In fact, she wouldn't take the dress off for a week! We had MANY temper tantrums over this dang dress! (She wasnted to sleep in it!) We literally have glitter stuck in crevices all over our house!

Ave's school held a little Halloween program for the parents. They sang songs and then we had a parade down 1300 East. Teacher Terry held a sign "Honks for Halloween" and the kids waved to all the cars passing. We got over 100 honks! The kids LOVED it!

That night, they held a Trunk or Treat in the school parking lot. I've never been to one and was excited/stressed about how to decorate our car. Since our trunk opens to the side, I had to get creative. I decided to go with a ghost alley. It turned out cute! Ave scored a full bag of candy! Afterwards, they held a parade at an assisted living center. The kids sang to the lederly again and got lots of cheers and claps from their audience. Super Cute!!

On actual Halloween, we started the night off with homemade chili. Yum! Grandma Vickie came over for dinner. We then started trick or treating! Ave was a pro! Once we hit Grandpa Dale's house, Ave's bag went from quarter full of candy to over flowing! They let her go wild! :) I had her sing a song for them and then we were on our way. Ave got the hang of knocking on the door, saying "Wick or Weat", then she would yell "Next House"! It was priceless!

We didn't get too many trick or treaters, so once people came I started unloading the candy to the kids in handfuls! If we have candy in the house, I will eat it! :(

(**We still have too much candy here!)

It was such a fun holiday! Hopefully next year I can get Nick to dress up too!

Wheeler Farm

Pre School Halloween Day!!

Trunk or Treat

Avery's Original Witch Costume!

Halloween Night

Nana Teri

I just have to say it again, Avery has the BEST grandparents in the world! We are truly blessed!

My mom has been so generous with always helping us with Avery! There are just some days that I need an extra set of hands or a day alone. She is always willing and ready to come grab Ave or stop by the house!

These two have so much fun together! They love to have sleep overs, spend the day in the jammies and bake cookies while watching Mickey Mouse!

I captured these pictures on one of our many day trips to the zoo! Thank you again mom for being such an amazing mom to Nick and I and an even more amazing grandma to Avery! We love you!!

Silly Face!

Gymnastics

We enrolled Avery in gymnastics for the fall semster at Epic Gymastics. We are so happy with the outcome! There are about six students in the class and one teacher. The parents have to sit in the "Parent Pit" and just watch. The kids have to listen to the teacher and if they start goofing off, the class pauses until everyone is in order. I think it is a wonderful lesson for the kids! Plus, I am not the only one telling her no that day! ;) AND most importantly, she loves it and looks forward to it each week!

Avery's best friend Elle is in the class too! It's so fun watching their friendship blossom!

L to R:

Sophie, Elle, Mallory, Izzy, Avery and Ava with Miss Cyan.

Boating

In a previous post, I mentioned we went boating. It was Avery's first time and she/we had a BLAST! We had so much fun, that we are considering a boat in our near future. (Fingers crossed!) Some of my fondest memories from my childhood are family boating outings! I hope to one day experience those outings with my own kids!

We ventured to Hyrum Dam up in Cache Valley. The water temperature was 71 degrees! It was amazing! The sunset was breath taking as well! We sure do live in a pretty awesome state!

Daddy's Girl

This summer, Ave became attached to the hip to Nick! She follows him e.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e! Sometimes I feel left out! :( But it sure is fun to watch their bond grow!

One of their favorite things to do is to go on a ride (around the block) on Nick's Harley! Check out their smiles!

Yep, I love these guys!

Avery's Buddy

We are very blessed to have such wonderful granparents for Avery! But, she has this special bond with Nick's dad Dale. (She call him Bum-Pah!) She just adores him!

Ha Ha! This one makes me laugh!

Our home away from home...

Snowbird has become our home away from home! I think we went up there every other weekend during the summer! We would go up there to hike, ride the tram, Oktoberfest, breakfasts, brunches and even our anniversary! We have loved it up there so much, we bought a season pass for skiing! This is the first time in my life that I am anxious for it to snow in Utah! Snowbird has brought som many great experiences which in turn has created amazing memories!

The first weekend in August, we took the tram to the top of Snowbird and hiked down. With Avery! There was still quite a bit of snow and the air was crisp. It was beautiful and peaceful.

It took us about an 2-1/2 hours to hike down. Avery hiked down a quarter of the way, and then we put her in a Kelty backpack. (Which I bought from a second hand store at a quarter of the price! Yessss!) Avery would only let me hike with her on my back. It was a great workout, until I fell down! I have a weak knee from a ski accident last year and it just gave out. Whoops!

If you haven't hiked Snowbird, I highly recommend it!

Our FAVORITE view!

Some of My Favorite Pictures from Swim Class!

This past summer, Ave took swimming lessons from Swim Kids. Over all, it was a great experience! Avery had two teachers, Dillon and Keri. The only problem was, Ave despised Dillon! I always felt so bad because she would scream bloody murder at him! :( When she was with Keri, she was an angel and did everything she would say.

These pictures sum up the lessons taught by Dillon! They cracks me up!