Sunday, November 9, 2014

Halloween 2014

We had a lot of fun with Halloween this year. These pictures are all mixed up, so I'll just include the captions, even if they are out of order.

We had sugar cookies one night with the kids.

Justin and I dressed up as Mary and Bert from Mary Poppins. Just for the record, I don't usually dress up, but Justin's work has a big Halloween party with trick or treating, so he always encourages me to dress up. However, it can be pretty fun :)

Molly was Elsa, Ali was Anna and Jackson was an elephant. I made the girls these dress ups several months ago and decided they should get their use for Halloween too. This was the year of Frozen, for sure, but that's ok!

My mom made the girls cute Halloween outfits for their dolls.

They turned out adorable! Thank you mom!!

We had a fun family Halloween party one Saturday. They kids all dressed up (minus Jackson who would not dress up until Halloween day when we went to the neighbors and I let him pick out a costume--the elephant).

We had Halloween food, played some games and had a fun time.

They had a free event one night that we went to with our kids. It was at the Utah State Botanical Center in Kaysville. They had a bunch of free things to do as well as a few other things you could pay for. Playing the needle in the haystack game above.

Face painting was free! We also got to throw tomatoes at a sign, go through a maze and see a bunch of jack o lanterns lit up. It was fun.

Here's the cute costume my neighbor let us borrow.

Halloween night....saying hi to friends.

I was able to attend Halloween class parties for both of my girls! It was fun for me and them :)

I helped Molly's class play pumpkin bowling. There were different stations and here are a few things she got to do or make (a monster play dough guy, goo, a game with candy corns).

Anna was already exhausted as we headed to daddy's work.

We got to trick or treat around the office and after had some pizza.

Molly with her cute friend Macey in our neighborhood who's also in her class at school.

Ali's class decorating cookies.

I made this fun pallet sign for my porch. It says When witches go riding and black cats are seen, tis __ days until Halloween. The kids like helping me change the number each day.

Last year I think we had one person come trick or treating to our door. This year we ended up putting our bowl out so we could go around with our kids all together. We didn't stay out too long, but I had about 4 bags of candy and we ran out! Our neighbor had the corn dog truck parked at their house on our street. My neighbor said they sold 400 hotdogs on Halloween! It was fun to hang out with friends before we all went out. We have a great neighborhood!

Trip to WY

We went to Wyoming last month over fall break for the weekend. We had lots of fun! Justin's brother Mark, and his family came as well as his brother Brad.


We always have great food! Some of our family's favorites were eaten this time. Marshmallow popcorn is Justin's grandma Betty's signature snack/dessert I would say. I love it! So addictive :) She knows I love it, so often if she's around when we are she will make some up.

Dutch oven potatoes and chicken. It's a special Wyoming treat, I tell ya!

Grandpa bought a new toy since we had been up, so it was fun to go for some rides.


Jackson's cousin Paxton is 5 months older and this trip they were old enough to play together. They were so cute! They would push each other and fall down laughing, taking turns. We saw them sword fighting with their forks at dinner and running and jumping on the couches together. Such fun friends!

We also had to check out the cows nearby.




It was a beautiful weekend to be there. Molly lost another tooth while there too! Although she was in complete hysterics until we pulled it. Ha, silly girl!

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Halloween decor and pumpkin patches

For those who don't know, I really love to decorate for the holidays. Halloween is one of my favorites to decorate for! Last year we had just moved in and I think I finally put out some Halloween decorations, but I didn't really get a full fix. This year I had some projects I wanted completed.

First off, I finally finished this table runner. I've been working on it for 2-3 years I think. I had just enough scrap fabric left to put the border on, I pieced together fabrics for the back and with about 2 inches left bound it. Phew! It was nice not having to go to the store to get anything for that project.

I first saw this wreath on the blog Tatertots and Jello. I have always liked it and since I finally have a front door, I had to make it. My neighbor has a silhouette and kindly let me use it to make the bats. This project cost about $13, so I would say it was a win!

Here is my shelf as you first walk into the entry. The door is on the left. The white plates I found at Secret Haven a few years ago. I made the banner last year with my mom (or 2 years ago?) and the piece of driftwood I got when I was in WY in August. I love it here!

I got a few crows from the dollar store. I found the idea for this silly crow from here. The block below I had in raw form and I painted it and put the scrapbook paper on.

Here is my mantel. I pulled out what I had first, but had to add a few things to make it more Halloween. I made the garland at the bottom with some pop poms I bought at JoAnn, then above that I have some lace and above that a beaded chain (made with dollar store necklaces). I stole the ribbon from my mom as well as the bats. Thanks mom! I used some scrapbook paper on the candles and crepe paper that I gathered to go on top of the paper on the candles. I found some doilies my mom gave me to put under the pumpkins. I would never have thought doilies would work with Halloween, but I'm kind of liking how it all turned out!


For FHE this week we went over to Pack's Pumpkin Patch, here in Farmington. It was our first time here and it was fun. They had a giant field with pumpkins, a maze, props to take pics with, tractors, the whole thing.



$27 later we headed out with our pumpkins and squash. Of course I had to use them to decorate my porch! I'll take pics of my porch and put them up (hopefully soon!).

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Molly's 7th Birthday

This girl had her golden birthday this year--7 years old on October 7th! We had a great time on her birthday. We stayed at my parent's time share at the Marriott Mountainside in Park City the night before her birthday. Some friends came up for the night and stayed over with us. They had to head early the next morning. We had Molly open gifts on the morning of her birthday.

Some clothes, a beanie boo named Glamour (she has the small one from a kids meal and really wanted the big one, so her siblings got it for her).

A fancy coat.

We went to Kneaders for breakfast. Molly had the french toast.

We were glad Justin got to have breakfast with us before he headed to work.

The birthday girl in a new birthday outfit.

I got the kids to indulge me and come shopping for a bit but then we went back and they wanted to swim. The pool was like 85 degrees. Too hot for my taste! But the kids loved it and had fun.

Jackson's just happy as long as a tractor is around to play with!

Park City was so beautiful! The leaves and everything were just gorgeous.

This was late, but I ordered a shutterfly book for Molly. I made one for Jackson for his birthday and the girls have wanted one for them. I had a coupon code for a free book so I just paid shipping! She loved it and I think it turned out really cute.

 Her cake. This wasn't a year for a big friends party, but she was off track and really wanted to have a "late night". So I said she could invite 2 friends. She chose her friends from her class at school, Macey and Sienna.


I was attempting a barbie cake, but the real barbie ended up being too tall for this and since she only had a couple friends, I didn't want to make a giant cake. So I found a little Elsa doll that worked perfectly. I think it turned out pretty well considering I have never made a cake like this before! A big thanks to my neighbor Erika for letting me borrow her cake baking supplies.


Opening her gifts from friends. I love the look of her face. If you can see, there are 18 dum dum suckers on this gift! Ha ha. Her friend Sienna wrapped it herself :)

I think it was a pretty great birthday for her! We love our fun and spunky Molly!