Carving Pumpkins

 The Monday before Halloween is always reserved for our annual carving of pumpkins with our good friends.  I think we have done this since we moved into our house and the kids are finally big enough to carve for themselves.

 Luckily the weather was pretty nice and we could keep the mess in the garage.

 The girls wanted their own picture this year to show off their masterpieces.  Megan's is a shark in case you couldn't tell.

 All of the finished products.  Not too bad for a bunch of kids.  I think we are finally ready for Halloween.

Mammy's Murder Party

 One of the highlights of October is Mammy's annual murder party.  This year the theme was Twisted at the Transylvania.  Our costumes were a little of everything.

 Emily was more than happy to dress as the rich socialite.

 Wendell the bumbling mummy.

 Megan was a vampire.  Her teeth hurt her gums so she didn't wear them very often.  Her friend, Bridger, was Frankenstein and by chance ended up being the murderer.  It really wasn't a set up.

 I was a safari guide.

And Tyler had the best costume of all, the Wolfman.  He was the DJ for the evening.  Mammy was the inspector and fed us until we felt like we would explode.  Fun night.

Almost an Eagle

 On Saturday, Tyler completed his Eagle project.  The weather was perfect and had to be considering he painted fire hydrants.

Thanks to all the boys and leaders who showed up to help.

I think Tyler had fun and if clothes are any indication he had a great time.  Red oil-based paint does not come out of clothes.

 The finished products.  It had been over 10 years since they had been painted in our neighborhood.

 A couple of more merit badges and Tyler is officially done.  Great job!

Our First Concert

 At the beginning of June, we heard that Imagine Dragons was coming to Weber State.  The kids love their songs and the tickets were pretty cheap.  We bought the tickets and they sat on our bulletin board for almost 5 months.  This past Friday, the day finally came.  Wendell made us stop and get ear plugs on the way up to the Dee Events Center.  I actually used them. I must be old.

 We made sure we were there in plenty of time.  The first band was not that great, but Imagine Dragons was definitely worth the price of the ticket.

 They did an amazing job.  Our pictures aren't very good, but it was a packed house.  All tickets were sold out.  A great concert that was actually family appropriate--a hard thing to find in today's world.

 Emily spent the night dancing and singing her heart out.  She got into even more than Tyler and Megan.  I think we all agreed we would go again if they ever come close by.

San Diego for Fall Break

 We didn't know if we would make it to California over Fall Break, but thankfully Megan's soccer team didn't make it into the playoffs.  A little bitter sweet, but Tyler and Emily were so glad we could actually go on vacation.  Our first our course was the beach.

 Nothing better than a dinner and sunset by the ocean--even if that dinner is Subway.

 I love this picture of Emily and Wendell, but couldn't figure out how to turn it.

 We spent a lot of time trying to perfect this picture of Meg doing handstands on the beach.  It is harder than it looks to take a picture at just the right moment.

 SeaWorld was a must for Emily while in San Diego.

 The bat rays pool was very cool.

 Megan overcame her fear of sharks for a small instant to go in the shark exhibit.  She honestly was a little afraid to even go in the tunnel.

 The starfish were also a favorite.  The water was freezing cold, but the girls loved picking them up and holding them until the starfish wrapped around their hands.

 The sky ride was open across the bay.  This is one thing we had never done at SeaWorld in the past.

 Emily had tried and tried all day to pet the dolphins.  We stopped one last time before leaving.  We all touched the dolphin except her.  Wendell got her really close one time and the dolphin flicked its tail and splashed us all instead.  Emily's persistence paid off and she finally touched the dolphin just before they put them away for the night.

 We couldn't go to San Diego without stopping in Old Town for some Mexican food and shopping.  After we left for the night, Emily said, "I think I've had enough Mexicans for a while."  I hope she meant the food.

 The zoo was next on the agenda.  Can I just tell you how excited Megan was to spend the day there?

 Another sky ride across the zoo.  A great way to get across a huge area.

 The pandas are always fun to look at.  It is always surprising to us how big they really are.

 Back to the beach.  Megan wanted to go so bad and then never even got in the water.  The rest of us enjoyed the warm weather.

 We wore Emily right out.  Too many animals and water for her for one day.

 And finally, the favorite of Megan's--the Wild Animal Park.  I think the few hours we spent there were pure torture for her.  I'm pretty sure we will never see Megan at this park again.

 Emily loved it at least.

 The lemur cage was pretty cool there.  You could go right in and watch them really closely.

 The picture pretty much sums up Megan's idea of a vacation.  Good thing she has a friend who actually texted her for hours on end.

 A rare picture of all three kids actually smiling.

 We stopped at the San Diego temple one night.  This picture was unbelievably hard to get.  Luckily a nice family from Utah stopped and finally helped Mammy use the iPhone.

 Another rare picture of all three kids.  (Especially rare since Megan looks like a bat).

 On the way home we stopped in St. George and then a portion of Kolob Canyon and Cedar Breaks.

 A great break from everything and a fun time to spend as a family.