Halloween 2018

 Lily's Kindergarten class photo

 Kate decided to be Alice in Wonderland for Halloween so Emmy jumped on board as the Queen of Hearts.  Another great one for her red hair.  This costume was so fun to create.  We found the perfect fabric and pattern.

 We tried to convince Lily to be the Cheshire Cat but she said he was, "too weird".  So she chose to be Alice's cat Dinah. Everyone assumed she was the Cheshire Cat;  at least the costume was easy and she was happy.

Kate's long blond hair was perfect for Alice.  She did get a little jealous of the Queen's finery so we had to add some lace to make it a little more fancy.

Natali came up with a cute bandit costume and Andrew doned Mack's old gorilla costume (add a neighbor girl) and we were ready for the Church trunk or treet and an evening of candy.

"This is a hold up!" 

What good is dressing up if you don't act silly?

Andrew became Scott Sterling for his costume at school but decided a soccer uniform was too cold to trick or treat in.

Our lovely pumpkins.  I didn't have to dig out a single one!!  I loved helping Lily design and create her kitty cat but was so thrilled to have Greg scrape them all out.

And Halloween wouldn't be complete without our Halloween Dinner...

The Eye Ball Slushies were a big hit and Greg really loved the look of Swamp Thing with Goblin Goo (Nachos with Guacamole).

Lily's friend (our neighbor, Torah) refused to eat anything but the slushie.  She said it all looked to disgusting.  That's the point right?

Bat Bites (Cheese balls rolled in poppy seeds with blue corn chip wings) were the top pick of my little girls.  But I think their favorite part is sharing this silly tradition with their friends.  I'm sure some of the friends go home hungry and grossed out but most of them seem to have fun and find something they can eat or in Torah's case, drink.

Utah by Way of Yellowstone

Greg was invited to speak at the BYU Executive Lecture Series over conference weekend.  We made it into a road trip by heading to Rexburg Tuesday night and skipping school on Wednesday (we had Th and F off) so we could go to Yellowstone.

 

We enjoyed a few good hikes on Wednesday but didn't see much wildlife.  It was the day before Mack's Bday so that night in the hotel room I detailed the story of his birth which was so amazing I was begged to tell the other 5 birth stories.  It was fun to have them all gathered around reminiscing together.
Thursday it rained almost all day which didn't make for very good animal sightings.  We did manage to see a few moose including a mom and baby.  We slowly made our way out of the park and on to Utah.  We stayed the night with Pierces and woke early to head to Provo.

This is Mack's early birthday party at Costa Vida with the Wilfords.  The happy birthday boy got lots of Pork Nachos and presents - who could ask for more?

Greg's presentation went great and he and I enjoyed lunch with the Dean of the the business school and some of the other professors while the kids enjoyed the Cannon Center Cafeteria (updated since my day at the dorms).  

After that we went up to Provo Canyon and hiked around Bridal Veil Falls with my niece, Holly.  I'd hoped to enjoy the walk while talking with Holly, but I couldn't get a word in...the kids loved being with her so much they wouldn't stop chatting.  They had a blast and treated her like a superstar.  

We had a fabulous dinner at the Brick Oven, dropped Holly off at her apartment and headed to the BYU game.  We played horrible (the norm lately) but the kids had fun eating cougar tails and mint brownies and hanging out with the Pierces.  We left early because it was getting late and the game was so embarrassing.  Andrew had actually laid down on the floor because he couldn't stand to watch any more. 

We were up bright and early the next morning to head to Draper where Lily and I were dropped off to watch Conference at the Petersens while the others went to SLC to go to a live session of Conference.  

The kids were in the morning session when President Nelson announced 2 hour church.  Pretty cool.  We spent the rest of Saturday and Sunday morning with cousins and then headed home.  It was a long weekend with a lot of driving but we had a blast.

Homecoming

Natali's first big dance!  Hard to believe she is this grown up.

She looked beautiful and wore a dress that she bought in Boston this summer with her cousins - It looked great.

Here is the whole group.  

She and Matt had a great time with this big bunch of friends.

First Day of School

This year we had three different start days for school.  Our new Middle Schooler and High Schooler got to start school a day before everyone else.  They weren't thrilled but I know it helped Kate feel a bit more comfortable.

Kate - 6th Grade

Mack - Freshman

Round Two

Emily - Mrs. Larsen's 3rd Grade

Natali - Junior (it goes too fast)

Andrew - 8th Grade.  Last year of Middle School (Three in High School next year - yikes)

They don't usually enjoy first day pics so much - they were having fun and just being silly together.  I love times like that.  I'm going to miss having them around everyday but I'm looking forward to my mornings with Lily and a little quite in the afternoon.

Third (and hardest) Round

Lily - Kindergarten -Mrs. GW's
I have been so worried about sending Lily to kindergarten.  She has a bit of a hard time leaving Mama and I wasn't sure how this would go over.  Excited but very nervous she walked her to her line and didn't break down too much when it was time to go into class.  We have had a few days that were hard for her to get on the bus, and we've had to work through a issues like substitute teachers, new bus drivers, and alternate ways home but overall she is doing great.

Here she is with her two buddies from Church, Libby and Brooke.  They all wore unicorns for their first day.  So fun. 

Homecoming week - Decade Days.  Natali was 80's.  Mack was 60's.  He didn't really know what to do so in an attempt to look like a basketball player from the 60's he straightened his hair (a fun project), and pulled his shorts up really high.

Close up of the hair straightened - he has so much curl it amazes me.  He has way more than me!

It was Wacky Day at the Elementary School so we did "Whoville" hair by putting a plastic cup on her head.  Then she put on every bow she could find.  She also wore pants with shorts over the top, shirt inside out and backwards, mismatched socks and two different shoes.  Emily looked amazing.