happy halloween!

We had a good Halloween this year.  On Saturday we went to the ward Trunk or Treat, which is always a fun time! Then on Halloween night, we invited another couple over to join us.  The men took the kids trick-or-treating and the ladies got to chat and pass out candy out on the driveway since the weather is finally perfect here!

Brandon was an Arizona Cardinals football player:

 Tyler was an army guy:

And Natalie was Super Girl  (she even corrected anyone who dared to call her Superwoman, reminding them she was a GIRL not a WOMAN):

And let the record show that I actually dressed up for the Trunk or Treat this year...probably the only time in my adult life I've worn a costume!

pumpkin carving!

We heard that our good friends the Meekers were expert pumpkin carvers and as you'll recall, we dread it. So we invited ourselves over to carve pumpkins with them this year!

First drawing on them:

Then the kids' favorite part - pulling out all the slimy guts!

The Meeker's don't mess around with boring knives - they use power tools!

Seven pumpkins carved in record time!

Brandon's pumpkin:

Tyler's pumpkin:

Natalie's pumpkin:

It's true that everything is more fun with friends, and we found a new Halloween tradition!  Thanks again for a great night Meekers!

distinguished honor roll

Brandon's first quarter of 5th grade this year was going along really well, right up until the last week, when he did poorly on a science test.  We were both devastated, thinking he had messed up his chances of making honor roll, but to our surprise he not only made honor roll, he made distinguished honor roll (all A's and E's)!  Making it on honor roll or distinguished honor roll at this school is no easy feat - they are doing year-ahead curriculum. This quarter, only 7 kids (out of 140) in 5th grade made distinguished honor roll!

My favorite part of the assembly was when they called his name.  I was watching his 4th grade teacher from last year and she was so thrilled for him!  Here he is shaking the principal's hand.

 

And here are the five 5th grade teachers.  The woman in the middle whose hand he was shaking is his homeroom teacher.  They rotate for reading and math. The woman on the left in the pink is his reading teacher and the woman on the right in the cream is his math teacher.

 

It's a good thing I could hide behind my camera - I was a bit teary.  The look of satisfaction and happiness on his face was evident.  It made every argument we had over homework worth it!

Just when I think this kid cannot surprise me any more with his accomplishments, he manages to!  These are the moments of pure joy that help me through the rough spots of parenting.  Good job Brandon - we could not be more proud of you!

And if they had distinguished honor roll for 2nd grade and Kindergarten, Tyler and Natalie would have been up there too! They are all having a great year!

school pictures

As usual, I didn't order any school pictures, but they actually turned out halfway decent this year!

Brandon - 5th grade - 10 years old

Tyler - 2nd grade - 7 years old

Natalie - Kindergarten - 5 years old

northern arizona vacation - day 5

There were two more national monuments near Flagstaff that we decided to visit before heading home the last day.  Our first stop was Wupatki.  This is a 100-room Hopi pueblo from the 1100's that is in the middle of nowhere!  It is considered a sacred site for the Hopi people because this is where their ancestors lived. It was fascinating to read the history and see how well it has been preserved.  This picture is taken from quite a distance away and is not even all of it!

 

The self-guided tour book was very helpful and kid-friendly. It had the kids hunting for certain features and figuring out what they were used for and why. 

 

We spent about an hour there and then headed to Sunset Crater nearby.  About 900 years ago, a volcano erupted and created a huge lava flow that is now lava rocks and cinders.  We hiked a one-mile trail through it.  It was very sharp and uneven.  We read that astronauts sometimes use this lava flow area to practice walking because it's similar to the surface of the moon.

If you look careful in the picture below, you can see some other people.  This shows you how huge the lava flow is, and this is only a small portion of it. It went on for miles!

 

In the picture below, you can see the volcano in the background.  It was very interesting how one side of the mountain looked normal, and the other side was all dead and black from the volcano.

We headed back home in the afternoon.  Overall, it was a great trip.  Our kids behaved wonderfully.  It was fun to hear their questions and comments at each place we went. They are really good travelers and get excited about things that most other kids would be bored and complaining about!  It's always nice to get away with our little family, even if it's not very far or very long!

northern arizona vacation - day 4

Thursday we went to Sedona.  I love Sedona!  It is truly one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited. This was my third time there, and it did not disappoint! I was told about an easy hike in Oak Creek Canyon called the West Fork Trail.  It was gorgeous.  The weather was perfect and it was a great morning out in nature with our family.

A nice couple along the trail saw me taking pictures and asked if we'd like our family picture taken. I love people like that!  And they did a great job! 

This is one of my favorite pictures of the trip.  Someone at the observatory asked if they were twins and I finally see why!

We probably would have gone a lot further on the trail, except every 100 yards or so you had to cross the creek on rocks.  The kids did okay and no one fell in, but it took a lot of time for Kevin to go back and forth three times helping them across.  And the trail was not a loop so we knew we would have to cross them all coming back as well!

We had a picnic lunch back at the start of the trailhead before heading into town.  We played at a local park and stopped at the only McDonald's in the world with turquoise arches for ice cream. Sedona has laws that require all their buildings to blend in with the beautiful natural colors around.

Then we did two different trolley tours.  I thought it would be a fun way to see the area and hear the history of the city. 

We went up to the Chapel of the Holy Cross, which is a church built into the side of the red rock mountain.  It provided some breathtakingly gorgeous views.  And some interesting questions from the kids about why there was a gift shop in a church!

 

I think Brandon may have a future in photography, since this photo below was only the second time he ever used my big camera!

Oh, and I found my dream house at the base of the mountain!  Apparently it is owned by a wealthy Romanian man and this is his "small" vacation home!

It was a great day in Sedona, and my favorite part of our whole vacation!

northern arizona vacation - day 3

On Wednesday morning, we set out to explore Walnut Canyon. I wouldn't make a special trip to Northern Arizona to see it, but since it was only a few miles from our rental cabin and was highly rated on Trip Advisor, we thought we should check it out.  It turned out to be a really nice morning.  When we told the kids where we were going, one of the them commented that we were going to "another canyon?!?" Yes children, we know most of your friends are at Disneyland, but we're visiting ANOTHER canyon!  But they were excited that we were actually going to hike down into this one.

Over 700 years ago, there was a pueblo community built into the cliffs in Walnut Canyon.  It was interesting to explore and see the remains of 25 rooms.  First we had to get into the canyon, which entailed about 250 stairs.  Down was great, up was no fun. Thank goodness I've been going to gym regularly!

The kids loved climbing through all the old rooms and making up stories.

After lunch back at the cabin, we headed to the Flagstaff Aquaplex.  The lady whose cabin we rented recommended it and we had a fun afternoon there.  They have a great indoor swim facility. The stairs lead up to two water slides that go outside the building. And being a Wednesday afternoon when most schools were in session, you can see we had the place almost to ourselves!

They also offer a rock climbing wall included in the price of admission.  My kids have never done it before, but their personalities were very evident in how they climbed.  Brandon was confident, almost cocky, until he got about halfway up and let fear get the best of him.

 

Not surprisingly, Tyler was fast and fearless and raced right up the wall and made it to the top.

Natalie was scared at first and didn't want to do it, but she couldn't stand to be left out of the fun or competition, so she decided to give it a try and made it about halfway up. She probably would have made it further, but some of the reaches were pretty far for her short little legs and arms.

Kevin also made it to the top.

It's been about 18 years since I've done rock climbing (the real kind).  The man doing the belaying looked at me skeptically, so naturally I had to prove him wrong and make it to the top!  For the second time that day, I was very glad I have been going regularly to the gym!

 

In hindsight, it probably wasn't the best idea to do rock climbing on the same day we hiked 250 stairs and swam for a few hours!.  Everyone's legs and arms were very tired and sore!