Arches Family Highlight Video

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Halloween Memories 2012

I forgot to include a few details in the Hoopla post that I don't want to forget about Halloween this year....

Owen thinks skeletons are called "Hiccups."  And he calls them that.  Any time he sees a skeleton of any sort (pirate skull and cross bones included) he exclaims "HEECUPS!" It is so cute!   We have a book called Skeleton Hiccups that became his favorite book, hence his name for skeletons.  I used to not like skeletons much, but this year I think they're rather cute!  We even made our own skeleton for our front door and enjoyed the bones more than ever.  :)  Maybe next year we will all be hiccups for Halloween...

Ethan's best quote while trick-or-treating: "This bucket is getting pretty heavy. I don't want to do any more trick-or-treat!"

Watching Christian in the school Halloween parade was one of my favorite things this year.  It was so cute!  And I think he was excited to see us.  :)  But even better was when we left the school and happened to walk past his class where they were seated in a group in the hall, and he lit up and got so excited when we passed them and waved, his two little brothers yelling "Hi Christian!"  The look on his face was priceless.

PUMPKIN THIEFS!  This year we were the victims of some pumpkin thiefs.  Boo.  And as you know that carving pumpkins is a big deal around here, having our pumpkins stolen was a big deal too.  We had five pumpkins on our porch and they took all but one little one and the lone mini pumpkin that came from our garden.  And they left us a political campaign poster in place of them.  Boo.  Christian and Ethan were actually kind of excited because they wanted to look for clues and solve the mystery just like Huckle.  Jake even drove them around the neighborhood for a while looking for clues, but alas, it was not to be solve.  But we couldn't let it stop us, so Jake went out and bought a couple more that we could carve.  Who is so rude to steal pumpkins, anyway?

Ghoulish Pankcakes, complete with crushed up skeleton bones, lizard eggs, and mummy milk.  :) (aka pumpkin pancakes...yum!) Even with whipped cream ghosts on top!

The beautiful fall weather we had that day and night!  The boys played in the leaves and rode bikes all afternoon in 75 degree weather, and Jake went golfing!  And the night was just perfect for trick or treating, and no fleece jackets were even needed!

 

Gone Fishin' Again

We had so much fun fishing at Silver Lake, we decided to go again the next week!  This time we took Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Melissa with us, and headed to Mirror Lake for a picnic lunch and a day of fishing.  The weather was gorgeous, the company was great, and Jake even caught a couple fish!  Unfortunately the boys didn't catch anything, but Ethan was still just as diligent in his casting and didn't lose interest.  What a cute little fisherman!!  Christian wasn't as interested because he was having a hard time getting the hang of his pole, until Grandpa finally showed him the right way to do it, and then he loved it!  I asked him what his favorite part of the day was and he said, "When Grandpa knew how to teach me the right way to fish!"  Good thing Grandpa was there!  Owen was good, as usual, even without another nap.  He loved Chippy (the chipmunk) and we had fun watching him eat out of Melissa's hand!  Those are some friendly critters up there!   All in all, it was another great day fishing.  And the last one of the season.

Gone Fishin'

Mid-September Jake surprised the boys with a couple new fishing poles and so we headed up the canyon to do some hiking and fishing!  Jake took up fishing a little over a year ago, and the boys always ask to go with him.  They were really excited!  We went to Brighton and decided to hike to a lake at the top, rather than fish at Silver Lake at the bottom, but that backfired on us when the boys (and myself!--I carried Owen in a pack) were exhausted by the time we got to the lake, and then we couldn't even fish in it because it was so low!  So we hiked back down and fished at Silver Lake in the end.  Christian said to me, "Mommy, next time let's just fish and not hike first."  :)

But once we did fish, the boys had so much fun!  And so did we...we were so entertained watching Ethan cast, and cast and cast.  He caught on really quickly and it was hilarious to see him do it!  Owen was a trooper, since it was chilly in the shade, he should have been napping, and I just plopped him on the ground, wrapped him in his blankie and gave him a bag of fishies to satisfy him.  He was pretty happy about that, and didn't even mind eating the dirt along with the ones he dropped on the ground!

We had such a great time, even though no fish were actually caught, or even spotted.  :)  The boys couldn't wait to go again!

Owen was so entertained by the chipmunks eating spilled goldfish that he didn't even insist on getting out of his pack!  Owen and I were resting while the boys investigated the mostly dried up lake.

I love that concentrated face

My little fisherman

Dinner Up the Canyon

At the beginning of September we headed up the canyon with the Merkleys while Justin and Camille were in town and had a fun time eating dinner, making s'mores, and of course, throwing rocks in the river! 

a little blurry, but a classic Owen face

Mmmm!  Marshmallows!

Three Jumping Beans

Couldn't resist taking pictures of these three little jumping beans on a beautiful October day in the backyard, with the slightly changing leaves behind them.  

Christian's doing a good job trying to get his brothers to hold still. :)

Owen landing on his bum and the bbig boys on their starting line!

An Owen Post

Dear Owen,

This post is dedicated to you because I just cannot get enough of you.  You make me smile, you crack me up, you melt my heart every day, all day.  I don't know what I'd ever do without you.  I just love, love, love you!  I love to scoop you up and smother you with kisses while you giggle.  I love the way you wrinkle up your nose and scrunch your face.  The picture above is a pretty good example, although you do it even more dramatically sometimes.  I love it!  I love the way you say "I yuv you!" to me, each day as I leave your room when you are going down for a nap.  And you say it multiple times, as I say it to you.  I love how much you love books!  You bring me book after book after book, and plop yourself down on my lap to read each one.  If I didn't have two other little boys needing my attention, we would sit on the floor and do this all day. :) And I love the way you say BOOKS. Almost like it's three syllables--Boo-kkk-sssss.  You say a really hard K back in your throat and draw out the s.  It is so cute!  I love to tickle you and hear you laugh, especially underneath your thighs!  I fear you have inherited my ticklish genes, but I am so glad.  :) I love how friendly you are, and the way you say "HI!" to anyone and everyone, and you say it over and over until they respond or are out of sight.   And then when it's time for goodbye you say, "BYE-SEE-YA" like it's all one word.  You make me smile. I love to watch you dance.  I love when you give me hugs and say "HUUUGGSSS" and give the biggest squeeze you can. I love to watch you play with your big brothers and try to copy just what they do.  Lately you've been saying, "Oh yeah, baby," echoing Ethan's latest phrase.  You just keep us all smiling around here!  Owen Bowen, I don't know what I'd ever do without you!  I am so lucky that you are mine.  Keep smiling and scrunching that nose.  Oh how I love you!

Love, Mommy

P.S. These two pictures were taken a month apart, both by Ethan.  Owen, you are a binky and blankie boy. You love them both, TOGETHER.  Not one without the other.  And I'm so glad, because it keeps you cuddly.

Summer Fun List

A long time ago, back when it was warm and there wasn't 18 inches of snow on the ground (YES, we got that much last weekend!), it was summer!  And I got this fabulous idea from my amazing friend Mary.  So I had two lists on my fridge of Summer Fun and We Did It!  And here they are... (as you can see, they only very recently came down...notice the Halloween decor on  top?)

We all contributed to the list, and anything they said we put on.  And we almost did it all!  Maybe next summer we'll get that tree house built....and I can't believe we never went on a family bike ride!

HALLOWEEN Hoopla 2012

Before I get any further....here is the unveiling of our costumes!   

We went with the space theme this year:

Christian, the astronaut

Ethan, Buzz Lightyear the Space

Owen, Alien

Mommy, Alien

Daddy, Mission Control

In our family, Halloween is big. And fun! And celebrated for a week straight.  I love the decorations, I love the pumpkins, this year I love the elementary Halloween parade, and I love, LOVE my little ones in costumes, and the pictures afterwards.  This year my favorite Halloween decor was two different magnet boards that I covered in past Halloween photos of boys and our family.  Those will come out every year!  I really love Halloween.  (And admittedly, I'm always relieved when it's over!  It wears me out!)

On Halloween night as we were out trick-or-treating, I was chatting with a girl in my ward about what a funny American holiday Halloween is.  Lots of little kids dressed in costumes, going from door to door asking for candy.  What are we celebrating anyway?  And what is Halloween for?  And I said to my friend, FAMILY TRADITIONS.  That is what Halloween is for.  For making memories for your children to hold on to.  For doing fun and silly and special things that you can reminisce about together.  Having the pictures on our magnet boards was so fun this October, and my favorite part was seeing Ethan and Christian stand in front of those for minutes at a time and just look at them and ask about each one, over and over.  And Owen couldn't get enough of the pictures too!  Halloween is definitely about making memories.  And I'm so grateful for the memories thus far. :)

So here is a recap of our celebrations this year:

COOKIE DECORATING:
Family Night Decorating!

And more decorating! (thanks to Grandma for this fun kit!)

SATURDAY AFTERNOON: Gurr Family Costume Party

Cousins! (and me, because I had sad little boys)

Guess who this old man is?!

The Adults, plus Owen (again, a sad little boy)

Kerr Family

My cute little alien
(how embarrassing...his diaper is hanging out of his pants!  I fixed the hole shortly after)

Fun party games!!  I think the pinata was the biggest hit! :)

SATURDAY EVENING: Ward Trunk-or-Treat (of which I took zero pictures)

SUNDAY AFTERNOON and EVENING: Pumpkin Carving
Pumpkin carving is big around here.  Maybe because it all started when Jake purposed with a carved pumpkin that read "will you marry me?"

Ethan did a "light brite" pumkin by hammering pegs into the pumpkin, which lit up with a light inside.
Pretty cool!  It was perfect for him!

This is serious business.
We actually made a date night out of this and carved ours after the boys were in bed!

Here is our masterpiece!  To go right along with our space theme! 

All three pumpkins....the parental's, Christian's and Ethan's

This is Christian's...which he carved almost all by himself.  Jake assisted

MONDAY EVENING: Merkley Family Costume Party

TUESDAY MORNING: Preschool Party (no pictures)
WEDNESDAY MORNING: HALLOWEEN PARADE!

Christian was so cute!  And the kindergarten teachers were Thing 1 and Thing 2.  So fun!

WEDNESDAY EVENING: Trick-or Treating!

First, the classic front porch photo shoot!

Owen loves the astronaut helmet more than Christian!

(whew! I'm exhausted just typing that!)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!