Halloween 2013

I asked Scarlett a few weeks ago what she wanted to be and she said "a fairy". I quickly talked my self out of sewing her a fairy costume and headed to Target instead. There Scarlet found a bumble bee costume which she fell in love with. It had wings and a cute head band/crown, she was hooked. Well, that's perfect because I can have Alice be a lady bug. Oh goody they can match and be cute. Guess we will do fairies next year :)

Scarlett has loved the Halloween season! We decorated the house all up with skeletons, pumpkins, and bats. She loved that it looked "spooky". Every day she asked if it is was time for trick or treating and begged to wear her costume. The week of Halloween she wore it everyday and when Halloween finally arrived she could hardly contain herself. She kept kissing me on the cheek when I told her it was time to go get candy! In true Alice form she copied everything Scarlett did...down to the kissing on the cheek.

The girls loved trick or treating with Emily and her boys. I thought they would get tired after a couple house but they could have gone all night! Alice was happy as along as she was eating the candy and Scarlett loved running up to all the doors. I as shocked that Scarlett was not scarred of all the really spooky decorations at the houses. She is usually such a scardy cat. I had a couple favorite parts of Hallows Eve
1. Scarlett's joy/smile over everything!

2. Trick or Treating in Hillsboro to all the same houses I used to visit

3. Post Halloween pumpkin cookies and warm wassle.

Her favorite...suckers!

Flake Ranch

We went up to the Flakes Ranch a couple days ago. It is seriously the happiest place on earth!! We rode horses, enjoyed the beautiful weather, went on a morning run (just me), and played outside to our hearts content. Scarlett and Alice loved roaming and playing with their Flake cousins. 

We also spent the afternoon in Provo eating at every hot spot like Slab Pizza and J Dawgs. It was delicious! We walked around BYU campus and told Scarlett the story of how Nick and I fell in love at BYU. She asked to hear the story again and again. The campus holds a special place in my heart. I actually only spent one fall there but the memories I made that freshman fall were powerful. A whoosh of feelings and emotions came back when I saw the campus covered in red and yellow leaves. It is a beautiful sight. I just love Provo in the Fall!

What made this trip the best was that 6 out of 7 of us kids were together. Caity and clarah drove down from Idaho, Nate came up from Provo, Brady was in town for a conference, and of course Emily and I were there. That's 6! We missed Kim but next time she will be forced to come up. It was fun to talk late into the night and devour all the scrumptious food we made. At times is was a feeding frenzy. Camps and Flakes know how to eat! It was a great and memorable weekend.

BYU campus

Bottom line: Kids were filthy, exhausted, and still ask every second to go back!

The Patch

He have a pumpkin patch by our house. In Vegas that means a parking lot with some hay, rides, animals, and over priced pumpkins. We drive by it almost everyday. Scarlett screams with delight everytime. She yells "oh look it's the patch mom!". Alice picked up on it so they both yell "the patch, the patch, the patch" every time we drive by. We surprised them on Thursday and finally took them to "the patch". We got scarlett 5 tickets and she chose the rides she got to go on. Her favorite was the huge slide and bouncy obstacle course. It was great fun and the kids ran wild for the evening.

Can you tell she loved it

view of the strip while taking a little spin

Oh she adored the animals. Up on her tippy toes petting the goat.

Run wild

Alice My Love

She loves fruit snacks (which she steals from the pantry all day), her fuzzy blanket and bottle/sippy cup. I still put her down for bed with a sippy...sigh. It is terrible and I should really nip it in the bud but it makes it sooooo much easier. I'll do it later. The other day she was running around my feet while I made dinner and I realized how big she is getting. She is tall, mobile and loves to talk. Her new favorite words are "punkin" "spooky" and "JILL" (over and over and over till my ears hurt!). Watching her grow and develop is a joy and I wake up every morning excited to see her! But I think I may be ready for a real baby because apparently Alice grew up! I see a small newborn and I want one...hmmm this is not good:)

She still loves me best! 

Joy School

It was our turn for joyschool today. Scarlett was so excited for all her friends to come over she woke up at 6am to help get ready. The 2 hours of school went by so fast and the 6 kiddos (7 with Alice) were extremely well behaved. I was shocked to find out the kids favorite activity of all was...reading books. They LOVED reading Where the Wild Things Are and Faster,Faster and acting out all the animals. Next time I am reading more books!

Alice may have loved it the most!! She found a new best friend...the cd player. She turns it on and then dances to the all the cute kid songs. Watching this girl do all the actions for "itsy bitsy spider" melts my heart.

Oh, my lovely Scarlett

Watching Scarlett grow and develop her personality has been a joy these past months. Everyday she teaches me about love, kindness, and patience. She has no idea the example she is to her family. I feel so blessed to have my oldest have such a pure heart!

She takes her role as a big sister very seriously and loves to make Alice happy. I find her sharing with Alice, even if it is her favorite toy. She says "Oh Alice, you can have it. You can give it back later". At times Alice can be naughty and do naughty things. I get frustrated! Scarlett routinely reminds me "Mom, she is just a baby! It's okay." She helps get Alice dressed in the morning and then helps get her undressed for a bath at night. She even gently takes out Alice's hair tie saying "there you go Alice. Doesn't that feel good?" Her kindness is a gift from above. Scarlett is a second mother to Alice and it has been a huge help to me.

Scarlett has love in her heart. She yearns to make everyone around her feel loved. She draws me a picture when ever she goes to the gym child care. When I pick her up she says "mom I made it for you because I love you!" She will make her bed and run to tell me "mom, I did it because I love you!" We have discussions about choosing the right when I put her bed. She understands that making right choices shows Heavenly Father and Jesus that you love them. I am amazed at how much love she has to give. When you are around Scarlett you feel loved!

This morning we had eggs for breakfast. They are Scarlett's favorite food, she LOVES eggs and toast. Alice ate her eggs really fast and wanted more but we were all out. Scarlett immediately said "here you go Alice have my eggs and I will have yogurt". She gave Alice her eggs and Alice beamed with gratitude. In her baby voice Alice said "thank you Scarlett". That sums up my most beautiful little girls!

at Lake Powell in 2010