The Smith's October

Fall is my most favorite time of the year. I absolutely love it. The weather becomes cooler, the leaves change, and there are a lot of excuses for cuddling. :) So, maybe that is why I chose to get married in October... Anyway, this year Bryce and I decided to ditch the cooler temps, and spent our 7th anniversary in Phoenix, AZ. We had a great time. Here are some highlights.

Bryce standing below a cactus. These babies were HUGE! Our 4- wheeler guide stated that they kill a number of people in Arizona each year.

This is me 4- wheeling. We don't spend our anniversary doing sappy things... we are after adventure.

Bryce and I posing for a pic. I have to admit I was surprised at how beautiful the desert really is. I was really hoping to see a rattlesnake or a tarantula. However, despite the 100 degree weather, it was too cold for the snakes, and not quite mating season for the spiders. I was a little bummed.

Going out for the night. To be honest, we did not do much the 4 days we were gone. BUT, that was what so nice. We were able to do whatever we wanted. So, we ate a lot of good food, saw a lot of movies, and slept in... to about oh 8am. ( Some habits are harder to break) :)

Once home, our Halloween Celebration began. I love Halloween. It is my most favorite holiday. Therefore anything "halloweeny" there is to do, I want to do it. However, my one Halloween tradition I will not compromise on is Thriller. Thiller is a dance theatre show that I was introduced to even before I married Bryce. I have not missed yet. Once I see Thriller, it finally feels like Halloween. :)

And with my obsession, I have converted other fans. My bro, Jeff and his wife Lesha.

Thriller can be a little intense for young ones, so to get my kiddos in the mood for the season, we went on a Halloween Cruise on the Provo River. My kids loved it!

Waiting patiently for our turn to board the boat.

Our fearless captain... no tip though, because we were attacked by pirates!

Enjoying the cruise... or should I shall river row.

Despite the Pirates, we made it back all alive... I guess our captain was not that bad after all.

Everyone posing outside the cruise.

And that night I finally let me kids start wearing their halloween jammies. I think they are adorable.

The weekend before Halloween we ran non stop. It seemed it was one party after another. We all had a wonderful time though.

Going Trunk- or -Treating with friends. Brylee was Rapunzel this year. Her cute friend, Paislee was Raggedy Ann.

Parker, or should I say Luke Skywalker, crosses light sabers with his friend, Obi-Wan Kenobi, or on a regular day, Jaxon.

Easton, our little squirt turtle, tried to eat the candy as fast as he received it.

Our little Rapunzel is in awe at how easy this whole trick-or-treating thing is. A few little words and BAM... Candy!

The next day we headed into my Grandpa's house. We had a nice lunch, and had a chance to play with cousins. However, the highlight of the day was playing in the leaves.

Bry showing off her Halloween outfit.

All my kiddos decked out for the day.

My kids and my cute niece and nephew. My sister themed her family as "Alice in Wonderland."

Parker enjoying the leaves.

Easton and his cousin, Leah, enjoying the leaves. Leah is my cousin, Celeste's daughter. They are about a month apart in age. however, this is the first they really played together.

Everyone seemed to get in on the leave action though...

After a yummy lunch and good times at Grandpa's house, we headed to Lagoon for Frightmares!

Parker trick-or-treating in the hay maze.

Catching a few rides. This ride is so old, I rode it as a child. I don't know if that makes it nostalgic, or a life hazard.

Posing with Cleopatra in the kid friendly haunted house.

And fianlly the day I was counting down to arrived. Halloween was here!

Parker in his school costume parade.

Brylee wanted to be part of the parade too, so Grandma Marsha walked her around. She was happy and proud to be so big.

All ready to go Trick-Or-Treating. The weather here in Utah was beautiful this year. My kids lasted almost 2 hours.

Easton started saying "Trick-or-Treat" It was my most favorite memory from this year. It took me 10 minutes or so of wasted video to finally get him to say it on cue, but now I get to have that cute little trick-or-treat forever.

Parker taking some time to humor Mom, and allow her to take a picture.

Our neighbors, the Mundens, transform their basement into a haunted house. It is incredible. There are no people to jump out and grab you, just decorations, so the kids loved it. I think Parker went back 3 times.

The night came to an end, and here are their spoils. Parker made out with the most. Mostly because he could to 3 houses to the 1 Bry and Easton could do.

Bry is so excited.

And sweet Easton, once again is trying to eat it faster then he accumliated it. Happy Halloween everyone. We hope it was great for you!

Catching Up...June-September

I go back and forth if I should keep up on our blog... But since its the closest thing I have to a journal, I thought for now, I better keep it going. So, now I get to play some serious catch up. Its been a crazy Summer... here are the highlights!

This summer we purchased season tickets to Lagoon. The kids would go everyday if they could. :) We always have so much fun, and love when our friends can come with us!

JULY!!! We spent the month jumping from family function to family function. Here we are enjoying a BBQ with the Atkinson Family. 

We had an early 4th of July at Grandma Janna's house. Easton does not know what to think about the sparkler.

4th of July! We started the day with a Parade. We then had a BBQ at Grandpa Saunder's house. We then headed back down south to do fireworks with the Harvey Family. It was a full day, and I felt all we did was eat. :)



 This was the first year that Utah allowed large fireworks. We took advantage. Thanks to Dave...who put on an awesome show!

This summer, I along with the Fam, had a first. We went to a Demolition Derby! It was so much fun, and you could not ask for better people watching. LOL!

Parker ditched us to sit with the ladies. Luckily my friend, Katelyn, was willing to humor him.

Parker's Birthday Party! We had it a few days before his actual birthday so family could be there. He went to classic skating to play in the bounce houses. Since Star Wars is his latest obsession, of course that was the party theme. I can't believe that my Parkie is 5!



At the end of July we went to California to stay at New Port Beach. One of our favorite activities is bike rides to Huntington Beach. While at Huntington Beach we love to eat at Fred's! It is the best Mexican food. 

Parker is 5! Parker turned 5 while we were in California. He thinks that having his birthday at the beach is awesome.



All my kids are beach bums...maybe we should rethink the living in Utah thing.

 Some highlights from our week... icecream walks each night, breakfast at Charlie's Chili, Pizza at Bj's, and playing with cousins!

We returned from New Port Beach, unpacked, washed, and re packed to leave to San Antonio, Texas. My Dad lives there currently, and we went to spend some time with him. I will preface these pictures by saying Texas was in a heat wave, and its August.... so YES, we are HOT! It was 107 each day we were there. Dad... we really love you!



 Downtown San Antonio

 The Alamo

 Taking a boat ride on the RiverWalk

 Visiting some Caverns

 The Father and my Sibs

 Panning for Rocks... a highlight.

 Sea World... San Antonio

 Sea World Rides!

 Feeding the Dolphins

 Easton is showing Mom all the fish

 Easton loved, I mean loved Shamu! He was so excited to get one.

Another mommy milestone. Parker is going into Kindergarten. We went to see who his teacher would be and visit the school.

Of course, Brylee can not be left out. Brylee started Pre-School. She was not quite 3, but after meeting her, they made an exception. She is so excited!

Fall... also means its back to Soccer games on Saturday mornings. Parker is all set.

As a farewell to Summer, we spent a day at the zoo. As a special summer promotion, the zoo had been infested by dinosaurs. They looked so good, that my kids were scared of them.

Parker's first day of Kindergarten. So many of the moms were crying...I however was not. I love my son, but I am so happy he is finally going to school, I only wish we had all day Kindergarten. What is up with this 3 hour crap. :) 

Labor Day Family Reunion. My kids had so much fun this weekend. Easton had all the sticks he could ever want. Brylee did not have to get her hair done, and Parker could run around with his cousins looking for snakes. 

 This weekend did have one sad moment... my cousin, Kaden, left for his mission the Wednesday following our reunion. We will all miss him, but it will be especially hard for Landon.  

Our little princess turns 3! True to her nature, she wore a skirt, and sparkly shoes. We had a princess party....at stinky chuck-e-cheese. She is lucky we love her so much.