Halloween Fun

Hallee wanted to be a zombie school girl for Halloween.  Halloween always sneaks up on me so I ordered the costume a while ago to make sure we got it early enough. I'm usually a grump about buying costumes, but since this is Hallee's last year in elementary school I wanted her to have what she wanted.  She got to wear her costume to dance last week.

On Friday we had our ward Halloween party.  Jonah had a football game so we didn't go, but Wyatt went. They played whack a deacon. The boys would pop up and the kids would hit them with a paper towel roll. Wyatt said it was fun, but hurt a little.

On Saturday Caitlyn sent me a picture of her and Anna, her roommate, dressed up for a Halloween party on campus. 

Saturday was the Halloween dance at Provo High.  Jonah was a little disappointed that the girls chose Men in Black for costumes.  He was hoping for a dance where he didn't have to wear a suit.  He was fine with it though. 

Aubrey asked him to the dance.  He was excited to go with her and had a lot of fun.  They did a scavenger hunt for their day date. 

Jonah was happy that a lot of his friends were in his group.

This picture turned out pretty cool!

Jonah loves the school dances and always has a great time.

He always wants to stay out extra late on dance nights.  Keith was so nice and stayed up so I could go to sleep. Staying up for these kids is getting harder and harder.

Last night we had our Halloween dinner.  Hallee had fun helping me make it.

After dinner Hallee and Wyatt carved pumpkins.

Wyatt picked an easy pattern so he could finish up quickly and go to the gym with Jonah.

Hallee picked a more complicated pattern so Keith helped her some.

It turned out so cute.

Today Wyatt and Eddie dressed up as body guards.  He was ready to get out of his church clothes when he got home!

Keith was a cowboy and Hallee was excited to wear her zombie costume to school.

They had the Halloween parade first thing this morning. It is crazy that this is our last one.  Hallee enjoyed it, but it was freezing! The kids and the parents were freezing.

Jonah asked me to help him draw lips on his cheeks. It didn't go so well so I told him it would probably be best if I put the lip-gloss on and kissed him. I told him I had to document this!

Turned out pretty good, he definitely is a Ladies Man. Jonah is going to take Sawyer out to dinner tonight and then I'm sure he will hang out with friends.

Wyatt is going to a party at Eddie's tonight and Hallee went over to Trinity's for dinner and then to go trick-or-treating with them. I guess Keith and I will just pass out candy this year.  Our kids are growing up!

End of an Era

Jonah posted this picture in his Instagram stories and wrote, "End of an Era, love you Elder." It breaks my heart to see Jonah say goodbye to his best friend for two years.  The two years is hard, but I agree with Jonah that the end of an era is harder.  Entering this new phase of life where the kids are starting their own lives is hard.  It's hard for us parents and it's hard for the kids.  The carefree days of youth go by so fast.  I'm so grateful that we have so many great memories of spending time with cousins. We have all loved spending time with family over the years and building those relationships. I know it will be different for Cody and Jonah now, but I know they have built a bond that won't be broken.

Wednesday was the day that Cody entered the MTC in Provo.  They flew in Tuesday night and he was able to say goodbye to his grandparents.  On Wednesday Jonah and I met them at the temple before they dropped him off.   Matt and Lori have such a beautiful, loving family.  It's so obvious how much they all love each other and enjoy spending time together. It's going to be so hard for all of them to be separated. They are all excited for Cody and the good that he will do in the mission field, so that helps with the pain of separation. 

I took pictures of their family and then they took a few for us.

Jonah really wanted to be there to say goodbye so I'm grateful that they let us join them in this special family time.

Cody is sure a special guy.  He has always been so kind and caring.  He is a people person and can talk to anyone.  He has worked hard to prepare himself for a mission and he is ready.  He is going to be an amazing missionary.  

Elena is amazing too.  I wish Caitlyn could have been here too.  We have so many pictures of the four of them over the years!

I'm so grateful for all of my siblings and their spouses.  They are such great mentors and role models for my kids.  My kids all love their aunts and uncles.

Jonah doesn't talk a lot about the future, he is very much a live in the now enjoy every moment kind of person.  I love that about him.  He has started talking about going on a mission as he has watched Cody prepare.  Cody will be released two days before Jonah's 19th birthday.  I told Jonah he could be on his mission by then if he decides to go.  He told me he would not go until Cody got home so he could see him. It will be interesting to see what the future brings for these guys!

Jonah hates all the pictures I take, but I can't help it, I want to remember everything.

After all the serious pictures were out of the way the boys wanted to do some fun ones.  They wanted a "butt picture." Apparently they are very proud of their butts, ha!

I told them that they could take these same pictures with their wives when they get married and then have one of these pictures next to it. We always tease Cody and Jonah about their "bromance."

Cody gave a few piggy back rides.

It was fun to see him run down the hill with Matt on his back.

After that Jonah and I said our final goodbye so they could have some family time.  It was hard to say goodbye, but we are excited for Cody!

Cedar City

We enjoyed our adventures every day and we were always tired and ready to shower and relax at our place in the evening.

I was excited when I saw the place we booked had a gas firepit in the back yard.

The kids were excited to make smores at night.

Caitlyn came over on Sunday night. 

We had fun playing games and watching funny videos.

Hallee and Wyatt got pretty bored at dinner on Monday while we were visiting with Allison and Grace.  They were anxious to get back to our place.

We took them home and made smores with them.

After that Keith and I went back to Caitlyn's place so she could give us a tour of SUU.  We wanted to do it while it was light, but we never got the chance, so we took a tour in the dark.

This is Gunther the rock.  It gets painted throughout the year for different events on campus.

It was fun to have Caitlyn show us around and see all the different places on campus that she goes every day.

It's probably good that we did it at night because Caitlyn did not want to take any pictures, but I finally talked her into it because no one was around. Caitlyn was so sweet to take us because I know she was anxious to get home because her and Amarie were organizing their pantry and she had homework to do.  We sure enjoyed that time with her.

On Tuesday we checked out of our place and then picked up Cailtyn so her and Wyatt could go do baptisms for the dead.  Keith took them and was able to baptize them.  I think they all enjoyed that.

Hallee and I just hung out in the car and waited for them. After that we got some lunch and dropped Caitlyn off at her apartment before we headed back home. I'm so glad we took this trip.  It was so great to be able to see Caitlyn and have some great adventures.