Halloween Fun!

Trick or Treat! This was Nick and Alli's first year trick or treating. I wasn't sure if they would catch on to the concept, but when candy is involved, they learn fast! Alli dressed up like a dalmatian (like her cousin Lindsey) and Nick was a tiger. They love their costumes and they keep bringing them to me to put on again. We went to about 10 houses in Lindsey's neighborhood. Nick was always the first to the doorbell. He practically ran from house to house.


The dalmations were a little slower but they stuck together.
When we got back to Lindsey's house, Alli dumped out all her candy to see what she got. She is acting like such a big kid. When she woke up this morning she asked for her "purse" (candy bag) and when I gave it to her she looked in her bag and then looked back at me very concerned and said "Go?" She wanted to know where her candy went (I dumped it into the family candy bowl - mean mom!)
About a week ago we went to a pumpkin patch and picked out pumpkins. Nick loved pushing around the wheel barrel and Alli tried very hard (without much success) to pick up the pumpkins.

Steamboat

We had so much fun on our weekend trip. Brian and I went on our honeymoon to Steamboat 8 years ago and we have been wanting to go back ever since. Things were a little different this time...kids change things, but I still wish we could have stayed a week.

Nick in the car. The 3 1/2 hour drive went fast on the way there and not so fast on the way back. Its always harder to come back from a trip and by then the kids were bored with their car toys.
In the gondola. Nick sat perfectly still on the seat the entire ride. He was a little freaked out by it. His more adventurous sister wasn't afraid at all.Chillin' at the top of the mountain after our hike/walk (note: two toddlers + pregnant wife with baby backpack = very short hike).We went out to dinner at a yummy mexican restaurant called Rio Grande. I guess there's one downtown. We'll have to go try it out. Nick ate at least half of adult sized steak burrito. And Alli loved the salsa so much that she was dipping her sippy cup in it after we ate all the chips.
Hanging out at the hotel. We didn't spend too much time in our room. The hotel we stayed at (Steamboat Grand) has an awesome heated pool. We went swimming 3 times!

Did I mention...

Well, if you've seen me lately you probably already know. We are expecting another baby! My "official" due date is February 21st, but the two ultrasounds I've had thus far are showing that the baby is actually about a week ahead of that. So I am 12-13 weeks. We know for sure that there is only one baby this time. Brian thinks its a boy because "it has a big head" and I think its a girl because I haven't been as sick this time (yeah for me!). Since we already have both, we'll be happy either way.

The twins will be a few months over 2 when the new baby is born. So life will be crazy, but we felt like it was time for another baby. I have been "showing" earlier than I'd like (thanks twins), oh well. I swear I look like I'm already 6 months along. Here's a picture from the cabin to prove it. And here's a picture from my ultrasound last Wednesday.

Island Park

We went to Island Park, Idaho with the whole family for our big summer trip this year. My aunt and uncle have a cabin there and they were kind enough to let us all stay. We used to go to this cabin almost every summer when I was a kid. My newlywed brother David and his wife were even able to come for a few days. It was so fun! I was a little worried about the long drive (about 10 hours each way), but the kids were pretty good. We broke up the trip and spent a night in Logan, UT on the way there and Pocatello, ID on the way back. While we were in Logan we got to meet up with the Zern family for pizza at a park. It was so good to see ALL of them. I wish we lived closer! We also got to go to the cemetery and visit our angel baby Alex.

When we got to the cabin we spent a lot of time relaxing, but we also did all the "traditional" cabin activities ... hiking at Big Springs and visiting the Johnny Sack cabin, visiting Yellowstone, going on walks along the river, fishing, canoeing, driving up to Sawtelle peak. Unfortunately the boys weren't able to go on their overnight campout at Shoshone lake in Yellowstone. Luckily they were able to at least go on a day canoe trip to Shoshone. Just don't ask Brian what its like to have 3 people in a canoe!

Looking for minnows and swimming in the river (brr!). Too cold for me, but Alli and Nick couldn't resist.

Courtney and Russ in Yellowstone
Nick eating ice cream at Old Faithful - another tradition
Playing at my cousin Keri's house. When we stopped in Blackfoot/Pocatello, we got to meet up with some of the Goodwins. We had so much fun playing in Keri's 2 acre (!) yard, complete with swing set, mini-tractors, and a trampoline.

Park Day

The moms in my ward get together for a park day every week in the summer. I love park days because I get to try out lots of different parks and when Nick isn't dead-set on running away, I get to talk to my friends while I'm watching the kids play. The park we went to yesterday is my favorite of all the parks. There are separate areas for older kids, younger kids, swings, and sand and the playground is new and has lots of cool stuff that keeps my kids busy.

Alli loved spinning ... Jeanette and I couldn't stop laughing at the kids when they got off and stumbled around.
Nick getting ready to slide.
Nick and Alli playing in the sand. They worked very hard to fill up the orange cup.
And this was the best part! The sprinklers turned on at the adjacent soccer fields. Of course the twins wanted to go play in them like all of the bigger kids. At first they just ran around the edges laughing, and then...
this little boy unleashed the whole spray on Alli and Bridget. They got soaked - especially Alli. It was so funny. Valerie and I were laughing so hard. Alli thought it was funny too and kept running through more sprinklers. (By the way - notice Alli carrying the water bottle, squirt gun, and snack bag?, she insisted on carrying these things around with her after snack time. I don't know what her obsession is with carrying things, but she lost the snack bag and squirt gun when she got soaked...but still managed to hold on to the water bottle!)Needless to say, the twins went home in only their diapers. Thanks Valerie for recommending this park. We've been a few times now and it is the best! Thanks for the great pictures too! Sometimes I'm just too lazy to take pictures :)