Happy Halloween

Amanda LOVED this Halloween!  We went Trick or Treating yesterday with Elsie and they had a lot of fun... even though it was rainy and cold.  Amanda was a cute little chick and didn't fight getting into her costume this time!  I think she remembered what happened last time at the Trunk-or-Treat.  She knew the drill!  

Ready to Go!

Getting Ready

Here we go

 Later that night we went to a friend's Halloween party for a few minutes and had a good laugh at Amanda's interest in the "Wild Bird Food" that was sitting in the kitchen!  She was really getting into her character! 

Today we have just had a quiet Sunday while trying to recover from the sugar overload yesterday.  Amanda was a good little helper tonight though and rinsed the dishes for me.  She did a good job too!  She would rinse the silverware and put it in the strainer for me!  She likes to help me sweep too.  What a good little chick!

Halloween Fun

I know its not Halloween quite yet, but we have already had some Halloween fun!  Last week we crashed Billy's brother's ward Trunk-or-Treat.  The weather was great and we had a lot of fun with cousins.  The adults dressed up as King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table from Monte Python (thanks again Nate for the amazing costumes!).  We all had a good time.

This Monday we continued our Halloween fun by, of course, carving pumpkins!  We were proud to pay only $1 for our huge pumpkin and the other one crept under the fence and grew from our neighbors yard (don't worry, we told them about it and they said we could keep it).  Amanda thought the whole process was quite interesting!

Yesterday I decided to have a little fun in the kitchen.  Inspired by Charles and Lex's eyeball Oreo truffle creations, I tried to make my own.  I think they turned out fun, and they taste great too!  I think they just might become a tradition for us. 

The fun will continue today and tomorrow.  Amanda will get to play with her cousins some more, and go trick-or-treating on Saturday.  She really digs the "people giving me candy" concept.  She definitely knows what candy is now and runs at the sound of a wrapper!  

Growing Up

It is really hitting me lately how much our little Amanda Kaye is growing up!  This is a picture of her today after getting ready.  I got out the camera, and this is what she did when I said, "Say Cheese!"  She thought it was extra funny that she was holding a string cheese at the same time!  

Today is the first time I have attempted to put all of her hair up and it actually worked!  It kind of makes me sad because she looks so grown up!  Where did my baby go?

Another thing that has made her seem older is that she LOVES her cousins and has started asking for them by name.  We have been able to play with cousins a lot lately, and she has loved every minute!

 

Family Pictures

Okay, so I realize that I gave away some of the pictures already in our header, but I thought I would share some more anyway.  Our good friend Katie took these for us over at her Photo Works studio at University Mall.  They did a great job over there and we would highly recommend them to anyone with kids!  Here are some of the fun pics, enjoy!

Postings to come...

I really have been a terrible blogger lately, and as always, I have a lot to catch up on.  However, instead of doing to huge post, I'll try to do better and do a post each week about this summer to catch up.  Then maybe it won't be so long! 

Postings to come include, but are not limited to:

1.  Family Pictures 
2.  Bear Lake  
3.  Our trip to San Francisco/Monterey
4. Hiking the Subway

We really have had a fun & busy summer!  Hope you all have too! 

Summertime Fun!

Well, summertime is finally here (although it did rain on us as we tried to swim yesterday, but we're trying to be positive here)!  I have been so excited for warm weather!  We have had a lot of blogger-worthy fun lately, so I thought I would catch up.

- Memorial Day -

We kicked off the summer with the grand idea of hiking Little Emigration Canyon.  I was excited because I had never been there.  As soon as Amanda was up and fed and ready, we set off, taking our golden retriever, Sadie, with us in our Elantra (don't worry... we covered the seat with a sheet!)

When we got to the spot, we realized that it was still a little early in the season and there had been a lot of snow run-off and the trail had been flooded... a lot!  We stood there for a while trying to decide what to do, when Billy (determined to do this hike) decided that he would carry me, Amanda, and Sadie through the water!  If we had a truck, we would have let Sadie go on her own,  but we weren't too crazy about riding home with a completely soaked and muddy dog.

We got through the first flood, only to walk a few yards and come across anther!  So, Billy carried us all across that one too!  What a guy!  After fording the river for the second time, it was smooth sailing!  We had a great time and were very happy that we brought Sadie along!  It had been way too long since she had been able to do something like that.  She walked right along with us, except for when she found a flock of wild turkeys that she took off after! 

After our hike, we had time to go home, get cleaned up, and get Amanda a nap before we took off to the park to have a picnic with Billy's family.  Amanda wasn't so sure about the grass at first, but she soon got over her fear!  She had fun following all her cousins around!

- Water Fun -

Amanda has discovered how much fun water can be.  She has always loved her baths, but she is loving getting to play with water outside!  Grandma Grant got a new water table she loves!  I think I am going to start putting her in a swim suit when she plays with it though, because her favorite thing to do is dump the water on herself! 

We were able to take her swimming for the first time yesterday too!  We got rained out, so it didn't last too long, but we still had fun.  Amanda was really worried at first, but as soon as I showed her how to splash, she really got into it!  After she got out, she snuggled right down with her daddy!  She is definitely a daddy's girl!  (Notice Billy's awesome farmer's tan!) :)

Life is good!  We are having so much fun with our Little Miss Amanda!  She makes life very busy, but very fun!  Her little personality is so cute!  I just love this little girl!

Etiquette Dinner

So... a couple of months ago I agreed to help Billy with a combined youth activity etiquette dinner that they had planned.  Well, we both kind of forgot and at the end of last week Billy reminded me about it and said that it was the next Wednesday!  Well, we didn't really get to planning until Sunday night, but I think things came together very well.  Billy has been stressed at work so I wanted him to have one less thing to worry about.  Amanda and I went to the church during the day (she took a nap in the Relief Society room) while I decorated. 

Billy wasn't expecting the lights, so it was fun to surprise him with how much it was decorated.  I had a CD of classical piano concertos playing in the background too!

Billy gave a little lesson on etiquette in the other room while I was finishing up in the kitchen, then the kids came in and practiced what they learned.  At first, I think everyone was afraid to talk, but they soon got into the groove. 

The food turned out good too!  Here's what we served:

Salad

Spaghetti, Green Beans, and Rolls

(not the best picture, but it's the only one we got)

Butter Cake with Chocolate Frosting

It was a lot of work, and I am tired today, but it was a lot of fun too!  I'm glad it all came together at the last minute!