More Halloween

Last post to round out all the other ones, I promise.  Here are some other Halloween activities we have done in the past few weeks.

Pumpkin Carving!  Each girl designed their own pumpkin and Elizabeth actually did all the carving by herself.  Rachel did most of the scraping for hers and I carved Evelyn's.

 The ward trunk-or-treat with friends.

 Halloween Gingerbread house.  I had some candy left over from last year's and it made a nice addition.

A Few more Reasons we Love Colorado

Just a few pictures of things we have loved about Colorado and Denver this fall.

 

I'm sure this is is high up on Eric's list, the flagship REI store in Downtown Denver.  This is a rock outside the store.

 The convergence of rivers across the way from REI makes a nice area. I love that one, Denver has a defined downtown and two, it's pretty clean and nice.

 Elitch Gardens.  I think we got good use out of our season passes.  The rides don't live up to Six Flags Magic Mountain but it was just the right size and mix of things for our family this summer.

 Picking berries at a farm for a birthday party.

 The #1 reason to live in Colorado is the beautiful scenery not too far away from home.  This week we went hiking in the beautiful fall weather we have had.  You can't see it all that well but every time I see the mountain skyline in this picture when I am driving, my heart is so full and I always smile.

 Fashionista Evelyn hiking in her stylish glasses.

 Castlewood Canyon--not as pretty with the dead leaves but the rocks are cool to look at.

 My little hikers.  I think we might try a family overnighter or a 14er with the older two next summer.

Fun with Animals

Looking through the pictures on my phone I found a bunch dealing with animals so enjoy.

The middle school Elizabeth will attend next year (insert mom screaming in disbelief!) had a pancake breakfast that we went to and the Slithers Club showed a whole bunch of snakes.  I will now call Elizabeth the snake whisperer as she loved to hold whichever ones she could and asked a whole bunch of questions.

 Evelyn got over her fear and held one too.

 I was able to chaperone a whole bunch of cute first graders to the Butterfly Pavilion for a fieldtrip.

 Evelyn was reluctant but did decide to hold Rosie the tarantula.

Happy Halloween 2014

I thought I would post pictures of this year's Halloween costumes.

Evelyn as Princess Anna

Elizabeth as the Grim Reaper, watch out she will steal you for herself!

 Cowgirl Rachel

 The greatest love story on film--Westley & Princess Buttercup.  I must admit we have planned this costume since last year and I'm so glad it came together!

 All our little lovelies together.

 The whole family at a Halloween Party.

Our Halloween dessert, a spooky Boston Scream Pie

Backpacking with the Girls

Last weekend the girls had a day off school so Eric also took the day off and took Rachel and Elizabeth backpacking in Golden Gate State Park.  They got a little bit of a late start due to traffic but the girls hiked the two miles speedy fast to get up to the campsite before it got pitch black outside.

The little hikers.

Being silly with the camera

The Hilton accommodations for the night.

The reason one goes backpacking, the view.

Hopefully next year we'll get these girls training earlier in the summer season to take them up a 14er!

Six is great!

My baby keeps on growing up even if I don't give her permission to do so.  Evelyn is now not only an all-day first grader but is 6 and has lost one of her top teeth.  She acts older everyday and it's fun but sometimes sad.

This was her first year for a friend's birthday party so after her early afternoon soccer game we had a pink and purple birthday party with ten cute six year old girls.

The pink & purple party decorations.  I was very glad to have my sister help me with setup and during the party.

 The birthday girl with her pink and purple.

 We started out jumping on the trampoline with pink and purple balloons since it was a beautiful day outside.

 The girls got to play pin the tail on the donkey, make necklaces,

 decorate cookies, and get their faces painted by Melissa (she's taking bookings now if you want her :)

They ate ice cream on pink and purple balloons, played more on the trampoline, and went home all sugared up.

Sunday was Evelyn's actual birthday and she dressed up in a dress Aunt Lynne gave her for church.

 Then changed into another dressup she got from Aunt Lisa during a family dinner party.

 And then put on another dressup (kimono) for presents and cake.

Some of the things we love about Evelyn:

• She's sweet and always smiling (if not I know she's sick)
• A great and loving sister
• She loves to dressup and be a princess, a pirate, sometimes both, or anything from our dress-up closet which continues to get bigger
• She's always excited about school and seeing friends there
• Eric and I thought she would be a shy girl but according to her teacher she is very talkative and friendly
• She's cute and her secret power is big eyes, they seriously make you want to give her anything
• She loves music and breaks out singing or dancing when a favorite song comes on
• She still loves her purple & white blankie Grandma B made her at birth
• She's a great cuddler

Happy 6th Birthday Evelyn Rose!

Fall Colors

Last weekend we were blessed to have my sister Melissa in town to visit after not seeing her for two years!  She was in the Peace Corps in Cambodia but is back stateside and ready to move on to the next big adventure.  She came at the perfect time for us to show off the fall colors of our beautiful Colorado Mountains.  We went up I-70 to Georgetown and drove up Guanella Pass to see the colors.

We had to meet up with Eric, Elizabeth, and Rachel in Idaho Springs and this is the waterfall across the freeway.

 At the top of Guanella Pass is Mt. Bierstadt which Eric hiked last month and now we're talking about taking the older girls up next year.

 Evelyn Posing

 A view of the canyon we drove up.

 Looking up at the beautiful gold of the aspens.

 I made Melissa take this picture--I'm queen of this mountain!

 And the selfie.

And Rachel being queen of the rock with her crazy evil face.

 Playing around after lunch.

 Where we ate lunch.

 Another shot of the canyon.

In Georgetown we stopped at a cute little bakery.

 And admired their fairy gardens.

 I wanted to show the Girls Redrocks Amphiteatre where we went to our concert on the way home but they had closed it for a concert later on so they settled for these little caves nearby.

I love fall, our Colorado mountains, and having my sister join us on the adventure!