Happy Happyween

I'm pretty sure I have used that title before.  That's what Haylee used to say.  In fact, that's what she and her sister are saying in the pic below.  I'm pretty sure we have almost the exact same pic from last Halloween too...haha.

Cambree was Tinkerbell, Haylee's costume that I made from last year.  Haylee was Sister Bear from the Berenstain Bears which I also made.  I had sworn I wasn't going to make her costume again this year but I couldn't seem to find a Sister Bear costume anywhere!

It was cold and raining, not rainy but raining.  But the kiddos were troopers, all 7 of them (our Hatt cousins came too!)  We went with umbrellas, layers, and an upbeat Grandpa who had the neighborhood mapped out and the trick-or-treating route all planned out. 

This was the first year that Haylee has been so outgoing with her candy gathering.  We were so proud as parents to see our daughter comfortable begging for candy in the rain from strangers.  That a girl, right?  Cambree on the other hand, has always been comfortable taking things from other people.  She was always the last kid down the steps because she either couldn't make up her mind which candy she wanted when given the choice OR she didn't like what was given to her and traded it in for something else.  It's a good thing she's so darn cute, otherwise people might think she was being rude and ungrateful.  It was so funny watching Cambree try to keep up with her cousins.  I heard her say more "Wait up guys!" than "Trick-or-Treats!"

Also, I think it is funny that the treats in their bags that the girls were most excited for were the pretzels.  Go figure.

Carving pumpkins.  We were all pretty into it this year, including Gma and Gpa so it was extra fun.  Wish I had some pics of the finished ones, they turned out pretty cool.

These pics are from a cool place near us (well, not near really) that does a really fun witch display every year.  We've never been but we enjoyed searching for all the crazy witches.  

 A holiday, I think, would fail to be a holiday for us if we didn't decorate cookies.  I have a new fav sugar cookie recipe so I enjoyed the process a little more this year.  Also, we did this 3 days after Halloween.  Ha.

  Crazy kids.

Oh Cabin! My Cabin! Part II

Ok, well this is embarrassing.  This was supposed to be posted months ago but for some reason it never happened.  It does seem like it's missing something because we took many more trips to BJ's family's cabin this year and not all trips are represented below.  But I feel like I need to post it anyway.  So here you go.

BJ's family cabin.  Located in Big Cottonwood Canyon.  We did some hiking this summer.  Our kids, well Haylee really, is such a good hiker!  Can't wait to do more next summer.

First up is Donut Falls. A very popular, easy, short hike that we did with a bunch of our cousins and Grandma Edwards one trip. Very fun.  Here's the crew.

Below are the falls.  Not a very good pic I know but that's it.  You have to climb up all those big rocks to get to the actual donut at the top.

Here we are inside the donut.  See the water coming through the hole?  Can you also see the couple that wouldn't move because they were too busy making soft eyes at each other to realize it was someone else's turn to take a soft-eye-making-couple free picture?

Cambree, trying to kick the head off of a cone flower.

Next up is a hike we took to some lake that I don't remember the name of.  This was a bit longer of a hike and it was very hot!!!  One of those hikes that was so worth it once we got to the top and saw the view.  A lake/pond, a beautiful mountain meadow full of wild flowers, and the peaks of those mountains.  I was (am) so proud of my cute little hikers!  Haylee led the pack almost the whole way up (and after tripping and hurting her leg, Mommy carried her down the entire way!) 

Pre- Halloween Hype

I love Halloween.

  

We all love Halloween.

It's an unordinary chance to be with family to do unordinary things and look unordinary while doing them. (And yes.  I do realize that "unordinary" is not a word.  And that I shouldn't start a sentence with "and" but this is my blog not yours, right?)

Also it's the time of year.  Cooler outside.  Fresh.  Crunchy underfoot, sometimes squishy. :)  Pumpkin is my favorite seasonal ingredient.  And squash, all varieties.  Soup time.

Also it's all the hype that comes before the actual holiday.  I guess all holidays are like that.  But pre-Halloween hype is extra fun.  Decorating, planning costumes, reading Halloween and other fall themed books, baking, sniffing, enjoying it all.

Once again, now that we are in Utah, we get/got to celebrate with both sides of the family.   

With the Meyers side, we got to go to 2 pumpkin patches with all the fixin's.  Fixin's being hayrides, slides, corn mazes, etc.  Haylee actually went to the same farm with her kindergarten class so she got to do it 3 times. 

Oh, and just a note about how cool these mazes were!!!  Aren't you soooo jealous?  Yes, I walked through the "golden" tangles of Edward's hair!!! Ha!

Also with Meyers cousins, we had a Halloween gingerbread house making party!  Complete with frosting fight!

A Saari House

 A Hatt House

An Edwards House

Being in town (or in state rather), we were able to attend the annual Edwards Family Halloween Party.  I regret to say that I could not include all the pictures of everyone bobbing for apples.  But it was fun.  So fun.  All the "traditional" games plus some with a twist or two.

BINGO

Charades

Bobbing for apples

Donut "Bobbing" with a partner

Treasure hunt for spare coins in bloody brains spaghetti

This pic I just had to include because I think it is so funny.  Ha.