Happy Halloween 2008

Carter had a costume party on Thursday for his preschool. He dressed up as Thomas the Train. In years past, it has always been a huge struggle getting Carter into a costume. He is actually afraid of the costumes. It usually takes some serious bribes. It took Tootsie Rolls to do the trick this time (he shoved them all in his mouth).

McKell went as Daphne from Scooby Doo.

On Friday, Carter had another costume party. Aunt Nicole had an extra Scooby costume and so Carter & McKell went as Daphne and Scooby. Carter actually wanted to wear Scooby and he said that the costume didn't even scare him...this time.

Next we went to the school for Olivia's and Kaylee's costume parade and parties. Kaylee was an enchanted Fairy on a Toadstool. This was her idea. Olivia and Kaylee both helped me make their costumes. They actually weren't as bad has some have been in the past.

Livy was a deliciuos Ice Cream Cone.

Livy at her classroom party. They made fun spider cookies and had a ton of sugar to get them started for the evening.

The parade was next. The girls were cute and had a great time going from room to room.

Here is Dallin, being Shaggy from Scooby Doo.

Here is Shacee as Sharpae from High School Musical.

Sadie was the cutiest Dorothy I have seen.

It finally was TRICK OR TREATING time!! We met Aunt Nicole at the school and started on Main street in Clarkdale. Carter decided to wear the Scooby costume again. He fit right in with Nicole's family.

Had to pose for some pictures before we started. Everyone looked so good. The gang is all here except David who was Freddy. Nicole made the best Velma!

WE ARE OFF!!! Everyone was excited to Trick or Treat at their first house.

Mitchell was happy as can be with the lollipop in his hand.

Mithchel was really Scooby, but Carter kept calling him Scrappy Doo because he was scooby. They made quite a cute pair.

Can this kid get any cuter?

Poor Scooby's head was heavy and kept coming down, so Carter eventually didn't bother wearing the hood anymore.

We went down to the park to the costume contest. Livy won first place in her age group. She won $30. It helped that she kept parading in front of the judges to wave and smile at them.

Kaylee's competition was much more stiff. She had a ton of kids in her age group. She was disappointed when she didn't place, but I think she deserved first. I wonder where she gets her competitive side from?

We then went to the church and went "Trunk or Treathing". The kids saw their buddies, the Backus'.

Carter never would have gotten on this trailer ride if it weren't for Shacee.

When we got home, the kids dumped out all of their candy and examined their loot. They then took about 15 minutes to "trade" with eachother. All in all, we had a great time this Halloween night! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Mindy Gledhill Fireside

Mindy Gledhill came gave our stake a fireside. She was absolutely wonderful! What a treat for our small stake. I was really surprised that she would come. She was so kind and sweet. Thanks, Mindy for sharing your talents with us!
In my calling I was asked if I would be over firesides for the youth, so I just started emailing all of these famouse people, not expecting anyone to respond. I was so surprised and pleased when Mindy responded and could come and speak to us.
Her fireside was wondeful. I was able to bring Kaylee and it was a special time for us to be together. Mindy sang some beautful songs, which Kaylee and I loved. She also asked us to right down what some of our imaginary lives would be. It was fun to think about. I put that I would be a doctor or singer. Hey- I can always dream. Kaylee put her dream occupations- singer, marine biologist, etc. It was really fun to me to see her answers to all of Mindy's questions.

Geocaching in Sycamore Canyon

The Shultz family invited us to go along with them to go hiking and geocashing. We have been wanting to go geocashing for a long time now. Geocaching is a worldwide game of hiding and seeking treasure. A geocacher can place a geocache in the world, pinpoint its location using GPS technology and then share the geocache’s existence and location online. Anyone with a GPS unit can then try to locate the geocache.

We started here in Sycamore Canyon. The weather was beautiful and the company was fun! The kids (and me) were excited to start out and find some treasure!

Yay! We found our first Geocache!

We definitly scored on this find! It was packed full of kid's toys!

We were off to find our second geocache of the day and were succesful.

We finally started to hike down the canyon because our last two were in the bottom.

What a beautiful hike! The scenery and canyon walls were gorgeous!

Here is our treasure seeking crew!

We came to a beautiful creek. The water was so still and clear. It was breathtaking!

Here are our rock posers! Every big rock they found they all climbed up and wanted a picture.

From bottom to top: Carter, Livy, Elizabeth, Nikki & Kaylee.

I had to take this picture. What a cute group!

Some of the terrain was treterous with boulders and rocks.

Also we had many bridges and stream crossings. At the other side of this log, There was a rock that said, "The Bridge to Taribithia". The kids were so excited!

This is how Carter crossed most of the streams.

This was at the very end of our hike. GORGEOUS!!! There was a geocache high on the cliff side. Jason Shultz went to go and find it and slightly injured himself. Thanks for taking one for the team Jason!