Halloween

What a fun Halloween for all of us this year. Like every year we try to make a fun costume for each of the kids. This year I saw these awesome Transformer outfits and also Cabbage Patch Kids ideas. So yes we were way busy making the costumes and having a great time.  All the kids were excited for each of their costumes. 

 For the girls, we designed Cabbage Patch kid costumes.  It was fun to see them be cute dolls. We knew we would be pushing Charlotte in the stroller as we went around Trick-or-Treating so we even made a doll box for her and put it over the stroller as part of the costume.  It was way cool. 

Charlotte was so ornery for these pictures and would not hold still. Charlotte was not too sure about the wig either. She kept pulling it off and throwing it.  Needless to say she was a hairless Cabbage Patch Baby for most of Halloween.  My favorite part of the costume was the box.  On the sign on the box we wrote, "Hi! My name is Charlotte and I am NOT adoptable!" 

 Emily loved showing off her costume as a Cabbage Patch Kid.  She loved the make up and wig.  At school everyone asked her what she was and when she told them, the kids seemed confused.  The teachers knew what she was though and everyone told her how cute she was.

Here are the two girls looking cuter then ever after the finish product.  Emily loves doing anything matching with Charlotte.  Charlotte just loves being around her sister.  I think they both turned out adorable.  

The boys' costumes took the longest to make as you can tell. They were Transformer cars that actually transformed from robots to cars. It was so awesome! They were able to lie down and stick their arms and head in the box to become the cars. It was fun to see them do it. Russell and I made a good team while getting them done. Together we designed the box function, Russell did all of the spray painting and I painted the details. What a fun project costumes that will go down in history of being the coolest ones yet.

Colby was the incredible Optimus Prime.  He loved his costume:

Here is the slide by slide of how Colby transformed into Optimus Prime. When he transformed the first time it was hard for him to stand up because he could not figure out how to stand up and transform out of the car back into a robot. Finally though he figured it out and kept practicing so it looked real.

Logan was his favorite Transformer, Bumble Bee.  

Here is Logan transforming into Bumble Bee Prime. He wanted to be just Bumble Bee, but we couldn't figure out how to make a car body out of boxes and still be function-able to walk in so we just made it like Colby's.  So we told him that we can try a Bumble Bee Prime and he was excited to be both.  Bumble Bee's transforming also took a little bit of practice but he soon got it.

Here they are transformed into there car figures and then back into the robot form.  I absolutely loved how these costumes turned out!  I love the detail work and I especially loved how the boys just wanted to live in their costumes because they loved them so much.

I loved the kids costumes but everyone complimented me on my costume as well:

Of course with all the Chemo and loosing my hair, I had a hard time deciding what I could be. Finally I decided to rock the bald head look by being GI Jane for Halloween.  It was a pretty simple costume of just Army fatigues and a shaved head.  You would not believe how many compliments and comments I received from this simple costume.  I knew I would never have a bald head again so I had to show it off even for one day.  

Here we all are in our costumes for Halloween.  Unfortunately Russell had to work on Halloween so he didn't get a costume.  (Well I guess he was a Fire Fighter for Halloween.)  This picture was take at the Elementary School after a fun day of Halloween parties, a costume parade, and a flash mob dance on the playground.

We also did a few other fun activities leading up to Halloween.  First we had a neighborhood carnival at the Norgren's.  We played games, ate snacks, and decorated sugar cookies.  Mostly though the adults had fun talking while the kids ran around and played.  It was a good time.

Next we also went to the Young Auto Trunk or Treat.  The kids enjoyed going around to all of the cars on the lot and getting candy or prizes.  The boys showed off their transforming skills whenever they were asked.  This guy with the race car thought they were the best costumes he had ever seen and asked to get a picture with them to show his family.  Everyone loved the girls' costumes as well and commented on how cute they were.

Of course no Halloween would be complete without a trip to the pumpkin patch to pick out our pumpkins for carving.  We were at the Bear Bottoms pumpkin patch until it was too dark to see trying to select the perfect pumpkins for our family.  We finally decided on six pumpkins, five to carve and one to eat.

The kids were able to carve and design their own pumpkins this year.  They didn't even complain about scraping out the guts they just dug in and got it done.  Charlotte loved playing in the pumpkin guts and even got her own spoon to help scrape out the seeds.  She thought that was the best.  

Each of the kids' pumpkins turned out so differently based on their personalities.  My favorite I think was Emily's pumpkin.  She had a lot of detail on hers from the glasses to the braces on its teeth.  Russell was trying to decide how to carve the pumpkin to look like Emily's drawing and this is what he came up with.  I think it turned out well.  I think they all turned out well. 

Carving pumpkins is probably these kids favorite thing to do for Halloween.  I love seeing their creativity.

They also love Trick-or-Treating of course.  We were able to go trick-or-treating to most of the houses in our neighborhood before it got too dark and cold.  I couldn't show off my bald head for my costume because I was getting a brain freeze so I had to put on a beanie.  That is one bad thing about no hair, your head gets cold!  We went around with our friends the Checketts and the Maxfields.  The kids had a great time running from house to house.   When we got home, Grandma and Grandpa Morwood were there to greet us.  This made the night even more fun for the kids.  Grandma and Grandpa came up to help us with the upcoming surgeries for Logan and me.  We have been so grateful for their help this year.

We have had a great Halloween this year.  Happy Halloween everyone!

Pumpkin Walk

Another fun Fall tradition we have is attending the North Logan Pumpkin Walk.  It is fun to go and see all of the different pumpkin scenes each year.

I wanted to go through the pumpkin walk during the day this year because you can see the displays better in the day light and it is not so cold.  There are also not as many people during the day as there are at night.  The only problem with this plan was that by the time the kids got out of school and we drove to North Logan, it would be getting dark.  So we decided to be awesome parents and check the kids out of school a half hour early.  I know school should be the priority but sometimes you have to do what you have to do.  

This year the theme for the Pumpkin Walk was "It's About Time" so all of the the scenes had something to to with time.  Certain times of the year, times in history, or anything time.

Since "time" can really mean anything, all of the scenes were different and exciting.  These are pictures of some of our favorites.  The boys' favorites were the Batman and Star Wars scenes.  I think Emily's favorite was the Moana scene.

The kids liked seeing how they measured up to the pumpkin tower as well as "riding" in the Back to the Future car.  We also liked looking at all of the fancy carved pumpkins.  Their theme this year was religion.

My most favorite scene this year was this Flintstones scene.  As you can tell, they looked so real!  Whoever made this one did a great job!

No trip to the Pumpkin Walk would be complete without a visit to the fun witch to get our cookie and the photo props:

After taking a ton of pictures in the photo props, we decided it was time to head home.  But before leaving, the kids thought it was a perfect time to play in the leaves.

Fall leaves have to be the best things ever!  They are just dead leaves but they can entertain kids for hours.  Charlotte had a blast playing in the leaves and thinking she was as big as everyone else.  They all made big piles, jumped in the leaves, and threw leaves at each other.  What a fun time.

We love the Pumpkin Walk and we love Fall in Cache Valley!

Dead Horse Point

Our final day of our Fall Break vacation was spent at Dead Horse Point State Park.  This was a very scenic look at the landscape that had been carved by the Colorado River after centuries of natural erosion.  This Point is 2,000 feet above a large goose neck in the Colorado River.  It was pretty spectacular to see: 

You can see all of the different layers of rock the River has cut away over the years.  Photographers come from all over to photograph these natural wonders and beauties and now we got to see it for ourselves!  To tell you the truth, I had never even heard of Dead Horse Point until a few years ago when I saw a picture of it on the news or something.  I was in awe of this cool view and have wanted to see it ever since.  I was not disappointed.

At the State Park, there is a trail that walks along the edge of the entire mesa and you can look out and see all of the geological wonders of this canyon.  We loved looking out and seeing everything for miles and miles.

Below are a few panoramic shots that in no way show the entire canyon or magnitude of this astonishing natural wonder:

We just walked around the mesa edge savoring the view and appreciating the beautiful world we have been given to enjoy.  

As we were walking around, we came across this fun rock that made us feel like we were on top of the world:

The kids were definitely entertained by this rock and loved climbing all over it.  They were pretending to be rock climbers or Spiderman as they scaled the rock.  We did have to get after them because they were acting a little too crazy for my comfort right next to the cliff edge.  There were no guardrails to save them this time.  I was a little freaked out especially when Colby started walking backwards.  Yeah needless to say we snapped our pictures and got away from the edge as fast as we could.  I know they were just having fun being kids but Russell and I were getting pretty nervous.

We finished our day at Dead Horse Point with a picnic.

The boys found a shady spot under the cedar tree while the rest of us chilled at the picnic table. What a fun sightseeing day we had.

Dead Horse Point State Park was a really nice place to visit.  We got to see some amazing sights.  Another great blessing for us this day was that we did not have to pay to get into this State Park either!  When we pulled up to the entrance booth to pay, the attendant must have seen the Fire Department emblem on Russell's hat because he asked if Russell was a fire fighter.  Confused by the question, Russell answered yes.  The attendant said, "Thank you for your service and enjoy your day in the Park."  Then he let us right in without paying.  We were again shocked but grateful!  We had no idea first responders got in for free, Russell just always wears that hat.   

We wondered why this area was called Dead Horse Point.  I mean it is kind of a weird name.  So I looked it up and as it turns out, a long time ago, cowboys would use this narrow point as a natural corral for horses.  They would herd the wild mustangs to this point and then block them off.  The cliff edges on three sides prevented the horses from escaping as they blocked the fourth side with brush and logs.  There the cowboys would pick the horses they wanted and then let the others go.  Legend has it that once, for some reason, the horses were left corralled and, with no water on the point, the horses died of thirst within sight of the Colorado River below.  That is why it is called Dead Horse Point.  Kind of sad if you ask me...

We have had a really fun vacation this weekend.  We were sad to leave because there was so much more we wanted to do but didn't have a chance to do.  This area is definitely on our vacation list of places we need to return to.  Next time we come, we want to spend more time in Arches and see more of the other arches and landscape there.  We also want to check out Canyonlands National Park and see what is there.  There are also some hikes and trails near Moab that we were not able to get to.  There was just so much to do and so little time.  We can't wait to come back and do more exploring.

Mesa Verde National Park

Our next stop of the day was Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado.  This place has also been on my "Must See" list so I was glad we were able to make it there.  We spent the whole day hiking around looking at ancient Indian ruins.  We were in awe at the amazing cliff dwellings this ancient civilization built and lived in.  Their attention to detail and their precision in building their homes on these cliffs were absolutely astonishing!  I mean I can't hardly build a sand castle and these people built whole villages on the edge of cliffs!  Just look at the pictures and you will see what I mean:

Our first stop was the Spruce Tree House.  This dwelling was tucked right up under the mountain in a cave.  There were multiple rooms and kivas in this site and it was so cool to see.  Because this dwelling was protected by the overhanging cliff, there has been little deterioration over the many years.  This site is believed to have inhabited 70 people. 

In some of the dwellings, you can actually walk right down inside the dwelling if you had a permit.  This was one of them.  Unfortunately, only a certain amount of tickets are given out each day and they were sold out by the time we got there.  That was okay with us though because we were still able to get very good views of the cliff dwellings.  

Our next stop was the Cliff Palace:

This dwelling was huge!  No wonder it was called the Palace.  The kids loved looking at this dwelling.  They were intrigued by its size and all of the different rooms.  They loved hanging out over the guardrail and looking down into the dwelling.  They asked a lot of questions and they wondered how anyone could have built these homes.  I wondered that as well...

The Cliff Palace is one of the largest dwellings and has 150 rooms and 23 kivas.  It is believed to have been populated by 100 people. Also because it is so large and in a pretty central location, it is believed to have been used for social gatherings.

This is another view of the Castle Palace.  This time, rather than right above the dwelling, we were viewing it from the look out at the Sun Temple dwelling on the other side of the canyon.  As you can see, it is still huge even even from farther away.

The above shots are of the dwellings at the Sun Temple lookout point.  These dwellings were smaller but still impressive.  We were also able to locate the caches where ancient Indians stored their food.  Those are the smaller blocks in the sides of the cliffs.  

This kids also loved running along these guardrails and I was getting a little nervous because they fences were not that sturdy and there was nothing but cliff below them.  Everyone was safe though so on we went.

This dwelling is called the Square Tower House.  When this house was found, they used to let people down to look at it.  Then the dwelling started to get really damaged so archaeologists and architects actually rebuilt the tower to look like it did before.  Now this dwelling can only be viewed from the outlook.

These are pictures of another large dwelling called the Balcony House.  The first picture is actually taken on top of the Balcony House.  The house is below us.  Because we did not have a tour permit, we could not access or see the House from this point.  We had to drive around to the other side of the mesa and hike to the Soda Canyon Overlook to actually see the Balcony House.  This was about a 1.2 mile hike round trip and the kids were not in the mood for a hike.  Once we got to the overlook though they thought the Balcony House was pretty cool.  In order to get inside the Balcony House, the tour had to climb down the cliff and then climb up a steep ladder to get to the House.  From this lookout, we could see the tourists climbing the ladder and walking around in the dwelling.  The other two pictures are of the caches near the Balcony House.

Along with the cliff dwellings, these ancient Indians also built pit houses underground.  We were also able to walk around and explore these types of dwellings. 

Russell and I were amazed at how these Indians built these houses.  We didn't know how they were able to dig these deep holes in the ground.  We didn't know if they had shovels of some sort or if they did it all with their hands.  We were also surprised at how sophisticated the dwellings were.  There were rooms for everything and vent holes in just the right places to allow good air to come in and force the bad smoky air out.  I would have no idea how to do that but these people knew.  So cool!

Another fun sight was the Far View Sites:

These sites were a collection of above the ground dwellings.  Once again we were dumbfounded at the intricacies of these buildings.  There were rooms for everything and each room had a purpose.  I was also surprised at how well maintained they were for being centuries old.  These people really knew what they were doing.  All of the round rooms in these cliff dwellings and pit houses are called kivas.  They were used for social and religious gatherings.  Each dwelling had at least one so you knew these people were a believing people.  I can't remember what the spiral brick meant on the Pipe Shrine house but I thought it looked pretty cool.  According to the signs, the people that lived in these houses on the top of the mesa lived here before the cliff dwellers by about 200 years.  I wonder why they decided to move onto the cliffs rather than stay on the top of the mesas?  It seems to me like it would be safer on the mesa.  Who knows.   I just think they are cool to look at either way.

After a day of driving and hiking around and seeing what there is to see, we were ready to hit the road back to Moab.  We had a pretty long drive ahead of us.  During the time at Mesa Verde, we hardly had Charlotte in her car seat because we kept stopping and getting out multiple times in a short distance.  Well she thought that was pretty cool to ride on Mom's lap and actually see what was going on without being strapped in.  She was climbing all over the place the crazy kid!  Well when we buckled her in for the drive back, she was not okay with that at all.  She had gotten spoiled for car rides!  But Mom and Dad won out of course and she had to get in her car seat.  

We had such a good time at Mesa Verde and we learned a lot about the ancient Indians as well!