Kid pictures

To get more photography practice, I took the kids out a few weeks ago to snap some pictures. It was only 9am but already too sunny. Here are some of the better ones.

Trunk or Treat

Lots to catch up on, but for now, here are some pictures from the church Trunk or Treat last night.

Magician and indian.

 Dan and I never really go all-out for Halloween so we decided to step it up this year. Frankenstein and his bride.

 Frankenstein had to make a last-minute stop at the redbox.

 And here's the sideview of my hair. There's a styrofoam cone in there.

It was a pain to wash out. I still have a black scalp in some places.

Happy Halloween!

Austin

Sorry for the lull. I've been both lazy and busy for the past few weeks.

At the end of September we headed over to Austin to visit Dan's brother's family and attend Carmen's baptism. Dan's parents also came into town for the big occasion.

Friday I dubbed "Dan Day" because we all did things that Dan wanted to do. After seeing my brother's post about the fun things they did in Austin, Dan wanted to do the same. So first up was a trip to Hamilton Pool. It was a beautiful morning and it wasn't too crowded, thanks to school. The water was freezing! Dan was the only one of us daring enough to brave the icy temps. I got in up to my knees and the kids enjoyed playing with the rocks.

 We forgot Sam's bathing suit so he swam in his skivies.

 After Hamilton Pool we headed to the Salt Lick. A barbecue joint. I'm not that big on Texas barbecue, but it was good and really filling. REALLY filling.

We went back to Adam's that night and watched a lot of The Voice.

Saturday was Carmen's baptism. She was beautiful and it was a really nice service. I think 9 kids got baptized that day.

We came home to a delicious lunch and spent time playing games and relaxing. We came home the next day. It was a great trip!

Sing a song

Afton really loves to sing lately. She was on a big "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" kick for a few days there. Now it's "Ring Around the Rosy." When she wakes up from her nap in a happy mood, she'll talk to herself and sing. I caught her doing it the other day. It's hard to hear through the closed door (She also mentions "ice water") so I opened it and asked her to sing for me.

Comings and Goings

Sam started "preschool" a few weeks ago. Our school district offers a free 90-minute preschool four days a week. You have to sign up a month at a time and you can pick which days you want to go. Spaces fill up in about 8 minutes. So we've only been able to go a handful of times so far. I go with him. He likes it. I was quick on the trigger for October, so I was able to get us signed up every Tues/Thurs of next month.

Here he is on his first day of school.

Sam also started soccer on a YMCA team with lots of friends. His first practice was pretty fun to watch. They haven't yet grasped the concept of only using their feet.

Afton and Wendy both had fun until they got attacked by fire ants.

Those girls are so cute together. We watched Carter and Wendy a few weeks ago and we put Wendy in Afton's crib when she woke up from her nap. They had fun jumping around.

We watched them again last night and the girls had lots of fun dancing after dinner. When I pulled out the camera, they mellowed a bit, but it's still cute.

What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger - Like Attending a Concert in 90 degree heat

I like Kelly Clarkson. I didn't watch her on American Idol because our dorm didn't have a TV, but I remember going next door to watch a little bit. I only have one of her albums but I think she's got an amazing voice.

Kelly Clarkson came to town a year or two ago for an Apple Store opening. It was downtown and I didn't dare try to take two kids to that madhouse. So instead I asked Dan if we could go to a concert the next time she came to town. Well, she came. And we went. It was awesome!

We got seats on the lawn. It was about 95 degrees when the show started. H.O.T. Speaking of hot...

 Carolina Liar was the opener to the opener. They were okay. The singer kept asking us to "make some noise" and that drove me crazy. I will make noise when I want to make noise.

 The Fray.

 At one point the singer came to the back, really close to us. And played a song. That was cool. He was super sweaty.

 The Fray was pretty good. They played for a long time. Then we waited for Kelly.

 Yay! She was so cute and spunky. She sang all her hits and jumped around and was funny.

 She sang the duet she does with Jason Aldean so they projected his image onto a curtain. It was cool, but he was like three times the size of Kelly which I thought was funny.

 She also came out kind of close to us.

 Outfit change.

A group came and stood next to us, but they kept getting closer and closer until finally this was Dan's view.

Nice. It was a fun night. We wish that she had taken more time and that the other acts hadn't, but she rocked out and sang my fav: Since U Been Gone.

Ashley's wedding

Two days after my brother's family left, I headed out on a quick solo trip (SOLO TRIP!) to Utah for my cousin Ashley's wedding. Flying on the airplane by myself was pretty great. I read a lot and tried to sleep, but then the head-bob started and I hate that, so I read some more.

I arrived late Thursday night. My parents picked me up and whisked me away to Iceberg - a Utah place that makes super thick, super huge shakes. You know me. You know I love shakes. This shake was so big that I could only eat the shake that was sticking out above the rim. It was sticking out like 5 inches above the rim. I hardly scratched the surface. As as shake lover, I felt kind of bad that I couldn't conquer that thing...

We stayed at my uncle's house (his family was out of town). I stayed in my cousin's room. She's got a deer head on the wall. That was the first time I've slept in a room with a deer head. I thought it would be hard to sleep, but I got used to it. She also loves Jimmer, so Jimmer was staring at me all night, too. Love you, Katie! Thanks for letting me stay in your room!

Friday morning I took a walk around their neighborhood in Sandy, Utah. It was so nice out. Low humidity. I took advantage and straightened my hair. My hair never looks that good in Houston!

Anyway, Friday morning we headed to the Bountiful, Utah Temple for the ceremony. It was beautiful. Ashley and Mason are super cute together.

 Aunt Diane and Uncle Karl w/ the beautiful bride.

After the sealing we headed over to the Lion House, one of Brigham Young's houses, for a really nice luncheon.

 Aunt Colleen, Ashley, me.

 You asked for it, Lisa! (Ashley's pretty sister.)

Uncle Karl had us all crying with a lovely speech he made. The food was really good. I felt like I was going to pop. So Mom, Dad, and I walked over to the new City Creek Center outdoor mall and stretched our legs for a while. Then we headed back to my uncle's house to chat with my other cousins who had just come up from Provo.

Last, we headed to Thanksgiving Point for a gorgeous outdoor reception.

 Cute cousins: Michael, Lisa, Tyler.

 More adorable cousins. Jen and David (in the middle) are my cousins. They're flanked by Phe (Jen's beau) and Meegan (David's wife).

I had to get in on the action. Even though I was significant other-less.

 I didn't try to match the wedding colors on purpose, but it's a good thing I brought a spare dress because in true klutz fashion, I spilled on my first outfit at the luncheon.

 It was a beautiful day!

Driving out of Sandy on Saturday, I had to snap a (bad) picture of the largest house I've even seen with my own eyes. So ridiculous. And I think the wings on the far sides even got cut off.

It was such a fun trip. I'm so glad I got to go. Thanks, Gretchen, for watching the kids on Friday, and thanks to Dan for taking care of them while I was gone!