Queen and Vampire

Nora has known for a whole year what she was going to be for Halloween - she came back from trick or treating last year saying she wanted to be Elsa. 

Zeke was a little slower to decide. Eventually he decided to be a vampire. 

He also requested a bat mascot so Aaron made him a bat on a stick. 

We were so excited to be able to have costumes at school this year. Zeke has never done a costume parade before, so it was a first for both kids! Nora's class led the parade, and she managed to be first in line. She has the parade wave down. 

Zeke was harder to get pictures of because the older kids were more of a bunch than a line. But he still gave me his best vampire look. The parade was so fun and I hope they get to do it again next year. 

We had a blast trick or treating. It was a little chilly but fortunately the cold wind wasn't blowing in the evening. We even had the perfect Elsa-blue shirt to make Nora's dress a winter one! 

After trick or treating we went to Grandma's to hang out with cousins and decorate some cupcakes. It was a wonderfully festive night!

Corn Maze and Fall Festival

We took a Carlile family trip to the Corn Maze (and Corn Festival as Zeke likes to call it). The theme this year was minions -- super fun!

We decided to take everyone on the long side of the big maze. The little girls were so excited for the corn maze but it didn't take too long for them to get hot and frustrated that it was really just a long walk without changing scenery.

We started out finding our way by looking for numbered signposts. Aaron scanned a code on #1 and got our location in the map. We started following around the outside, to sign #2. Then we started looking for major 'roads' and found #3. We figured we were in the middle of the maze by then. A few more corners and we were very surprised to see sign #10 and it was a straight shot out. Somehow we found a shortcut the maze and ended up exiting in the kids maze. It was awesome. 

Very fitting that the kids put themselves in the rule breaker stocks. We were very happy to have broken the rules and skipped out early. 

We spent the most time in the Pumpkin Princess Playland. Nora was so happy to dress up like a princess and ride in the carriages. 

And meet the real Pumpkin Princess

Zeke spent his time in the Playland minding the store, and loving it. 

It was a great day full of fall fun. We had the best time! 

At The Lot

Dynna's in-laws have some property out away from it all, and we took the opportunity when Draper and Carrie were here to go out there and have a hot dog roast. The stream running through was so fun for the kids - both said their favorite part was the boats in the river.

Such beautiful autumn views! It was a very peaceful and relaxing place. A good chance to disconnect from outside life and reconnect with family. 

Zeke and Nora got to hold Lizzy for the first time. She is such a cuddly baby!

More beautiful, peaceful views. 

Carlile grandkids all together! The family is growing :)

Fancy Nancy

Nora and I have been looking forward to the Fancy Nancy party for a couple of months now. We have read several Fancy Nancy books and she has become one of our favorite characters! 

The party was so well done! The decorations were simply awesome. I couldn't get enough of the balloons on the ceiling. The theme was butterflies and they were everywhere. It was so cute and very fancy. 

Nora and I got to help set up, so we got there early.

Nora played with balloons while I helped set up the ice cream sundae bar. 

Then we took pictures with Fancy Sally and made crafts and painted Nora's nails.

One of the best parts of the day was spending it with Grandma, Mia, and Dynna. We want to bring the Loertscher ladies next year!

I was supposed to help with crowd control during story time and their fashion show, but I didn't have to do anything but watch. All of these little princesses were already on their best fancy behavior. 

I was blown away by how wonderful this was. I had a fantastic time and we are already looking forward to next year! It was the perfect way to spend Mother's Day weekend. 

photo above taken by Mallory Alyse Photography

Goin' to the Zoo

We planned a fall zoo trip with Dynna and her family and Grandma and Grandpa. As it turned out, Ryan and Aaron had opposite schedules, so instead of going to the zoo together, we had to plan to go to the zoo on the same day and overlap for a couple of hours. 

It was kind of a bummer trip because we missed a bunch of animals we wanted to see. The zebras and ostriches were in the barn for the day. The otters were nowhere to be seen. So we were disappointed in the animal department. But it was wonderful weather and we enjoyed riding the carousel and the train with the rest of the group. 

The kids were super excited about the rhinos. I didn't know they liked rhinos so much! 

The seals put on a good show for anyone who would watch. They were fun. 

One highlight of the trip was the carousel. We had purchased 4 tickets, so the kids each got to go twice. Zeke was so excited to ride the zebra.

And Nora rode the ladybug. It was so dang cute. 

The kids also loved loved loved the little play area. Nora could have slid down the lighthouse all day long. 

The other highlight was the zoo train. Nora could have done that all day too. 

Fun day? Yes. Love our cousins? Yes. But maybe next time we'll just plan to go for a walk and play in the park. . . . .

Chrismtas Eve

Grandma Carlile's tradition of giving the kids Christmas pajamas has gotten even more fun now as they come to visit us on Christmas Eve to deliver the presents. 

I managed to get pictures this year before everyone was too tired to put up with a photoshoot. 

As I was taking these I was thinking about just how fast they are growing up and how proud I am of everything they are doing and learning. 

I think Christmas is more fun now that I have kids to plan surprises for! 

2 New Cousins in 3 Days

In the last week of January we welcomed a new niece and a new nephew: one on each side of the family and one on each side of the country! 

Sweet Aliya was born first, and we got to Skype with Skye and her family the day they all came home from the hospital. It was so much fun to be able to see this sweet little princess sound asleep on the couch; almost like being there! Nora loved seeing the 'cute baby', but she got even more excited about seeing her cousin-friend Alyssa. Throughout getting ready for bed that night she told me all about seeing 'A-wiss'. The kids were also super excited to see Grandma over Skype too! 

Mister Jacob was born a couple of days later, and Zeke is so thrilled to have another boy cousin! He has greatly anticipated Jacob's arrival, and now is talking about when they will meet in person. Both baby and mom had infections and were hospitalized, which made for a very emotional week as we tried to support them as best we could from across the country. One thing we were able to do is have a family fast for them. It was a very spiritual fast Sunday for me and I could strongly feel the power of several people fasting and praying together for one common blessing. We also had the opportunity to say many prayers in their behalf and teach Zeke about praying for others and how Heavenly Father can help sick people heal and sad or worried people feel peace.  They are all doing well now, and home together, and we are so grateful for that. Draper has texted me several pictures of his adorable son and both kids love flipping through them on my phone. 

My mom's coworkers bought this balloon for her when Jacob was born.  

Families are wonderful! We sure love ours and look forward to when we can meet the newest members!

Trick or Treaters

Halloween was lots of fun this year. Nora was our '80s girl

and Zeke was our fiery jack-o-lantern. 

After some pictures on the front porch in the fading light, we headed out. This is the first year we did real door-to-door trick or treating, and they loved it. We walked a neighborhood in our ward with several older couples who we knew would love to see our kids. Not only were they very generous with their Halloween treats, they thanked us for coming over to see them. 

After about an hour of trick or treating, we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house and the kids had a treat while we visited. Nora was very possessive of her pumpkin.... Uncle Kyle put his hand down into her pumpkin to drop in her treat, and she made sure he knew that those were her treats, not his!

After that, we headed over to see Dynna and Ryan and Mia. Mia was winding down for bed, but was still in her costume and quite happy to see her cousins. Any sleepy-cranky-ness was gone the whole time Zeke and Nora were there to entertain her. 

Carlile cousins.

Then off to Grandma's house for more treats.

We had such a good time we wore ourselves out :) It was a night of making fun memories.