Gingerbread Houses!

My wonderful mother-in-law slaved for 4 days to put together this year's gingerbread houses! Then, she let us all come over and make a mess of her normally spotless kitchen decorating them. We have done this for two years now, does that make it a tradition? I hope so, because it's so much fun!

Everyone chips in and brings the candy. It's fun to see how different everyone's house turns out, even with all the same candy to choose from.Molly got in on the fun; Grandma even made one for all the grandkids! She would take a handful of the candy and eat it first, and then take some more to put on her house.Me, Heidi, April, Camille, and RachelleGrandpa and Matt were the designated baby-sitters and kept the girls entertained most of the day.Here are our finished products...it may not look like it, but I spent more than 4 hours working on mine!

Is this even funny?

We all laugh at the funny things our kids say, but the question is, do other people think it's as funny as us? I don't know. Maybe. Yesterday after Molly's nap, she was bouncing off the walls and being crazy. This was probably due to the fact that Justin was home (he usually isn't).

Me: Molly, you are so hyper.

Molly: Ya, I so diaper!

Mini Vacation

Who doesn't love a get-away, even if it's close, but especially if you get to stay for free! That's right, we had two nights in Park City for free! It was great! Of course, we had to sit through a 45-minute presentation but we quickly said no to what they were trying to sell us and then got busy having fun!

Molly loved the big king-sized bed and wasted no time in doing somersaults.

We enjoyed a full day of shopping at the outlets. Miraculously, Molly slept in her stroller half the time (the night before was rough) so we were able to shop without Molly having to look at everything (she is very curious right now).

When she woke up, she had fun looking at everything and even trying a few things on!We took advantage of the pool.And we made sure we took a stroll down Historic Main Street. This was mostly for my benefit, because I can't go to Park City and not stop at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory for a caramel apple and a raspberry caramel. Mmm...

Wii Fun

Justin and I have have never really been into video games. But this was fun! We borrowed a Nintendo Wii from some friends on Friday night and stayed up late playing tennis. Justin was better than me and beat me every time, except for that one time that I shut him out 3 games to none. (I've got to rub it in!) We thought this would be a great activity for a Friday night, rather that just watching a movie or something.Who knows, maybe someday we'll get one for ourselves!

Halloween Day!

Halloween started out with a haircut for Molly-her first! I was nervous, which is why it took me so long to finally do it. It was getting so long, but it was pretty thin and not too even at the bottom so it was time!

Before:After:Yes, I got a little carried away-I didn't mean to cut off that much! And I realize it doesn't look perfectly straight but give me a break, it was my first time cutting anybody's hair-I refuse to even cut Justin's! Once it's actually combed, blown dry, and curled under, though, you can't even tell that it's not perfectly straight. She looked so cute on Sunday for church.

View from the back:View from the front:I'll probably be letting it grow out for the next 6 months or so in the hopes that it will get long and thick!

Okay, on to things more fun: Halloween and trick-or-treating! Molly had never been before so we thought that we'd just take her down the street and then back up on the other side.

Well, once we started going we could see that it wasn't exactly going to play out like that. Molly loved it and didn't want to quit! After the first house, she looked at us with this amazed look like, "This is all I have to do?" On our way to the next house she said to Justin, "Daddy, I say trick-or-treat and then I get candy!" We had told her about it, but she didn't really get it until we actually went.We had so much fun watching her get so excited and who cares about all the candy she got? She's practically forgot about it and it's been a good bribing tool..."Molly, if you eat all of your lunch/dinner, you can have one piece of your Halloween candy."

So we ended up trick-or-treating for longer than an hour and by the end Molly was jumping up and down on the porches, before they came to the door. She couldn't contain her excitement!Molly's first trick-or-treating adventure was a success!

Witches and Pumpkins

I love the witches at Gardner Village! If you haven't been down to see them, it's definitely worth the trip. There are lots and lots and they are pretty fun! Unfortunately, you can no longer see them this year so if you missed it, these pictures will have to suffice!

Molly and TianaEveryone, minus meMolly had a love/hate relationship with the witches this year. She liked to see them and when she saw one she'd say that she wanted to go find another one. Each time we'd see a new one, though, she'd cling tighter and tighter to Grandma.I think she hugged Grandma almost the whole time we were there!

Molly and meMolly, Grandma April, and the witch riding her bike over the waterMolly, Andrew, Lizzy, TianaI think Molly's funny face needs a little work!

The kids loved running around and playing after we'd seen all the witches. It was a beautiful day!
Later that night...

Me and my pumpkin (yes, my pumpkins look the same every year, my strategy is usually to get it done as fast as I can!)Molly and her pumpkin-we carved her name in her pumpkin, if you couldn't tell...Such smart cookie-she thought it was a puzzle and kept putting the letters back where they went. It kept her entertained for quite a while!Justin and his pumpkinMolly didn't really get into the whole pumpkin carving thing. She did not like touching the gooey insides! Instead, she watched Justin and I gut and carve the pumpkins while saying, "I'm so proud of you guys!"