A New Look and Our Halloween

Before I talk about Halloween, have you seen the new blog?  It is amazing!  Colleen of Paisley Boulevard did a redesign for me and I love it!  Don't you? :)  I cannot thank her enough for all of the time she spent on this little tiny blog and want her to know how grateful I am for it!

What a great October we had!  First up was the pumpkin patch a few weeks ago to pick out our pumpkins.

Next up was the Halloween party last Saturday.  I did my old standby vampire costume, and my hubby was a Peruvian since he had a few authentic pieces--but I didn't get a picture of him.

Scary!  The hubs ended up winning both the chili contest and the pumpkin carving contest.  I might have to post the chili recipe here some day, it really is delicious.  And here is the winning pumpkin:

Along with our other non award-winning pumpkins:

Trick or treating with the kids is always fun.  They both get so excited and their excitement is infectious.  Every time Bud got a new piece of candy he'd say his bucket was getting heavy, or that he was getting "lots and lots" of candy.  Here's our kitty and football player:

Hope you all had a great Halloween!

M.I.A.

I was trying hard to be a good blogger, I really was.  Then my Mom asked me if I wanted to go to Moab with her and my Dad.  So yeah, we left for 4 days.  We had a blast.  But let me back up a bit.

My Dad got home from Afghanistan about 10 days ago.  We were so excited to see him.  I cried (and it reminded me we still have 4 months until my brother is out of harm's way.  It seriously cannot come fast enough).  Here's some pictures of our reunion:

Waiting patiently....

My niece sees him!

So a few days later my Dad wanted to go down to Moab to ride his dirt bike on some trails.  Thus leaving my mom back at the hotel.  So she asked me and the kids to go and keep her company.  We had lots of fun.  Moab is such an awesome town, I love it--and they put in a new (to me) pool and aquatic center.  It was hands down the kids' favorite thing.

And the morning runs were my favorite thing:

We also made a stop at Arches on the way home, and my kids hiked the Upper Viewpoint to Delicate Arch.  I was so proud!  They kicked butt.  (Delicate Arch is top middle in the below picture)  Next time I hope the kids are older so I can take them all the way to it.

Double Arch

 

And finally, what happens when a toddler gets a hold of lipstick:

Thanks to my parents for including us, it was a great getaway.
I still want to finish detailing my Hawaii trip, so that is coming up.  Aren't you so excited?  It's the never ending travelogue. :)