Halloween 2012

Much the same this year as in years past.  Aly stayed home from work today and had a busy day being the family bus driver.  First she took Isabelle to school and then Gracie ,then her and Brooks went to the office for a little while before they had to pick up Gracie.  After they ran a few errands and returned home to try and get Brooks a nap.  Unfortunately Brooks was stubborn and didn't want to take a nap and I tell you this story to tell you that right after we get in the car to go to the Ferran's, he falls asleep.

We let him sleep in the car because he would have woke up if we moved him while we went inside and waited for the cousins to arrive to go Trick-Or-Treating.  Around 5:40 we set out with Hanna and DeAnn and later met up with Morgan, Preston, and Hadley.  After a successful hour we heading in to eat some dinner and then rushed to my Parents house to meet up with my Family.

Another hour with Ben and his family, Nick and Mariah, Grandpa, and Mariah's Sister Sue's family we were done experiencing Trick-Or-Treating for 2012.  This is how Halloween has been for 13 years for our Family, I have never been home once for a Halloween night and Aly only last year was she home because Gracie was sick.  So when will it change?  Isabelle is getting older and you would think soon she will want to go out with her friends in the coming years.  Even this year the girls seemed to want to go see some of their friends before we left, so maybe next year could be the year where we mix it up a little bit.  Gracie and Brooks fell asleep in the car on the way home and Isabelle didn't take long to fall asleep after her head hit the  pillow.

This morning everyone had a hard time waking up, its been a busy week so far and we are only half way done.

Family Bike Ride

Amazingly enough the whole family got together this morning for a bike ride, at 6:0

Brooks' Curious Birthday

This boy loves Curios George.  So for his 2nd Birthday we had to do a Curious George party. 

One of my favorite pictures of Brooks on his Birthday

We had a photo booth with Curious George props and mostly everyone got into having their picture taken for Brooks' Birthday.

Easter Egg Hunt 2012

This morning we tried and were very unsuccessful at the Riverton City Easter Egg hunt.  We were on our way to the Draper hunt when the lines to get into the park were just ridiculous so we quickly drove down the road to Riverton and barely got there in time.  I dropped the girls off with Aly while I found parking and by the the time I made it over to where Brooks could get some eggs they had already started and were gone in seconds.  The girls didn't fair much better and we left with some pretty upset kids.

Luckily John and LeeAnn's Ward was having hunt in their neighborhood and it saved the day. There were eggs everywhere and the kids were able to fill up their whole buckets and forget about the terrible morning we had had.  Afterwards we went to the Ferran's to decorate our Easter Eggs before heading home.

Kids first time Skiing

This morning we went up Skiing with all the Brothers and my Dad and then in the afternoon we had all the kids come up and learn to ski on the bunny hill.  It was a perfect day for skiing and it was fun to have everyone together skiing like we used to do when we were younger.  I guess having Ryan come in town gave us a good excuse to go up and it was a lot of fun trying to teach the kids.  Maddie, Colton, Alex, Gracie and Isabelle all tried.  

Gracie had some interest and did pretty good but then all she wanted to do was drink hot chocolate.  All the other kids really picked up on it quick and graduated to the bigger learning hill.  By the end we had some good skiers and even Gracie wanted to try the larger hill.  Hopefully in a couple weeks we can try it again.

Getting Gracie's Ski Pass On

Isabelle Ready to Go

First Try up the Bunny Hill

You can't see Gracie but I am trying to teach her to lean forward and not backwards

Grandpa helping Isabelle

Grandpa having a small problem on the Escalator

Alex couldn't stop so he just sat on his Skis

Gracie was a little tougher to teach, she spent a lot of time on the ground

Colton getting the hang of it

We graduated to the bigger hill!

Once she got on the big hill she really got the hang of it

By the end she was doing really good

I think Gracie had more fun drinking the Hot Chocolate

Everyone but Alex (He had to use the restroom) after skiing

Carrying Gracie to the Car

Brook's stayed at Grandma & Grandpa Barker's while we skied, him and Grandpa playing