Halloween

We had a great Halloween this year. Collin is old enough now to understand Trick or Treating. Although he would ring the doorbell and then say it before anybody answered the door. Then when they did answer it, he would just walk in. But he liked getting candy and now thinks his diet should consist only of it.
We carved pumpkins on Halloween day. It was kind of nice having it on a Saturday. Clara wanted to try and carve her own, which lasted about two minutes. But she tried.


Clara's kitty pumpkin. One of them. We had two kitties. And a spider, a clown and an alien. Mark got a little too knife happy and his alien looks a little more like a large smiley face.


Pretty much this whole year Clara has wanted to be Miss Piggy. It stemmed from our idea that Collin looks like Beaker and we said he should be it for Halloween. So we all had a muppet theme. Clara was a little annoyed that the kids at school didn't know who Miss Piggy was. Come on people. Show your kids the muppets. But all the older people we met while trick or treating got it right on. Thanks to our friend Erin for making Clara's costume. She even crafted the nose.

I was boring and only had a kermit shirt. No way was I wearing a big Kermit head.

Mark as the Swedish Chef. We were trying to get Collin to stand next to him. That's why he's kneeling down.

The inspiration for Collin's costume.


Clara's inspiration.

More of Cute Collin

It's funny to see a two year old try to put together the English language. Today I was carrying Collin down the stairs and he tooted. He looked at me and said "I burped" and then thought for a minute and said "I burp a bum." I just about dropped him I was laughing so hard. But if you think about it, a toot really kind of is a burp from your bum.

Time for a new wardrobe?

Today after church I put Collin in a gray pair of sweat pants and he turned to me and said "My mommy pants on." Perhaps I should stop wearing sweats so much.

Collin is Cute!

I was reading something the other day that said the golden years of childhood are the ages from 2-5. They're not in that baby stage which can be difficult but they're not to the sassy later years (which Clara is in right now...So not looking forward to the teens.) Collin is in that really cute stage right now. Sure, he has his two year old temper tantrums. But overall is pretty agreeable. He's talking a ton now. My favorite phrase of his right now is when he says "I big helper". He likes to try and help take off his clothes or diaper, carry groceries, put his shoes away. After he's done helping he confirms that he's been a big helper. So cute. He also, while helping, likes to carry things and grunt and say "Heaby (heavy)". Any time you help him do something or get something for him he politely says thank you.

On another note, Collin loves his 92 year old great grandpa Young. When Mark and I went to Europe and Collin was 14 months old, the kids stayed at Mark's mom's house and Grandpa Young was there too. Collin and he bonded for life. Grandpa Young comes and goes and is always worried that Collin is going to forget him. He never does. He's always willing to give grandpa a hug or sit on his lap for a while. Grandpa's eyes just light up when Collin runs to him. Of course the Swedish fish grandpa hands out are a big hit too.

You didn't believe me, did you?

I tried to tell you that I had a big toe. Remember how I went hiking up Timp and my toes hurt after? Well apparently all of the friction on the big toes against the tip of my shoe caused a blister to form under my left big toe toenail. By about 5 days after the hike my toe was in so much agony that I went to the instacare and they lanced the toenail. I know, gross. Then today my toenail fell off. Attractive.

WARNING! GRAPHIC PICTURE TO FOLLOW.



Really you can hardly tell that it fell off but I assure you it is no longer there.

1st day of 2nd grade

Clara started second grade on Wednesday. She was a little worried because she did not get the teacher that her best friend got. Apparently she has the fun teacher. Clara has Miss Giles who is rumored to be not as fun. I'm okay with that. But I did get a lecture at back to school night about hand sanitizing and how the kids have to use it after recess and wipe down their desks at the end of the day. A little OCD? Maybe. But if they have the not sick class, fine by me. Clara has confessed after two days of school that Miss Giles is in fact fun. So that's good. And she's been meeting her best friend Alyssa for recess and lunch so no trauma there.
Clara in her back to school outfit, her favorite skirt made by Grandma Christine. And her new haircut and lunchbox. She chose to cut her hair short the day before school.

In front of her class. The second grade meets in the out buildings.

Clara and her friend Sierra. They were in the same class last year and again this year. They look like twins with the same hair.

Hiking Timp

Yesterday a group of us from BYU hiked to the top of Mount Timpanogas to do some filming for Homecoming Spectacular this year. It is a hard hike. We started at 6 in the morning and got to the summit about 11:30. Then we filmed for 3.5 hours and then hiked back down. We got back to the parking lot at 8:30 p.m. Long day. Today my knees hurt and my toes (dang that big, fat big toe) but other than that I feel pretty good. It was a great experience and I'm glad that I did it.

Me at the site where we were filming, just below the summit.


At the summit, almost 12,000 feet. The ledge at the top is about 6' wide.


A family of mountain goats were right next to us. This one had her baby. Just passed the saddle a little less than a mile from the summit.


The helicopter shooting. The camera is mounted on the front.



The actor playing Eugene Roberts, who we are honoring this year in Homecoming. He was the faculty member who started the annual Timp Hike for BYU.






From the summit. Basically I could take both these pictures from one spot. Above, looking down on Utah lake and Utah County. Below looking back down the other side at Emerald Lake. The snow running down into it is the glacier.