Zion's Canyon and More

I got my Taste of Home magazine for October and it had the CUTEST Halloween cupcakes.  I had to try making them.  So I got the stuff and called my friend Kelsey to come over and help.  It took 2 days to get them all done, but we had so much fun!  We took them to a couple different families in our ward, one that just welcomed a new baby and another that we both have babysat for in the past.

These are called Green Eyed Monster.  They have a marshmallow stuck on top, then green frosting put in spikes all around and a Junior Mint for the eyeball.

Kelsey is the cutest, modeling her favorite of the 4 designs (we never did make my favorite, we ran out of time and didn't get around to making the purple frosting. It's called the Purple People Eater.)

Believe it or not, these have chow mein noodles stuck in, then were dipped in melted orange frosting.  Two wheat sticks have mini marshmallows on top with brown M&Ms for eyeballs and chocolate for the lashes.

You can get this recipe free online here.

Jim had to go back to Kemmerer, WY on the 16th, so I headed to St. George alone with the girls.  We had this trip planned for a while, we wanted to go to Zion's Canyon and do some hiking, but Jim was supposed to come with us :(  Still, it was a lot of fun.  Michelle is talking more and more and loved the time with Grandpa and Grandma Moore, Aunt Madison and Uncle Travis (Thanks Travy Bear for substituting for Jim and carrying Michelle on the hikes!).  Lena just LOVED Grandpa.  Any time he spoke he had her undivided attention. We all enjoyed hiking and Micki kept us entertained, as usual.

Resting at a visitor's center after our first hike.

Just one of the beautiful views at Zion's.

Michelle tried mimicking everyone . . . here Grandma is walking backward with the video camera so Michelle decides to try it too!

Lena LOVED playing with Grandpa! (Michelle was creating mud).

Tuesday everyone was at school except my Dad, so we got to spend some quality time with him.  We went to an awesome park where Michelle was boss and Grandpa mostly did as told!

Lena had fun at the park too!

Michelle REALLY wanted to go down the BIG slide, but Grandpa was pretty nervous with her up so high.  I think they both felt better when they came back down the stairs a bit.

I love this picture, I just wish I could figure out how to zoom the camera on my phone!

We left St. George and stopped in Riverside/Tremonton to visit Grandpa and Grandma Thompson. We have to thank Grandpa for some of the BEST homemade salsa any of us ever tasted!  We were going to go on the pumpkin walk in Logan with Grandma's school class on Friday morning, but the girls (and me) slept until 9:30!  We missed the walk, but my mom reported it was AWESOME if any of you are near Logan you should check it out.  We headed home Friday afternoon and Jim came back home too! When we came home there were packages waiting in the mail from Grandma Jackson--and Halloween Cards too!  Thanks Grandma for keeping the holidays fun! (And keeping our girls well dressed!)

Michelle just woke up from a nap, and you can tell as she tries to understand what I am telling her to do.

Saturday we got to take the girls out to the pumpkin patch.  It was cold, but we had fun anyway.

Michelle tried to pick up her pumpkin of choice.

Since she couldn't lift it, she tried just pointing to the one she wanted.

When neither of those got the desired results, she staked her claim.

Lena just enjoyed the stroller ride.

Lena is 6 months old!

Another Island Park Weekend

We jetted up to Island Park Thursday night.  Friday we drove up to Tower Falls in Yellowstone.  It was too cold for the girls to do the hike to the bottom, which is my very favorite spot in all of Yellowstone, but the view from the lookout at the top was beautiful!  We saw some buffalo and elk, coyote, swans and a very friendly raven!  Twice we had buffalo right outside the car window!  Friday night we went swimming at the clubhouse.  Mostly that consisted of Michelle playing on the stairs in the swimming pool.  Saturday we hiked the Box Canyon Trail and it was gorgeous too!  I have no idea where the trail ends though.  After an hour and a half with no end in sight and Lena falling asleep we decided to head back to the car.

The Hunger Games

If you know me, you know I love to read, and I enjoy many genres.  But my favorite genre is probably young adult fiction, usually fantasy fiction.  Upon a recommendation from my younger brother, Travis, I read Hunger Games, and I have to tell you that I was impressed.  The book is not exactly uplifting or romantic, but it is thought provoking and engaging, and it its own way, inspiring.  In fact, I have not read fiction of this caliber in a long time.  It kept reminding me of Orwell's 1964, or one of my favorite classics, Fahrenheit 451. Hunger Games is not for the faint of heart, but if you appreciate good literature, you will not be disappointed.  I haven't yet read the second or third book in the series, I hope they hold up to the first one.

Tautphaus Park Zoo

Thursday we went to the zoo with our neighbors, Kelsey and McCade.  It was pretty neat because the tiger came out and put on a little show for us and the penguins were quite vocal.  The monkeys came to the window and wanted to play too.  Michelle was having a blast and Lena was pleasant, as usual.  Michelle really likes Kelsey, so she loves when we do stuff with them.  On Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings, Kelsey leads a workout group in our church gym and Michelle spends most of the time following her around! (By the way, for you few homemaking moms that read this, the workout group has been a WONDERFUL thing, good way to meet people, the kids play with each other, and I feel GREAT! We don't have to pay anything and we just do basketball, soccer and dance drills  . . . the things we knew how to do from our own experiences of our youth. Kelsey brings a cd of workout music, we stretch, do drills, situps, pushups, etc, and we go for an hour. I wish I would have thought of starting one earlier!)

Family Pictures

When Jim was home we had family pictures taken.  I was INCREDIBLY impressed.  Our photographer is Hilary Cook with Riverside Photography and not only did she do an amazing job with pictures but she did them for a great deal!  I have posted some of the best pictures here.  If you know anyone in Idaho Falls I would DEFINITELY recommend Hilary!

(If any of you want prints made, we can do it pretty easily, just let me know!)

Thought I would share some video of the girls playing in Lena's bedroom.

Yellowstone We Love You

Jim was home last week and it was so WONDERFUL! We took a few days to go to Yellowstone and do a little hiking. We enjoyed a couple of days at my family's cabin in Island Park, saw Mammoth Hot Springs and went hiking with a coyote! Unfortunately Jim had to go back to Kemmerer Saturday night, but we were so glad to have him for a week!

Getting up in the morning with DADDY!

Mammoth

Some random hiking trail where we had a coyote companion for the first half of the hike.

We did see some animals this time. This elk even put on a show for the tourists and was bugling at his lady friends!