Happy Halloween!

So, we are wrapping up Paul's first Halloween.  We had a lot of fun.  We didn't know for sure what we were going to dress up as but the Chandler's sent us a little lion suit for Paul.  At first, we weren't sure he would wear it because the weather is still so warm but we tried it on him one day and it was too cute to pass up.  Being that it is our first Halloween with a child, I really wanted to do a fun family costume so I asked my mom to make me a Dorothy costume and a scarecrow so we could be a Wizard of Oz family. 

It turned out really fun.  We (especially Paul) were a big hit at the ward party.  A little princess told me I was really pretty too, though.  And, our primary class kids mostly didn't even know what the Wizard of Oz is (kids these days). 

The ward Trunk or Treat is a huge deal, with hundreds of people including members friends and families and people who never come out to church so it was pretty crowded.  We had dinner and  a little carnival where Paul tried the fishing game and caught a glow bracelet.  Then we did trunk or treat. 

Then tonight, Halloween night, we got together with Nathan and Erica for dinner and passing out candy.  We decided to do it at our place since we have a real house now and hoped to get some trick or treaters.  We got Sophie and Paul into costumes for a few pictures but it was just too hot in the house to stay dressed up.  Then we hung out and waited for the masses.  We got about 70 trick or treaters! Good thing we over prepared with the candy.  We have been in apartments for the last few years so it was really fun to see all the kids dressed up and get to experience that part of Halloween again. 

Happy Halloween! Now we wait till next year when the kids are old enough to trick or treat!

Fall Break Fun

Last week was Cliff's fall break.  We were trying to think of fun things we could do that didn't involve flying, hotel stays, lots of money, ect.  A while back, I had seen someone share some pictures of 10 things to do in Prescott, AZ.  It looked awesome.  One lake in particular, Watson Lake, looked like it would be a beautiful hike.  With it being only 2 hours away and considerably cooler than Phoenix, it made the perfect day trip.

The hike around the lake was about 4.8 miles and had a lot of changes of scenery.  We hiked through some trees, around the lake on rocks, across a bridge, by the dam, next to a green algae creek.  This was Paul's long awaited first hiking trip (you just don't take a baby out hiking in 110-120* summer).  He loved it.  Cliff carried him facing out the whole way and he loves being outside and looking around.  He didn't even mind keeping his sunglasses on the entire day.

Ready to get hiking!

Last year for fall break, we headed to California and enjoyed a couple days at Redondo Beach and then visited my old mission comp Whitney and her husband Kyler.  We really miss living near the Ocean and before work trips to the beach from days past on Jeju Island so we decided another fall break beach trip was in order.   This time, we headed out in the morning, spent the afternoon at Huntington beach, and then headed to Whit and Kyler's for a couple nights.

This handsome guy HATED when the waves came in and hit his feet.

On the other hand, this other handsome guy loves playing in huge waves.

The waves look tiny in this picture, but there were actually way huge ones, too.

A quick group shot after church.

All in all, we had an awesome fall break.  We (mainly Cliff) got quite a few little projects done around the house, spent some much loved family time, and had a nice little trip.