Fall Break in Utah

One of the days we were in Utah, we went with all of the cousins to Thanksgiving Point's petting zoo. We were planning on going to Hogle Zoo, but Hunter had an "explosion" while we were at lunch. Natalie was kind enough to bring us a spare pair of pants, and so we then ended up just going to Thanksgiving Point. Since it is October, they had everything decorated for Halloween and they also had about 5 different Halloween themed activities for the kids.

First we paid a visit to all of the animals...

Then we took advantage of some of the great photo ops...
The girls all took turns milking this fake cow...YUCK!...
Each of the girls had their faces painted...
They all took a ride on the ponies...except for Kinzie...she was scared for some reason:( Hunter had the most fun of anyone! He couldn't stop smiling!...
After Thanksgiving Point, Rob and I took our kids up American Fork Canyon to pick leaves. Notice only those of us that live in Arizona found it exciting to go up the canyon for this activity...

Last Saturday we spent the day at Liberty Land. Alyssa and Rob were deer hunting in Vernal, so we decided to have some fun of our own.

Here are Kinzie and Ash on the bumper boats...Poor Brooklyn and Gracie...Their squirt guns didn't work so they had to just sit there and let everyone squirt them as they were unable to defend themselves:( That was almost as sad as the next picture...

Hunter and Cooper didn't meet the height requirement for this ride:( You try and tell two little boys that they can't go for a ride on a boat:(

Ash, Kinzie, Brooklyn and some other girl

Hunter was thrilled when my mom spotted this dump truck for him to sit in. He is such a boy!!!

Doesn't this roller coaster look a little unsafe?!!! There is no height requirement for this ride and it only has a bar that doesn't even push down into your lap. Luckily when everyone else went on it, Hunter and Brooklyn couldn't ride that turn. Cooper (my 16 month old nephew) actually rode this with Kinzie (my 11 year old niece). She had to hold onto him the entire ride as they were getting flipped around in their seat. He very easily could have fallen out of their car! Needless to say, Hunter did not go on this ride when their turn came. Can you say LAWSUIT waiting to happen?!!!!

Hunter had so much fun riding on the carousel with Grandpa Clark! Once again...couldn't stop smiling!

Here is Grandma Clark carrying cotton candy for all of the grandkids...Yum!!!

Gracie was the unlucky child that was paired with Brooklyn in the race cars. On Brooklyn's last lap, after the ride attendant had blown the whistle and told her to stop...she didn't. Instead, she slammed right into the back of Kinzie and Ashley:) Poor Brooklyn was so embarrassed.

Hopefully I will post the rest of my pictures tomorrow...I'm done for today. I still need to unpack mine and Hunter's suitcases from a week ago:(

Happy 9th Birthday Brooklyn!!!

Yesterday was Brooklyn's 9th birthday...I still can't believe I have a 9 year old:( We had a costume party, decorated pumpkins and had the girls do our annual walk through the "Haunted Forest" in my parent's backyard. All of the Clark cousins came to Brooklyn's party (except for Liberty who is in Maryland:( ) and also our friends, the Jones, brought their 3 daughters. Cooper, Rex and Jaxon are missing from this picture because Cooper was busy eating, Rex was asleep and Jaxon didn't have his costume on.

My favorite cake decorator at Kohler's made this cake for the party. She always has such creative ideas! I thought this tombstone cake was appropriate since we were having a haunted forest.

The girls were screaming as soon as they left the house...but, I will say that they were all a lot braver than they were last year. The only kids that had to be carried were Amber and Cooper. Hunter of course didn't even leave the house because he is such a scaredy cat!!! After my comment on my last post about Ryan's little boy being motherly, Ryan has been testing Hunter and Cooper to see which boy is more manly. Hunter was definitely ahead in this contest until Ryan brought out one of the freaky Halloween masks that they use for the haunted forest. Hunter is so scared of those, as soon as he saw it he grabbed Cooper by the shirt and hid behind him...as if a boy 7 months younger could protect him...that was not one of my proudest moments!

Look closely and you will see Rob hiding in the Sheriff's office at the bottom of the hill in my parent's yard. Doesn't he look like the guy on Scream?!!! He really scared the girls when he popped his head out the doorway!

I hid all of the party bags in the "forest" with glow bracelets around the top and the kids were told they couldn't leave the "forest" until all the kids had a bag. It must've been worth it to them because they successfully found all of them. These kids loved those bags of goodies!!!
This is Ashley and her friend Maddy wearing the masks after the boys were finished with them. Do you see why Hunter was so scared?!!! Remember the gorilla...these are much worse!
My sister-in-law Stephanie was the only adult that dressed up in a costume...Doesn't she look adorable?!!!

We came to Utah for the nice fall weather...this is what we got-

We arrived at my parent's house in Alpine, Utah late Friday night and this is what we woke up to on Saturday morning. We came from Arizona with a high of 100 degrees, to Utah where we have been experiencing a high of 41 degrees. We took this picture Saturday morning from my parents deck in the backyard. You can't even see the mountains...you would have thought my kids had died and gone to Heaven when they woke up to snow:) So much for our day at Lagoon that we had been planning:(We have spent the last two days explaining to my kids what kind of snow you can eat...white is good...brown or yellow is bad:) Alyssa was smart and decided just to stick her tongue out and catch it before it ever hit the ground.
My poor deprived desert children!
Ashley and her cousin Amber...Isn't it amazing how kids forget how cold it is? Amber was even outside with wet hair from her bath.
Today we woke up to even more snow...about 5 inches. Too bad we had to go to church and couldn't spend the morning making a snowman:( Unfortunately, by the time we got home, most of it had melted:(
On Saturday we babysat my nephew Cooper so his parents could go to the BYU football game. Go Cougars!!! Ryan, you should've seen your boy pushing around this pink stroller. Notice that Hunter doesn't have anything in his stroller...he just likes it because it has wheels. Cooper actually put a toy lion in his stroller to push around...he is so motherly:)

Conference Weekend

Rob's parents and his sister Brittany (along with her husband), all came to town this weekend. Saturday night while all the boys were at Priesthood, us girls took the kids to a shoe sale at some lady's house, and then to the park to play. I got all 4 of these Steve Madden shoes for $40...can you believe that? And Rob thinks I don't know how to find a bargain...thanks Courtney for showing me how:)

Grandma Jeanne was nice enough to entertain my poor son that has been suffering from separation anxiety...I have no idea why. We didn't last too long at the park...we had to go spend more money at Target!Yes, the Legos all over the floor are there with my permission:) Only because it was conference Sunday:) As a kid, my siblings and I would do the exact same thing. That is the only thing that could keep our interest to sit there for 2 hours:) I don't know who enjoyed this more...Ashley or Rob?!!!
Ashley really struggled with using her "quiet voice" today...between she and Brooklyn, I can't tell you how grateful I am for the pause button on our DVR.
Every year I print our activity pages for the girls to do that helps them pay attention to what is being said. Ashley lasted about 3 minutes...Brooklyn about 10...
Alyssa not only listened to the entire 1st session today...she also took very lengthy and detailed notes. I love this girl!!!

Brooklyn had some what of a distraction today during conference...Last night her Grandma took her shopping for her birthday that is next week and she picked out this Pet Shop house. She thinks it is so cool that this morning when Rob sat down at the table to eat, Brooklyn said, "Dad, I'll bet you wish you were a girl so that you could play with this." And let me tell you, she was dead serious!!!

After we watched the 1st session, Rob had to leave for the airport to fly to Atlanta for a golf tournament:( We were so sad that he didn't get to spend the rest of Sunday with us...but at least this trip is mostly pleasure! So, the girls and I played "beauty parlor" as I got them ready for the day. What ever is Hunter going to do in a house full of girls?!!! Don't they all look cute?!!!

How the heck does a 21 month old boy manage to color the bottoms of both of his feet green? I still haven't figured it out...the only one downstairs with him was Brooklyn, and I don't think she did this. Doesn't he look pleased with himself?!!!

Tonight was Ryan A.'s birthday (I have to add the A. because Rob and I both have brothers named Ryan, and Rob's only sister married a Ryan). The cousins all had fun playing together...except Hunter. Tonight he was more concerned with finding all of the matchbox cars and giving them to me to hold, so none of the other kids could play with them...Sorry Landon!

Golden is Gone:(

For all of you who love Gecko's as much as we do...Golden's last day at Gecko's was last Saturday. I feel like I have lost a family member. There is nothing like going into a restaurant and having your server know your name, what you like...and what you don't like. He has been working there since before we moved here almost 5 years ago. I will still go to Gecko's (because my family and I are HIGHLY addicted), but Golden...we will miss you!!!