On Saturday, Natalie went to a really fun birthday party at a farm. Her favorite thing was to ride the pony, and she was disappointed to only get one turn.
As you can see here, she was a little afraid to pet the animals at first, but she warmed up. There were reindeer, wallabys, emus, pigs, horses, geese, sheep, goats, etc. When we left, she said, "Can I have my next birthday party there?"
These pictures came up in reverse order, but you'll get the idea. Elise is our "Candy" girl. Her new favorite word is "candy". She LOVED trick-or-treating and told everyone "Thanks!" in a deep funny voice. It was really cute! She thought it was very funny on Halloween night when her tongue turned totally green. We had to look in the mirror a lot!
Here is our typical Halloween picture. It was great, because the kids came up with their costumes themselves this year, with the exception of Elise. Ashley was a gypsy, Zach was a patriot and Elise was a ballerina. Natalie was planning on being a princess until one day she came down the stairs wearing all these gold medals. Zach said that she looked like Michael Phelps. Ever since then, she decided that was what she was going to be for Halloween! Her costume was a hit, with her goggles and swim cap and eight gold medals (people were counting them to make sure we got it right!).
We went to the Elementary school to see Zach walk in his Halloween parade. I thought he did a great job with his costume.
We were so excited to have Nana and Pa come up for Halloween! It just made it more fun for them to be here celebrating with us!!
Natalie looked great in her kindergarten Halloween parade! It was a really good day. The kids were so excited by all the fun they had, that when I went to tuck them in, they just couldn't stop talking about it all!
Every year, the kids complain that we have the "most boring" home in the neighborhood because I don't decorate much for Halloween. This year, Elise and I went to a local greenhouse and bought straw bales, corn stalks and pumpkins to decorate the front porch. When the kids got home from school, they were surprised and excited. Zach thought for a minute that he was at the wrong house. I think that our front porch turned out really cute! Finally- the kids no longer think that we have the "most boring" house in the neighborhood!
Elise's pumpkin was too little to carve, so she had a great time "coloring" it.
The day after Elise's birthday, we decided to carve our pumpkins. The kids drew out their designs and then we carved them. See if you can decide which design belongs to who. I think it's pretty obvious!
Everyone was very proud of their pumpkin carving efforts. I think that they turned out fantastic and had the most fun I've ever had doing it!
The kids loved pulling out the "guts", all except Elise, who wouldn't touch the inside of the pumpkin. We saved the seeds and roasted them. Yum!
Pre-carving, the kids proudly display the pumpkins they picked from the patch.
We decided that we needed to do something other than drag her along to everyone's soccer games, so inbetween, we went to Three Cedars Farm. I was so sad that I forgot the camara!!! She had fallen asleep when we got there and so totally missed the hayride out to the pumpkin patch, but did wake up in time to choose the cutest tiny pumpkin. I think that she was totally jostled on the hayride back, but did manage a few smiles in between looks of concern. She loved drinking cider and eating donuts, though, when we were done with our hayride.
After the last soccer game, we went out to Red Robin (kind of a family birthday tradition). She LOVED getting a great big ice cream sundae and put up with the waiters and waitresses singing to her.
Elise loved opening presents, and the kids were so happy with her reaction to the presents they picked out.
That night we went to a friends house to watch the BYU game, and I made her this crayon box cake, since one of her favorite things is to color. It was gone very quickly! 
Elise loves to be with Mommy all of the time, but especially when I am cooking. She loves to stir everything, but has had to be taught how to take turns. I love having little helpers (Natalie loves to help me, too.) Elise and Natalie both love their new aprons made by Aunt Larraine!!
Our Primary sponsored a ward Talent Show. As a primary presidency we performed a lip sync of "One Fine Day". I was the designated hair and make-up person, and we all had coordinating outfits. These pictures were taken after we got home that night, so I look a little worse for wear, but you get the idea. We were a big hit (we had choreographed the whole thing) and lots of people almost didn't recognize the president and the other counselor because they looked so different with the whole sixties hair and make-up thing. My favorite part was wearing false eyelashes!
