Monday, October 31, 2011

HAPPY HALLOWEEN


 Last night we started out the festivities with some pumpkin carving. We had soooo many pumpkins to carve. I think I ended up doing at least 3. Julia helped clean hers out and wasn't afraid to grab the guts and pull them out. My nephew, Caleb, on the other hand......well he had a little bit of a hard time. We told him to grab in and just pull out a big handful. His eyes started watering and he was literally gagging as he pulled out his handful. It was so funny.....I don't think I laughed that hard in a long time. Poor Caleb......he just doesn't like the gooey pumpkin guts. Julia wanted Rapunzel cut out on her pumpkin and it was challenging but I think it turned out pretty good. Layne even got in on the action too. We all had a great time carving and the end result was great. Everyone did such a great job!

Julia's scary face

Layne carving a 'holey pumpkin'

Mom helping Caleb clean the pumpkin

Our 4 finished pumpkins. The big cat, Rapunzel, holey and scary pumpkin

What a spooky sight......


Julia had been counting down the days until Halloween all weekend long. She woke up this morning and said, "Mom, guess what? It's Halloween today. I can't wait to go trick-or treating." She was excited to say the least. She even got to dress up for school today. I had to start early because she wanted to do her hair like Rapunzel. So it took some work but I think it looked great. Christian is Julia's cute sidekick. The Princess and the Frog or it could be Rapunzel's pal, Pasquel. But the big googly eyes match with Christian's. I think they are too cute. I wanted to get a few pictures before the night began because the kids always looked so disheveled as the day wears on.

All the cute ribbon and flowers and ribbons
Rapunzel, let down your hair

My little froggie....I would kiss those cheeks to
turn him into a little prince

The Princess and the Frog

Sunday, October 30, 2011

You Crack Me Up!

Why did the vampire go to the orthodontist?
To improve his bite...

What do you get when you cross a vampire and a snowman?
Frostbite...


How do witches keep their hair in place while flying?                             
With scare spray...


What do you get when you cross a werewolf and a vampire?
A fur coat that fangs around your neck...


Why don't skeletons ever go out on the town?
Because they don't have any body to go out with...


What do ghosts add to their morning cereal?
Booberries...



What is a vampire's favorite sport?
Casketball...


What is a vampire's favorite holiday?
Fangsgiving...


What do you call someone who puts poison in a person's corn flakes?
A cereal killer...



Why do mummies have trouble keeping friends?
They're so wrapped up in themselves...


What does the papa ghost say to his family when driving?
Fasten your sheet belts...



What is a vampire's favorite mode of transportation?
A blood vessel...


What is a ghost's favorite mode of transportation?
A scareplane...


What type of dog do vampire's like the best?
Bloodhounds...


What do birds give out on Halloween night?
Tweets...


Why do vampires need mouthwash?
They have bat breath...

Halloween Fun Facts


Because of the unknown, Halloween is the one of the most captivating holidays, often celebrated by both adults and children. The element of surprise makes it fun and unpredictable. Enlighten yourself with Halloween trivia and fun facts to enjoy the holiday even more.


Halloween Holiday Trivia

•Orange and black are Halloween colors because orange is associated with the Fall harvest and black is associated with darkness and death.

•Jack o’ Lanterns originated in Ireland where people placed candles in hollowed-out turnips to keep away spirits and ghosts on the Samhain holiday.

•Pumpkins also come in white, blue and green. Great for unique monster carvings!

•Halloween was brought to North America by immigrants from Europe who would celebrate the harvest around a bonfire, share ghost stories, sing, dance and tell fortunes.

•Tootsie Rolls were the first wrapped penny candy in America.

•The ancient Celts thought that spirits and ghosts roamed the countryside on Halloween night. They began wearing masks and costumes to avoid being recognized as human.

•Halloween candy sales average about 2 billion dollars annually in the United States.

•Chocolate candy bars top the list as the most popular candy for trick-or-treaters with Snickers #1.

•Halloween is the 2nd most commercially successful holiday, with Christmas being the first.

•Bobbing for apples is thought to have originated from the roman harvest festival that honors Pamona, the goddess of fruit trees.

•Black cats were once believed to be witch's familiars who protected their powers.


Monster Trivia & Folklore

•Signs of a werewolf are a unibrow, hair palms, tattoos, and a long middle finger.

•Vampires are mythical beings who defy death by sucking the blood of humans.

•In 1962, The Count Dracula Society was founded by Dr. Donald A. Reed.

•To this day, there are vampire clubs and societies with people claiming to be real vampires.

•There really are so-called vampire bats, but they're not from Transylvania. They live in Central and South America and feed on the blood of cattle, horses and birds.

•Many people still believe that gargoyles were created by medieval architects and stone carvers to ward off evil spirits.


Creepy Tidbits

•If you see a spider on Halloween, it is the spirit of a loved on watching over you.

•Worldwide, bats are vital natural enemies of night-flying insects.

•The common little brown bat of North America has the longest life span for a mammal it's size, with a life span averaging 32 years.

•In about 1 in 4 autopsies, a major disease is discovered that was previously undetected.


HAPPY HALLOWEEN!


Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Fall in Utah


It's that beautiful time of year again. The view from my window is amazing. A great view of the mountains with all the color with just a little snow on top and then the neighborhood has some great colors with all the trees that surround us. And it's finally cooling off, the best part of fall. If I don't have to use the air conditioning in my car it's cool enough!


Well, we took the kids to get some fall photos and let's just say its ALWAYS crazy when we do this. It's so hard to get all the kids to look at the camera let alone just smile. So it's always an adventure. We have to try and take so many the kids are usually all smiled out by the end of it. But the kids love to run and explore and climb so it wears them out for bed time.
Gramma Mott and the grandkids. We got all of them to look at the
camera for this shot. At least some are smiling :)


Gramma Mott and the Boys



On Sunday, it was fun to go on a family service walk through our new neighborhood. We decided to make some cookies and make a few deliveries to people in the ward that had made us feel welcome and said hello. It was a perfect evening to go. We all had a blast visiting new people and Julia was a great helper in giving the families their cookies. It was fun to watch as Julia walked through all the leaves on the ground. They made a crunching noise and she said it sounded like we were walking on crackers. Christian loves to be outside. He is so happy and content when we go for walks. He loves to watch the birds and just see the trees sway in the wind. Pure amazement. It was a great Sunday stroll and it was great to be with family and meet new people.


2 great smiles from 2 great kids

HAPPY FALL!

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Pictures of the Week

The two 49'er Boys!

And much to everyone's surprise the 49'ers are off
to a great start this year. Go 49er's!

Thursday, October 13, 2011

A surprise Magical trip!


Well, last week we surprised Julia with a trip to Disneyland. We knew we were going to go about 3 months ago and so we just told Julia that the next time we go visit Grandma and Grandpa Cromwell we will be going on a plane. She was excited about that and wasn't the wiser.

Well, the only set back we had was my little hospital stay a couple of days we were suppose to go. I was so disappointed and frustrated. I had to stay in the hospital for a few days. So when it was time to go Julia and Layne got on the plane and headed out. But gma and gpa Cromwell were headed out as well but just on a later flight that same night. So I was able to be cleared with my health and then join them at the airport to go on our surprise trip. I was so excited and even though I was very sleep deprived and a little run down, we all were able to have some fun and enjoy ourselves.

Layne and Julia got to the hotel and just left the bags because they weren't able to check in yet. So they walked right across the street and Layne kept asking Julia where they were going. She had not clue. Layne started to point out what/who were on the buses passing by, but still no clue. Music was playing, people rushing by, character buses passing by, and she finally says, "Dad, are we at Disneyland?" Layne caught in on tape for me since I was unable to see the surprise part of it. She was surprised and couldn't wait to get going. Layne was on the phone with me and Julia was raring to go so it was a short conversation. I'm glad they made it safe and were able to enjoy themselves and have some one on one time the first day.

A big smile and a fun time with Daddy!


It was a little wet the first day but cleared up in the afternoon. Layne had gone and bought us some poncho's and umbrellas to keep a little drier. They got to go on Small World, Winnie the Pooh, race cars and even Splash Mountain. I couldn't believe it when I heard that. She said that was her favorite ride! It was fun to go with her this time because she was able to ride on most all of the rides with the adults. I think she liked that. Needless to say Layne was tuckered out after the first day. Julia can run circles around us, especially at Disneyland.
Enjoying a wet day with Daddy in Disneyland


Well, we finally all met up in the evening, had a little dinner, and then went to bed. It was the BEST night's sleep I've had probably since my anniversary in April. After being in the hospital with about 6 hours of sleep in a 48 hour period and then just having a break from Christian, who still wakes up 2-3 times a night, it was a much needed night of rest. I certainly felt better in the morning and was excited to get up and get going.



Goofy's Kitchen was our first stop for a great big breakfast. Julia was so excited when we walked in to see Pluto waiting for us. We all got to get a great picture with him. We walked back to sit down and she was just pointing out all the characters and wanted to go see all of them. We told her that they would come to us all we have to do is sit down and wait. We had a great breakfast. The buffet was great and had everything you could ever want, even hot dogs, pizza, and mac'n'cheese for breakfast.

Everyone came to see us at breakfast.
 It was a fun time and certainly hit the spot.



Well, the rain started after breakfast and pretty much lasted ALL day. It was great crowd control but a little inconveinient with backpacks and poncho's and getting on and off the rides. BUT we did get to go on a lot of rides that normally have huge lines. Dumbo, the new Little Mermaid ride, even the Matterhorn. We rode that twice in a row. Julia hung on for dear life and I just told her if you are scared just scream, and boy she did. We even went on Splash Mountain again. We rode the train over and Julia said to us, "Splash Mountain, here we come!" She rode in the very front with grandpa right behind her. He told us she had a death grip on him and when we went down the big hill the look on her face was priceless. We have the picture all nice and framed :) She does get a little scared on the rides but once they are over she loves them. We also went on the Tower of Terror with her. Everybody's favorite ride but not so much for Julia. She didn't want to go on that one again. She said she kept flying up out of her seat. Every time we saw the tower we would ask her if she wanted to go on it again but she said no.


 The new Little Mermaid ride over in California Adventure. We rode twice in a row because the line was so short. Julia loved it!


Stuck inside the action figure box

Grandma and Grandpa were getting a little to wet so they went back to dry off while we pushed through the rain. The rain was finally letting up around 5pm and the line to see Rapunzel was abotu 20 mins. so we jumped in line. Julia even had on her Rapunzel shirt. We walked in and she was in awe. Rapunzel was super nice and took the time to talk to Julia. Julia told her her favorite ride was Splash Mountain and that she was going to be Rapunzel for halloween. Rapunzel took Julia and 'pinkie promised' they would be best friends forever. Julia really remembered that part and still talks about it. They were so cute together.


Waiting outside to see Rapunzel

A big hug

They each talked about their long hair and how
it makes them run really fast

A 'pinkie promise' to be BEST FRIENDS forever!

Well, we wanted to stay around for the parade in the evening so we ventured over to Small World and Toon Town. The roller coaster wasn't working so we decided to get a peek at Mickey's House before the parade. Julia was excited to see Mickey and so was I. We had to wait a while but it was worth it. Then we headed out to see the parade but because it was so wet out they had a 3 car procession with a few characters. It was so cute because the 1st car was Mickey and Minnie. Julia was pointing and waving and very excited. Minnie saw her and then tugged on Mickey to look her way and they both waved to her. When the car with the princesses went by she waved and screamed out who was in the car. She was disappointed that she didn't get to see more but we told her the next night we could see the whole parade with everybody in it. Then it was finally time to get back to the hotel and dry off. We were soaked to the bone and tired. We all hit the pillow and were out that night!
We LOVE Mickey!

Well, the next day came early and we were ready to go! It was finally blue skies and sunshine and so we were excited about that. We got into the park and some of the characters were out and about. Julia really wanted to see Minnie most of all. So we waited in the line and just as we got up to her it was time for her to go but being the mom I am I insisted we get a picture. She was just suppose to walk down the rest of the line and say goodbye but she stopped and took a picture with Julia. Julia was so excited to see her. We also got some fun pictures by the big Mickey pumpkin they had for Halloween.






After eating a delicious french toast breakfast, we were off and running. More crowds and more lines but the weather was great. It was great because Julia was able to ride alot of the big rides this time around. So we headed off to splash mountain again. She wanted to sit by me this time and told me she didn't want to go down the big hill. But I just told her if you are scared just scream really loud. So that's what she did on all the rest of the rides. Thunder Mountain was awesome, one of my favorites. Julia and I sat together and Layne tried to capture the ride on camera. We got a few good shots. Julia was hanging on for dear life and I was hanging onto her for extra measure. She screamed a lot.
 
 
Getting on the ride....not knowing what is about to come our way.

Rounding the bend

And down we go......screaming!

After it was all said and done.....whew!
We did find a ride that she preferred a little bit more over the roller coasters. Tea anyone? Gramma, Julia and I headed off to the tea cups, one of Julia's favorite rides. At least, for now, she doesn't want us to spin the cup while we ride. If we had gramma and I wouldn't be riding.
 

 After going back and having a nap, I decided to wait in the line to see the Princesses while Julia and Layne headed over to Toon Town to hit a couple of rides they missed the day before. Julia was just as excited to see the Princesses this trip. She went right up to each one and gave them a hug and talked to them a little bit. We got to see Ariel, Cinderella, and Snow White. And afterwards we got Julia's face painted. She loved it the last time we came and really wanted to do it again. She sat very still while she got her 'heart crown' painted on. She was sooooo excited to see herself in the mirror, she couldn't stop looking at herself. She absolutely LOVED it. Thanks Grandma Cromwell!!



A very HAPPY princess!
 After a few Mickey bars, fresh dipped corn dogs, a couple of pretzels with cheese, we settled in for the parade. Julia shouted out every character she saw and waved and waved at everyone as they went by. Just watching her is one of my favorite things to do at Disneyland. She has sooooo much fun and she is just enjoying herself every second. We all had such a wonderful time. We loved being able to go and make more memories with Grandma and Grandpa Cromwell. Thanks so very much for making our trip even more special.