Halloween

The girls were very excited about their costumes this year. They knew what they wanted to be early on and Grandma Webber was a big help in getting the costumes altogether. I felt like their costumes this year were very reflective of who they are. You let me know what you think.

Lindsay as Snow White

Emi as Tinkerbell (She and Lindz especially liked their light up, sparkly, high heeled shoes)

Kayla as Mary Poppins. This costume was hard. We could only find it in an Adult-Small, so there were some MAJOR alterations to make this one come together, but Kay loved it and it was very suiting for her.

Brenna as the Ladybug. B was very indecisive this year. First she was an elephant, then a princess, then a ladybug.

Somehow Aubrey missed out on the photo shoot, but she was a great Superwoman along with several of her friends.

Friday we had a Parade and classroom parties at school. Saturday we visited the 'witches' at Gardner Village, one of our favorite traditions. By Halloween night the girls had dispersed into the neighborhood. Robert took the younger girls around the inner island of the neighborhood before Brenna was ready to call it a night. She then helped me pass out candy at the door. I think she actually liked that better than trick-or-treating. It was a fun night, and yes we have enough candy to last us til Easter.

Pre-Halloween Fun

It's time for our annual Neighborhood Halloween Party. It's always such a fun party. This year I was 'feeling festive' so I went all out with my dessert and appetizer. This pumpkin spice cake was super yummy and we're always a fan of 7-layer dip, even if it does have spiders crawling on it.

For our couple costume we went with 'Sailors.' We actually won best costume so we now get to keep the coveted 'skeleton trophy' on our bookshelves until next year. I also won the 'South Jordan Photo Scavenger Hunt'. Robert predicted I would win from the beginning. What can I say, I love South Jordan. We had a fun, fun night and love being with our awesome neighbors and friends.

Here's Brenna practicing for Trick-or-Treating. She would knock on the door, I would answer, she would say "Trick-or-Treat", I would give her candy and she would say "Thank You". You know how the drill goes, but it was fun to practice with her before her preschool Halloween Party. Isn't she such a cute ladybug?

Deer Shots

The 'Deer Hunt' opened this weekend. Even after over 11 years in Utah, we are still not hunters. People find it hard to believe that Robert has never shot a gun. Growing up in the suburbs of LA, you just don't really shoot guns. Well, in celebration of the deer hunt we drove the kids on our Rose Canyon bike ride route. We counted 25 deer on our excursion and we tried to tell them to run and hide, that the hunters were out. Luckily, we didn't run into any hunters this time. Last season we did come across a hunter on the road and the girls saw him shoot and kill a deer with a bow and arrow. If you're one that cries during the movie Bambi, then you understand how we felt. But today, we just enjoyed seeing lots of deer and taking lots of photo shots of them.

Cousin Fun

Rachael and Aubrey
Lindsay and Anna - born one day apart, they like to think of themselves as twins, hence the matching shirts each day. It's good that both their Moms shop @ Target, so they can have matching clothes.

Nathan and Rachael

Harvest Friends-Brenna, Emily & Megan

Holts-Temple Square

Today we spent our Saturday enjoying downtown Salt Lake City. We love going to Temple Square. The sights, the sounds, the smells (I'm talking about the Lion House rolls vs. the fall flowers) It is all so wonderful. We strolled through both Visitors Centers and the grounds before heading to the Gateway to shop. Each time we visit Temple Square we are reminded how lucky we are to live here in this valley, with so much richness and beauty surrounding us.

Most of our crew at the Christus "And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." Isaiah 2:2

Barb & I The kids outside the Salt Lake Temple

Holts-Thanksgiving Point

Aubrey Bungee/Tramp Jumping
We spent this afternoon at Thanksgiving Point, one of our favorite attractions at take visitors to. They were having a Fall Harvest Festival and the kids had a great time climbing, sliding, bouncing, etc. Enjoy the pics.

Anna climbing

Lindsay reaching the summit

Kayla ready to jump

Brenna finding familiar friends

Emi

Brenna flying down

Megan down the slide

Oquirrh Mountain Temple

Every Friday morning Aubrey goes to the temple to perform Baptisms for the Dead. Jesus Christ said, "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (John 3:5). Most people who have ever lived, however, died without being baptized. Because God is merciful, He has prepared a way for all His children to receive the blessings of baptism through proxy work done in temples throughout the earth. Just as Jesus Christ suffered vicariously for our sins, Aubrey serves as proxy for people who have died and is baptised for them vicariously. Individuals can then choose to accept or reject what has been done on their behalf. It is a wonderful opportunity for Aubrey to serve others who have no way to repay her.

This week her cousins Nathan, Katie, and Rachael were able to go with her. One of the things President Monson said when he dedicated this temple to the Lord in August was that we should, "touch the temple - and let the temple touch you". Here they are touching the temple before entering The House of the Lord.

This past year we have had 2 temples built and dedicated in our area. There are currently 130 temples in operation throughout the world and 3 of those temples are within 10 minutes of our home. We have always loved living in this area, but since the building and dedications of these new temples there is a definite 'spirit of the temple' that can be tangibly felt in this beautiful part of the Salt Lake Valley. These new temples also coincided with Aubrey turning 12 and becoming of age to be interviewed and found worthy to enter into the Baptistery part of any temple.

This particular Friday, it was a special treat to have Barb, Nathan, Katie, and Rachael with us. Robert was able to perform the baptisms for each of them and Barb and I were able to wrap them up as they exited the font. Being in the temple with our children is one of our greatest joys in this life, and we're so thankful to be able to be found there often.

Holts - Logan

My sister Barb and her 5 kids are here to visit. They live in Mesa, AZ and it is their Fall Break. We are so excited to have them here. They add great joy, laughter, loudness (nothing like getting 10 kids together) and love to our home. Her oldest is Nathan - 17; Katie - who's almost 15; Rachael - 13; Anna -8; and Megan -4. Our kids get along really well and love being together, as do we. On Thursday we decided to go up to Logan, which is near Richmond (where our Grandma Webber grew up) and Preston, ID (where our Grandpa Webber grew up - though we never knew him). Our first stop was the "Bluebird" Restaurant. It opened in 1914 and has 3 levels of restaurant seating and a long soda fountain/ice cream parlor bar. It is a place that our Grandma ate and hung out as a teenager. They have kept some of the the nostalgia and 'back in time' feeling to of the restaurant and every time I go there I really can visualize Gram there as a teenager. We then visited the Logan Tabernacle where Gram was baptized as a child.

Then the Logan temple. I'm not sure about my picture angle on this one, but it's a very beautiful building.

Our last stop was the Logan Cemetery where Gram is buried next to her husband Noble and other of his relatives. I can remember going to the cemetery as a kid with my Dad and he would walk me over to the corner of the cemetery, so we could look into the Utah State University Football Stadium. I'll have to get a picture from that angle next time I'm up there. This is a picture of the girls and I visiting Gram back in August. I'm glad Barb and her kids have now been up here and know where Gram's body was laid to rest after her spirit had returned back to it's Heavenly home.