2014 Family Pics

One of my good friends has been taking our family pictures every year.  So while we are in Utah I always make it a point to meet up with her so we can get some updated pictures.  This year, it happened to be in the snow.  The kids didn't think it was the greatest idea.  But Jenny was able to get a bunch of good ones!  I had a hard time narrowing it down to these...

Jenny had a perfect spot picked out, so we set the kids down on the chair, backed away, and the wind picked up and blew the snow down from the trees onto the kids!  It was a perfect shot.

They knew they were being treated unfairly.

After warming them back up and changing locations to avoid more snow being blown on us, the kids tolerated the pictures, and I think we got some good ones!  I guess I should move us onto a summer picture rotation.

Here are some of Adelaide...

 And some of Calder...

This is one of my favorites. :) 

And then all of us!

Fall Hikes

Fall is the perfect time to go for hikes and or walks here in Arkansas.  We have definitely taken advantage of the beautiful fall weather here.

Some of the leaves here are so stunning.

Fist up: Crystal Bridges.  No season would be complete without a walk around there.  We collected leaves while we were there so we could dry them and make pictures out of them later.

Calder found some great leaves!

Part of the museum.

They are in the process of relocating a Frank Lloyd
Wright house to Crystal Bridges, which I think is pretty cool.

I love the ombre leaves!

Adelaide added a few leaves to our collection, too. 

Next Up:  Devil's Den (Yellow Rock)

This was a hike that led up to an incredible view!

More leaves...I can't resist taking pictures of them.

We found a fun little cave.  Calder was skeptical.

Adelaide was enjoying grabbing the back of Craig's head.

At one point Craig was carrying both kids.  This was the moment we realized any hike we went on should only be a mile.

Love.This.Picture.

We made it to the top!

Craig's mustache. All of our November pictures are tainted.

Arkansas has so many pretty places!

...and another pretty picture.  I really can't help myself.

Thanksgiving week: We took a trip to a place called Mount Magazine.  It is the highest point in Arkansas.  (roughly 27,000 ft is all)  And again, another beautiful place! There was a lodge at the top of the mountain that we got to stay in.  We got to see the sun rise, and have breakfast overlooking the valley below. When it warmed up a little, we finished walking the 0.4 miles up to the top of the mountain.  And what a surprise, we actually felt like we were on a real mountain!  Not just a big hill, like the rest of the places around here. 

The view from the lodge.

Both kids loved that our room had a deck.

They each had to take a turn sitting in the chair.

On the hike, Calder gathered all the little acorns/nuts that he could find.  

Adelaide was pretty thrilled with everything she was finding, too.

Playing around with the camera...

 At one point during the walk/hike, Craig and I both thought we heard a growl.  Like, what a bear would sound like.  We did see some deer bounding away, but didn't see anything else.  We were a little paranoid after that, though.

We made it to the top!  The kids were't quite as thrilled as we were.  

After hiking, we rode our bikes with the trailer around one of the loops at the top of the mountain.   More gorgeous views.  They say, on a clear day, from the top of Mount Magazine you can see clear to Oklahoma, and if you total the miles seen from all sides of the mountain you can see 25% of the state of Arkansas.

Crazy how far you can see!

Last but not least: Shaddox Hollow Trail

Jared and Ali, my brother and his wife, came and visited for Thanksgiving.  So we took advantage of one of the warm afternoons and took them on a little hike in the Ozarks.  This one hiked down to Beaver Lake, where we spent most of the summer boating.

Yay for Jared and Ali!  It was so fun spending time with these guys.

Made it to the lake.

Adelaide had a great time finding rocks in the mud.

She is going through a phase where she is bothered when her hands get dirty, so she wasn't so sure about the mud for a few minutes. 

Calder was upset because we took him away from throwing rocks into the lake for a family picture.  How dare we.

He was throwing with all his might!

All the leaves are off the trees now, but maybe we will get another hike in before Christmas!

Trick or Treat

Halloween this year was a bit of a marathon!  We started it off by carving our pumpkins.  Calder wanted the classic happy jack-o-lantern face.  And he was so proud of it.  He kept turning off all the lights in the house so he could look at his pumpkin.  Even if one light was on clear on the other side of the house, he would go turn it off, then stumble his way back to admire his pumpkin.  It was pretty cute how excited he was!

We had a hard time nailing down what Calder wanted to be for Halloween.  He kept changing his mind, and we kept suggesting things that he would like at first, but then was not happy with. So then we came up with a monkey, like Curious George.  I think we found a good fit. :)  I made both kids' costumes, and I am happy with how they turned out.

I told him to act like a monkey.  I think it looks more like a yoga pose? 

Adelaide was my little Lady Bug.  Mostly because I wasn't interested in making a complicated costume for my one-year old. I did her hair in pig tails so she could have little antennas. :)  I brought them outside to try and take a few fun pictures.

Once again, so happy with his pumpkin.

I told Adelaide to go get Calder, and she did!  I think she was going to give him a hug. :)

 

This was not staged!  I think both kids were just ready to go inside!

When we got inside, Calder was sitting down and Adelaide tackled him! I think he was pretty surprised!

Our ward had a Trunk-or-Treat on Wednesday.  It was fun seeing all of the kids all dressed up. On Thursday, Craig's work had a Halloween party, so the kids dressed up again.  And then Friday, we took them out Trick-or-Treating.  It was cold - the coldest day we have had yet!  So we did a quick trip up one street and down another.  Our neighborhood didn't have many trick-or-treaters, so every house we went to gave us handfuls of candy.  It was very efficient. Adelaide was in heaven.  She held on to one piece of candy in each hand the entire time!

We had fun Halloween stickers on our windows this year.

The kids kept admiring their pumpkins every time we went outside.

Checking out the goods when we got home after Trick-or-treating.

I love this season!  I love how excitement just keeps building from Halloween, to Thanksgiving, to Christmas - one right after another!