Last Wednesday my parent's ward had their annual Halloween Carnival that the Young Men and young Women put on. We go every year because it is for the little kids and Abrielle had a blast. She played all of the different games and really got into the idea that they put candy in her pumpkin bucket after each one. After the games there was trick-or-treating throughout the building and we taught Abrielle to say, "Trick or treat!" and then "Thank you so much!" It was pretty much adorable. Abrielle was a lady bug and Nathan was a candy corn. You will see Abrielle's costume in some later pictures but here is Nathan:
On Friday night our ward held a Fall Family Film Festival and Chili Cook-Off. I was one of the judges for the cook-off and it was a great experience. There were some really good chilis! I definitely need to get some of those recipes. I am not a big chili fan normally but some of them were definitely winners. And there was some corn bread muffins that were amazing as well. I was the only female judge and the winning chili had sausage and bacon in it - a man's perfect chili!
The films were submitted by four families in our ward and they were all about how their families were working to uphold the goals the stake has set for our families this year about family home evenings, family prayers, family dinners, etc. The videos were REALLY well done and quite funny. I was so impressed with the talent demonstrated in our ward and the evening was a lot of fun.
On Saturday Jake and I decided to have some fun with our kids. We had coupons for Chick-fil-A and so we caught them for brunch (right as they were ending breakfast...). We had spicy chicken sandwiches, yogurt, fruit and hashbrowns. YUMMY! Abrielle loved it and ate a ton of food. After brunch we went to our local Trax station which is now just on Old Bingham Highway. Jake had 2 Trax passes and the kids are young enough to not have to pay so we hopped on and made our way downtown. We had some unexpected transfers because we were trying to escape some very scary people with incredibly foul language but it just added to the experience for Abrielle. She was so excited and happy (she has never been on a train).When we finally got downtown we stopped in at the Church History Museum and visited their Children's Corner for a while. There are lots of different activities to do but Abrielle's favorite part was the Spanish dancers. They have huge screens set up with almost life sized dancers on them and then big floofy skirts to try on so that you can mimic the dance.Abrielle must have stood their listening to the music and watching the dancers for at least 30 minutes.
After the museum we went over to Seigfried's Delicatessan. It is an authentic German deli in downtown Salt Lake. My family loves it because my Grandpa Dunford went to Germany on his mission and it is as authentic as you can get. I think all of the workers are even German themselves. I got a hot pastrami reuben and Jake got some kind of sausage that I can't pronounce with thick German noodles and gravy called Spätzle and a fruit bowl. We shared a dessert that was incredibly moist and not too sweet. I think it was the Tiramasu but I'm not sure since Jake ordered. Abrielle LOVED the Spätzle and almost ate the whole plate by herself!
We had a wonderful time as a family and look forward to more adventures together!
On Halloween day I packed the kids up and we went with my mom, sisters and niece to see the witches at Gardener Village. We got the search sheet and went around trying to find which witch was doing what. :-) Abrielle wasn't as interested in the witches as she was looking at the ducks in the river but the weather was gorgeous and it was fun to be outside. Nathan had a grand old time looking at everything and getting excited. In the end we found all of the witches we needed to and got to buy cookies from the bakery for $0.30. Abrielle was all about that and would search her cookie for the chocolate chips and specifically bite those areas. Here are a few pictures from our excursion:
Abrielle gets distracted easily... lol!
I love this picture. We actually got all three girls to smile at the same time! The front is my niece, Serenthia, Abrielle is in the middle and then my sister, Brynndi, is in the back.
My handsome pirate!
And again! He is just so stinkin' cute! Don't you love his sparkly blue eyes? He gets them from his handsome daddy!
I think this picture is hilarious because it shows so much of Abrielle's personality. She is really into squealing right now and will demonstrate this ability at the slighest provocation. We caught this picture mid-squeal.
All the troops in the carriage!
In the evening time I took the kids over to my Grandma and Grandpa Dunford's house. We had our traditional taco soup and the most amazing corn bread (my mom has perfected it) and then went trick-or-treating. Abrielle would run to each house and yell (again with the squealing tendency), "Trick or treating!!!" and then proceed to laugh maniacally. I really don't know where she gets these things but you would have to hear this laugh. It is the funniest thing. It sounds like she is completely exaggerating and faking it but that really is how she laughs. Everyone thought it was hilarious and I think she got extra candy because of it. We made it through about 5 streets before all the kids were worn out and their pumpkins were getting really heavy. Abrielle got to pick out a few treats to have last night and out of everything she got she chose 100% real fruit snacks, pretzels and Doritos. What a weird kid!
We finished the evening with a quick visit to Grandma and Grandpa Troff and Mom and Dad Bentley. Everyone loved the kids in their costumes and made sure to spoil them with treats and gifts.
I am SOOO mad that I didn't get a picture of Jake in his costume! I will have to make him put it back on so I can take a picture. The 2nd counselor in our bishopric has a Star Trek shirt with the beaming badge and everything. Jake wore it yesterday and it was AWESOME! He looked great and I told him he should make the shirt a permanent addition to his wardrobe. His response was, "I guess it is true that women like a man in uniform!"
We hope everyone had an equally fun and enjoyable Halloween. We are so excited for Thanksgiving and Christmas and look forward to much more family fun and adventures. And I promise to make every effort to take my camera!
Love, Shayla
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