Happy Halloween!

Introducing.... ninja boy.

Butterfly ballerina (or fairy with antennas???)

and little princess (with a princess pout).

We went cheap on the costumes this year. Ella is wearing one of Hailey's old dress ups and Hailey's (as you know) was from a Target clearance. It turned out cute though.

Trick or Treating with the neighbors.

Trunk or Treat last Saturday.

Arizona is a great place to go trick or treating. The weather is so nice now (actually it's still a little warm this year, we could've worn shorts). We rarely even knock on a door because people get out their lawn chairs and hang out on their driveways. It's like a big block party. People really deck their homes out too. Some go a little overboard,with coffins, tombstones, blood and guts etc. I prefer the happy little pumpkin look.

Ok- have I ever mentioned that my son is a picky eater (he he). Well, he seems to be getting worse. This picture below is of all the candy that he doesn't like... I know psycho child. Actually, I'm glad he's picky about this for his sakes, but not for mine. I might have to have Thayne bring it to work.

Here is what he does like. We didn't even go to that many houses. I think people just give away handfuls of candy.

More pics from our trip

Here are a few more pictures of our trip. You may wonder why I always have a bunch of pictures of Hailey and not Kaden--- it's because Kaden is usually "too busy" for pictures. He's going to think Hailey was my favorite. I usually try to get a bunch of Ella too, but she is still a hard target, and most of her pictures turn out with her head turned or something. Anyways, this blog won't let me post anymore pics, but I may post a few above this blog.

Kaden and Hailey had fun boogie boarding. Thayne would throw Hailey into the wave and off she would go.

Our awesome sand castle.

This is at Duke gardens.


The famous Duke chapel.

The museum in Durham, NC. This museum was fantastic. The kids loved it and the adults did too.

This ones for Grandma :)



This butterfly house was awesome.

An awesome trip

I'm finally getting around to blogging. It has been a whirlwind the last two weeks-- but a very fun whirlwind. I started to download a bunch of pictures from our vacation, and then blogger started having problems and won't let me download the rest (maybe there is a limit to the amount of pictures per blog???) So, here are some pictures of the last four days of our awesome family vacation (minus Ella- thank you so much Hollie and Patricia!!!). I have to put a plug in-- you all need to go visit that side of the country, this was an amazing trip and Kerrie and Jake are awesome hosts (as were our friends, the Dean's)! So, start saving your pennies and looking for deals :)

Kerrie blogged about this, we all went boating, out to lunch, and then to a UNC soccer game. It was soo fun. It made me want to be back in college, or at least near a college town. Kerrie made an awesome chicken alfredo dinner-- yummy! Hailey has always liked to do everything herself. She had to have a turn rowing. The landscape was beautiful.

On Friday, we left NC and headed back to Maryland. We stopped along the way in Petersburg, Virginia at a very cool civil war site. There was a museum there, an original tobacco plantation that housed the confederate army during the civil war, and actual bunkers all along the landscape, where part of the war was fought.

This was the slave quarters.
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This was in the museum, where they give you MP3 players that activate as you walk around different displays. ---->

In the background is a baracade, representing how they set up during war.

Saturday, we went to Washington DC with our friends. You could actually spend days here, with all of the museums and sites, but we had one day and we didn't want to pay a $30 per person tour bus fee with all of the kids, so we walked the entire time. We pretty much walked for six hours straight. It was a very neat experience.

The capitol building.

The air and space museum.


The world war II memorial. -->

The Washington Monument.


The kids looking at the white house.

The steps to the Lincoln Memorial.

This was near the Vietnam wall. That's Christian, Kaden,

Matthew, Alexa, and Hailey. The White House. Can you see the two guys standing at the top? I guess there is always someone up there. It was funny to hear the kids conversations all day. Kaden said, "Look it's President Bush on top of the White House. I think he is sun tanning."

Below are some pictures of the DC temple. It is beautiful! I love the wooded area all around it too. It was a great way to end our trip!

This is the view from the freeway. You come around a curve and it's right in front of you. It is especially awesome to see when it is lit up.

I'll have to post the first few days later and Kaden's baptism :)