Happy Halloween!

We had a great Halloween at our house. Eliza was Batgirl.



Luke was a stormtrooper from Star Wars.



JJ was Spiderman.



Eliza and Luke each had a carnival at their schools and the whole family got to attend. The kids had tons of fun at their school carnivals playing games and winning prizes. Eliza also had a parade at her school and loved showing off her costume and being with her friends.



The boys enjoyed watching all the kids walk by in their fun costumes. They also both made cool crafts at school that were proudly displayed at home. We decorated cookies and carved pumpkins like we do every year. Mike makes a scary one and I do a happy one.





On Halloween night of course everyone was excited to go trick-or-treating. Even Mike, who dressed up as Mayhem from the Allstate insurance commercials. The picture does not do his costume justice, he looked just like him in person. If you have seen the commercials you would recognize him. The messy hair, the cut on his face, and the ripped and dirty suit. He got the suit from the DI and he was going to cut it but after trying it on he decided he liked it and it fit well so he is going to wear it for real.



It was a little windy, but not too cold and everyone got plenty of candy. Liza and Luke thought it was just as much fun to pass out candy at our door as it was to go trick-or-treating. We had a fun evening and everyone had a great time!

Mommy and Me!

So what did JJ and I do while the rest of the family was touring the great state of Missouri. I'll tell you, we had a relaxing, easy time in SLC. When you are the third child you don't get much time with mom just by yourself and I can't remember when I ever had so much time with just JJ. It was fun. We had to drive Mike and the kids to the Salt Lake airport and we decided to spend the weekend there. I stayed at my parents house and it was so fun to hang out with them. I have forgotten how nice it is to have someone make you breakfast, my dad spoiled me. The first day we went to Lindsay's house to eat lunch with her Grandma Ruth, and Grandma Kay. It was a nice visit. That night I went to dinner at the Spaghetti Factory with my mom and 4 sisters. What a great time. On Saturday we went to Jungle Jims.



JJ was in heaven. He got to ride fun rides with his cousins without his brother and sister in his way.



That night we went to visit Grandpa and Grandma. JJ got to wrestle with Grandpa because Dad was out of town. After church on Sunday we had a family dinner to celebrate my Dad's birthday. It was so good to see everyone. I can not tell you how easy one little boy is compared to 3. I was able to just sit back and relax all weekend because he just played with cousins. Here is the little boy tea party.



Plus that night Nana put JJ to sleep for me so I could watch a movie with Allie at her house. No kids=fun for mom. On Monday before I went to the airport we went with Nana and Papa to Liberty Park. JJ loved having the undivided attention all to himself. He played on the playground and in the Canyon water area.



Then we rode a few rides.



Nana and Papa are great hosts and I appreciate them letting us stay with them. We always love to come and visit!

Take Me Out To The Ball Game

It is one of Mike's dreams to visit all the MLB stadiums. So some of our vacations are to locations with baseball teams. Mike and I usually go together but we thought it would be a fun experience for him to take the kids. We had 3 airline tickets to use so he took Liza and Luke. They went to Missouri, Kansas City and St. Louis. The kids were so excited to ride an airplane. They first flew into Kansas City, it was 100 degrees when they landed with 100% humidity. They had red cheeks and Eliza needed new sunglasses.



That night they ate famous Kansas City ribs for dinner. The kids love ribs! Yummy!





The game that night was a little hot but luckily the Royals stadium has water fountains and they were able to cool off some.



They had seats on the first baseline outfield and a hard-hit foul ball came very close to them.





The next morning they rode the Amtrak train to St. Louis. It was a cool train ride with a dining and observation car.



They were excited for the St. Louis hotel because it had a swimming pool. They enjoyed the view from the window and had fun jumping on the bed.





That day they toured the city and went swimming.



The Cardinals game was better because it was cooler. They loved watching the games and eating yummy food. They both got a St. Louis shirt and a foam finger for cheering at the game.





The next day they visited the famous St. Louis Arch. You can actually ride a little elevator up to the top and enjoy the view of the city 630 feet in the air. They all said the elevator ride was a little spooky.



It was a fun trip. They loved the airplane rides, the train ride, 2 baseball games, swimming, staying up late and eating good food. But mostly they loved the uninterrupted time they had together. Mike said the kids never fought or got upset. I guess being with Dad all day is more fun than being with Mom and JJ. I am so glad that they had this time to be together and have fun.

Summer in a nutshell!

Reader beware: this is a long post. Wow, we have had a very fun and busy summer. Now that it is over I guess I should go back and mention some of the highlights. The month of June was spent playing soccer and going to dance class. Luke and Eliza both played soccer on different teams but unfortunately their games were at the same time. So Mike and I had to divide up and take turns watching them play.



They both had lots of fun and looked really cute in their uniforms. Eliza loved playing goalie and had a few great stops.



Eliza took a summer dance class in Menan, a little town 15 minutes outside of Rigby. She absolutely loved it. She was the best in her class. The boys and I would play outside during her class. They could throw rocks in a river for 45 minutes straight. She had a recital at the end of it all loved being on stage. Unfortunately we only took video not pictures that night. At the end of June we had a visit from the Benson family. We love having cousins come to see us. We had fun with water fights and playing basketball in the yard. We went to Heise Hot Springs and had a great time.

July

We were out of town almost every weekend in July. We love going to the family cabin every year. Playing with cousins is the best. We stayed up late playing games, hiked, walked in the water, jumped on the tramp, and ate yummy food. It is always so much fun. A few weeks later I went to SLC with the kids to visit Nana after her surgery. We got to stay with the Nigburs and the Cooks. Thanks so much, we love coming to visit. We went swimming with most of the cousins and had a blast.



I think Eliza went down the big water slides about 100 times. JJ and Luke loved the kiddie slides too.



Mike took Eliza and Luke golfing, they are actually pretty good. They both hit a ball over a little river, most impressive.



I think riding on the cart and just being with Dad was their favorite part.



Our annual Griffiths family trip was in Bear Lake this year. We rented a little cabin on what was supposed to be the beach but the lake was very high. So we drove to the north beach and spent the day playing in water and sand got everywhere.





Luke would just lay in it and play.



JJ loved throwing rocks and sticks in the water.



Eliza loved going on the tube behind the boat. She was so brave and actually liked falling off. She took turns riding with dad, Abby, Brennan, and Cameron.



Luke also went on with me. I was nervous, that thing is hard to balance. I asked to stop before we tipped. We hiked the Minnetonka caves and had a great time with cousins.



The last weekend in July was the Spudman Triathlon. This year Grandpa Dennis joined in the fun. He did a fantastic job!





Mike's time was better than last year, way to go! We had a great time with friends and watching Mike and Dennis compete.



August

August was the hottest month of summer. To beat the heat we went played with the sprinkler under the tramp and in our little kiddie pool. We also went to swimming pools. We went to Heise Hot Springs again, Rexburg Rapids twice, and the spray park in Rexburg lots of times. They get soaked and love it!



I usually forget my camera when we head out to the water, but here a few fun photos.





We also went to Rigby Lake several times. Each time I thought why don't we come here more. It is so close and so fun. Eliza loves to swim out to the floating dock and go down the slide. She is so brave, she does it all by herself. The boys could dig and play in sand for hours. Of course, I forgot my camera and have no pictures. One weekend in August we took a little trip to Huntsman Springs in Driggs, Idaho. We stayed in a gorgeous house, the Nigburs and Grandma and Grandpa came with us.



The boys played lots of great golf on a beautiful course.



The cousins played and rode bikes.



We took a chair-lift ride to the top on Grand Targhee ski resort and had a great view of the Teton mountains. The kids had fun exploring and dancing high on a mountain top.



We also drove into Jackson Hole and watched a cowboy shoot-out show.



Then Grandma and Grandpa came back to spend a night with us in Rigby.



We are so glad we have the chance to do fun things with our family. It sure made for a memorable summer!