Halloween

For the first time, the kids were allowed to wear their costumes to school on Halloween. I remember Halloween at school as kids where we had fun parties and enjoyed getting to wear our costumes (in elementary school at least). We recycled costumes again this year with a Star Wars theme. Emily dressed a bit outside the Star Wars theme with a sorceress costume she put together based upon a book she is reading. 

Cecret Lake Hike

Jeff was away this weekend and we went out to explore a new hike. This one was to Cecret Lake up by Alta. Apparently this was the last weekend the road would be open ahead of ski season. This hike did not disappoint. It was stunningly gorgeous. There were great paths to walk, things to climb on, a half frozen lake to throw rocks on and into, and great pictures to be had. We will have to take Jeff here when it reopens after ski season. 

Emily Fall Volleyball

This fall, Emily tried a new sport: volleyball. She had a good time learning the game. Her team was all learning together as this was likely most of the kids first time playing volleyball. 

Halloween

Halloween in Salt Lake City is way different than the Halloweens we had back in Raleigh. Then again, Utah is very different than Raleigh. 

Our neighbors have ghosts holding hands. 

We went for a hay ride to pick out some pumpkins at the pumpkin patch. 

We carved pumpkins at home on our deck and lit the fire pit for some post-carving s'mores. 

Jeff made his classic face on a pumpkin, Kyle carved a monkey, Emily a wolf howling at the moon, and I carved Darth Vader and Yoda for myself and Aaron. 

Cross Country season

Kyle and Emily ran cross country this fall and had a great time with it. They had 3 meets to run against other kids in Salt Lake area. They improved their times and raced well. Kyle was able to best the field in 2 of 3 of the races and the 3rd race he took 2nd. Emily improved her times at each race and always ran with a smile. She even had her mile PR time within the 3k races. Nice running! 

Fireworks

Growing up, we set off fireworks from our driveway each July. We were over at our friend's house here (friend from HS moved out to SLC the same time we did) and he had some fireworks. My favorite growing up was the snake. It didn't make a lot of noise, wasn't a big burn risk and was just funny. This one takes the snake to a whole new level. I give you: the Poopy Puppy. Just try not to laugh.

Jeff's birthday

Happy birthday Jeff! We went out to a special fancy dinner for this big birthday. It was a delicious meal up in the mountains in a beautiful setting. 

Octoberfest at Snowbird

Snowbird knows how to celebrate. They host Octoberfest up there each year for several weekends. We had to partake and of course enjoyed ourselves there again. We tasted the tastes of Octoberfest and followed that up with a walk on the mountain. It was cook because it was really fall colliding with winter. 

Homestead Crater

We visited Homestead Crater, a hot spring out in Midway, Utah. It is the only warm scuba diving location in the US. You can scuba, snorkel, or swim. It was pretty neat to swim in this crater and we all had a nice time floating around in this hot spring. Despite Kyle's fear of Yellowstone with all of its geothermal features, he was able to deal swim here though we didn't quite tell him the full explanation of how it was heated until afterwards.