Thanksgiving with the Butikofers

My sister Rebecca and her husband came to visit us Thanksgiving week.  They had never been here, so we had a lot to fit in to their visit to see everything. 

 We hiked around Tear Drop and the ruins the first day. 

 The second day we went to the River House, I guess you will just have to refer to previous posts for that one because we really don't have any pictures, except this new addition, someone made a swing by the river.  The boys loved it, hopefully it will be there for Huck and Naya when they float the river this summer.

 On Thanksgiving morning we finally conquered the slot canyon.

 Surprisingly there was no water in the place where Devon waded up to his waist a month before.  We bought a telescoping ladder that stretches to 12 ft from only 3ft collapsed on itself.  We were glad for it because all of the rain from the summer changed the canyon quite a bit and made it even more challenging than before.

 Not too surprisingly Spencer fell in one of the only remaining pools of water, luckily on the way back so he didn't have to freeze for too long.  Another plus, the weather was the best this day.

 This is a cool rock in the field of Petrified Wood on the way to the canyon. 

We had a great dinner with Rebecca and Jason and both sets of missionaries.  the next day we went to Salt Lake to meet up with my baby sister Natalie coming home from her mission!  We had a fun time all together and got a massive family photo.  I spent a week in Idaho with the kids, it was a good break and we didn't get sick the whole time, although Carrie threw up for 10 days after we got back.  She is healthy again now- knock on wood.  Hopefully she's just getting it all out of the way.
We have a cool ladder now, so come explore the slot canyon and petrified wood with us!

Christmas Tree

We went to the mountain by Blanding to cut down our tree the weekend before Thanksgiivng.  Last year there was so much snow that we decided to go early.  I thought there was no snow, so my kids were not properly dressed, but it was an adventure.  the Johnsons and the Senior missionaries came with us.  We all got great trees.  I think this is the best one we have cut so far, but it also took us the longest to find.  Poor Spencer wore his crocs with no sock through the snow, he was miserable by the end.  Hopefully he will remember next year, because I don't always remember either.

Chicken Pox

Poor Carrie got Chicken Pox, and a pretty bad case of them even though she has a vaccination, I guess now she is super safe.  She was so miserable, they were everywhere, even her hands were swollen with sores.  Not she has lost 2 fingernails and may loose a few toenails because of how badly she had them on her fingers and toes.  But beyond that not lasting scars-that's a plus.  You may want to zoom in to see the full effect.  She must have been almost better because she is smiling in these pictures.  We missed her smile for a few days.

My Little Reindeer

Spencer is one of the most creative people that I know.  A few days after Halloween he found a great use for our leftover face paint.  For a few days we had Rudolf, Vixen and Prancer running around our house.

other October

 Also in October we went to the Phoenix Temple open house.  The boys were very impressed.  James loved the "sparkling lights."

 Devon and I took an early 10 year anniversary trip while my parent watched our kids in MV.  We went to a BYU football game, stayed at a bed and breakfast and also a suite at the Hampton and went to a Jim Gaffigan show, and slept in a lot.  We had a really great and relaxing time.

 Also in October Spencer's teacher from last year got baptized!  We were so happy for her and her husband, she truly is and amazing person.

Lastly the classic homecoming week bonfire.  One thing I really like about living here is that even though Devon is super busy we get to join with him in a lot of the high school activities. 
A few videos to make you smile.

Carrie likes to help clean, and apparently taste what she cleans.

Halloween

We had Halloween decorations up at our house beginning in August.  Spencer loves Halloween, and all holidays are celebrated very thoroughly at our house.

 We got to pick pumpkins from our pumpkin patch at the high school.  Spencer chose the biggest on there, and Carrie chose the smallest one.

 We had a Halloween party while the Risenmays were here.  We invited (on Spencer's insistence) every person in the complex and the other houses and in our branch.  It was a holiday weekend though (fall break) so we were not too overwhelmed by the turn out.

 Devon and Carrie were Curious George and the Man with the Yellow Hat.  Every kid has worn this costume.

 At our party we bobbed for apples, bowled with pumpkins, decorated cookies and tried to throw a spider at a web.  Also we had a Halloween movie when in got dark.

Our kids were lucky enough to have 2 Halloween parties. We went to Phoenix the next week and Kate and Olivia planned another Halloween party for us with Halloween food, a scavenger hunt, relay race, make a mummy and bingo. We love Halloween.

Then we carved our pumpkins.

Here are Spencer and James on Halloween ready for school.  James was a skeleton with a red and black bat on each cheek.  Spencer was a vampire.

Risenmay Visit

The Risenmays came to visit us for fall break. Because they were able to borrow a 4-wheel drive we were able to show them some pretty fun things that require some pretty fun driving.
First we went to the "Riverhouse."   This ruin is accessed from either the San Juan River, or a really fun 4 wheel drive road.  This was great weather for it, not too wet or too dry. We hiked in the last mile which made us notice things we didn't when we drove in last time.  Like this rock that Anna dubbed "the Disco rock."  The cousins had a good time dancing together to the imaginary music.

Spencer and Jase with the San Juan river in the background.

And there is the River House. 

Carrie telling all of us not to touch those.

The hiking party.  I think it's cute that James and Ally are holding hands, they had a great time together!

The next day we went to the slot canyon, but it was full of water still and even with a rop we did not get very far in.  Now we have a ladder, so we will have to try it again.

We played at the Sand Dunes instead.  Devon and Mandy and Nathan scrambled up a rock wall to take this picture.

Then we buried Spencer in sand.  Our tubs were pretty dirty that night, but we had a lot of fun.  Also while they were here we had a Halloween party, played a lot of wall ball (Spencer and Jase) and animals (James and Ally).  We roasted hot dogs, watched movies and really just had a great time.  Oh yeah, and Carrie had a raging ear infection that was literally purple and the doctor said the worst he had seen.  She was still pretty happy though, and we had a lot of fun.  Everyone should come explore these fun places!