Painting Pumpkins

For some reason Halloween is just not complete if you don't have pumpkins. This year we decided to paint pumpkins instead of carving them. We spent several evenings painting our pumpkins. I learned that painting pumpkins is a time consuming process as you have to allow the paint to dry before putting on another coat.

Below are our masterpieces.

On Halloween several people took pictures of our pumpkins and told us that they thought they were really cute. I am glad that our hard work paid off.

Frightmares at Lagoon

On October 18th we decided to go to Lagoon. My favorite time to go to Lagoon is in the fall. In the fall the weather is cool and the park is a lot less crowded. I have never understood why anyone goes to Lagoon in the summer when it is so hot out. Besides being hot in the summer, they lines are incredibly long.

Pumpkin tower.

In the fall, Lagoon sets up a variety of haunted houses. We started out the evening by walking through what was supposed to be the scariest haunted house. This haunted house was not scary, but it was gory.

Next we hit up the rides. We managed to ride almost all of the rides in the park in about two hours. Our last ride of the night was going to be Colossus but on the ride before that (Wicked) Andy decided to stick his arms up in the air. As we came around a turn he clocked me in the eye with his elbow. Talk about an instant headache. We decided that it would probably be better to skip the roller coaster and hit up another haunted house instead.

We found ourselves in line for the fun house. As we were waiting in line we became friend with some clowns, these were probably the creepiest looking clowns I had ever seen (Note- I am not afraid of clowns. Come to think of it I was in clown training once, but that is a story for another day). They all talked in really high pitched voices like they had been sucking helium, it was really funny.

Me, Andy, and some clown friends.

More clown friends. Check out their teeth.

We had a lot of fun in the fun house and were actually scared a few times. If you find yourself at Lagoon in the fall, this is the haunted house to go to.

This was Andy's first time going to Lagoon in the fall and be absolutely loved it. I think I have convinced him that the fall is the best time to go.

Andy and I.

Hit & Run 5k + Tracy Aviary

Andy's little brother spent the night with us on October 11th. The next morning we woke up and had the breakfast of champions, green smoothies. Shaun had never had a green smoothie before but soon discovered that he loved them. (I will try to share some of my favorite smoothie recipes soon).

After breakfast we drove up to Salt Lake to run a 5k called the Hit & Run. This was the first time that the Hit & Run was being held in Salt Lake. We all had a lot of fun running this race. We especially enjoyed the obstacles. If you have ever seen the TV show Wipe Out, the obstacles were like that and you would run in between each obstacle.

Andy was a champ and made it through all of the obstacles without getting wet. I fell into a pit of bubbles, the pit was so big that the bubbles covered my head. When I walked out of the pit, all Andy could do was laugh.

We had a lot of fun running and doing the obstacles together. I was really proud of Andy, this was his first 5k ever.

Crawling off the last obstacle.

Walking to the water station.

All done running.

Andy and I.

Andy, Me, and Shaun.

Us again.

Would we run this race again? Probably not. It was a fun race to do once ,but once was enough for both of us. The course itself was not that exciting, we ran up and down a parking lot.

After the race we stopped to get some food and then we headed over to the Tracy Aviary. Andy and I had never been to the aviary before, but we both really enjoyed it. If you have never been, we recommend it.

Me outside the aviary.

This bird was one of my favorite, it had really long eyelashes.

Andy.

Hee Haw Farms

Andy's little brother Shaun came and spent the night with us on October 11th. That night we went to eat at one of our favorite places, Conchitas La Taqueria in Orem. Conchitas has some of the best Mexican food and they make everything fresh. My favorite thing to order is there tacos, they are amazing!

After dinner we headed to Hee Haw Farms in Pleasant Grove. Going to Hee Haw Farms has kind of become a yearly tradition for us. In years past we have gone through the corn maze, haunted hayride, and haunted walk through. It was Shaun's first time going to anything haunted, we though it would be best to take him on the haunted hayride. He seemed to really enjoy himself.

We spent the rest of the evening playing in the barnyard. We went down several different slides, caught piglets, and pet all kinds of farm animals. We had a lot of fun! If you have never been, I recommend going next fall.

Best Cousins in the World

I like to think that I have the BEST cousins in the WORLD. My family is kind of unique in that we don't have any cousins on my Mom's side of the family. Growing up my closest cousins lived almost five hours away. I always looked forward to that long drive knowing that once we arrived at my cousins house that I would have a blast!

Family Reunion on the Oregon Coast

I have many memories of the time spent with my cousins. As a little girl I remember my cousin Amy taking us to pick berries, later that day she made some of the tastiest treats with them. I remember her sister Heather, making me activity books (I think I still have one laying around here somewhere). I remember my cousin Kelly playing the drums for us and showing us his shark (it was dead in a jar, as a kid I always thought it was so cool!). I remember playing "Skunk" with Becca downstairs.

Me, Megan, Amy, Becca, and Jessica at Grandpa Bruce's funeral.

Becca and Christian's wedding.

Andy, Me, and Becca at the Nickel Arcade.

 I have fond memories of sleepovers at my Aunt Renee and Uncle Todd's house. I remember staying up late laughing with Brittany and Kaylee. I recall time spent riding horses and sledding down a very scary hill. I remember running away from Ben and my brother, Jake. I recall many days spent at Trent Elementary playing on the playground and counting the cars on the trains as they would pass by.  I remember talking track with Cade and talking wrestling with Eli. I remember watching Rachelle as a little  tyke walk around at our family reunion in Canada.

Kimberlee and Kaylee at the family reunion in Oregon.

Julie and Sadie riding horses.

Kaylee and Kimberlee riding horses.

Me, Auntie Joann, Brittany, and Becca at Auntie Joanne's house.

Me and Brittany having a whipped cream fight with our friend Jon.

Eli, Brendan, Rachelle, and Cade at the family reunion in Oregon.

Brittany and I when we were roommates.

Brittany.

I remember my cousin Jandre doing my hair and makeup for special occasions. I recall making CD's and playlist with Kimmy and writing cousin letters back and fourth. I remember camping and sledding/snowmobile adventures with Jason, Chad, and Bryce.

Me, Jason, Kimmy, and Megan.

 

Sadie and Chad making "The Face."

Jason and I.

I remember Cooper, Emma, and Samuel coming to visit us over the holidays. I remember going to memorial services and our mom's going black Friday shopping. Aunt Kimberly always knew how to score the best deals.

Brendan, Cooper, Samuel, Casey, and Nathan wrestling at the reunion in Oregon.

Brendan, Cooper, Samuel, and Casey at the reunion in Oregon.

Emma at the reunion in Oregon.

I have fond memories of Casey learning to ice skate and laying down on the ice during practice because he was tired. Now he can out skate me any day.

Casey came to visit our family one weekend.

Peek-a-boo.

Casey at age 4.

I recall many camping trips with the cousins growing up. I'm so grateful to be a part of the Noack family and for the love that my family has for one another.

Family reunion at Lake Roosevelt.

I have grown and so have my cousins. We may live far away from each other but I feel so much love for them. I know that I can call any of them anytime and that they will be there for me.

Fall

I absolutely love the fall, it is by far my favorite season. I love waking up to the cold crisp mornings with frost on the ground (we don't see that very often in Utah). I love the warm afternoons. I love the beautiful colors of the leaves on the trees around me and the crunchy sound they make under my feet.

Winter is fast approaching and that thought makes me sad. I secretly wish that winter would only come to the mountains this year. I am relishing every fall day that I get.

Hiking Stewart Falls

Andy and I decided to hike up to Stewart Falls on September 28th. Neither one of us had hiked Stewart Falls before, so we weren't sure what to expect. The weather was great that day and the trail was easy to navigate. I really enjoyed walking through groves of trees that we turning colors. The colors and scenery were so beautiful. We had a lot of fun.

Me on the trail.

The trail and a snow covered mountain in the background.

Andy and I.

Andy and I at the base of the falls.

I did it!

Me sitting at the top of the falls.

Andy at the top of the falls.

We enjoyed exploring the area around the falls. We enjoyed exploring so much that we decided to try and take a shortcut on the way back. Little did we know that the shortcut did not exist. We got kind of lost and ended up making our way through some heavily forested area. It was really hard to get your footing in this particular area, the ground was sloped and wet leaves were all over the ground. During this adventure I managed to get whipped in the face with tree branches a few times, it really hurt.

Overall though we really enjoyed ourselves and being out in nature. Would we hike Stewart Falls again? I think so. If you have never hiked it before, I recommend it. Would we do anything differently next time? We would stay on the trail. Getting whipped in the face is never fun.

The Circus Is Coming To Town!

When Andy was a small child he had the opportunity to go to the circus. He has frequently talked to me about his memories of the circus. Being a boy, naturally his favorite part was the guys who ride motorcycles inside a cage (cage riding as he calls it). After talking about the circus he would say, "Someday I'm going to take you to the cirucs."

On September 27th Andy took me on a date to the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus in Salt Lake City. Having never been to a circus before I was not sure what to expect. Andy thought we might see some of the things he saw as a child: lions jumping through a ring of fire, cage riding, trapeze artists fly through the air, etc. Little did we know, we would not see any of these things.

To be honest we were both kind of disappointed by the circus. Instead of people and animals performing all kinds of crazy tricks and stunts it felt like we were watching High School Musical. A majority of the circus consisted of cheerleaders who would sing and dance,  this was a big surprise for us and what we expected to see.

They did have some elephants that came out and performed. When the elephants first came out, I felt kind of bad for them because they live on the road and aren't able to just roam around. Those feelings soon changed when the elephants started to perform. To me the elephants looked like they were smiling and happy to be in the spotlight. The elephants ended up being my favorite part of the entire show.

I'm glad that we went to the circus so that I could experience it for myself. Would we go to the circus again? Probably not, once was plenty for me.

Bridal Veil Falls

My family came into town briefly at the end of September and asked us if we could watch Nathan and Russell for a few hours after church. Before the boys arrived at the house, Andy and I dinner for them. Nathan and Russell were so excited to eat spaghetti. They like the spaghetti so much they went back for seconds. They both ate about twice as much as me and Andy- we were both stunned.

After dinner we headed up the canyon to Bridal Veil Falls. They boys had a lot of fun running up the trails, picking berries, and trying to touch the fish.

Russell

Russell & Nathan

Me & Andy

Russell

Bridal Veil Falls

At the base of the falls a pond was put in. When we were up there, the pond was full of fish for an upcoming event.

I love to spend to spend time with my little brothers, it is never a dull moment.

Me and my little brothers