Happy Halloween!

We were in San Diego again this last weekend and Emily and Lauren had to show off their costumes for the Haynies and Grandma and Grandpa Hall. As you can see, Emily is a little bumblebee and Lauren is a flower. I had really wanted Emily to be a ladybug but she was determined to be a bumblebee. It's crazy when they start to have such strong opinions. Emily loves her costume and is very excited to go trick or treating. Lauren doesn't love her costume so much, mostly because is makes her so hot but she's a trooper and will endure the trick or treat outing as well.

Posing with the real flowers.
Bumblebee and the cutest flower.

Long Beach Aquarium!

After the pumpkin patch on Saturday, we then went to the Long Beach Aquarium. Emily loves the aquarium, especially the seals and the touch tank. One of our other favorite spots is the Lorikeets. For a couple dollars we can purchase some nectar and then we get to feed the birds. Emily thinks it's great, although she sometimes gets a little too brave and tries to touch the birds, which usually prompts them to try and bite her. Fortunately we've only had near misses so far. Hopefully for her sake her luck holds out. Lauren actually really loved the bird this time too.



Emily loves the sea turtle, mostly because it's like the one on Finding Nemo.

Pumpkin Patch!

Saturday we visited the "pumpkin patch" in Long Beach. And by pumpkin patch we mean a vacant lot that has lots of pumpkins imported. They did have some really fun rides for kids and of course Emily especially loved the pony ride. She loves horses, I think she must get that from her cousin Madeline. She also rode a little train, flying pigs, and little cars. All the rides were of the typical "carny" variety, scary with even scarier operators, but she really had a great time. And, of course, we don't buy our pumpkins there since they charge an arm and a leg, but it was still a really fun time. It's so great to see our kids get excited over new experiences. I love autumn and although it's very different here in So. Cal it's still so fun to get out a celebrate.

Her most favorite event of the day.
Our little pumpkin!
The whole family (picture taken by an 8 year-old boy :)

Missing Summer!

The other day Emily just really, really wanted her swimsuit on, so finally after much begging I caved. She had a great afternoon (inside, it was about 60 degrees outside). She did want to go to the pool, but fortunately for me the pool is closed. I guess she is starting to miss summer, although this week we're back up the 80's. She'll definately be ready for next year.

Future Rock Star!!!

We went to Deborah and Allen's house this last weekend for conference and all weekend Emily kept slipping out to the garage to play the "drummy drums." She'd crawl up on the stool, grab the sticks and start pounding away. It was really funny to watch (and a little scary!) We are hoping there are musical instruments in her future, just maybe not the drums.

Finger Lickin' Good!

This week Lauren has started to be able to eat some more solids, like crackers, and she is loving it. She is especially enjoying Ritz crackers and makes a pretty good mess with them.


Making sure she got everything.

Love the Park!

We have a fun park just a couple of blocks from our house and it's one of our favorite places to play. The swings are probably the very favorite item at the park and Emily loves to have Lauren sit on her lap. And, of course, Lauren loves any opportunity to play with her big sister.



Big girl!
Going up the slide is much better than going down!

Emily's Class

Emily has a little music class that she goes to every week. Mr. Les (her odd but good teacher) brings in musical instruments each week and lets the kids experience them. This week was percussion week and Emily loved the drums. Hopefully, it's just a phase because it was loud. After music time, then the kids get play in a big room of climing toys and slides. She loves her class and we love the exposure to music and exercise she gets.

Our future drummer.

Lauren gets to experience class too!Playtime!

Change is Good.... We think!

So we (and our ward) got a big surprise on Sunday. Our area of Los Angeles has seen a lot of our members of the church move away recently. This is due to the cost of housing. For those who don't currently have homes, it's too expensive to buy, so they stay here for a little while and move on. And for those who bought years ago, they have so much equity that they sell and head somewhere greener. Due to this our stake has lost a lot of people in the last 2 years. So...on Sunday our little ward was dissolved and 5 wards in our stake were made into 4. It wasn't a total surprise but it's still a little weird. Our bishopric was released and then they released anyone who held a calling in our ward. That of course included us. We are sad to not be in the youth program and we will miss our youth. A lot of our ward will still be in our new ward but it will take some getting used to. Although we will miss our callings we are excited for new challenges that will inevitably come with a new ward. We love the Riviera Ward and are grateful for the extended family they have been to us.