I'm not afraid of Santa no more

After last year's nightmare visit with Santa, we were a little afraid to try again. (See last years picture)  We weren't about to stand in a long line only to get to Santa and have her freak out. We started prepping Hailie early in the month and even made a couple visits to see Santa from afar.  We talked about it so much she started asking to go see Santa.
So last weekend we went to the Dicken's Festival (if you haven't been I would recommend it) and the line for Father Christmas wasn't too bad so we decided it was time.  We asked her if she wanted to sit on Santa's lap and she said yes.  Every couple of minutes we would ask are you sure and she kept saying yes.  And then just before it was her turn, she looked right at us and said "I'm not afraid of Santa NO more."  And she wasn't.  She sat on his lap, smiled for pictures and told him she wanted a Tinkerbell doll.

Enjoy!

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Tea Party

Hailie loves having tea parties.  Today the guest of honor was Buca.  She was a good sport.

1st Snow Day

Last night, we had our first real snowstorm of the Winter.  Not a huge accumulation, but enough to go out this morning and have a little fun in the yard.  Hailie LOVES the snow.  She was crawling in it, jumping in it, eating it and just having a blast.  Looks like we are in for a fun Winter!

Her snow suit from last year still fits. 

 

Such a good helper

The scarecrow wasn't meant for snow

Yummy snow

Loving on Buca

Pre-Halloween Fun

We've been busy this month doing Halloween things.  I never realized all the carnivals, festivals and activities that went on around here until Hailie.  Now it seems every weekend we're going somewhere and doing something fun.  1st off Hailie made a haunted gingerbread house.

I think she actually ate more than decorated.

The finished project

Next up was the traditional pumpkin picking.  This is the 1st time we were able to go on a Saturday.  Much nicer than running around in the dark trying to find a good one.

The perfect pumpkin

Next, the Herriman Pumpkin Festival.  We dressed up Hailie for a costume contest.  She lost out to a pirate and a couple angry birds.  Minnie Mouse is way better. Excuse me, Princess Minnie Mouse.  She kept correcting us.

Princess Minnie Mouse

We waited extra long just to have the horse car on the train.

Pumpkin carving time.  Hailie wanted an Ariel pumpkin so her Daddy did his best.

It took so serious coaxing to get her to stick her hand in the pumpkin.

Daddy did pretty good!

Last stop on the Halloween fun train was to Boo at the Zoo.  We've never seen the zoo so busy but it was a lot of fun. The kids got to wear their costumes and stop by different booths around the zoo to trick-or-treat. It was kind of cool in the morning so most of the animals were outside playing.

Hailie and Chloe (she is a spider, super cute!) enjoying their candy.

All in all, not bad for the month of October.  November's looking pretty boring right now.

Mirror Lake

Yeah for Fall.  Leavings are turning so we took a drive up to Mirror Lake to take in the sights. Utah is so beautiful this time of the year.

Pictures

One of my best friends, Steff, has been taking pictures as a hobby and has gotten really good so I asked her to take some pictures of Hailie.  They turned out great!  It's hard to pick my favorites but her are some of them.

September come and gone

Can't believe we haven't posted since August.  Feels like we've been going non-stop since the beginning of the summer. We're not complaining, we've been having all kinds of fun.  Hailie is at a great age.  She is so much fun to take places and we love watching her experience life. I'll try to get caught up in this one post so it may be a long one.

Hailie's moved into her "big girl" bed.  She's loving it!  Bed time usually isn't an issue, nap time on the other can still be a fight to get her to stay in it.

Who's a big girl?

Labor Day we went to Lagoon with Trevor's family.  It wasn't very warm so we didn't spend much time in the water park but that was okay because Hailie wanted to go on the "kiddie rides."  That's all she would talk about on our way there but when it came down to it she chickened out on most of them.  (quite the contrast from Disneyland)  Her cousin Amelia on the other hand rode on everything.  Her Daddy forced her to go on Puff the Magic Dragon.  I don't think he'll be doing that again.

My lips are blue, it's time to go.

So cute!

If you look closely you can see Trevor and Hailie at the top of the picture.
Hailie's the one screaming her head off.

Granddad won each of the girls a giant stuffed animal.

By far, Hailie's favorite ride.  She went on this probably 10 times in a row.

Next up, we went to St. George for a long weekend.  My parents came to join us for the weekend.  We didn't do much which was perfect.  At little swimming, shopping and relaxing.

Daddy, Daughter bonding time.

Next we visited the State Fair.  They typically have a lot of weird things but this was the 1st time I've seen a traveling sea lion show.  Of course we had to check it out.  It was an alright show and after you could go up and have your picture taken with them.  Hailie kept saying "yes, i want the sea lions" but we got up there and she freaked out.

The pictures not bad, aside from the look of fear on her face.

Hailie got to work on a farm.

Despite her parents dislike of horses, Hailie LOVES them!

We also sent to the Circus in September.  It was really entertaining.  Not quite like I remember it but it was still fun.  Of course, Hailie loved all the animals.  She got very excited for the elephants and horses.  This was the only picture we got from this adventure.

Yum, Snow Cone in a tiger.

 September was pretty busy but lots of fun.  I'll finish the post off with a couple random photos I took of Hailie in our backyard.  She loves to smell the roses.  Such a cutie.  We just love her!

 

Seattle and River Trip

In late July, Marcie and Kim flew Kate, Kari & Hailie out for a "girls weekend."  The weather didn't exactly cooperate (no surprise, it is Seattle) but we still had a great weekend and Hailie was spoiled rotten (of course). 

Riding in the car with Sammie

Hailie and Aunt Kim

Snuggling with one of her gifts

Playing with another gift

Reading with Aunt Marcie

Playing with Sammie

Thanks Marcie and Kim.  We had a great time!

Since the girls got a weekend away it was only fair for Trevor to take a trip too.  His Dad invited him on a 4 day river trip down the Green River.  It was an incredible experience.  They put in right where J.W. Powell did on his expedition.  By day, they relaxed on the raft while the oarsman rowed them down the river, at night the crew cooked dinner and they camped right on the river bank.

On shore they were able to hike to some beautiful waterfalls

Pretty amazing view while relaxing after dinner at camp