halloween

the ballerina and the sad carrot.  . . although she wasn't sad the whole time. That is honestly what she does every time I put her down. She is attached! The carrot is a stretch, I know. Pin a ribbon and a pair of pants to a fleece jumpsuit you already own? Pinterest worthy carrot. Ok, not really, but all I can think of when I see those elaborate pinterest costumes is: 'aint nobody got time fo dat!" you can ignore the piece of my logo on that photo-- blogstomp does that and I don't notice sometimes and it's too late to fix it. 

She was so happy at our pumpkin party!

Our buddies. Meredith and Jacob are awesome folks. It is kinda rare to find  couples where everyone jives, but we totally do with these guys.  See that cute ghost banner in the back of the house? Meredith totally made that for her house and Liesel loved it so much she gave it to us. And a black and white banner. 

I love Brian's pumpkin.  You may not know this, but B is artsy. Every time we sit down and paint or do anything creative, I'm shocked at the cool stuff he busts out. He even took oil painting in college and his pieces were pretty great. I have a tiny watercolor he painted for me in alaska up on the Chilkoot Trail. It is one of most beloved things he has ever given to me. 

awwww. 

 So I sat  down to work on photos for the biz, but all I really wanted to do was look at pictures of these two. After driving home, I only had about 45mins till bedtime anyway. . . Liesel stayed awake the ENTIRE drive clutching her candy bag and trying to see each piece in the non-existent light. It is SO DARK and there was no moon (the stars were amazing! I swear the October sky is clearer than any other and the early evening constellations are my favorite all year). I told her she could only eat two pieces and she stuck to it. I felt guilty the whole 1hr and 45 mins home (slower at night with all the deer and no light)-- listening to her candy crinkle in the back seat and listening to her decide which one she would eat tomorrow and tell me she was going to keep it safe. . . but all that sugar before bed? It's poison! 

Liesel had a great time trick-or-treating. It was completely worth the drive up there. Should I even say that? Of course it was worth it. Watching her go door to door with her little buddies who she honestly loves and hearing her shout "happy halloween!" with her angelic smile. . . *melt*

Hannah loved her dum-dum. 

And she seemed to enjoy the lights. But I don't think she appreciated her stellar carrot costume. :\

the explorers.

I feel like I could say so much about them, but I don't have the time. I absolutely love this photo of Liesel walking to her Aunt Lindsey and Hannah. These kids are growing up. We had a pumpkin party tonight. L just seemed so happy. She wanted all the jack-o-lanterns to be happy ones. She begged for more pumpkin ice cream and daddy caved. She sang herself to sleep; "round and round the garden goes the little bear . . ." and I heard a few 'Nephi's' in there too. She is becoming such a sweet girl. Genuinely sweet. She still yells at me, "Stop it!" and she even told me I was mean yesterday because I wouldn't let her watch Cinderella. 

But overall, she is darling. I can't get through books with her these days-- she asks what everyone is saying, where there mommy is, if they're happy. . . etc. She is so articulate and intelligent. Today she wanted to lick her dum-dum and then have me wrap it up again. Then she would un-wrap it. I did it twice and when she asked me to do it again I said, "No, I'm driving and I don't want to keep doing that over and over again." To which she replied: "It's not over and over again. It's just three times."She says things like this all. the. time. All I can do is laugh and tell her what a smarty-pants she is. 

Hannah went down the red slide all by herself today- multiple times. And she loved it! She was laughing and playing like she thought she was three-years-old. I was so cute to watch her little hands and smiling face twirl all the way down. I had to follow her just so I could watch. Every time. Liesel fell asleep driving home from Moab, so I had a rare hour by myself with hannah. We played in the fake food and read lots of books. She was so happy. I went to answer the phone and she bawled. I came right back and she was happy again. Her favorite book is the Big Animal Book. All I have to do is sit on the floor and she crawls over and plops herself in my lap. If I choose a different book, she'll pick that one back up again. She clings to me like a little koala. 

She's one!

Sister backpack! My getaway! I can't get out of the Needles!

**flashback post. I forgot to post it before!**

In May, I got the golden ticket in my Willy Wonka chocolate bar; Brian gave me a coupon for a *getaway* once Hannah was weaned. I pretty much thought of every possible scenario for this weekend. It stretched from Belize, to backpacking the Grand Canyon, to Zion and then back home to the Needles. I figured if I only had one day, I shouldn't spend any more than 5 minutes driving. After Brian got off work Friday evening, Lindsey and I were out the door-- gallon jug in hand-- ready to hit up Chesler Park. YES! 

Sisters. Besties. Pals. Welcome to Fat Camp. 

Despite our time crunch (we wanted to get to camp before it was dark and didn't hit the trail until 4:30pm)-- we had plenty of time for photos. Lots of them. Including yoga poses. 

The last time I camped in Chesler Park was 10 years ago on Spring Summit. Where I met Mary Hall. So how fitting was it that we got to camp together?! It was kinda magic to show up and have these faces there to greet us. And I love Mary Hall. Who doesn't love Mary? I don't know a soul. Lindsey and I fired up our stove and cooked up some stellar soup in a bag. Then some more. Then Lindsey wanted Mac & Chee, so we busted that out too. And some chocolate and obviously an apple. Clearly we misunderstood the meaning of "fat camp."

 highlight: climbing beneath the spires at night in the full moon and talking until 11pm (gasp!)-- totally carefree listening to a baby cry that wasn't mine. 

I can't sleep in. I was up at 7am and after running around on the rocks, taking pictures and trying to pretend like I wasn't trying to wake Lindsey up-- I finally succeeded. 

We ran around some more. 

Hey Lindsey-- look through this hole. It's going to be awesome! 

Now get one of me. Okay, not nearly as cool. 

Quick visit to the cowboy camp. The charcoal drawings and names had 1924 next to them. Almost 100 years old. 

Of course by now I was freaking out. It was like 8:30 and we weren't running yet. Deaner-- I have approximately 8hrs left of freedom and I need to see 75% of the park! If there is one thing Lindsey does not like about traveling with me in the backcountry, it is being rushed everywhere we go. It's true. I openly admit that I am just like Brian in that regard. As a matter of fact, every backcountry trip begins in exactly the same way. I have my backpack on and I'm pacing the trail frequently looking at my watch while she is still getting her jacket on. Then she says: Angela, I am NOT going to be rushed everywhere we go this time. 

so naturally we run.

 To the joint:

Then to Druid Arch.

Then back to our packs.

Then we packed out through areas of the park I have never seen. And we talked and talked and talked-- about the teaching techniques she's learned and how it translates to parenting, about dating, then about dating more. We reminisced, laughed about the past and took way too many pictures.

 We ate lunch with a killer view, and then hiked home. Best 24hr break in the world. 

When I arrived, I expected to find Brian cooking us dinner and asking us how our trip went. 

I walked in and found Kendra-- our friend from the Tetons-- watching the girls. She told me that Brian had gone climbing with Van since 9am. Sort of incredible that the one day Brian was locked into watching the girls all year he managed to find a babysitter in the middle of absolutely nowhere who volunteered to actually watch both of our children so he could go climbing all. day. long. 

Amazing. 

We pulled off a blitz birthday party for Hannah, a massive dinner for our family + 7 Burton's (Mary & Brad's family) and Liesel got plenty of Auntie L time. She may have won her over for life after presenting her with her very own makeup set which she didn't let out of her sight for three days. 

We own a piece of the earth

so maybe it's a field of tumbleweeds . . .

But it's ours!

And not gunnalie, owning dirt in the most beautiful place in the entire world (ok, I'm biased-- but I'm a desert girl all the way) is incredible. I still remember visiting this town when I was eight years old over 20 years ago. And again in college several times. And when I was dating Brian. And then when I was  not dating Brian. And then again when I was dating Brian. So many memories here:

of hand jams at indian creek

rappelling the canyons

singing on main street with my guitar

eating at the 'remove the dam' ice cream shop

hiking delicate arch a dozen times

surrying slickrock

rafting cataract canyon

wearing the green and gray proudly

parties with friends of a lifetime

pregnancies

first babies

bike rides

and climbing . . . so much climbing

loving our ward and the people in it

living at the Island (back when I thought that was remote)

swimming in puddles and creeks

raft trips . . . so many raft trips

and now it's real. 

This little spot that has held my heart for so long

and always felt like home

is now officially

gonna be 

home.