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For Halloween this year... we took a journey to Neverland and dressed up as Peter Pan characters. I couldn't find patterns/costumes for most... so I ended up making all but Tinkerbell's costume. Heres' the group photo at Josh's work (they have trick or treating every year for the kids)
Mr. Smee and Peter Pan at Zack's parade

Tink sitting at her parade

Captain Hook and his right hand man, Smee

Wendy getting ready for flight

Kids at the trunk or treat at church

Wendy and Tink... friends at last! (and Josh and Makenna's jack o lanterns)

Birthday Bash

My Gram will turn 85 later this month and her twin brother and sister turned 80 in October... so we had big birthday party/family reunion in Santa Cruz. My extended family has always been close and I have always attributed it to my grandma (the oldest of the 5 kids) being a peacemaker. All of my dad's cousins made it to the party weekend from across the country. It was so much fun to see everyone!

Gram (right), Aunt Lu (middle), Uncle Buck (left)Donna and me... and Tanner. Donna (my dad's cousin) was my nanny when I was about 2 or 3 until she got married. I was a flower girl in her wedding. She has always had a special place in my heart. It was a blast to see her and all her kids... and her new little grandbaby!

Little Tanner...

... is getting so big so fast! Perfect place for the chef's helper!I thought this was so cute... he fell asleep (a rare occasion) in the car while playing with his toys.
"My new favorite face to make!"

He is a sweet, smiley, talkative, cuddly little guy! We sure love having a baby in the house again!

San Diego

We had a chance to spend the weekend in San Diego for the BYU v. San Diego State game. We had a fun little getaway. Tanner at Sea World. Gotta love Shamu!No trip to San Diego is complete without seeing Dieter!

Brooklyn and Jerett and Mikelle (two of my BYU roommate's (Kate) kiddos.... they came from Nevada for the game)

Tanner at the game... unfortunately I had to put this girly hat on him... we were in the sun for most of the game.

Post-game smiles! Obviously BYU won :)

Peru!!

We had to use the kids' airmiles before they expired... so we chose the furthest destination that appealed to us: Peru!!

The main cathedral in Cuzco's city square (Cuzco is the closest big city to Machu Picchu. It sits at almost 11,000 feet in altitude in the tops of the Andes Mountains.)

A view of the homes in Cuzco

We stopped at an animal rescue center... Go Diego Go!

Brooklyn with a condor

The hairless dog! Or is it a dog/hyena hybrid?? U-G-L-Y you ain't got no alibi!!!

Our next stop was a small Incan village called Pisaq. These little girls were dressed in traditional clothing playing games and with their lambs... really I think it was a way to make money... but it was cute either way!

We stayed in the village a bit too long and decided to take a taxi back to the hotel... so we took this taxicello (baically a motorcycle with a cover) for 2 soles (about 60 cents)

The kids thought it was quite entertaining!

Pre-Incan Pisaq terracing (lots of potatoes I guess??) Zack in his hat!! The altitude was high... we all got a little sunburned on day one... so the hats came out!

The kids getting ready for our picnic. You can see the height of the mountains and the glaciers in the background.

The locals tending their herds

We met these little kids (Carla... and the boy's name was too hard for us to say). They were 7 and 5 years old tending a flock of about 100 sheep and about 20 pigs. It was fun watching the kids interact with them!

Chowing the fruit our guide gave them!

Salt Terraces (all the white is salt) All of us in Ollyantaytambo (an Incan city)

The girls at the top of the ruins... this is the wall to their temple. You can see the work of the Incan people... these stones were cut and placed on each other in a Lego type system... no mortar!

The kids feeding guinea pigs in a woman's home Machu Picchu in the cloud forest!

The kids loved the llamas at MP

More MP

The terracing for crops at MP (I guess the Incan people liked to build their cities in a high place to be closer to God and so they didn't waste any land... so they terraced the hills for agriculture)

The kids did a great job climbing around and trying to keep safe. We climbed from the middle to the bottom... then from the bottom to the top (where the guard tower is)... they did great... we actually had to try and keep up with them! Zack found his token stick

... and the girls found a butterfly

The view from the Guard Tower. Brooklyn and her new favorite drink: Inca Cola (kind of a bubble gum soda)

Incan ruins turned into a modern day slide!

Tanner is awake!! We brought the school kits to an orphanage... definitely a highlight of the trip. The kids had a lot of fun with the children!

Unfortunately the family photo didn't turn out so well... guess the flash was off??

The kids sorting out the bags to give out.

The children were excited about some very basic things... to have their own bag, the erasers that go on top of the pencils and the glow in the dark bracelets were a hit!
Zack loving his 1 sole ice cream (about 30 cents)
The Incan homes were all built around a courtyard... this one was peoples' homes that they also sold handicrafts from. Zack found another stick! Main Cathedral in Lima

We took the bus tour so we could see the city easily

Peruvian flag flying above their Congress building

The kids at the park near our hotel

Lima sits right on the coast. So our flight coming home was cancelled... and after a long night in the airport, Josh found a flight that routed through El Salvador. So we had an afternoon in this beautiful seaside jungle country.

Yummy food!!!

The girls buying neclaces from the local children.

The sand was almost black... as you can see by the contrast with Makenna's feet.

School Kits

In preparation for our trip to Peru... we decided to do some school kits for children there. The girls had so much fun helping with these... we did the standard Humanitarian School Kit... but then added a little treat bag to each kit. Everyone loves American candy right??
Makenna posing with the bracelets she made for the little girls

...and Brooklyn!

Yo Gabba Gabba

The girls had a chance to be on the Nickelodeon kids show: Yo Gabba Gabba. The producer is in our ward and a super fun guy. It was fun to see him in his element and how they put together these shows. The kids all had a blast. Makenna doing hair and make up
Brooklyn following the prompter guy