Halloween 2025

The morning of Halloween, I went to see Laynie walk in the costume parade.  I think this was my last time doing that... Part of me wants to cry and the other part celebrate!  ha ha!  Laynie chose to be a Ty Beanie Baby.  So we ordered her a comfy sweat suit and loosely sewed some ears on it.  Laynie made her Ty tag that she wore around her neck.  

This girl starts thinking about what she wants to be for Halloween months before.  I usually just nod and say that's great because I know it will change multiple times.  She had her heart set on being a dragon at one point.  I suggested following after her mother and dressing up as an OLD LADY.  (That's what I was for 5th AND 6th grades.)  But she refrained.

Afterward, I took Laynie and her friend, Ryder, around to all the different carnival booths at their school.  I love that Lakeview Academy does this.  It's a lot of work, but lots of memories are made.

Here the girls are with their 3rd grade teacher, Mrs. Lee - whom we love!

Nurse Mille.  Because she is named after my grandma, Hazel Mildred Cahoon, it seemed fitting that she, like Hazel, was a nurse.

Clara, Laynie, Abbey and Quinn

These girls started out together trick or treating, but didn't stick together.  This happened last year too...

And we also had The Millett Family over for Halloween night.  While at the parade, I got talking with a mother behind me.  She asked what my 8th grader was doing for Halloween and I said, taking his sister around.  She then asked if her 8th grader could join in.  Apparently, his friend group bailed on him last minute.  So I said sure and why not bring your whole family?  So we four adults played a dice game while the kids trick or treated around the neighborhood then they came back, swapped their candy, then we all ended the evening by going to Justin and Joni's Haunted House to end the night.  It was one of the best Halloweens we've had.  <3

 

Whoo Whoo for Forty-Twoooooooo

Matt turned 42 on the 29th of October.  We went out to eat with his parents that weekend. but also celebrated him in little ways throughout the week.  I had to drive carpool for Laynie's clogging on his actual birthday so while the girls were dancing, Gavin and I took Matt shopping in Springville.

We also gave him a few gifts:

Ooooo.... whatever could they be???

His favorite kind of HOT SAUCE?

Scout shorts?

A window shade for his truck?

And a spider/web for his outdoor decorating?

Yes, yes, yes and YES!

 

Gum Drop Buttons

Laynie really wanted to do the school play this year - Shrek Jr.  So she tried out and got the part of GINGY!!!!  (Just what her little heart desired.)

We had to make a cookie to celebrate.  I was so proud of her.  She had worked on her audition song for at least a couple months - taking feedback from others and perfecting it.  Then over our Fall Break, she memorized the lines of Gingy and was able to perform them as well.

Sir Gavin's gingerbread creation.  ;)

Not my GUM DROP BUTTONS!!!

 

Boo Day and Trunk or Treat

BOO DAY 2025

We invited the Cories this year.

Or should I say: 2 minions, The Queen of Hearts, The Bearded Lady and the Snow Queen?!?

Also attending: Peter Parker, 2 disco dancers, a Ty Beanie Baby,

and an 80s girl!

We had intestines with blood and bones along with gruesome greens, candy corn fruit cups and eyeballs.

Playing play dough charades.

Then the following week, we donned our costumes once more to attend the ward Trunk or Treat.  We decorated our car disco style and our neighbors, Angela and Halie came with.  Angela helped me run the musical chairs game.

It made for quite the GROOVY night.

 

Corona del Mar

On Thursday, we went to Corona del Mar - a beach our neighbor had suggested who lived in this area.  It was a nice beach.  The kids had fun.  We all got a little sunburn, watched a hermit crab continuously dig down into the sand, built a sand castle, searched for shells, and buried our feet in the sand.  After this, we started the drive home - stopping at Barstow, California to stay the night at a motel that fed us dinner and breakfast!  It had a hot tub to filled mostly with chlorine, so much so that we all couldn't breathe when we got in it!! ha ha!

I could live here... I LOVE the ocean!

 

Disney 2025

Our next stop was Disneyland.  We stayed in a motel just a few blocks from the park and walk (drove my electric scooter) to and from.  Matt really wanted to go to Disney.  He told me he had always wanted to be there around his birthday to celebrate the Halloween season.

Disneyland was also celebrating a birthday - her 70th.

The night before our day at the park, we went to Downtown Disney and watched them make candy apples - Mickey Mouse style.

Our day in the park was nice.  I was able to ride my scooter pretty much everywhere.  I've been battling plantar fasciitis and achilles tendonitis in both feet, so there's NO WAY I could have walked Disney all day.  Luckily Matt's mom let me borrow one of their electric scooters.

The Haunted Mansion

Buzz Light Year ride

The Jungle Cruise

Autotopia

This ride was hilarious... I was behind Gavin and ahead of him there was a young girl that didn't know how to drive.  She was holding up traffic like it was Redwood Road in Saratoga Springs!  LOL!

One of our favorite rides:  Space Mountain!

As part of our package, we got professional photos taken.  Hooray!  I'm going to count them as our family pictures this year.  :)

The light parade

And one last pic before leaving the park - ready to go back to the hotel and CRASH!

We were able to do just about every ride we wanted - except the new Star Wars ride - Rise of the Resistance.  It was having issues and closed for most of the day.  it opened from like 7-8:30 pm and immediately, the line became so long that we decided it wasn't worth it.  But we were able to go on all the others that we weren't able to the last time we were here 5 years ago:  The Matterhorn, It's a Small World, Peter Pan, Jungle Cruise... just to name a few.

I don't know why, but I really liked It's a Small World...  loved floating through a sea of mechanical dolls repeating the same song over and over again!!  Begged the others to go a second time, and it had definitely lost some of its charm, but the whole time, I just imagined what it would have been like for everyone 70 years ago - going on this ride.  Back then, when things were so simple, it would have been quite the spectacle.

 

Viva Las Vegas!

Our Fall Break was fabulous!  The kids had an entire week off school for it, so we wanted to get away.  I'm not sure how many more "getaways" are in my future, so we wanted to make happy memories with the kids while we could.  We left on Sunday and drove to Las Vegas.  Once there, we checked in at our sketchy Circus, Circus Hotel...  which did NOT seem family friendly - the whole reason we decided upon it in the first place!  LOL!  Vegas is yucky and worldly... but we went out on the Sabbath anyway and walked the strip... 

Circus, Circus!

The Venitian

A shop inside the Venetian.  We got all disoriented walking though the connected buildings and when we came out, we found we were pretty much where we started!! LOL!

The were showing the Wizard of Oz at The Sphere - hence the poppies.

Caesar's Palace

Playing cards (the family friendly way) in our hotel.  A fun game of Trash!

The King LIVES!!!!

The next day for lunch, we wanted to get away from the strip so we went to a beautiful park and ate sandwiches.

In front of Circus, Circus.  We stayed across the street from these buildings in a separate hotel, close to the swimming pool.

We saw a flying trapeze act.

Went for a swim.  The water was too cold for me so I watched from a distance.

Then in the evening, we went to the south end of the strip, taking the tram to the Excalibur,

The Luxor

(Where we had to take funny pics.)

And Mandalay Bay (no picture)

Then back to The Excalibur for The Tournament of Kings!!

We were part of Ireland and cheered on the Irish King.

We ate a whole chicken with our hands.

And found out what Starry was.  (It's a drink like 7-Up.)

The Tournament of Kings was quite entertaining.

In front of the Excalibur.

The next day, we headed out of Vegas, but stopped in to see the Pinball Museum.  Admission was free, you just paid for any machines you wanted to use.

They had some really old ones that were fun to see.

Gavin was kinda in 7th Heaven...

It was a pretty fun place - unique and historical in a way.