Killer Bunny

At Snow Canyon there are a couple lava tubes that are pretty neat. It was amazing how dark it was in there just a little ways in. I was really wishing I had brought a flashlight with me because I was too nervous to go in very far without one. We thought one looked awfully similar to the lair of the killer bunny from Monty Python - enter with caution! 

Snow Canyon

On our way home from St. George we took a short side trip to do some hiking. We love the National Parks, but have just as much fun at Snow Canyon. There are great places to explore and the entry fee is way less. Below are some pictures from out adventure!

A Mel on the Wall

It may look sunny out, but it was COLD - that's a little frozen pond we found on top of one of the rock formations!

Me with a giant "ice cube" we chipped out of the pond

Dave doing a little free-climb rock scramble

The boys in front of the petrified dunes

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

For Thanksgiving my parents and brother flew down from Seattle to meet the rest of us living in Provo. We then drove down to St. George where we stayed for a few days at my Grandma's other house. It was tons of fun seeing everyone, but the weather was way colder than usual.

Instead of hiking and playing outside, we went to movie and played Wii. I think we set a record for the number of hours logged playing Mario Kart :)

We also took advantage of the fact that we were all together and took a family picture. With no one else around to take the photo, we used the self-timer on my camera. It was fun to look through all the takes at some of the mistakes - I have no idea what Dave is doing in this one...

 

In the end (and it was the end - we used the last picture we took), we got a good one. Love you family!

Happy Halloween!

This year we went as church goers for Halloween! I guess that's what you get when Halloween is on a Sunday. Dave has a orange shirt that sees the light of day just once a year, and I just went with standard black because I don't have any orange church clothes - we'll have to fix that for next year :)

Actually earlier we dressed up at the Flintstones. I wore Wilma to school for costume day, and then met up with Fred later that evening. All the kids at school had no idea who I was - I guess this generation has never heard of the Flintstones - so when they kept asking "Mrs. Howe, Mrs. Howe who are you?" I started to just say a cave woman rather than try to explain things... oh well.

 

Howe Pumpkin 2010

Carving a pumpkin is one of my favorite parts of Halloween - I love to create my own designs! What I learned from this year's creation:

- Carving hair is the BIGGEST pain in the world, and consequently, toothpicks can be a life saver
- What takes 2 minutes to draw on paper can take 2 hours to carve into a pumpkin
- Once you finish and light the candles all the work was suddenly worth it.

Without further ado, I present the Howe pumpkin for 2010!

Dave with a ghost and spider (the 7th & 8th legs barely fit)

Mel with the moon and a cat

 

Pull!

Have you ever thought about what it would be like to pull a fire alarm? Well today I joined the ranks of people who have actually done it. It was for a fire drill at school, but still pretty exciting!

Turning on the alarm is easy - pull. Turning it off again, however, is not that simple. Working through the reset sequence is a little nerve wracking while the alarm is blaring and the entire school is waiting out in the cold for you to silence the system. And it's not really like you can practice before hand...

I did ok though, I did ok.

Ready or Not, Here it Comes...

It's here! The first snow of the season. I guess it's time to find our snow scraper, dig coats out of our ski bags and buy some hot chocolate. Oh - and turn on the heat, because when we looked at the thermostat last night it was only 60 degrees in our apartment - brrrr!

 

I actually do love the snow, but last night wasn't the best time for its arrival... I had a soccer game, which we lost, but played well considering  it was sleeting, our feet felt like rocks, and the other team probably took 25 shots on goal compared to our 4.

It was also the night  I did a load of white laundry and reached into the box of dryer sheets only to find it empty. I decided to throw the clothes in the dryer anyway, and of course it turned into one giant ball of static - mesh bottoms and silk tops will do that.  Since all our neighbors were mysteriously gone and we needed some of those whites to wear the next morning, I went off to the grocery store at 10 pm in the snow in my pajamas. It probably won't be the last time I have to do this, so I guess I probably better find my boots too :)

Two Fun Saturdays

Saturday #1: Last week was one of my favorite events at BYU - the annual lost & found sale! This year we went early (like two hours early) to get a good spot in line and it paid off. We weren't able to snag a basketball, but we did have some other great finds including:

Thermal Under Armor top - $2
Burton soft shell jacket - $2
Adidas climalite pullover- $3
3 pairs of sunglasses - $3
Football receiver gloves - $2

With the haul

 

Saturday #2: Today Dave and I went to the football game with Amy, Jer and Anne. My grandma gave us her tickets for the game which are seats (not bleachers!) right on the 50 yard line. We got super lucky with the weather - it was pouring right before the game and it's pouring now at home as I write this, but at the game it was dry and just right with a blanket. Best part though... BYU won!

At the Pumpkin Farm

I refuse to buy my pumpkin at the grocery store. Growing up we always went to a local pumpkin patch as a family, and it's a tradition I like to continue.

I had off work for Fall Break and Dave has no class on Friday so today we went down to Rowley's South Ridge Farm in Santaquin. We took a hay ride out to the field where I found this beauty!

My mom who was visiting this weekend also came along with my sister Amy and Anne. **In case you didn't notice, I am featured in this picture as the holder of Anne who did NOT want to stick her head through the hole :)

While at the farm we also did a little maze (I got out first!), sampled some fresh apple juice, and ate a delicious apple cinnamon donut.

HAPPY FALL!

 

I spy...

Tonight Dave told me "I put away your sunglasses."

It took some searching, but I eventually found them :)