Last 6 months in Michigan part 7: Halloween 2011

Carving Pumpkins . . can you guess what each one is?








(this one is the favorite- the Angry Bird!)



The church put on a fun trunk or treat, and then we spent Halloween night in our good friends, the Bendorf's neighborhood. The kids had a ball trick or treating and we also had fun sitting around their fire-pit on the driveway.

I am not sure why- but I hardly have any pictures from Halloween! We might have had some on the computer before it crashed in January, or on our old video camera which is currently broken (water damage from Disneyworld) . . . maybe I will be able to track some down later and add them. For now I don't have much.

Tyler dressed as a "Detroit Lion"- this was a favorite among the native Michiganders!


Cynthia was an Indian Princess


Lillian was a cheerleader

l

and Marcus was Spongebob again (this picture was taken at the ward trunk or treat)



Cynthia and her best friend Macey (who is a zombie cheerleader) on Halloween nt!

Last 6 months in Michigan part 6: Fall at the Detroit Zoo

One of our favorite things to do from the spring of 2011 until into the Winter even, was go to the amazing Detroit Zoo. We had several fun outings looking at Polar Bears, Lions, Monkeys, a huge Crocodile, our personal favorite- the otters, and soooo much more! One of our favorite trips was during Halloween time when they had the Zoo decorated with painted pumpkins stacked together in animal or other designs.







Best Brothers!






Even some of the snake cages were decorated for Halloween!




Hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil monkeys . . .










The underwater tunnel is one of our favorites of this zoo:




We caught a nice glimpse of the polar bear!










Pictures from one of our first visits to the zoo . . .




Marcus loved taking all kinds of pictures with his new Nintento DS (which he paid for half of with his birthday money in April 2011)


We LOVED the butterfly pavilion!


See the huge butterfly on the feeder next to Cynthia and Lillian? It is hard to spot because it blends in- - but when it's wings opened - it was bright blue!


The otters are our favorite!!










The fountain is also a great picture spot . . .


I will miss this zoo! Lots of good memories from 2011 . . .

Last 6 months in Michigan- part 5: Cynthia's baptism and grandparents visit

One of the crowing events of last fall (Sept 2011) was Cynthia's Baptism. My parents and Jon's Dad came all the way to Michigan for this event and to support Cynthia. I am still tracking down some of our lost pictures (from when our computer crashed in January)- so right now I don't have a Baptism picture- but it was wonderful of course. I was so proud of Cynthia- at this young age she really seems to have such a knowlege of the gospel and a testimony of Jesus Christ. There are wonderful things in store for my amazing little girl! I love her so much and she brings so much happiness to our family.





Grandparents visiting is the best!




While they were visiting, we decided to show them what Detroit is all about so we went to the Henry Ford Museum. What an incredible place! From farm equipment to trains, to famous cars and buses (like the Rosa Parks Bus)- - this museum had it all. Even the kids loved it.









Tyler "driving" the train . . .

























We also had fun visiting Blakes Orchard for some Michigan fall fun (Cider and Doughnuts!!!)























It was an amazing weekend and it was hard to say goodbye when grandparents had to go back home!