Halloween Fun

Our neighborhood had a trunk-or-treat this year on the 31st. David dressed up as a train engineer. He pulled his "train" (the bike trailer)all the way to the church and around the neighborhood on the way home. Rebecca was a care bear and Sarah was Minnie Mouse (or a caterpillar without her hood on). They enjoyed stopping at the different trunks and getting candy. Ganon and I had to hold Sarah's bag because she kept eating all of the candy (including the wrapper). The kids really got into it on the way home when we stopped at a few homes of elderly couples who didn't make it out to the party. They kept running from house to house. Luckily it wasn't too cold outside either. Overall, I think it was a successful night.

Isn't that a great face?

This was just a cute fall pic from last week. Sometimes the kiddos are helpful. Too bad it is the neighbor's yard.

The Pumpkin Patch

I took the girls to Pumpkinland on Monday. They had fun and enjoyed the nice weather. BYU has an MBA Spouses Association (MBASA) that sponsors activities throughout the year. They get everyone a discount so we were able to get in and buy a pumpkin for the price of my regular admission.

They had ropes that surrounded the garden patches. The girls had fun holding on and swinging them as we walked.

Rebecca's best friend Emma was there too. They had fun playing at the park area together.

Thanks Mom & Dad...

You always know how to make me smile and remember to be grateful for what I have. I love you.

The more things change...

Today we made our first attempt to hike the "Y" since Heidi and I took our engagement photo. We didn't quite make it all the way up but we did see a familiar looking rock formation. We agreed that we'll have to make another attempt before the snow flies.

Two-Dollar-Tuesday: ROAR!!

During the month of August Thanksgiving Point has each of their venues open for only $2 per person. I had heard wonderful things about their Dinosaur Museum, but I wasn't willing to pay the $36 for our family to go. So last Tuesday I took the kids. It was worth the $6, but I'm glad I didn't pay full price. Of course the line to get in was crazy (I'm not the only one who loves a good deal). We got there 45 minutes before it opened and there was already a line of about 30 people. The line probably had a couple hundred people in it before the doors even opened.

Anyhow, all three kids loved it. Some of the dinosaurs were HUGE!! The kids took turns posing for pictures in front of the different dinosaurs. Sarah got excited every time I let her out of the stroller to take her picture.

Advice for next time: 1. Take the kids to go potty at the gas station nearby if you are going to wait outside a locked bldg for 45 minutes; 2.don't take any food or drink- they make you dump out your baby's bottle too; 3. try using a baby carrier instead of a stroller if it's going to be crowded; 4. don't go with a big group of friends/ family and expect to stick together-- there is just too much to see and do and not enough room; 5. warn David that they will want to stamp his wrist so he doesn't freak out; 6. Be okay with not seeing everything and going home after only an hour.

Where did those trees come from?

     We received a very generous gift from the Todd Family.  They had heard we were interested in some lilac clippings and they had a lilac tree they wanted to get rid of.  So, Saturday morning they called and asked us if we wanted to come and get some from them.  After a couple of hours of digging the tree out and a short trip in the back of a truck we had a large lilac tree in our driveway.  We borrowed a post-hole digger from the ReStore and spent the rest of the day digging, cutting, holding, watering, and tying our new lilac hedge along our fence.  

     We were hoping to put in a hedge over the next few years with one small bush at a time, but we were able to save hundreds of dollars and several years of waiting for them to grow.  Now we just have to make sure they survive the shock of transplant.  So, Thank You to the Todd's for the tree and free delivery, Dustin for the extra manual labor of digging it out, the ReStore for the free Tool Library, and the Cox's for helping us transplant even though your tree was blown over while ours were going up.  A special thanks also goes to Ganon for going along with my crazy plan and working hard even when it hurt.   It looks great!

Firsts

Here are a few pictures of some first-time events recently.

We went to the Veteran's Memorial Pool one afternoon while Ganon was working. Our friend Lisa met us there so I wouldn't have all three kids by myself. The kids loved it! For those of you who have been swimming with our family before, you know what a dramatic change this is.

David began Preschool this Summer. He is attending BYU's Child and Family Studies Preschool Program for seven weeks. He loves it! The only real problem we have is getting Rebecca to leave every time we drop him off and pick him up. She thinks she should be in Preschool too. I think David will transition to Kindergarten in the Fall just fine after this experience.

We haven't yet gotten a quality video of Sarah's first steps, but she has started branching out on her own this week. Her face lights up every time and she looks around to see if anyone is going to praise her. We are so proud of her! (This picture is of her after just waking up-- she had an overnight visit from Rolf the Night Hairdresser).