Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween, everyone! We've had a fun week of making costumes, carving pumpkins, missing teeth, and tonight we are looking forward to trick-or-treat! There will be plenty to post about next week, so stay tuned :)

Pumpkinland!!

Tuesday, we went to Pumpkinland for the preschool fieldtrip. Of course it happened to be on the COLDEST day yet. We bundled up in our coats, hats and gloves and had a great time. We didn't stay as long as we have on past fieldtrips, because it started snowing, and our fingers and jaws were frozen, but the little boys still had fun. It's so fun for Hayden to have his cousin, Justice, in his class. They are hilarious. One minute they are having the best time, then the next they are having an argument, but they are best of buddies. Our adventures consisted of seeing bunnies, ducks, chickens, peacocks, turkeys, and a couple of goats (one of which got mad and tried to bust through the fence to get the boys), as well as climbing, swinging, sliding, and going through a cute little "haunted" house. The kids each got to pick a pumpkin before we left.

Every year, we stop here and take a "class" picture. It's both the morning and the afternoon classes.

Best Cousin Buddies!

There's Hayds peeking through the nose. I tried to get a better picture, but he didn't stay long enough. He was all over the place, soaking in all the fun!

Climbing, sliding, playing, laughing... Pumpkinland is fun!

Hunting Traditions

I grew up in a hunting family. From the time I was little, it was just something that was normal. When I was quite young, I just figured it was something that EVERYONE did. I remember many pictures of my sisters and me as little girls, holding antlers from my dad's hunting adventures... dressing up in his bright orange jackets and hats... there's even one really funny picture of three of us when we were pretty little. My dad had taken us out to look for deer, and we are all wearing little orange vests... I'm holding two sticks up to my head like antlers, and Jess and Jodie are holding sticks like guns. It's really funny! My mom even hunts, so my dad taught us from an early age that even girls can go hunting. In fact, having no brothers, we had the understanding that girls can do anything! It's been a really long time since I've gotten anything on a hunt... since before we had kids. I went last year, but didn't get anything. So I kinda figured this year would be the same. I went out with my dad on opening morning when it was still dark, and as we were hiking in the cold before the sun came up, I had many memories. Here are a few things I was thinking during this year's hunt.

1. I LOVE being out on a freezing cold mountain with my dad. There's no better place to be with him, in fact. He is in his element, and you can tell he loves to be there too. (If you know me, I hate being cold, but it's different when you are walking to the top of a mountain with your dad. It's almost worth it. And I know when it's the coldest, that the sun is about to come up and warm things a little bit!)

2. I'm not the most quiet hiker. I try. I really try hard, but just when I think "yeah... I'm sneaky" I step on a stick and I swear it's the loudest noise ever!

3. My dad amazes me. He can see a deer from miles away without binoculars. He has to give me very detailed instructions in order for me to find them WITH binoculars. I remember as a kid, riding up the canyon and he'd say "watch for deer" and within minutes he'd have some spotted. He'd try to tell us where to look, and I couldn't see them. Not wanting to disappoint, however, I would lie and say "oh yeah! I see them!" Eryn was quite disappointed in me when I told her that story.

4. There is nothing like fall in Utah's canyons. It's so pretty! Reds, yellows, oranges... even the browns are extra pretty in the fall. And seeing a forest of stark, white Quaking Aspens that have already lost their leaves is quite a sight!

5. Even when we don't get anything on the hunt, it's so fun to just be outdoors. Seeing Does and Fawns, a big bull Elk, and even a Coyote makes it worth it to be there.

6. The hike back to the truck always seems longer than the hike to where you shoot your deer. It's just L O N G!

7. It's fun driving your dad's truck on a bumpy dirt road. I don't know why... it just is.

8. ...however, driving near the edge of the roads in the canyon still makes me nervous.

9. I enjoy shooting with my camera as much as I enjoy shooting a rifle. I have to say, however, that my rifle shooting was a bit rusty. I hadn't shot in over a year, so of course, when we finally did see a buck, my first shot was a miss. Good thing he stayed there, because my second shot was a hit! (Yep, I got one this year!)

10. The most fun phone call to make is from the top of a mountain, telling your husband who is home with the kids, that you just got a deer. It was fun to hear him whoop and holler. He was pretty excited. It made me smile.

I've had friends who think that it's weird that I hunt. Like I said, it's just something I grew up with. We always loved it. It just seemed normal to me. I guess it's tradition, and I'm definitely a traditional kinda girl. Here are a few pictures to remember this fun 2009 deer hunt. We took Eryn with us on Saturday night. She thought it was fun looking at deer through the binoculars, and she was determined that she'd find them. She was not going to be a liar like her mom. Good girl! It was funny, though, watching her with my dad, trying to find a deer miles away. She did end up seeing all of them, though. I think she had fun with PapaBob and me!



Eryn looks much better in "hunter orange" than I do!


Some of the beauty... up where we were, most of the color was gone. The really pretty stuff was down further (of course I had my camera put away at that point!)

I really messed up tradition this year, however, when I failed to bring my camera on the day I actually got my deer. What?! So we had to do the "trophy" (haha) pictures back at home. That was fine with Hayden!

Thanks for taking me, Dad. You are the best! Thanks for teaching me to love the outdoors and hunting. I hope my kids love it just as much.

Fall Fun

I think I've said it before, but I LOVE fall. There is a certain feeling, even a smell... and the beautiful colored leaves. LOVE IT!! We've had a ton of family from out of state (and even from way up north in this state) come to stay with us this month. We've had Jared's sister Marie and her husband Jeff here 3 out of the 4 weekends, and it's always fun. We had Jared's brother Matthew and his little family here for a week, then Jared's mom came out. It was fun having her around too. One of the days she was with us, we walked to a park about 2 blocks from our house. It's just a little park, but the kids like to go there. We've seen deer there a few times, and we are almost always the only ones there when we go. It was such a nice day. Warm and sunny, but definitely fall. There is a little "trail" back into some trees and weeds, and the kids like to take walks. Bryson even found several little colored pellets. Make sure you push "Play" below to see our little slideshow :)

Go Jazz!

Jared had a really fun opportunity to attend a Jazz game, complete with a VIP pass. He and his friend from work (who got the tickets for them) arrived at the Energy Solutions Arena, and were able to go in early and eat with some of the VIPs. He said they kept laughing like a couple of kids. They just couldn't believe they were there. They also said there were some interesting people there. (I'm a people watcher, so I appreciate that comment. I'm sure it was fun to watch the people there.) He took these pics just outside the building, and then down where they ate. Karl Malone, of course... D-Will, of course, and Bono... huh? Well, if you know Jared, he is a HUGE U2 fan, and when he saw this picture, he just had to capture it. I guess these are pretty big pictures hanging on the walls.


I was glad he took the camera, because to be honest, I was a little bit jealous! I've always been a Jazz fan, and the few games I've been to, I've loved. And that was when we had to sit clear up 10 miles above the floor! He got to sit clear down close to the action. He said he had a great time.



Pre-game warmups...



I always love when they turn off the lights to introduce the players. So cool!



Ready to start the game!



A little more game action. And if you notice the final score, the Jazz won! Go Jazz!


And what's a Jazz game without Bear? He's awesome!

The only thing I wish he would have done, is have someone take a picture of HIM! He was all decked out in his Jazz shirt, and I would have loved to see a picture of him having so much fun.

Crazy Hair Day!

Today is crazy hair day. Eryn was worried that she'd be the only one in her class with crazy hair, but she let me do it crazy anyway. Kaitlyn is our "do it crazy, but not TOO crazy" girl. Bryson came up with his own idea. And of course, Hayden had to be involved too, saying "Make mine look like Bryson's!" It's for Red Ribbon Week at school.

Sock Boy

Laundry. My arch enemy. My nemesis. Did I mention... not my favorite chore! When I do a load a day, and keep on top of it, it isn't so bad. However, these last couple of weeks, I've been so busy that laundry is LAST on the list. So I have to take a day every once in a while and try to "catch up" if that's even possible. I took all the laundry up to my bed to get it all folded, and half-way through that adventure, Bryson came upstairs to see what I was up to. I was trying to separate all the socks so that I could have one of the girls pair them up as one of their chores. Well, Bryson and I proceeded to have a sock fight. It was really funny. We were both laughing so hard throwing socks at each other. Once we had finished throwing socks everywhere, we gathered them up and I piled them on top of him. We had a great time, but all good things must come to an end... soon it was bedtime, and time for me to finish folding that stinkin' laundry. I still haven't caught up. I'm not sure I ever will. But I will definitely have a sock fight with anyone who wants to!

Zoo Babies

Our kids love to go to the zoo. I love to go especially when there are baby animals to see. There are quite a few right now. They are SO cute!

The kids love to get a map and figure out which direction to go...


I love tigers... they are my fave! We were excited to see the cute babies. They were so funny. There were three of them, and they kept trying to sneak up on their mom. It was so cute.


Baby giraffes are so cute. They always seem so little when they are standing next to their mom, but when you realize that they are over 6 feet tall, they don't seem so little anymore.


When we went to the zoo in August, we were told that the female elephant was in labor, so we were super excited to be able to see the new baby this time! She was the cutest! Like the giraffe, she looked so tiny next to her mom, but I don't think 250 lbs. is all that small. She played with her ball, and tried to reach something through the fence... it was fun to watch her. And the mom kept reaching up for a bite of hay, and she would lift her one front foot - so graceful.

And of course, the cutest babies at the zoo belong to me!

We had Jared's brother Matthew and his cute family visiting from Virginia. They were here for the week, so we talked them into coming to the zoo with us. Their cute little Kylie had fun, I think. She liked the carousel.

Jared's sister Marie and her husband Jeff were there too. Some of us didn't manage to get in any of the pictures. We had a really fun day at the zoo!

WaCkY dAy!

This week in preschool, the boys have been learning a little about Dr. Seuss. Tuesday was "Pocket Day." My nephew had the most pockets, coming in with 14 (I think). His mom is super cool! I got to her house to pick up Justice, and of course I had forgotten that it was pocket day, but Jana had remembered, and had sewn a ton of pockets to his shirt, plus he was wearing cargo pants... so he definitely had a bunch. Luckily we had a few minutes before they had to be at school, so I quickly and sloppily sewed a few pockets onto Hayden's shirt. He didn't have quite as many as Justice, but came in second with 10 pockets (counting his five pocket jeans). I didn't get any pictures that day, because by the time I picked him up, his pockets were falling off. Oh well. Thursday was Wacky Day. I remembered that it was "wacky" something, but I couldn't remember if it was just wacky HAIR day or what, so I called Jana to get the 4-1-1. Thank goodness she has her October Newsletter handy (I have misplaced mine) and she let me know that it was just plain "Wacky Day!" So we got right to work finding some wacky mismatched clothes and creating quite a wacky hair-do. We felt the goggles added just the right Napolean Dynomite touch. We had to get some fun pictures of the two little buddies when we went to pick up Justice. They were hilarious! As we were getting in the van, Hayden yells, "Wacky Preschool, here we come!" What a funny kid.

Halloween is on it's way!

Wasn't it just August last week? That's what it feels like! In fact, I still can't get my head wrapped around the fact that we are a week into October. Maybe that's why I forgot to call and let my parents know about the School Fall Choir Concert that was last night. Just a couple of hours before, I had Eryn call to invite them (I know... I know... Sorry Mom and Dad!) Being the awesome grandparents that they are, they came even with the short notice. Eryn has always been our little "singer." Even before she could talk she was trying to sing. She chose to take choir this year, and is loving it. I am so impressed with her teacher. She has learned so much, and has even started harmonizing with songs on the radio. Her concert was so fun. I did record some video, but it's rather long, so I don't think blogger will even let me post it, but we really enjoyed the fun fall/Halloween music. They had these cute "monk" costumes that were made from bedsheets, and they came in singing a cool chant with their hoods up and holding fake candles. It was pretty cool, and very Halloweenish. They sang a fun fall song in Old English, then some songs from the Nightmare before Christmas (definitely Halloween songs), the other choir performed, and then they all sang "Oh Fortuna" which was VERY cool. You'd recognize it if you heard it. Here is a picture I snapped just before they sang one of their songs.

Mopping Machine

Backwards, too small T-shirt? CHECK!

Green sweats that are too small, too? CHECK!

4-yr-old who picked out his own pajamas and dressed himself? CHECK!

New mop-head and a dirty kitchen floor? CHECK!

Atleast he still wants to help! I'm gonna enjoy it while it lasts. I let him mop for as long as he wanted to, then I finished up. He was really scrubbing hard, too. Love this kid :)

Bryson, finally...

Starting in July, I began taking my kids out one at a time to take some pictures of them. I did Eryn first, then had a couple of crazy weeks before I could take Kaitlyn. After Kaitlyn's we had some more crazy weeks before I could take Hayden (and we took his when the other kids were in school) then MORE craziness - soccer, school, and my first wedding, for which I did engagements, bridals, and the wedding pictures all within a month. Like I said... CrAzY! Finally, it was Bryson's turn. He is my best model. He is my little photography buddy and budding photographer. He is the one who takes my dad's old Film SLR and says "okay, mom... stand here like this. Oh wait, let's find some better lighting... there! Perfect!" and pretend-snaps all kinds of fun pictures of me. He is the one who ALWAYS volunteers when I say "could one of you come outside and sit for me while I figure this new flash thing out?" when everyone else huffs, puffs, and quickly walks away... He's the one that says "Hey, mom... can you take a picture of me?" He is so great! So when I told him that I found a place that I wanted to try out for pictures, he was actually excited! He is funny. He loves to come up with his own poses, and "spots" to pose. Hayden came along, too, but of course was much more interested in picking up sticks and old pieces of cement. Anyway, here are Bryson's 6-yr-old (6 months late) fall portraits... finally! When I look at these, I can't believe how big my little buddy is getting. 1st graders are just so grown up! (And don't mind the good 'ol watermark... I already had them sized and stamped to put on my photography blog, so I just used the same ones. :) )

And, of course I have to post a few of Bryson's own, original poses. When your kid is saying "here, take a picture of me doing this..." how can you say no?