Daddy's Little Girl!

Another church day. I don't put Andie in Dresses or skirts very often because, like my boys, she gets dirty and I hate to see her dresses & skirts get dirty. So on Sunday, when we dress up cute I just needed to take some pictures. I found Andie's cute boots at Walmart and she just LOVES them. She shuffles all over as if they were tap shoes or something. She loves them and I love them. And put her with her Daddy, and you put together 2 of the best things in my life!

Happy Halloween

I wish I had some better pictures of my kids dressed up in their costumes this year. They were pretty cute. My pictures don't do them justice.
Andie is already digging into her candy bag. She was a little Pirate this year... and can I say: ADORABLE! Cause she was. Thanks to Aunt Aubree for letting us borrow the costume.

Benson was supposed to be the Dragon "Toothless" from the movie: How to Train Your Dragon. All the costumes from the store were either WAY too much money for me to want to spend, or they were hideously ugly even Benson didn't want to look that way. So we improvised. So, although he looks kind of like a Batmanish thing... he is supposed to be Toothless the Dragon.

Packer: The Terrible Terror. Yes sometimes I think he acts like this, but no, that's really what he is supposed to be. Another dragon off of the movie How to Train Your Dragon. If you've seen it, it's the little tiny dragon. My boys didn't like that movie or anything.

Happy Happy Birthday From All of Us to You!

I will have a Kindergartner soon! WEIRD! Does that mean I am old? Yes, Benson is 5 and proud of it. Here is eagerly opening his present shortly after finding it. His Daddy hides the presents and then gives out clues for him to find them. Benson Loves this Birthday game!

Since I have both Benson & Packer's birthday this month I created a homemade pinata for them to bust open. They also have a cousin that has a birthday this same month, so we made it a big celebration, busted open the pinata, ate dinner, and watched the new release: How to Train Your Dragon. A movie that my boys have been anticipating ever since they saw it in the theatre. It was a fun birthday party!

Carnivals & Festivals

Out here in the country we have a neighbor who puts on a Fall Festival. They put up a hay maze, wagon rides, train rides, pony rides, a petting zoo, face painting, pumpkin carving, plus Food, Treats, and lots of little booths that sell from jewelry to crafts, to animal feed. This is the 2nd year we've gone and we weren't disappointed!

Of course we had to get some cotton candy

Pet the farm animals

Ride the Ponies,

SCHOOL CARNIVAL!
This year a lot of the elementary schools put on a school carnival. Ben's School was no exception. So we went and played at Daddy's school carnival! Well mostly we ate dinner there and slid down the big balloon slide.

Oh Andie-Girl

Hmm.... these pictures are a little blury. I think my camera is having problems. Well, you are probably wondering what Andie is wearing on her head, and why she is wearing it. Let me tell you. It's a SWEET shower cap that I got from my Mother-in-law which she got at a RS event. She SURPRISINGLY didn't want it. So I claimed it. So, Why is Andie wearing this Beautiful shower cap at the table. Because Breakfast is really messy with syrup and all, I've found it keeps her hair from getting deliciously nasty with syrup. And a shower cap is easier to rinse out quickly than is her hair. And I don't have to comb through the shower cap as do I her hair! As a bonus -- she looks Spectacularly Cute!

Now, I'm sure I would have to argue with many mothers on this planet that my little girl is the cutest thing there is... but, as it should be true to every other mother out there, it is true to me. My little Andie-girl is SO cute!

Look at those Piggy Tails! I LOVE IT!

Mommy's Little Helper

Andie LOVES to help me wash dishes. We just pull up a bucket and let her have at it. And then when we're all done I'm lucky enought to get to mop the floor! Thank You Andie!

1-plus Year Old Andie

Can I claim to have just the cutest little girl EVER?! Cause I really think I do! I usually get my kids pictures taken when they turn a year old... well, Andie turned one during a busy time of year... so we took them a little later... but she's still one so that's all that should really matter. Thanks to my sister-in-law Erin, who took these AWESOME pictures. She did so great with my little Andie! Thanks again Erin!

S-U-M-M-E-R!

This Summer was chuck full of things to do for us! Between all the family reunions, vacations, yard work, parades, and holidays... this summer just FLEW bye! And as the time flew... my children grew. Little Andie-girl is up and walking -- correction RUNNING around, trying to say words... and her hair is long enough for me to put into pig-tails! You can't tell by this picture because she is wearing the most flattering hat ever... but yes, she is getting girly hair, and surprisingly likes to have it done.

Benson is still an outdoorsman. Early this summer Aunt Morgan gave us her two grown kittens. Lucy... the sweet black cat was pregnant, and until recently we didn't know where she had hidden her kittens. After hauling hay, and stacking it in our barn, the kittens emerged wanting to play in the new hay. We call them Runt (the smallest one in the back), 2-Face (the one on the left) and Snowball (because she looks like an Alaskan Malamute puppy instead of a baby kitty). Benson has fallen in love with them and is constantly playing with them every chance he can get.

Andie loves the kitties too... but I'm afraid for their lives when she come along. I would put on a clip of when she was playing with our other kittens who are a little older... and although laughing, you may be tempted to call the animal humane society on us. So I guess we won't post that little clip.

PARADES! Parades are fun and all... but let's admit it: if you've seen one, you've seen them all! Well, to add a little flare to their parade, Santaquin has pretty much EVERY entry in the parade throw out a treat. It was like Halloween in reverse... the people in costumes came to you to give you candy. Sweet! We got a grocery bag full of candy, toothbrushes, popsicles... and I even got 3 plants from Olson's Garden! The parade was short, sweet, and entertaining!

Fireworks. What kid doesn't like fireworks. Here are the boys with some of our remaining fireworks after the 4th and 24th of July. If it were up to them, we would do fireworks every night all summer long!

As I said, Andie girl is getting all grown up. Here she is learning to ride a trike. Okay, so she's still a little to young for it, but man, she is SO cute. I went to the Dr. just the other day, and although small for her age, she is up to par in her motor skills and mental skills. What can I say... My kids are geniuses!

YUBA VACATION

Our Annual Yuba trip was again : EXCELLENT!

Benson getting a turtle ride from Will.

I see you! Andie's Awake.

TUBING

Sand Castle-ing

Beach Play

Wave-running

Washington

feeding seagulls off the ferry

Andie's rat nest hair -- also known as stroller-hair...

eating in Pike's Pub at Pike's Market

Fishing...

Eating Crab...

Playing Pickle Ball

MASTER PICKLE BALL PLAYER!

Uncle Steve helped us make cool swords in his laboratory of woodworking

Here's Benson collecting star fish while the tide was out.

We rented a beach house on the sound and were able to catch clams, crabs, fish, and sea stars every day just off the deck...

We went to Favorite Aunt Debbie & Uncle Steve's and played on their Zipline ...

And the kids love most of it... except the waiting around. Which we did on the flight, because something wasn't perfect. So we waited around for an hour on the plane while they tried to get the right parts flown in from texas, bacause the didn't have the right tool. So what was wrong with the plane? The DECAL STICKERS on the emergency exit doors were wrong. Solution: switch the stickers. And once that was accomplished off we went!

We Flew on the big Airplane.

Summers are always full of vacations and family reunions. Well, this one is no different. This year we went on vacation as a family reunion to Seattle, Washington.