Halloween!

Halloween seems to get funner (my husband informed me that funner is indeed now a word. I'm not sure he told me that so he can get away with using it or if it's for real, but I'm using it) every year. The last few years we've gone down to the Big Red Barn in Santaquin and gone for a hay ride and picked out pumpkins from the pumpkin patch. Seeing that we don't live close to that anymore we had fun elsewhere. Our kids are very intrigued by haunted houses but they are too scary for them still so we took them to the haunted woods in Murray Park, which was the perfect amount of scary for them (well maybe a little too scary for Shailee) What's great is that they give you hot chocolate and donuts afterwards. We all loved it! It definitely got us in the mood for Halloween. We also took a ride on the haunted train in Pleasant Grove. That was fun too, except for one of the trains broke down so it took us 1.5 hrs. to get on. It was a really cool train that the boys were really excited about getting to ride. Here's a horrible picture of what the engine looked like. 

Here's another horrible picture of us waiting to get on the train. We have our cute nephew Keaton with us too. 

We also had two pumpkin carving parties. The first was at Neil's buddy's house and the kids all got to paint pumpkins which I thought was an awesome idea. The second was with my family and we let the boys have at the knives, with some supervision. Here's Korver's pumpkin that dad helped him do.

Here's Cole's bat pumpkin that I helped him do. 

For Halloween the boys wanted to be the Kratt Brothers from Wild Kratts so I made them Creature Power Suits with changeable creature power discs. They have had a blast with these suits. Cole is Martin and Korver is Chris. Korver didn't like the idea of me dying his hair dark, he didn't believe me that it would just wash out. Probably because for the past month every time he's looked at his mom he doesn't recognize her because she she just dyed her hair dark. So no thanks Mom.

Shailee was a girlie Superhero for Halloween. 

She wouldn't let me put on her headband but she was totally fine with a bucket on her head?! This little one has a sense of humor already. She loved trick-or-treating too. At first she wouldn't put any candy in the bucket. She had to hold it all in her hand. Fortunaltely, she realized that every house we went to people would just give her more, so she was ok with putting it in the bucket if it meant making room for more. She was a trooper too. She wanted to walk most of the way and lasted as long as her brothers did. I was surprised she was content to go home, but by then her bucket was full so I guess she was good. She's a serious trick-or-treater. Probably gets it from her Mom. I went till I was 18. I know....I'm awful. 

We were pretty bummed that Neil couldn't be with us this Halloween.  He had to fly out to California for work earlier that afternoon. It was especially hard for Neil as Halloween is seriously his favorite holiday. He has a lot of fun with it. So it was hard not having him there, but he made me a really cute cake before he left and gave me this really cool present.....

Ta Da!!!! A Specialized Saphire Mountain Bike!! Isn't she a beauty?! Oh I'm so so so so SO excited!!!

Here's a closer look. I love the swirl!! She still needs the clip in pedals and a few other things but I can't wait to ride her! So yes babe, it's ok that you had to leave on my birthday. We're good! =)

And of course what's fall without football? Neil and I scored tickets to the BYU vs. Georgia State from my awesome sister. Awesome game. We won of course. Good times! Thanks Carrie!

Family Pix 2013

We had pictures taken with Neil's family end of August. Here's a few of my favorites.

Korver's 4th Birthday!

Korver turned 4 this month and of course he wanted a motorcycle cake. So I combined a motorcycle cake with the #4. He was a spoiled guy with lots of presents and it was fun this year that he got to have a lot of his aunts, uncles, grandmas, cousins, and grandpa there. I'm appalled that this is the best picture I have of his birthday. He wanted most of it on video so I didn't take very many pictures. I know he looks super excited in this picture, but he really was excited all day and loved his gifts, hanging out with family, eating happy meals at McDonalds, bike riding, and playing at the park and with all his new toys. We love you Korver! You're my big teddy bear!

I thought I'd also give a quick house update. We are supposed to start building tomorrow! So hopefully in about 3 months we'll be moving into our new home! (I know it's sad that it has taken this long to get started. We blame our draftsmen for that one.) =)

1st Grade & Preschool

Cole started 1st grade end of August and despite not having any of his friends there and not knowing anyone he was really excited to start school. He has been such a good sport through all this transition. The first little bit was hard and he didn't always have a friend to play with, but he never complained and instead focused on the good whether it was what he had for lunch or how much he loved his teacher. Now he's quite adjusted and has lots of new friends and apparently a girl that is quite fond of him (he seems to find one of those wherever he goes). He loves school, still really misses his old friends, but he's happy and that's all I could ask for.

Korver was up and down about whether or not he wanted to go to preschool and I was having a hard time finding one. I finally found one, even though it wasn't very close to where we are living, and Korver was excited to go. That excitement quickly changed and he soon was not looking forward to preschool. He said it was boring. Which, to be honest, I totally agreed with him. The lady I originally met we both loved, but the lady that ended up being his teacher was less than energetic and welcoming. She wasn't mean or anything, but she wasn't what Korver needed to get him to want to be there. He needed to feel loved, and he didn't. Anyway, we decided he had been through so much change and if he felt like he needed to be at home then that's where he should be right now. There's no point forcing him when we're just going to be taking him out in a few months anyway. 

The sun was way too bright so we ended up taking a different picture too.

Here's Korver with his preschool bag that he got to decorate. Can you tell this kid loves motorcycles?

SuMMer!!

Here's a quick recap of summer!!!!!

Tracy Aviary-

We have the pass of all passes so Carrie and I took the kids, and our cousin Joseph who was staying with my mom, to Tracy Aviary. It was hot..... but fun. I think the kids loved the splash pad next door even more though. =)

Boating-

Christy came to visit us from Boston!!! So we rented a boat and headed to Pineview for some skiing and tubing. Loved it!! Isn't Shailee the friendliest thing you've ever seen?

Does it look cold and stormy? Oh yes..... It was. Luckily, it cleared up.

Dog Lake-

One of the things that excited me the most in moving back close to family again was being able to mountain bike more with family and my mountain bike! Ok so technically it's not my mountain bike. My brother works for Specialized and is so incredibly awesome that he just keeps my bike for me until the day I decide to actually buy it from him, but still it's pretty much my bike =) And I just realized it's not in this picture. Did you notice my dog is though? Yeah, I missed her so I went and picked her up from Payson and she's back with us now. 

Can't seem to find the picture that is actually being taken here. But I like this one better.

We missed you Matt and Alicia. One day you'll be better and you'll be able to come with us! After all, you're the one that taught me to love it. But at least this picture explains why I'm such a dork. It runs in my family. =)

Carrie's Pool

Carrie got a pool so we spent the 24th of July up there swimming.

The pool was a little deep for the younger ones so they decided to have a tea party instead. 

Shailee LOVED the slide. She went  forwards, on her tummy, head first, on her side, didn't matter. She would go underwater almost every time and it didn't matter. She LOVED it!

Mom's Splash Pad-

My mom lives just a few miles from a splash pad that's never very busy, so we rode our bikes here a couple of times. Cole and Korver liked to see who could pour water on them the longest. =) I think Cole might have a slight advantage on this one.

This picture is just to prove Shailee was there so she doesn't feel left out. She would never hold still long enough for me to take her picture.

Swimming at Grandma's

Trampoline! -

We found a nice Regal trampoline on KSL that had a nice brand new enclosure and it also came with a in ground trampoline ring so we can put it in the ground at our new home. This was my plan all along but I didn't think I would find it all in the same place. AWESOME!!! We've had lots of fun with jumping, playing games, sprinklers, and playing basketball.

Fireman Squirt and More Splash pads!-

The Murray firefighters came out and squirted all the kids at Murray Park. My boys LOVED it! 

I couldn't find them at first but then through the crowd I found them like this.

Shailee HATED being squirted. She wasn't a big fan of this adventure.

I don't get to see my friends much so I made the effort to go visit my friend Katy who just had the cutest little boy!! And I didn't even take a picture of her or her cute kids! Grrr.... But she does live right by this awesome splash pad. Hehe.... This picture cracks me up.

Yes Shailee was there too. =) Although once again she's not big on being squirted. The end of the summer she did better and began to like things like this.

Hill Airforce Base

Brett and Tiffany took the boys to Hill Airforce Base to see all the cool planes!

Onion Days-

We are being audited on our 2010 taxes and of course the paperwork we needed was in our storage unit in Payson. But luckily it was Labor Day weekend so we were able to enjoy Onion Days and the boys were able to hang out with some friends that they miss soooooooooooooo much!!!

And we were able to find something that Shailee likes to do!

Oh how I miss Payson..... And especially this awesome family. 

Wheeler Farm-

So it's been so long since I've taken my kids to Wheeler Farm, mainly because they get bored of it, but they acted like they had never been there before. They loved seeing all the animals, especially Shailee. However, the bathrooms were closed so the boys found some bushes and apparently a beehive. Cole came running out of the bushes crying because he had been stung, and Neil swatted a bee off Korver and then Neil was stung! At least he was able to save Korver from being stung. Lesson - if you go to Wheeler Farm don't pee in the bushes.

Seven Peaks

It seems we lived in the water this summer with the pools, sprinklers, and splash pads, and if we weren't doing one of those things then we were probably at Seven Peaks. We loved our Pass of All Passes! And I didn't take any pictures at Seven Peaks because I didn't want to ruin my phone or camera or have it stolen. So here's one from the Internet. Hehe....

We had a fun crazy summer with lots of changes, and I think by the end I was ready for it to be over. I was definitely ready for school to start. And so were the boys.