Halloween 2017

October this year was a very busy and crazy month!  I was in charge of planning the Ward Dinner and Trunk or Treat, Jon was extra busy at work, I wasn't feeling very good as I was in my first trimester of pregnancy, the kids all got sick with pink eye and then the pukes for about 2 weeks, and with all of the school and home events going on it was just a crazy blur!  However, despite all the busy-ness and sickness, we were still able to fit in some Halloween fun throughout the month!

We had fun painting our pumpkins early in the month, but sadly daddy was too busy with work to join in the fun this year! 

We made it to Pride of the Wapsi for our annual pumpkin patch trip!  It was crazy hot and we had to wait in line for a ridiculously long amount of time just to get in, but we still had a good time once we were inside.  As always, the favorites for the kids were the slides and the barrel train.  Zach loved the corn crib but wouldn't really let me take any good pictures.  My favorite, as always, was the yummy kettle corn!

As mentioned earlier, I was in charge of the Ward Trunk or Treat this year and although it was a bit stressful, I think it turned out really well!  We had a great showing and the Nacho Bar was a hit!  Katie was sick with the pukes and Zach was dealing with pink eye so only Colton was able to come to the Trunk or Treat with me.  We were sad not to have the whole family with us and Katie was pretty sad to miss the candy, but Colton was a good big brother and offered to bring her pumpkin around with him so she would have some treats when she felt better. 

Thankfully everyone was feeling better by the actual Halloween.  The whole family dressed up this year.  Jon and I went as Anna and Hans, Colton was bat (in my first homemade Halloween costume), Katie went as Shimmer (a genie from Nick Junior show Shimmer and Shine), and Zach was a monkey.  We walked around the neighborhood together and got a good load of candy.  It was a bit chilly but we all had fun! 

Zachary Turns 2!

October was a BUSY month!!  Between church, work, and school obligations and a whole truck load of sicknesses that hit us, it was one for the books!  It was rough because I genuinely love October and all the fun Halloween Festivities with the kids, but this year I sadly found myself just wanting it to be over already!  However, despite all that, we still had some bright spots and good times that we were able to squeeze in there.

One BIG bright shining spot in October was the 2nd Birthday of my baby boy!  Sometimes it's hard to believe he's already so old, and other times I think about everything that's happened since Zach joined our family, and it seems like maybe he should be turning 10!

Zach is such a big part of our family for being such a little guy.  He's always been a little puny but he is full of smiles, energy, and fun.  His 2 year checkup stats were 11% for weight and 28% for height.  He has definitely found his voice over the last 6 months!  He is always trying out new words and expressing his independence with phrases like, "Don't want to!" and "Stop it!"  and "Don't like it."  The other day Katie and Zach were watching a show together and a commercial came on.  Every time a toy commercial comes on tv, Katie and Colton like to say, "I want that!"  They say it to pretty much every commercial.  This time when a commercial came on, Katie said, "I want that!" and Zach piped up, "Want that!", and now he says it all the time too. 

Zach loves his siblings, even though being the youngest can be tough.  He had a hard time when Katie started going to school this year and cried every day after we dropped her off for the first week!
He is a big daddy's boy right now.  The first thing he asks when he wakes up is, "Daddy home?"  When he gets hurt he always wants Daddy, and when Daddy is home, mommy is rarely allowed to hold Zach. 

He is still a very picky eater and it's tough to find healthy food he will eat.  I can't think of one food he really loves off the top of my head besides cheetos!  Haha.  He does eat a lot of yogurt and applesauce and oh, he does LOVE peanut butter.  He like to eat it by the spoonfuls!

Zach loves to climb, swing, run around outside, bust a move to music, and read stories.  His favorite story right now is Little  Blue Truck.  He also like dinosaurs and Colton has taught him a pretty good roar.

Zach is an adorable little charmer.  He is always smiling, waving, and saying "Hi!" to everyone wherever we go.  Oftentimes he'll do something naughty but its just too hard to be mad when he's so cute!!  We are so glad this good, energetic, ridiculous little boy!

For his birthday, we just threw something together last minute (because the month has been crazy!) and had a couple of close family friends over for a BBQ and Icecream and Cake.  We had a great time and Zach loved the attention.  Earlier in the day we went to Niabi Zoo as a family.  Jon was able to meet us there from work and we had a good time!  Zach's favorite things to do at the zoo are ride the train and carousel and feed the sheep :)

Happy 2nd Birthday Zach!  We love you!!

Utah/Idaho Vacation 2017

Every summer we do a big vacation back home to the Idaho/Utah area.  Ok, so it's not really home for Jon, but he did spend a big chunk of his life there.  He vacationed to Utah (from MN) every summer when he was growing up to see extended family, and he spent all of his college years attending BYU in Provo, Utah.  Jon's parents and a couple of his brothers still live in MN, but three of his siblings and their families live out in the Utah County area.  I grew up in Idaho, about 15 minutes from the border of Utah (about 3 hrs north of Provo), attended BYU-Idaho in Rexburg, Idaho for 3 years and then lived in American Fork, Utah for 2 years attending BYU after Jon and I were married.  Now all my family, except my brother in Texas, live between Idaho Falls, ID and Lehi, UT.  Our Utah trips every summer are the main opportunity we have to see family so we always try to make the most of it and stay as long as possible.  This year the kids and I were able to stay for 3 weeks and Jon for 2.  He drove us out there at the beginning, flew black to Iowa and worked for a week, and then flew back for the remaining two weeks of vacation before driving home with us.

This trip was the first time we have done the "drive through the night" technique since having kids.  We were pretty worried about it but it ended up not being as bad as we thought.  Sure we were super tired and had some rough moments but overall our kids did really well and Jon and I were able to stay alert enough to drive it out.  

While out there we were able to spend some time staying at Jon's sister Amberly's house in Herriman, UT, my sister Becky's house in Clinton, UT, my parents' house in Clifton, Idaho and a rented family reunion lodge in Beaver, UT.  We had a lot of fun, ate a lot of yummy food we only get to have out West, and got to see almost all of our family members on both sides and a few friends too.  The kids had tons of fun playing with cousins!   We can't wait until our vacation next year!

I love all the temples in Utah!  The kids thought it was too bright for a picture :)

Cousins at the Splash Pad

I met up with my sister Pam, who lives in Lehi, UT for an afternoon and we went to Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point with her and her kids.  My kids were beyond excited that they got to have a pony ride!

Wagon Ride!

Wagon ride-cousins!

My kids love staying at my sister Becky's house and playing with her boys!  Katie and Rider are only 3 weeks apart!  This year they even got to meet their sweet brand new baby girl cousin Abby.  One of the fun things we did here was go to the SeaQuest Aquarium where the kids got to see, touch and hold a lot of animals.  Colton was in heaven.  He even got to touch a small shark.  Seriously, he LOVED it!  Katie mostly just loved the mermaid.

Super cute picture minus the random guy's legs in the background...

Going up to Idaho is always lots of fun!  The kids get to see all of Grandma and Grandpa's animals and even help feed the horses and hold the new baby goats!  I even took the family to Twin Lakes for the first time!  I spent every summer up at those lakes growing up!

We stayed at a really nice mansion in Beaver, UT for Jon's family reunion this year.  There was all sorts of activities, a game room,  pool, hot tub, park, basketball court and pickleball courts, and lots more.  It was sort of in the middle of nowhere but it was lots of fun.  My brother in law even brought some guns and skeet to shoot!

Jon's family

Zach with his cousin Norah.

Katie and cousins.  

This picture was from earlier in the vacation but Colton didn't get a lot of pictures at the lodge because he spent most his time buddied up to his older cousins like this :)

The way home we took the I70 and went through Colorado instead of Wyoming.  I thought it was a nice change of scenery but Jon got sick of driving through the mountains.  It was pretty though!  These pictures are from a rest stop in Colorado.