Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Weekend. We actually enjoyed two Thanksgiving feasts. The first one was on thursday at Grandma Bowles. It was really fun to see some of Andy's cousins and their kids that we hadn't seen for a few years. I didn't recognize most of the kids because they had grown up so much in the last few years. We had a nice time and lots of yummy food.

Then on Friday, my mom, Mandy, and baby Cale all came and I made Thanksgiving dinner for all of us. It was fun to be able to see and spend time with my family.

Uncle Andy takes Cale on his first blanket ride. Cale didn't really think too much about it.

Grandma Debbie had lots of fun playing with Cale.

Abby and her Thanksgiving dessert. A pumpkin cookie with whipped cream.

Stockton and Peyton amused us all with their shooting skills. Peyton was cracking us up with his goggles. It was a fun week. I am so thankful for all of our family. We are really blessed.

It finally happened!

My sweet Stock has finally lost his first tooth. He has been very impatiently waiting for this to happen since kindergarten when all of his friends started losing their teeth. We have had many false alarms, including a fake loose tooth in April. He had been working on this one for several weeks.

The other night we put the kids to bed and a little while later he came running in to us yelling for us to see that he had lost his tooth. It reminded me of a Christmas morning. He tried to wake Abby up to show her just like he does when he tells us all that Santa has come in the night.

The one next to it is loose. The top two are getting there as well. We might end up with a boy with no front teeth for a while.

It is no surprise that it has taken so much longer for his teeth to start falling out. He didn't have a tooth pop through until the day after he turned 18 months!!! He was pretty excited that the toothfairy brought him a dollar. It has been a fun thing for all of us.

It's Just Halloween Fun!

It's not that I am a crazy blogger girl, but when the time changes and your baby wakes up at what is now 5:00am you have to find something to do until the rest of the world wakes up.

The kids had a blast trick or treating. It was especially fun to watch Peyton this year as he was trying to figure out what the deal was, but loving every minute of people just giving him all kinds of candy.

Abby and Stockton tried to help him figure out the routine. (at least for long enough to snap a picture)

Apparently Peyton's head is just right for an arm rest for Stockton.

They had a hard time waiting for Peyton to keep up most of the time. He was quite a bit slower than they were, so we did some of our trick or treating in shifts.

This was the scene. Stockton and Abby running ahead and Andy or I hanging back with Peyton.

This is my favorite picture of the night.

My Army Ranger.

This was what he wanted for a costume. A shirt that said "Ranger" on it.

Even before we went trick or treating, he got into our Halloween candy and wanted to get started. We decided to make him a builder since we had all the stuff already. Complete with painted on mustache.

Our Princess Belle.

We found this wig at Shopko. A lot of people thought it was her real hair. The funny thing was that as we were getting ready she said "what if all the girls are dressed up like Belle?" I said, "I'll bet we probably won't see anyone else dressed as Belle." Guess what? The next kids that rang our doorbell, there was a little girl dressed like Belle. But she was the only other one we saw.

Little Ninja Yellow Belt

Stockton really wanted to do karate since the end of school last year. I was going to look into it all summer, but finally took him to sign up this fall. The price included a deal of two for one so I ended up enrolling Abby too. She is a level down from Stockton in a group they call "Little Ninjas." They had a test today to earn their yellow belt. It is not the same as the yellow belt that Stockton will earn soon, but still a sign of the progress she has made in her class.

The class showing off their new belts.

The parents were invited to help put the new belts on their children. Its a good thing too. They were so stiff there is no way Abby could have gotten it tied.

Doing the ceremonial changing of the the belts.

Demonstrating the star block.

Demonstrating punches.

Demonstrating kicks.

I have been really impressed with the things they are being taught. They go to the Bobby Lawrence Karate Studio. They really emphasize being motivated to do things right, go the extra mile, and help out around the house without being asked. They both go around the house now saying "yes mam" all the time. (they still whine and say no plenty too) It is kind of funny, so don't think I am a nazi mom if you hear them say that. Stockton's class should be earning their yellow belts soon too, so I will post that when it happens.

Pumkin Carving Family Night

I snapped this out the front door this morning. Our first snow of the year!!!! I don't know if I am ready for this or not!!!

We kept up the annual tradition of pumpkin carving in Grandma and Grandpa Haskell's garage. The kids always look forward to doing this and have alot of fun!

Here are the big grandkids with their respective pumpkins. They turned out great. We missed Grandpa and his entertainment for the little grandkids, but Tyler made a pretty good substitute.


Stockton is getting a little jaded with the whole pumpkin carving thing. He was done and ready to do something else pretty fast.

Alyida was so proud of her pumpkin with the heart shaped eyes.

This was aunt Leslie's first time ever carving pumpkins. She has lived in Peru and Hawaii. They don't really carve pumpkins in either of those places. Andy showed her the finer points of getting the top off without cutting her fingers off and getting the goo out too. I think she had fun. She helped Abby make a cute face with eyelashes. Thank goodness for aunts and uncles to help us with our carving. There are not enough moms and dads to go around sometimes.

Peyton tried to get in on the action, but spent most of his time chasing the cats around and trying to pick the white one up. He loves Alydia and Aiden's cats!!!!

Abby was pretty proud of herself for getting in hands on this year. Last year she just watched and deligated. She had a blast.

Peyton was all over the homemade Rootbeer. (as were all the other kids) He thought it was the best stuff ever!!!

Tyler and Ash made home made rootbeer. It was such a good idea and the kids loved it so much that I think it will be a permanent addition to our family pumpkin carving.

They thought the "steam" was so great. They were telling us it was witches brew and poison. It was a super fun time. We missed grandma and grandpa, but we saved your jobs for next year. We're glad that you are where you are and doing what you're doing.

Fall Picture Fun

I had been planning to get the kids out to do some fall pictures. I had been waiting until we got some pumpkins and for the leaves to fall from the trees in our yard a little. Now that those two things have happened it has been rainy and cold. I was for sure going to get them out tonight, but there was a pretty cool breeze out and Abby is the only one who gets excited about getting her pictures taken. So you get to see Abby's fall photoshoot.

When I got inside and looked at these on the computer where they are much bigger I couldn't believe how much they reminded me of myself as a little girl. (only Abby is much more stylish than I was) There is a feeling I can't explain about seeing myself in her. Cool and scary all at the same time. I don't know if that makes any sense at all.

Hopefully I can catch some pictures of the boys soon. They are pretty cute too.

Kyle and Kristin

I had so much fun on Saturday doing some engagment pictures of Kyle and Kristin. We squeezed in a photoshoot between confrence sessions. We had to go at noon which is normally a terrible time to take outside pictures, but it was overcast so it worked out pretty well. We were pretty lucky on missing the rain and most of the wind. I had a blast.
They turned out really great. Here are some of our favorites. Thanks guys for letting me take your pictures.

This is the first one we did. Kristin had slick shoes and almost fell in. It was an exciting start to our shooting day.

Kind of abstract, but I love it!!!