Pumpkin Patch

Last Friday (10/10), we met up with Misty and Dylen and Max at a pumpkin patch. She called the night before to invite us and the kids were so excited to go. The weather was a little windy and chilly but we survived and they had a blast. They had lots off fun playing on the hay bales, climbing on the tractors and jumping into the corn box. Afton loved making "corn" angels. The kids wore their cute Halloween shirts that g-ma Sharon sent them in the mail. Thanks Sharon! The kids love them.

Max and Logan had fun eating goldfish while the kids played in the corn box. Those boys love to eat.

He loved playing in the corn. He tried putting it in his mouth a few times, but he got the point when I kept saying "No!"

the park

Last week (10/8) the boys and I decided that we were going to go for a walk and then pick up Afton from school. We left a little early and stopped at the park. Dax and Logan had lots of fun. Dax enjoyed the slides and Logan had fun climbing up and down the stairs. He also liked the bark and had fun throwing it. I hate this age when they can work their way onto and up things that are a little too big for them especially at the park. Logan was making me nervous because he would get really close to the edge.

Logan's cool shades. They're actually Daxon's sunglasses, but Logan loves wearing them. He will actually keep them on.

Playing at the park.

Walking home from Kindergarten.

Doing homework. Dax loves to do "his" homework with Afton. It consists of drawing on a piece of paper. He's really good at writing the letter "A". We're working on writing his name. He's got the letters down, he just has to put them together and in a straight line.

Brook you inspired me with your naked musician picture. Naked pictures are so cute. Thought I'd share this one. Jason just got done bathing him and he let him loose without putting his diaper on so I thought I'd snap a picture. And then he peed on my floor. Probably right as I was taking this picture. Thank goodness it was just on the tile. Easy clean-up!

Kid Stuff!

Just recently Logan has decided that he needs a blanket with him when he gets tired. The other morning after getting him out of his crib he kept pointing back at his crib and I finally figured out that he wanted his blanket. It was so cute. He grabbed it, popped his thumb in his mouth and off he went. That first day he really only had it with him for a half hour or so and now he usually just likes to have when he's taking a nap or going to sleep at night. I think it's the cutest thing. I'm sure I won't be saying that anymore in a few years, but right now I love it! Afton thinks it's really funny and calls him Linus from snoopy.

Just some fun stuff about Logan: every time we go to get into or out of the car after we've pulled into the garage, he has to wave to all of the neighbors. No one is usually outside and they can't really see him, but he's waving away. I've mentioned it before, but this kid loves to dance. Whenever he hears any kind of music, his head starts bobbing and his arms start moving and then he starts spinning in circles. He loves to groove! He really isn't talking too much yet. And he hasn't really said too many words. He definitely says "Dadda" and says it when he hears the garage door opening because he knows Jason is home. Sometimes he'll say "momma" and he tries to say "kitty" and he makes barking noises when he hears dogs barking. But that's about it. It's funny how each kid is different when they start doing different things. Afton was chattering away at his age and Dax was saying a lot more words. I've heard with the third one sometimes it takes them a little longer to talk because they have siblings that do it for them.

I had to post a picture of Afton and her cute knee socks. I love that it's getting a little cooler now so she can actually wear them. I don't know if she's a big fan of them yet, but I'm working on her. As soon as she gets home they instantly come off. They kind of remind me of those sport socks with the stripes around the top. You can't see it in the picture, but there are buttons along the side. I got a couple 2-packs from Target. Can't wait to try the other ones out.

And for some exciting news, Afton has officially stopped sucking her thumb. Yay for Afton! I've been trying to figure out some way to get her to stop. She really only did it when she was tired or was crying, but I wanted to get her to stop all together. So I told her we would make a chart and every day she didn't suck her thumb she'd get a sticker. And if she didn't suck her thumb for a whole week she could have a sleepover with a friend. It worked! For her anyway. I know it probably wouldn't work with other kids, but she's a sucker for sleepovers I guess. She did such a great job too! I could tell she was trying so hard and she really instantly stopped the day we started her chart or at least I never caught her. She was really good about telling me that she didn't suck it at all during the middle of the night:)! Don't know how she knew, but hey it worked. I'm so proud of her.

She is still loving kindergarten. She loves everything about it from the homework to recess time. They've started learning how to read or recognizing certain words and she's doing such a great job. She just loves to learn and I'm so proud of her. She's so smart! I hope she always loves school this much.

I've decided that Dax is totally the goofball of our family. He's always cracking me up. I've mentioned it before, but he loves to pass gas just like his dad. He seriously does it all day long! And he has to tell me when he's doing it and then laugh about it forever. I think he does it more than Jason. I didn't know that was possible. And he's totally into question asking right now. He has to ask questions about everything. I guess it's that age when they're curious about the world around them. Some questions are funny while some are embarrassing. The other day we were on our way to church (we walk because it's just down the street) and we were crossing the street and Dax blurts out really loudly, "Mom why is Jim bald?" Jim is our next door neighbor and he was outside doing yard work when Dax asked that question and I knew he heard it. Yeah, I was embarrassed. Jason just told him that he shaves his head, which I think he does. And he's always asking me why this kid or that person has different color skin than us. I usually just tell him that we all look a little different, some people have blond hair others have dark hair, some people have blue eyes some brown, others have dark skin some have lighter skin. I don't know. How should I answer that question?

Dax has been really funny about going to preschool lately. The first few times he did fine, but the last two times, he's cried when I've dropped him off. He cries for a few minutes and then he's totally fine until I come and get him. When I pick him up he tells me how much fun he had and that he can't wait to go next week. But then when we go the next time he still cries. He did this with nursery for a little while and just got over it so I'm hoping that happens with preschool. Here's a funny conversation we had last time I picked him up.

Me: "How was preschool Dax?"

Dax: "Fun. Mommy you know Garrett?" (his friend at school)

Me: "Yes."

Dax: "I want to go to his house. I know how to get there"

Me: "You do. Tell me"

Dax: "Ok. You go straight. Then you go left. Then you go right. Then you go left again. Then you go straight. Then you go right and then straight again. Then you go left."

Me: "That's how you get to his house?"

Dax: "Yep!"

I thought it was pretty hilarious. It took him a few minutes to get through the directions. He would pause after each turn like he was really trying to remember how to get there.

Beach Camping

This was our first camping trip together as a family and we had such a fun time. I couldn't believe that it took us so long to go as a family. Between jobs, church callings, school and whatever else it's just so hard to find time. But we finally did it. Growing up I camped so much with my family and it's something I've always wanted to do with my own family, so I'm glad that we actually had a free weekend to go.
We left last Friday (10/3) and stayed for three days. We went to Manresa Beach State Park. It's about 2 1/2 hours from our home. I guess it's a pretty popular place to camp, so we had to make our reservations a couple months in advance. They have a bunch of campsites right by the beach. They're not right on the beach, so you have to walk like a half a mile to the beach. We got to the campsite around 6 p.m. and I'm never doing that again. I definitely recommend getting there earlier in the day. We only had an hour of daylight to get everything to the site, the tent up and dinner made. All that took longer than an hour so the kids were all crazy and whiny and after finally eating dinner at 8 p.m. we put the kids to bed. They were so ornery and fell right asleep. It took Jason longer than he expected to set our tent up because it was new. But once he got that thing up it's like we had our own personal hotel room. The thing is huge! It's 10 x 20 feet. There's a big room in the middle with two smaller ones on the sides. We knew it was going to be big and I wasn't sure if it was so good to have one that large. I was worried it wouldn't fit in most campsites. And Jason said that the campsites were all really big so not to worry. And of course we got like the smallest campsite ever. Our tent barely fit. It was right up against the picnic table. But it all worked out and I loved it. Having all that space was awesome! I'm glad we have it.

The first night there it rained all night long! And I didn't sleep well because I was worried about getting wet. The tent is basically all screened. It came with a huge rain fly that covers the whole tent. Jason secured it really well and it covered the entire tent, but I was still worried that we might get wet. But we all stayed dry. The thing is definitely water-proof.

The next morning the sun was out and shining. So we headed down to the beach. The kids had fun playing in the sand and collecting seashells.

I love my hubby!

I love to take beach pictures, hence all of the beach pics. I think they all turn out so cute.

Love this one of Jason and Logan holding hands.

This one's my absolute favorite. I just snapped it and loved how it turned out. Then I messed with the tinting on Picasa.

After the beach, we went back to our campsite and played some games. Afton is an avid UNO player now. Jason introduced her to the game and that's what she wanted to do the entire trip. She loved it! My kids are so funny about the dirt. It takes them a little while to get dirty. They've actually gotten much better about it. They didn't seem to mind the dirt so much. Logan was really funny about the dirt. Whenever he would fall or get his hands dirty, he would look at them and then come over to me with his hands in the air wanting me to wipe them off. He did that a few times and then I looked over at him and he was sitting in the dirt playing with it. I guess it takes a little while to get use to it.

Playing UNO and roasting marshmallows. Afton didn't like the sticky mess on her fingers. She kept trying to clean it off and it just got stuck other places.

That night we roasted hot dogs for dinner and then marshmallows afterwards. The kids had fun making smores and eating them. I asked them what their favorite part of the trip was and Dax said playing with his friends Kaitlyn and Ashlyn. They only stayed the first night so Afton and Dax were pretty sad when they left. Afton said her favorite part was playing UNO with her family. I think Logan really enjoyed wandering all over the place and pushing his stroller around the campsite. He also loved dancing. The maintenance people were cleaning the bathrooms and they had their radio on and as soon as we got over there, Logan was instantly bobbing his head up and down and grooving to the music. I have video of it, so I'll post it when I get a chance. That kid loves to dance. He especially loves to dance to church hymns.
I'm so glad that we got to go camping as a family. Although, we missed our friends and family who couldn't come. But we'll definitely be doing this again. I'm thinking we'll head to the mountains for our next trip. I'm so thankful for my little family. I'm so blessed to have such a great husband and three wonderful children. I love them so much!

We were on our way out and I had to stop and get a picture of the gorgeous view. Isn't it beautiful? The waves were huge this morning. You could see them from where we were at.

Playing Catch Up

I fell behind with some recent stuff because of all of the Hawaii posts, so now I have some catching up to do. Here goes:

These are just some random pictures. Afton likes to take pictures so I let her take a few of me and Logan. And I wanted to show off my tan from Hawaii. If you can even call it a tan. I'll call it my very faint tan. You'll have to squint to even see it.

I wanted to get a picture of Jason and his whiskers. He didn't shave the whole time we were in Hawaii and I was trying to convince him to keep growing it, but of course he wouldn't. I don't know why but I really like facial hair. Maybe one day he'll grow a beard for me.

These are Logan's two favorite friends right now. The vacuum and shoes. Well, he's always liked the vacuum since he was a little baby. Whenever I pull it out he runs right over to it and has to pull off all of the gadgets. And when I'm actually vacuuming he has to sit right in my way. He has just recently gotten a fetish for shoes. He's always putting other people's shoes on and trying to walk in them. He also likes to go and play in my closet and pull down all of the shoes.

He has on one of Daxon's shoes in this picture.

Just some pictures at the park. The boys and I stopped at the park after walking Afton to school.

Daxon doesn't really take naps anymore. He doesn't have his sister around to nap with so he'll usually stay awake during the day and go to bed early with Afton. Every so often though, he'll fall asleep in random places when he's really tired. This usually happens around 4 or 5 and I try really hard to wake him up, but he won't wake up so I just let him sleep for like an hour. I hate when he does this because he's super ornery when I finally do wake him up.

He fell asleep right in front of our back door waiting to go outside to play.

Afton's most recent ballet class (9/30) was an observation day for the parents so I was able to go and watch her. It was lots of fun to see all of the little girls practicing their ballet moves. She did a great job and was really excited that we got to watch her. The funniest part was Dax. He was so captured by the ballerinas. He loved watching them. He sat in his chair for most of the dance session and just watched the pretty ballerinas. The other day he asked me if there were boy ballerinas. And I told him there were. Maybe we'll be putting him in ballet next year. Or maybe not. I don't think Jason would like that too much. Sorry about the pictures. For some reason they didn't turn out very well in the dance studio.

The Dentist

The kids had a dentist appointment last Tuesday (9/30). We went to a pediatric dentist and they have a new building, so everything was really nice and new. And it's all geared towards little kids, so it was perfect for them. They were actually excited to go. Dax was a little nervous, but he did great. They got to put on cool sun glasses, pick out yummy toothpaste, and watch a movie while getting their teeth cleaned. Kids are so lucky these days. And of course afterwards they got new toothbrushes and each got to pick out a toy. The check-ups went pretty good. Daxon's teeth look really good. Afton's looked good, but she had two more cavities. I don't know what to do with this girls teeth. This will be a total of 10 cavities now for her. I guess I need to be better about flossing her teeth everyday.

They are so lucky!

Also on last Tuesday, it was Dylen's birthday. We went to her party that night at her g-ma Jody's house. It was a Mermaid/Under the Sea theme. The kids got crowns, seashell necklaces and a bunch of other fun stuff. They had lots of fun coloring their fish and dancing to the fun music. And of course they loved the cupcakes and helping Dylen open her presents.

Dylen, Afton and Dax. I can't believe they were all looking up at the same time.

I have to explain this sad face. He fell asleep on the way to the party. So we had to wake him up when we got there and he wasn't too happy about it. It took him about ten minutes to come out of his grumpy mood, but then he was all smiles after that.


Afton and Dax are so excited for Halloween and have been asking to put up Halloween decorations. So we put some up, but I don't really have very many. Just little things from my mom and that's about it. I'd love to decorate with lots of fun scary stuff, but I just can't justify spending that much on holiday decorations. I guess I'll just have to hit the sales after Halloween is over. Then we'll have some more for next year. But the kids had fun putting up the spider webs.

Our Last day in Hawaii - Sept. 16th

Pauli Look Out & Kailua Beach

I finally made it to our last day in Hawaii. I can't believe it! Sorry again for all of the pictures, but we really did have such a great trip. For our last day we headed to the Pauli Look Out, or the really windy place. I was really excited to go here because I think it's the coolest place. The trade winds fly through this canyon making it super windy and a fun spot for pictures and trying to lay in the wind. Afton had a fun time with Kya, but Dax and Logan weren't big fans of the wind. Dax would try to run and hide from the wind and Logan just cried every time I tried to put him down. I had fun though.

Love the hair!

These pics are from our last trip in 2006. This is Brook and I with our hair flying everywhere.

Jason lost his shoe here. He picked up his foot and off went his sandal over the railing.

After the look out, we went to Kailua Beach. This beach is also great for wind activities. There's a lot of people who do wind surfing and kite surfing there. We just hung out at the beach. There was more sand castle building and playing in the ocean. After playing at the beach, we headed back to the condo to pack and then to the airport. Our flight left around 10 p.m. So we were on a red eye flight, and it was nice that the kids got to sleep during the flight. I, on the other hand, got no sleep. Trying to hold a sleeping baby and sitting in an airplane seat, makes for a hard night's sleep. We again flew to SLC and then to Oakland. The kids did great and we were glad to make it safely back home. Thanks again Rex and Sharon for such an awesome trip. We had tons of fun!

Playing at the beach. All of the kids fell asleep on the way back to the condo. Doesn't Dax look comfortable?

Pictures of the flight from SLC to Oakland. I love all of the silly pictures of the kids. They love making silly faces.