Trunk or Treat

Our wards Trunk or Treat was this past weekend. We had Chilli and cornbread for dinner "curbside" and had the kids trunk or treat afterwards. We decorated our trunk by doing our famous spaghetti bowl and candy bowl trick. It gets the kids every time and its fun to see when they put their hands in the wrong bowl. Alyssa was in a hurry to get candy, i had to keep telling her to slow down, its not a race. Corbin figured out or remembered from last year that when you say "trick or treat" they give you candy. He was ready with his bag every time. He was so excited to see his nursery teacher there. He loves her, she is an awesome teacher!

Alyssa was princess Jasmine

Corbin was a Construction Worker

and Miss Ava was a little ballerina

Corbin, Alyssa and their friend Tyler

Eating Solids...?

Ava has been watching us eat for a month now on the table in her "bumbo" seat. She has been great about just sitting there and watching and hanging out with the family during meal times. Lately she has been getting excited and if you think her eyes can't get any bigger, they do when she sees us eating. So the other night I gave her some rice cereal with some applesauce and she loved it. I have a mesh feeder too and she went crazy with a banana inside it. So I am thinking she is ready for some "real" food although i have not yet broken down to go buy some....maybe tomorrow?

The results of her attacking a spoon full of cereal and applesauce!!!

Spider Hats

Alyssa made this spider hat at school last week and Corbin wanted to play with it. Alyssa being such a good big sister always told him "no, it's mine". So I made him one and he wears it all the time. They both were happier when they each had one to wear....crazy kids!!

Picnic Tables!!!

Brad made us a picnic table last weekend. We are so excited now that it has cooled down we can have a place to eat dinner and hang out. Our last patio table shattered last year while we were out of town so since then we haven't had a place to eat at. So the we were deciding to either get a patio set again or build a picnic table. Brad had a lot of wood on the side of the house already and our neighbor gave us the rest of the wood and instructions to make a table. Bradley had a good time making the big table and did a great job on the project he made a "mini" table for the kids, and one for Charlie for his birthday. (The Hall Family) It turned out so cute!

The kids table we stained, I still have to stain the big table.

Carving Pumpkins

We picked out our pumpkin and carved it for FHE this past Monday. The kids had fun getting the seeds out and picking out the face we wanted the pumpkin to look like. They chose a happy face.

The Gang with their happy Pumpkin.

Schnepfs Farm Field Trip

Every year Alyssa's preschool goes to Schnepf Farms ( a local farm) for a field trip. they get to go on the rides and pick out a pumpkin to take home.
Here Corbin and Brad are waiting for the train to come back so we can go for a ride.

Alyssa looks so happy with her pumpkin!!

Eating Lunch

Alyssa and Corbin loved these big trikes. They had off road wheels so they could go fast on the dirt track. Corbin was happy he could reach the pedals this year, he went around 8 times.

Abby and Corbin in the Airplane and Alyssa riding the Carousel.

Flagstaff & Sedona Trip

We stayed friday night in Flagstaff because it got pretty late when we were done with our evening campout. Saturday we drove the scenic route through Sedona and stopped on the side of the road to play around the creek a bit. The kids had fun throwing rocks in the water and collecting sticks. We were headed to Prescott for a pumpkin festival our friends told us about. Here is Alyssa and Corbin riding some ponys at the festival. That was the one thing they wanted to do for sure. Corbin loved it, Alyssa was excited until the pony started to walk and then she got nervous, but we told her to stay on until the ride was over. Got to get your moneys worth right!

Some of you might recognize this place. Its a really good deli in Sedona just past Slide Rock.
Yummy Yummy!!

Last weekend we drove up to Flagstaff to go hiking in a place called Locket Meadows with our friends the Johnsons. The last time we were all there was 4 years ago when I was pregnant with Alyssa. Now we have 3 kids and they have two and 1 on the way, so it was fun to go there with the kids and re-live some fun memories. When we got there it was very cold and windy. I had brought some warmer clothes for the night time, but it didn't cut it. we were wearing blankets and all the layers we had it was so windy. The kids helped gather some firewood and we started a fire to keep warm at the camp grounds while we cooked up some hot dogs for dinner.

Samuel, Corbin, Abby, and Alyssa

Brad and Ava keeping each other warm. Luckily our friends had a couple extra sweatshirts and a beanie for Ava. She was quite warm with her daddy.

The Rag-a-muffins!!

The trees had started changing colors, it is so pretty up there. The kids wanted to keep walking up the road to keep warm.

Being a Big Sister

Alyssa loves to hold Ava all the time. She likes to sit with her and read her books and loves to make her smile.

Visti to California

We took a trip to California to see Grandma & Grandpa Marshall and all our cousins. We had a good time and the kids had a lot of fun playing together. Here the kids are eating Popsicles with Ben and Jacob.

Ava rolls over

Once Ava learned to roll over, she hasn't stopped. Alyssa and Corbin are her cheer squad. They cheer her on when she is just about to roll over but her underarm gets stuck, so she rolls back the other way and trys again.

Visit to Kentucky

Bradley went back to visit his parents in Kentucky a couple of weeks ago. He had a great time hanging out and going places with them. He saw his friend Bill while he was there and did the whole guy thing.

They drove up to Louisville to see the Adams. It was a short visit, but he loved to see the kids Brady, Connor, Callie, and Ashlyn (they have gotten so big), and take the tour of their new home.

What's a Bumbo?

Ava is loving this baby seat called a "bumbo". Its made of this rubbery material so the baby can sit up as young as 3 months, once they can hold their head up on their own. It is just funny to see them so young sitting up . She loves to sit up all the time to see whats going on.

Ava's 2 1/2 months now!

A Cold front in August

We were surprised one evening when the kids and I took the trash can out how nice the weather was outside. It was probably still in the 90's but it sure did feel good from what we were used to the last couple of weeks. So we stayed outside and the kids rode their bikes and Ava watched from her car seat enjoying the nice breeze. Yes, thats Alyssa's bike Corbin is riding, I know its a girls bike, but he thinks he so big when he gets on it and goes. He loves it.

Viva Las Vegas!!!!

Brad had a Conference in Vegas this month so we all decided to go with him. We didn't want to miss a trip to Vegas! We stayed at the Paris, which is so big & cool, (like all the rest of the). The kids loved the hotel room, and got a kick out of the bathroom of all places. They did see the water show at Belagio and loved that. We walked around Ceasers Palace and down the strip a little ways until the kids and us got tired. Friday night Uncle Drew and Aunt Susan came to stay with us and on Saturday, the kids and I went with them to the outlet stores for the morning. It was a fun weekend.



Our boy becoming a man so quickly he finds the remote to the TV!


Our group of friends we met up with in Vegas for the Conference.


The kids couldn't quite make the Vegas night life. They fell asleep as we were walking back to the hotel. I guess we weren't fast enough! Alyssa is so big, she kept falling out of the stroller because her legs are so long. Needless to say we got a lot of looks as we walked back to the hotel.