A week ago, James learned how to climb up on the couch. He thinks he is pretty cool when he does, and he runs from side to side, I think just to make me nervous he will fall off. By Sunday, he had figured out how to throw the couch cushions on the ground so he could “jump” off onto them. Yesterday, I came in to find him doing this:
We’ve had a lot of fun enjoying the beautiful fall leaves this time of year. Even though they are a pain on our front yard, last week I went outside with the boys and raked them up. It was a nice day – not too cold – and the boys had fun jumping in and throwing the leaves. They even helped put them in the garbage can after, and helped me stuff it down by jumping on the leaves in it when it got full.
The next day, my friend Kara invited us to go walk through the nature park in Beaverton. We had never been on the trails there, and we were so glad she introduced us to it! It was beautiful, and once again, not too cold. The boys had fun looking at the different colored leaves, finding caterpillars, and of course, running along the trail. Landon took a picture of me with James in the pack, and then he got my camera later and took a bunch of pictures of the leaves, so those pictures of courtesy of him.
This weekend, I got to take a break from regular life and go to another great weekend of Time Out for Morris Women. I think this is the third time we have got together for something like this. This year, we planned to go to my Grandma Landon’s house in Idaho Falls for our get-together. I flew into Salt Lake on Friday afternoon, and my mom, Stacey, Becky, and Camille picked me up from there and we headed straight up to Idaho Falls. Unfortunately, Liz wasn’t able to join us this year because she just started her new job, but we hope she can come next time. My mom and Stacey had driven out to Utah earlier in the week to spend some time before we headed up to Grandma’s. Shane was, as always, an amazing husband, and even acted excited about spending the weekend with the boys. I tried to get everything arranged so they could have a good weekend – meals, clothes ready for church, a friend to sit with the boys in Sacrament meeting on Sunday, etc. He may have changed his mind about his excitement now that he’s lived through the weekend, but they all seemed to have a fun time at home without me.
We had a great time together at Grandma’s. It was bitter cold, with even some snow on the ground, but we stayed inside most of the time. For our spiritual enlightenment this year, we each read a section of the new Relief Society book and shared what we had read. It is an amazing book! It made me excited and motivated to read the rest of the book now, as it has some amazing stories and quotes in it. We also did quite a bit of crafting this year, something a little new for us. We made some fun toddler bags with activities for our little kids, which included lacing cards, pipe cleaner beading, a felt board, shape matching puzzles, popsicle stick puzzles, key matching, and number wheels. We each chose one or two to bring the materials and do the prep work for, and we assembled and finished the projects there. Kallie and Ethan already used them at church yesterday and showed how fun they are! We also made a Mayflower boat for a centerpiece for our Thanksgiving tables. It was a bit of a project, but it seemed to pass quickly with all of us working together. Kallie and Ethan were so good while we worked (Stacey had her two kids, and Becky had baby Ryan.) Grandma showed us all how to piece together a quilt, and showed us some good tips for making it easier and more efficient.
Working on the felt boards for the toddler busy bags.
Stacey cutting out some felt shapes, and Kallie and I reading a story together.
Working on our designs for our foam-shape puzzle boards
Grandma giving us her quilting tips, and Becky asking Grandma a question
Working on the Mayflower, and Kallie and Ethan reading books on the stairs.
More Mayflower work, and Ethan helping out
Even with all of the “work,” we did have some time to relax and visit, and a few times we laughed so hard we cried, although I can’t remember what was so funny now! My aunts and uncles and some cousins that live nearby came by to say hi, and it was fun to visit with them. Sunday, I went to church and was able to see and visit with even more of them. I am always slightly jealous of all of them who have grown up living so close to each other. I wish I lived closer and could see and be with them more too. After church, we came home to a delicious dinner and then had to pack up to leave.
All of us together after church.
It was a great weekend. Thanks everyone for a great time – especially Grandma for providing the house and the great food (especially the yummy pie!), and Mom for arranging it all and making it happen! Can’t wait until next time!
James likes to try on hats and shoes that he finds around the house. Here are some of his latest:
I think those shoes are bigger than his legs!
For Halloween this year, we went trick-or-treating around our neighborhood with our neighbor friends, then we headed back home where some other friends joined us for mummy dogs, hot cider, potato wedges, and spider donuts. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any pictures of our post-trick-or-treating festivities, but I did get some of the cute trick-or-treaters! Landon and Davis have wanted to be Mario and Luigi for months now, although they are a little opposite than the usual short and round Mario and the tall and skinny Luigi. James was the cute cowboy, keeping up the tradition of his two older brothers.
Happy Halloween!
This fall, Landon played soccer with the Westside Warriors. He started in August and had his last game the last Saturday in October. This was his first year playing soccer, and he loved it. He got pretty good at controlling the ball and scoring some goals, and he was always an excellent defender. We had fun going to watch his games and seeing him and the other players improve over the season. Our neighbor friend Caleb played on the team, and they were good buddies.
The best part, of course, is getting the trophy at the end of the season. Landon got a fun soccer trophy with a star and a soccer ball in the middle. He was excited to add it to his collection.
The Monday after Becky and Nate left, we had Kelly over to join us while we carved our Halloween pumpkins. We added a tradition this year by trying out some new homemade pumpkin donuts, and they will definitely become a regular part of our pumpkin carving tradition! We also enjoyed a Pandora Halloween playlist, which started out really good, but died out a little towards the end. Here are a few pictures of us in action, and of the finished products.
I told Davis to hold up his pumpkin for a picture, and this is what I got. :)
The finished pumpkins – from left to right – Kelly’s skull, Landon’s pumpkin face, Davis’s pumpkin face, and Shane’s ghost.
My brother-in-law Nate started the MBA program at BYU this August. Each fall, they give the MBA students a week off to go recruit for internships. Nate spent part of his time in California, then Becky, Nate, and their two little boys drove up to spend the rest of the week with us. Nate visited with a few companies in the area, and Becky and I did some shopping and hung out with the kids. The boys had tons of fun together too! Here are some highlights of the trip.
Just hanging around the house: We had fun watching the boys all play together. Davis especially liked Ryan, and he liked lying on the floor looking at him. Bennett loved all of the cars, and had fun lining them up on the table one night.
We went downtown Portland one evening and walked along the river. There were a ton of bikers and runners, so we had to watch out! The boys had fun looking at the river and seeing the boats.
We had a groupon to Lee’s Pumpkin Patch from my mom, so we headed there again one afternoon. It was quiet, with hardly anyone there, and the boys had fun in the bounce house again and going in the maze and down the slide. Bennett was getting such a workout in the bounce house that he came out with his head drenched in sweat!
Finally, we went to the Rose Gardens for some family pictures, which Becky was kind enough to take of us. It’s always difficult getting a good picture with three boys, especially when you look at them later and realize Davis is making funny faces in all of them! Little stinker! When I asked him about it, he just said “Yeah, Mom. I just went like this . . . and like this . . . and like this,” recreating some of his silly faces. Here are just a few for examples:
Luckily, Becky caught on to his act, and she captured a few great ones too:
We loved having them come to visit! Thanks for the great pictures Becky, and thanks for coming to visit us. We had a great time!
