Riding, applesauce,and Grammie's caramel popcorn!

Horseback riding!! We love riding the horses when we come home. Here is my little cowboy on Baldo. Doesn't he look so grown up and handsome?! :) Later he and Jack got on together and rode around with Papa taking the lead. There was only one bad moment... when Coal Train sidestepped or stumbled or something and startled the boys. Well Jack started wailing and within seconds Gabe was crying and yelling too! Poor Dad didn't know what was going on! Other than that small setback, they did great and had a blast! :) For being so afraid of the horses in the barn, Nyah was remarkably happy to be riding around on their backs!! I thought to ease her into it by riding with her at first but she never seemed nervous at all. In fact once she got up there alone she would lean over and pat Baldo's neck like a pro - it was so cute!One Saturday we spent the entire day making applesauce... what a big project! It was fun to work with Mom and Mindy though and we sure got a lot of delicious, homemade applesauce canned! Hopefully we will be driving up for Christmas so I can take some home! Here are the guys watching the kids out back for us. Mindy took a little break and was jumping on the tramp with the kids. They were loving all her silly antics - it was so cute! I caught a bit on video and snapped this one picture. What a fun Aunt!And here are my kiddies gorging on Grammies irresistible caramel popcorn. They both felt it necessary to climb up on top the table... I guess it made digging in easier! They would have eaten that entire bowl themselves if I would have let them!

Hagatha the Witch's Halloween Party

Mom, (I mean Hagatha!) always throws THE ultimate Halloween party every year! We were thrilled to be able to attend this year. Well, I did beg to have the party moved up a few weeks and luckily I have an "in" with the hostess! ;) Everyone comes dressed up to arrive to spooky music and luminaries plus a host of creepy-cool decorations all throughout the house! My two darling little pirates!The kids start off the night by playing "Find Frank" - a favorite game of searching for hidden Frankensteins and running back to Grammie with their finds for a treat. This year it was monster teeth - as Gabe is showing off!

Next we all gather round as Hagatha cooks up a wicked stew with ghastly ingredients like: mummified toenails (chopped onions), rat brains (browned sausage), swamp weed (chopped up kale), and werewolf saliva (cream), to name a few! The kids get to add each ingredient then Hagatha says her funny spell over the cauldron and the witch's stew is ready! :)Dinner was Witch's Stew (Zuppa Toscana), Bones 'n Blood (breadsticks and marinara), bat wings (chicken wings), spooky spider eggs, and swamp juice (a great punch with tapioca/fish eggs in it as well as gummy worms! And with dry ice to make it mist all over the table!!) It was all presented SO fun and cute:Mom really knows how to make a party AMAZING!!! Here is Griff with our littlest monster Colt, watching the show from the couch! :)

We ended with more fun games like pin the nose on the Jack O Lantern and Guess the Ghost (everyone took turns hiding under a sheet while one child was sent out, then they would come in and get to guess who it was!) WHAT A FUN NIGHT!!!

Utah October trip

I can't believe I haven't been home since last Christmas!! That is just way too long. Never again. Every time I go back to Utah, we have a wonderful time. This fall trip was full of fun activities. I got so many cute pictures I don't know where to start! Chronological order seem easiest so here it goes! First we had a lot of one on one time with Grammy and Papa which felt really good, I have to say. They came out to see us in April and we got to see them for 2 days in Magrath this July but it still feels like we don't get nearly enough time around them. One day Dad stayed home from work because of a dental appointment and the kids had fun snuggling with him early that morning.Grammy read lots and lots of books to Gabe (and Nyah when she would sit still long enough). He loved it! He even started "reading" books to Jack one day - it was really cute!Papa took Gabe out to the horses almost every day. Gabe was a big helper with feeding them - he is awesome at kicking that hay down the holes! In fact one morning he and I were supposed to do it ourselves (Dad had to leave super early that morning). Anyway, Gabe was so adorable. He showed me how to do the first two, then he encouraged me to do the last one all by myself... and when I successfully kicked it down the chute he said "GOOD JOB mommy!!!" with a big smile! Oh my goodness, he is so cute!Nyah was not such a big fan of the horses at first:She was terrified of those big, hungry beasts looming in the semi-darkness of the barn when we would enter. She would cling to Papa like a little bur! No crying or whining but no looking either. I don't think he minded one bit! :)

Dad and Logan's b-day party!

Dad and Logan both had a birthday while we were there and I have to say it was SO FUN to be able to be go to a family birthday party! I miss those "little" things that we used to take for granted.Check out that awesome dinosaur cake Amy made for Logan - woohooo!!After dinner we had a fun dinosaur party that Amy organized for Logan's party. The kids started by going on a dinosaur hunt all over the basement. Gabe loved it! Here they all are showing off their treasures! It was really fun!

Campfire night

One evening when Mom and Mindy were both working late, Griff came over with the boys and we all decided to do a campfire out back after dinner. We relaxed, ate lot of smores, jumped on the trampoline and watched the kids burn stuff! ;) It was so fun to just be able to hang out and do something as simple, yet fun, as have a campfire on a chilly evening. I loved it.

Miniature Golfing!

One day we went on a golfing adventure with Eric's parent's! Grandpa is a big golfer and I think he is thinking to get Gabe started early! ;) We spent the morning at this wonderful, haunted miniature golf course. Gabe was loving every minute! The weather was gorgeous too - I was in heaven with all the warm sunshine on my face!Then we spent the afternoon relaxing at the Richardson's before heading out to do family pictures at the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon. What a gorgeous setting! I can't wait to see how they turned out. The day ended with a delicious supper of stew that Grandma Cheryl made for us all. Oh and eating some chocolate mice that Gabe created with Grandma and Crystal that afternoon! They were adorable...and delicious! :)