Four??!!

The beginning of November brought a big surprise for our family. We had been wanting a positive pregnancy test for a few months, but decided to take a break since we didn't want a July or August baby. Well, I complained to Dave one day that I was feeling tired and a little sick. He asked if I could be pregnant to which I replied "not at all possible". Well, it turns out that I was, in fact, pregnant. We were shocked...happy...but shocked. So we're having a July baby afterall. I am 12 weeks along now and I am due around July 18th. I've had a rough first trimester. I had some spotting and was put on bedrest for three weeks. Dave took great care of our family, but it was very hard on all of us. The threat of miscarriage is still there, but with each week it is decreasing. We are thankful. I've had about 8 weeks of morning sickness and it seems to have ended, but it is still lingering a little. So now I've got a little tummy and the boys think it's HUGE. They must have forgotten what I looked like with McKenna. :) Anyway, we are very excited to add to our family and wanted to share the news!! (I hope it wasn't too much information for some of you. Ha ha ha.)

A Halloween Post...Super Early or Late??

This is exactly why I quit scrapbooking. I got too far behind and got overwhelmed. I didn't know where to start back into it, so I quit. My blog has sort of become that. However, my generous sister offered me 3 whole dollars if I would add a new post and you know I can never pass up a good deal. :) I don't want to leave anything out for when I turn this into a book, so you'll have to suffer through some old posts....and I mean old. Halloween, people.

We were excited to go trick or treating in a real neighborhood for the first time. McKenna lasted a couple streets but the boys went strong for almost 2 hours. I don't know why we encourage them to keep going after they want to quit...I just have to deal with the candy rationing for weeks after.

Derek was a skeleton, Taylor was a Clone Trooper from Star Wars, and McKenna was a cute little fairy.

As always, Daddy took some "taxes". In all actuality the boys were very generous with their candy. This is the only time of year when having picky eaters is a good thing for us.

Our house looked awesome. Dave said that he heard trick-or-treaters take a picture on our porch before knocking on the door. I had a cute Fall wreath on the door and hung rubber bats using clear fishing wire from the overhang. The boys helped me make luminaries and my favorite was this little number:We cut a pumpkin face out of cardboard and taped yellow tissue paper behind it. The glow looked really cool from the street. Next year we'll put one in McKenna's window as well. So anyway, that was our Halloween...for anyone that cares two months later. :)

Carving of the Pumpkins

A couple nights before Halloween we carved our pumpkins. Can I just say how nice those carving kits are?! I've only used kitchen knifes in the past and it has always been an arm workout. Those little tools are heavenly especially when you are carving several pumpkins.

We let the kids draw their idea on their pumpkin and then we try to carve as close to their lines as possible. McKenna's drawing was a bit of a challenge. :)

And it's our tradition to have glazed donuts and apple cider after the work is done. (Glazed donuts were out of stock this year.)

And the final products!....

(Pumpkins by Derek, Taylor, Natalie/McKenna, Dave)

Apple Picking at Grandma's!!

My grandma has about 10 apple trees on her property in Logan. Every other year those trees produce enough fruit for us all to gather and pick the apples and enjoy the company! It's been a tradition since before I can remember, but my role in the process has evolved. As you can imagine, we didn't do much of the work as kids. We mainly played "school" in the basement and only came upstairs for lunch after the work was done and again when it was time to travel home. It's fun to see my kids carrying on the tradition with picking about 5 apples. :) The boys were really looking forward to the trip to Great-Grandmas and I don't think they were disappointed.

I missed the monumental 5 picked apples, so I had to stage these photos....so I guess they picked 6 in total.

McKenna LOVED picking with her daddy. She literally laughed and squealed when he lifted her up. And yes, she wasn't very gentle when she threw the apples into the bucket. But her total of apples picked was much higher than her brothers. :)

Oh, this view made me laugh.... 5 ladders holding legs with missing bodies....or maybe you just had to be there??

Derek and his cousin, Cameron

My dad hauling the fruits of our labors...ha ha ha...get it. Oh man.

My very talented cousin took these pictures of McKenna. Aren't they amazing!?

Poor Duckies!

Our neighbor asked if we wanted to join her family in feeding the ducks at a local park. It was a beautiful place and the kids really, really loved it. And boy did the ducks love it. They were used to people and ate right out of your hand. (I really didn't appreciate that. Yuck.) They were acting very underfed and were fighting for the bread. The boys asked if they could come back again and I was all in favor of it. But a few minutes later a lady pulled up and said "did you ladies know that the park is closed for the season?" We were asked to leave. I felt very sad for the ducks...no wonder they were starving. The boys were disappointed to hear that we can't go back until the Spring. I think we should sneak those poor ducks some food during the Winter.

A Fun Fall FHE

As soon as the leaves turned colors we drove up a nearby canyon to take a look. We found a fun grass area with tables and swings...we're just hoping that it wasn't private property. :) We had a fun little picnic and explored together.

(I decided to wear a hat that day and it spread to the boys. Maybe this post should be titled "A Fun Hat FHE".)

Poor Derek got a little too close to the river and mistook the swampy grass for solid ground. It kind of put a damper on his fun.

Crazy Hair Day

The boys' elementary school held a crazy hair day for all the students. Derek requested a Mohawk and Taylor wanted spiky hair. I used a lot of gel and mouse to accommodate their requests. Needless to say, they were very excited for school that day. I repeated over and over..."This is just for one day." and "Don't get used to this look". I personally wanted to spray color into their hair, but surprisingly they didn't want it.

And for some of us...it's pretty natural to have a crazy hair day.