Halloween!!!

 I love this picture of Van trick-or-treating at my dad's office.  

Van had no problem allowing me to apply guyliner and a mustache and goatee.  Thanks Captain Jack Sparrow for the make-up tips. and Lyza loved being a cute little pumkin.

Our pumpkins at night!  I carved these 3 myself, because for some reason i just felt like we needed to have them for halloween.

And Lyza crawls :)  I have to admit it is pretty cute to see her make her way across the floor in pursuit of whatever she has her sights set on.  She is the best smiler ever.

Why did Halloween seem so long this year?  Why am i complaining...it's the first i've  really had to make an effort in a while.  It was fun getting the kids dressed to go out.  We made trick or treat visits to both  my parents places of business, and to Abe's parents house on Halloween and we definitely brought home way too much candy. Until next year!

Fountain Green

 If you haven't ever been to Fountain Green, Utah you are missing out.  It is about 20 minutes east of Nephi and home of lots of open land and also Maple Canyon.  In September we went down there with Abe's brother's family in search of a deer.  They had a tag to hunt a deer on some private property which turned out to be a field the size of a football field.  But if any deer set it's hooves on that land it was, it was as good as dead.  We arrived to our destination with a little time on our hands until dusk, which was the most likely time the deer would come, so my sister-in-law and I headed into town to find a park or playground of some kind to entertain our kids while our husbands waited out the daylight. Playing in the dirt along side the road near the field was losing it's luster.

 We probably found the best park in the western united states.  It was on it's own block, and was surrounded by grass, and had pavillions and picnic tables right next door.  There was everything at this park to keep wee little ones, and big kids having a great time.  And it wasn't even crowded.

The kids had a great time playing with their cousins and exploring Fountain Green.  We even headed up into Maple Canyon and let the kids climb up the rocks.  If we hadn't stopped Van i'm not sure how far he would have climbed.  He still doesn't quite sense danger.  

This was a nice way to spend half a day.  Unfortunately no deer crossed into the field the boys were staking out.  Lucky deer.

Turning 2!

It was Van's birthday last week.  I am so happy we had a little party because it was so much fun.  He was so excited  just about his cake(which i chose not to make).  Abe had bought it the night before at Costco and Van was with him.  All night he kept wanting to eat "Happy Cake".

So the next morning, his actual birthday, I let him have 'happy cake' for breakfast.  Once he saw it in the fridge that morning there was no convincing him otherwise to eat real food for breakfast.  And i thought- 'sure, it's your birthday.'  (documenting the corner he had previously eaten at breakfast.)

This kid successfully blew out his candles.

Van's cousins were super excited to help him enjoy his birthday.

We had a great time!  We love our Vannie.  

August

Oh let me think....what did we do in August. That's right, we didn't do much. But we took a lot of pictures...

Lyza is really catching on to the food thing.  I wish Van would follow her example.  One night we let her go crazy on a tomato.  She couldn't get enough.  Another evening we went to Costco and toward the end the kids were getting pretty restless so i gave them strawberries to hold them over until we got home.  They were in heaven.  So we sat out on the trampoline and ate some more and bounced.  It was a good evening.

Lyza is catching up to Van weight wise quickly.  On sept 22 we took them in for Lyza's 9 month and she weighed 19 lbs 9 0z and was 26 inches long.  She is in the 50% for height, 75%  for weight and Van weighed  20 lbs 12 oz and i don't remember his heighth but he is off the charts small.  We need a growth spurt!  Or he just needs to eat more.  I'm thinking of just pureeing everything because he has no problems drinking anything (we don't let him touch the hard stuff).

One night out in front yard Abe had no idea Van layed down exactly like him so i took a picture.  Van mimmicks everything we say and do.  And he likes to dance. 

We also spent a couple days at Bear Lake but i don't have pictures yet so stay tuned......

July

July was the most exciting month of the summer for us! Van is 21 months and Lyza is 7 months in these pictures.  By the way it has been great not being pregnant and tired this summer since i was the last two summers. Although with two wee little ones it's not like we were running all over town doing fun activities everyday.  Mostly we stay home during the day so they can get their naps in and we have house projects we are slowly plugging away at not too mention the daily chores to keep up with so this house doesn't look like a hurricane came through it.  Oh wait, actually one did. Hurricane Van hits daily.  Looking at this picture it's hard to believe those kids came from the same parents. 

We drove to San Clemente, California and stayed at some condos Abe's parents had rented.  We spent most everyday relaxing at the beach enjoying the sun, the water, boogie boarding, ice cream cones, and walks down the beach.  It was great.  Van and Lyza couldn't get enough of the sand and loved playing with their cousins.  After a day at the beach Van looked pretty tired and dirty as you can see.

On one afternoon we went to the Del Mar race track and watched the horses.  We all really loved this experience because it was a pretty big thrill to see those horses race by.  We could stand down right next to the track.  We let Van pick a horse and placed a $2 bet and he won.  Hopefully we didn't start a gambling addiction, but it's definitely more fun to place a bet on a horse and see if they win.  All part of the adrenaline rush i guess.

These are some of my favorite pictures we took at the San Diego Zoo.  We spent the day there and saw a lot of cool animals and the kids really enjoyed it.  However it was our second time going and i don't think we need to go and fight the crowds and heat again for a very long time.  It was nice to spend the whole week together and it was even nicer to get back home to our own house and sleep in our beds.

June

June here in Utah hard a tough time getting going.  It stayed cool for a long time but fortunately we still got some fun in with a trip to St. George.  Abe and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary on June 23rd and went out to dinner at the Painted Pony.  The food was delicious.  A litttle on the pricier side but the quality was really good and we went on a wednesday which was lady's night so my dinner was free, and then our server spilled my water on me which warranted a free dessert.  Abe and I had a really nice time and good conversation.  We decided that we would go ahead and sign on for another year.  After all we had 2 pretty great kids who were back at the condo with Abe's parents (who we were staying with and we so kind to babysit).  We then went for a little walk to let our dinner settle and headed back to the condo and all went for a dip in the pool. On that trip Pops(abe's dad), who is an avid bird watcher, started Van's obsession with birds.  It started just with books and then in the evening we went outside to watch the birds and Van caught on pretty quick.  He still points our birds everywhere we go.

Lyza really loved the water too.  And she even floated on her own...all that blubber :) (just kidding) She was 6 months and 18 lbs even and began sitting up really well on her own at that point.

We also took a little drive up into Little Cottonwood Canyon and walked along a trail and Van threw rocks in the little stream.  Of course Lyza just rode along and smiled a lot.  She's pretty easy going as long as we don't leave her out.  She is definitely a keeper with her blue eyes and round cheeks.

May

In May we walked in the Race For The Cure.  If you haven't ever done this i highly recommend it.  It was emotional to see soooo many people there and many had pictures and names on the backs of their shirts of women they were walking/running for.  The street was so packed i don't think i could have ran with a stroller even if i wanted to. 

My mom was on The Price Is Right and won a Ping Pong table so we had a little party to watch her TV deput and commemorate the biggest and most expensive thing she has ever won. I also took the kids to see my Grandma's farm and all the cows.  I loved visiting the farm when i was growing up, but now it's kind of falling apart and just isn't the same.

My friend Susan Adams and her husband Curt left for Moldova to join the Peace Corp for 27 months.  GO Susie and Curt! 

And mostly i just took a lot of pictures of the kids together.  Lyza was 5 months and Van was 19 months.

April

Abe shot a turkey and was very proud.  Van also learned to say Turkey thanks to the exerience.  Most people wouldn't put their kids that close to a wild, although dead, animal....but that's not the first time and probably won't be the last that is done at this house.