HAWAII

So, Dusty and I are in Hawai'i! We came with a bunch of people he works with and are having a marvelous time. So far, we have been to the beach a few times, a beautiful hike, Pearl Harbor, shopping, and eating at various local joints. We can't believe that it is really December since we got sunburned yesterday and Dusty had his first experience snorkeling. I am missing my kids a ton right now though, I really want to see them...only a few more days of ocean and warm breezes, then we can go back to paradise at home!

This is the view from our bedroom.

The summit of the Hauula Loop Trail.

The Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor (my favorite thing so far!).

Halloween and Writing

After my last post, I was all fired up about blogging more often. Once a month just isn't enough! But, then life happens and all the sudden it is the middle of November and here we are. Dusty has been putting some long hours in the last few months, and we are excited to see more of him. We had a great Halloween with great weather, and we only had to go around the block to get loaded up on candy.

The Three Cowboys!

Riley's sunbeam teacher gave him this awesome mustache! Riley are Carter both thought they were awesome even if they tasted awful.

Riley is loving preschool. He knows the Pledge of Allegiance, lots of letters, and comes home knowing something new each day. We have been working on writing his name and he is getting pretty good as you can see from the pictures.

Carter wants to be like Riley in almost everything. So I "taught" him to write the letter Y. Amazingly, he actually wrote a few by himself just under the sticker. He must be a genius!

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!

My Missing Purse

So last night at 10:15 we realized that we didn't have anymore contact solution, so Dusty asked me to run to the store to pick some up. I went to get my purse from the hook and it wasn't there. I looked all over the house and couldn't find it. I looked in the car and then I came back in to look some more. The more I looked the madder I got because I couldn't find my purse anywhere. By the time Dusty finally got up to help me look I was really mad...really, really mad. I had no idea where that purse was. Dusty asked me, "Did you have some candy or treats in your purse?" Ding! I remembered that I had some cinnamon gum, which is Riley's favorite, and he saw me get him a piece from my purse earlier in the evening. Riley said to me, "Oh, that is where I should have looked for that gum." Fast forward back to 10:20 and I remember seeing this...

...and wondering why the tote was there. So, I ran downstairs and pulled the tote away and this is what I found...

Riley had taken my purse and hid it so that in the future, when he wanted some cinnamon gum, he could get it whenever he wanted. Just thought I would share this funny little story. Have a great day!

Our Summer

I have figured out why I don't blog very often. Of course there is the fact that nobody reads this, but the biggest reason is that I don't feel like we do anything "blog worthy." Looking back at the pictures, we totally do. We go and do fun things all the time; but when I think about sitting down and writing on the blog, my mind goes blank. I don't write anything inspirational. I rarely write anything touching or really personal. This is just my life. We work in the garden and yard, play/visit with friends, clean the house, go visit with extended family, hang out as a family, and simply enjoy each others company. To many, there is nothing glamorous or exciting about our life. And to be honest, I probably feel that way more often that not but we are happy. I enjoy my life and feel very blessed to have such incredible kids and an amazing husband to go through life with. I am seriously lucky!

Now, on to the pictures...I will explain as I go.

Carter and Riley at the airplane museum in Rexburg. They really enjoyed walking around the hanger looking at all the planes. Riley loves the yellow plane and Carter gravitated to the old truck. They really liked the old fire truck but I didn't post the pictures because I let them sit in it to take a picture...pretty sure I wasn't supposed to do that. :)

Riley turned 4!!! Can't believe this little twerp is already 4 and going to pre-school. He had a cowboy boot cake that was super easy and delicious and yes, Riley was really excited and took a big bite out of the cake before we could cut it.

He is so cute!

Playing at Bear Lake.

Carter's 10 min yoga pose at Bear Lake.

Carter on the carousel during the Payson Onion Days Carnival.

This is literally my favorite picture of the summer. They had so much fun on this ride!

Running in the sprinklers. Love this picture as well!

Carter running through the sprinklers.

We also went camping with Dusty's family and are currently working on potty training Carter (YIKES!)

Happy Fall!

Photography

Recently I have decided to start trying to do some photography. I really enjoy doing it and I have a pretty good camera. I have asked my neighbors and friends if they wanted me to take some family pictures and this is my first family session. The Morgan Family!

The whole family.

Della

Claire

Also, here are pictures of my totally cute kids. They are getting really big...just ask Carter and he will tell you at least five times. It is usually the first thing he tells people. Riley is getting even more sassy and has a wild imagination. He comes up with some great stories.

Carter

Riley

A picture is worth a thousand words...

Enough said.

Riley has planted this "tree" in our backyard...

He waters it religiously. Everyday he wants to go out and water that "tree". So, I decided to make it a candy tree. I went to the store and bought some candy and tied it on the tree today. Of course I didn't get the reaction I wanted. He was excited but not surprised. Of course he knew all along that the tree grew candy...how didn't I know this. What else would the tree grow but candy! This tree will grow candy throughout the summer and might even come inside during the winter just to add some excitement to the long winter days.

This is just a fun picture...having a brother must be awesome. Sitting in a wagon full of dirt...doesn't get much better than this.

Lately...

I just wanted to post some pictures of the boys from the last few weeks. We are doing pretty good but we would be doing better if it wasn't so cold!

You can't tell from the picture very well but Carter is giving me the "thumbs up" but he was using his pointer finger. He wants to be like Riley in the next picture.

Riley helping his Dad. He is so proud of himself.

This picture is for Grandma...I told you they love the bow ties.

Nothing comes to mind...

I am not sure what to write in this post. It has been awhile, so I am writing. We have had two wonderful days of warm and sunny weather. We have spent both of those days outside riding bikes, playing with friends (both old and new), and playing at the park. Those days have been glorious! Too bad it didn't last. The pictures with this post are just of the boys. I realized I hadn't taken pictures of them in a while and they are in desperate need to new pictures on their wall. So, we headed down to Main St. here in Payson and had a photo shoot. They were terrible. They wouldn't hold still or kept pulling funny faces. The shots of them together were ridiculous...the one posted is the only usable shot and it isn't very good but it was pretty fun and I did get some great shots. It helps that they are completely adorable! I hope that everyone is having a great day!

Carter's Birthday

Carter is officially two years old.

Where has the time gone?

It seems like only yesterday he was throwing up on me constantly, actually taking a nap, and always needing a new diaper.

Now, he is always hungry, has an attitude, and thinks he is three like Riley.

We had a good day though he didn't really understand what was going on.

His party didn't quite work like I thought. The kids didn't want to play the games (which is fine), and the boys (Isaac, Riley, and Carter) made Claire cry more than once. They wanted her to be a monster and they said they were going to cut her hair. They were just playing of course but obviously boys are really different from girls. I can't believe he is actually two! I love this little guy! He says "Momma" so cute that is make my heart melt. He is a good brother but a terrible snuggler. He is constantly on the move. He is always dirty. He does what we ask about half of the time. He is big for his age. 75% for height, 90% for weight, off the charts for his head size. He is starting to get potty trained (only a little). He wants to help cook dinner every night but the stove is no place for a two year old. He hates holding my hand while we walk through the store, parking lot, street, and basically anywhere else. He especially loves broccoli, potatoes, and bread though any food will do in a pinch. We never have to comb his hair. The only time he will lay by me is if he is going to bed and he only wants me...not Dad but Mom. He has started to say some sentences and knows his colors and some letters. He loves to play with Dad, and by play I mean jump on him. He is really tough, Dusty calls him our little linebacker. I don't know what a linebacker does but he must be really tough. He brings a lot of joy to our home.

Blowing out the candles.

He has just eaten a cupcake...he loves the frosting not the cake.

Riley love cupcakes.

It was a colder day so we played hopscotch inside. It was fun but pulled up some of the poly on the floor which isn't good.

Our friend Isaac.

Kitchen Re-do

I never remember to put these pictures in the right order when I load them so just bear with me.

Riley loves this nasty old alligator head. He chases me around the house with it and it is so gross. For some reason he thought it would be funny to feed the alligator some broccoli and it looks ridiculous, but we got a good chuckle out of it. Riley is pretty funny.

The boys were really quiet one day and I found them like this. Riley is reading a Blues Clues book to Carter since it is Carter's favorite. Oh! They are so cute.

I have finished painting my kitchen. We have been planning on remodeling the kitchen for sometime now, but cabinets are really expensive. So for now, we have re-painted the cabinets and walls. The first picture is adorable, but look at the cabinets...sad, sad, sad.

This is what the cabinets look like now.

The walls are a light green color...called frosted green grape if you were wondering. Oh, and I finally hung up my plate rack my mother gave me for my birthday two years ago. I just noticed that I am going to have to re-cover my seat covers...bummer. Oh, and paint the ceiling. Crap! Anyway, I am really pretty pleased with how it all looks. Yeah!