Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving at our cabin in North Carolina again this year. This time Jon, Vanessa, Keilana, and Kayden were able to be there too (they were in Utah last year)! It was a full house, and with my mom being sick and a new baby in the mix, we didn't have our act together quite as well as we would have liked. We forgot to make gravy, and never even took our cranberry sauce and jello salad out of the fridge to eat! But we still had a great time, a delicious dinner, and were thankful to all be together!

Tyler is thankful for (in his words): toys, food, candy, being able to play outside and inside, his home, and his family.

Allison is thankful for (in her words): being with Mommy, the couch(?), her toys, her plates and cups, Daddy, and her brothers.

After dinner, we attempted to get a Thanksgiving family picture. It didn't quite go as planned...

Take 1: Too bad Allison closed her eyes.

Take 2: And now Tyler looks like he had a bit too much turkey to eat.

Take 3: Now it all just looks a bit forced.

Take 4: A GREAT shot...but um, where's Daddy?!

Take 5: Daddy's back, but now Ryan's fussy, the kids are obviously done, and I give up...

*Keep scrolling for another chatch-up post!*

Halloween

This picture was actually taken at our Trunk-or-Treat. Ryan was only 3 weeks old, but we didn't want to miss it. The only downside to the night was that it was raining out, so it wasn't a true TRUNK-or-Treat. Instead, all the adults set up camp around the hallways of the church building with thier bowls of candy, then the kids went around collecting it in assembly line fashion. Honestly, I'm sure the kids could have cared less. They were only concerned with making sure their pumpkins got filled with candy, and that they did! I actually took other pictures of the candy-collecting madness, but none turned out very well due to packed and cramped hallways and poor lighting.
After doing our first Halloween themed dinner last year, Vanessa and I vowed to get an earlier start on it this year so that Trick-or-Treating could happen before 8:00! We did really well, and I think we were Trick-or-Treating by 6:00! Here are some pictures of our dinner. Everything was the same this year except for the dessert. To save on time, we decided to make these super cute and easy spider web cupcakes instead of the graveyard desserts we did last year.

Trick-or-Treating was quite fun even if it was cold and drizzly out. It took quite a bit of effort to find Tyler's requested costume this year. Unless you're going for TMNT, turtle costumes are VERY hard to come by. I had to search ebay, and got outbit on quite a few others before finally finding this one with a "buy it now" option. He was one happy little boy the day it arrived!

Allison is still obsessed with Disney Princesses (especially Cinderella), and I really thought I wouldn't be able to convince her to be anything else. However, when I dug out our box of costumes, Allison was in awe over this butterfly. I think it helped that it is her most favorite color! She was so fun to watch this year. She showed a little reservation when she went up to the first house. She said "it's spooky" and then stayed back to watch all the other kids go to the door to collect their treats. When she saw they made it back in one piece, she decided to go for it. The third picture shows her reaction after getting her very first treat at that house. She was so proud of herself and exclaimed, "I trick-uh-treating!" The rest of the night she kept saying "I LOVE Trick-uh-Treating!"

My little Tiger had to go Trick-or Treating too of course! He was bundled quite nicely, and stayed very warm next to Mommy. (He was also covered with a blanket the whole time except to take the picture!)

I added this next picture for a couple of reasons. First of all, it's really the only picture that I got that shows what the back of Tyler's costume looks like. Second, it was quite comical to watch the kids racing up the walkway to this house until they turned the corner and were faced by the spooky guy standing at the top of the steps. They stopped dead in their tracks and after a few moments, proceded with extreme caution. That's why Allison can't even be seen in this shot. She was the most cautious of them all!

The last couple houses we went too ended the night with a bang. The kids got hooked up with glow in the dark bracelets AND necklaces! Here they are showing them off.

It was a great ending to a fun night!

*Keep scrolling for yet another chatch-up post!*

How to Carve a Pumpkin

**Pumpkin carving directions courtesy of Tyler and Allison.**

First you have to cut the top part off.

Next you have to "scarf" (Allison's word for scrape) inside with the "Scoopiger" (Tyler's word for the scooper).

And take the seeds out.

And scarf some more!

Then you have to check your scooping and scarfing progress.

After the pumpkin is all cleaned out, you tape the pattern on the pumpkin and poke holes to make the outline.

Then it's time to carve it!

Remember to be careful with the knife.

And TA-DA....

Apples

Tyler wanted to show off his ENORMOUS apple he picked out at Hillcrest Orchards. And of course Allison couldn't be left out!

**Keep scrolling for another catch-up post!**

Pumpkin Patch

The 2nd weekend in October we decided to make our annual trip to Bert's Pumpkin Farm. It was a super cold, windy day. Unfortunately, this meant that little Ryan couldn't be in any of the pictures. He was only 2 weeks old at the time and so we kept him nicely bundled up in his car seat while he slept. I couldn't even talk myself into taking the blanket off the top of the seat to pose him with a cute little pumkpin or anything. We also didn't get a family shot that day either. We talked about going back, but haven't made it yet. At least I got a few pictures of the kids to prove we went this year!

This picture doesn't do the cool green color of Tyler's pumpkin any justice, and actually this isn't even the one he ended up keeping, but it's quite similar.

It was a challenge to get pictures of Allison. She wanted to be bundled up in her Daddy's arms instead. But I ended up with a couple cute ones.

By the time I was able to get one of the two of them together, Allison would only give me cheese smiles...

Then Tyler wanted in on the fun...

**Keep scrolling for another catch-up post!**

North Georgia State Fair

On September 27 (the day after my due date), we made our yearly trip to the fair. We went on this specific day with intentions of putting Allison and Kayden in the Beautiful Baby Contest, but didn't get there in time. Oh well, we know they are beautiful anyway! :) Luckily, on the same night, there was a special for the kids to ride unlimited rides for $18. A GREAT deal considering you normally have to pay at least $2-3 per ride (that last MAYBE a minute at most). Of course the kids had a blast!
Here's Allison enjoying some of the rides...

And some of the ones Tyler enjoyed most...

And before we could leave that night, we HAD to win this blow-up squeaking dolphin. Tyler had his eye on it the whole night, and I kept putting it off. I hoped he would eventually forget about it and we wouldn't have to put our life savings into winning one of them. Not so much. So Billy and I took him over in an effort to prove just how UNfair these fair games are. It turned out to be one of those mallet games where you have to make the piece of metal fly up and hit the bell at the top. The guy in charge let Tyler have a trial and it BARELY left the base of the contraption. I showed him how far it really had to go in order to win, but he just KNEW he could do it. Who am I to smash all his dreams, right? So when he had his real chance (after mom and dad forked over $5 for the blasted thing), it didn't go much farther than the first time. However, the kind fair worker immediately reached down with his hand and shot it to the top making the bell ring and then yelled, "WE HAVE A WINNER!" Tyler was exstatic. Thanks for proving me wrong Mr. Kind Fair Worker Guy.

When it Rains, it POURS...literally and figuratively

We have had a crazy amount of rain here for the past few days, and today it all came to a head! Since our creek had already been sounding like the rapids of the Mississippi River, I knew this was bound to happen...

All it took was non-stop rain through the entire night and morning for it to start to pour across our driveway and yard!
Immediately upon waking up this morning, Allison comments "I hear the rain. Let me go see." So she goes to the window and is silent as she peers out for a few moments. Then she comments again, "Wook Mommy, it's a waterfall!" Sure enough...

So we have a river in our front yard...
and the makings of a lake in the back!

We're actually very blessed that, even with all this rain, we have minimal water in our basement, and are really only having to deal with some very annoying leaks in our sunroom. If you've ever considered owning a house with a sunroom - DON'T!

Even though the water damage isn't too excessive for us, we have had it "pouring" in other areas. On Friday evening, we were out running errands in the Blazer. It kept making terrible popping sounds in the front everytime Billy turned it, and he told me that the front end was going to need some work. Well, that work has come sooner than we would have liked. Upon arriving home, Billy was backing up to park when all of a sudden there was one final LOUD pop, and then the front end on the driver's side hit the ground! The tire had broken off, and there we sat. Needless to say, we said a prayer of thanks for our safety that night. We were very blessed this happened in our driveway rather than while we were going down the freeway at 70+ mph!

Only problem now is, we are down one car until all this rain stops so that Billy is able to fix it! Let's hope this baby doesn't decide to make his debut while I'm at home carless! Fun times!

Almost Here!

My most favorite season and my fall baby will be here before I know it! Fall officially starts on Tuesday, and my little man is due in less than a week!
I just love fall and everything that comes with it - the colorful falling leaves that eventually crunch under my feet, the cooler, crisp weather, pumpkins, candy apples...I could go on and on. And what to make it even more special this year than our new addition! Although it may take longer than a week for him to actually make his debut, I am getting so anxious to meet and hold him and see what he looks like.
Last Monday at my doctor visit, I was MAYBE dilated to 1 cm, so not much progress. I have my weekly appointment scheduled for tomorrow, so we'll see if anything has changed. I'm not holding my breath though. This is a very typical pattern with my pregnancies. I'm sure this little guy would just take up permanent residence inside me like Tyler and Allison both wished to do. So if he doesn't decide to get here on his own before October 2, an induction will be planned once again. Not what I would like to have happen, but what do you do? I'll keep you posted!

Fall Leaves

I think I've said it before, but Fall is my most favorite season. One of the biggest reasons for this is the beautiful showcase of leaves that show up this time of year in the south. There is just something very special and nostalgic to me about colorful, rustling leaves. I absolutely love watching them fall from the trees and float down to blanket the ground. And of course Fall wouldn't be complete without the chance to play in them! We have taken the opportunity on a couple occasions to do just that!

Here are Tyler and Allison enjoying the leaves (and the tree they fell from) at the cabin:

This picture really doesn't do them justice, but the mountains (yes, those are mountains to us) are just so beautiful this time of year! Tyler is watching an airplane pass by.

These next pictures were taken last Sunday after a special Stake Conference that was held. We got to enjoy both a talk given by Elder Snow from the Seventy and these beautiful leaves on the front lawn of the Stake Center.

Our adorable princess.

Lana and Allison running through the crunchy leaves.

Our handsome little man.

Tyler, Kayden, and Uncle Jon getting ready for a leaf fight!