November

November has been good to us. I think the kids are still on a sugar high from Halloween. We've had a busy 2 weeks, but they have been full of happy and funny moments amid the chaos of everyday life. 

We were so, so happy to have a special visit from Mamma and Bampa! Bampa was only here for one day, but Mamma has been around for a couple of weeks. We had so much fun visiting with them. We spent a wonderful afternoon at the park and then Mamma and Bampa endured a ridiculous game of Charades with us in the evening. We hate that they live so far away now, but we love when they visit us!!

 Adam decided to become an author. He started writing a book this month and has spent several evenings working on it. He said things get exciting in chapter 5!

 Mommy got to run away for a weekend and attend the Pinner's Conference. It was so fun to get a little break from everyday life and take several classes that will help me be a better person and a better mom. This weekend rejuvenates my soul and gets my creative juices flowing again. I love it! 

 While Mommy was gone, Daddy and the kids met up with Mamma and some of their cousins at Nickel City and the Zoo. The kids were so happy to see their cousins. Daddy said Caleb was amazed by everything.

 We have been soaking in all the final beautiful days of fall. Our river trail is gorgeous this time of year and we have loved spending our evenings walking through the crunchy leaves. 

 Playing Pooh Sticks

 Tessa found a T stick.

Life is never dull with Gwen around. She did her own make-up for church last week. 

 Tom the Turkey made his annual appearance last week. The kids are excited to see how many feathers he will have by Thanksgiving. 

 We met up with Ma, Pa, Aunt Katy, Uncle Ben, Uncle Matt, Aunt Gillian and Baby Gia to see the Peanuts movie. While the movie was darling, our favorite part was listening to Adam laugh through the entire movie. He has the best laugh! Tessa cried at the end because she said it was romantic.

 We had our first snowfall and Gwen couldn't have been more happy!

 She got all suited up and made snow angels. She waited all winter last year for snow so she could make a snow angel. 

 Then she ran around the backyard yelling, "This is so magical!!" I wish it had snowed more for her. She was so happy!

The other afternoon, I caught Tessa walking outside in this amazing outfit. I asked her what she was doing all dressed up and she replied, "Oh, just going outside to impress the boys." Oh my heavens! And so it begins.....

 Mommy and Tess got to have a fun Mother/Daughter Date with some shopping and dessert. We had such a fun time together and got a little crazy once we got some chocolate in us. 

 Saturday morning, Ma was nice enough to come and play with the kids so Mommy and Daddy could go to the temple. It was so nice to be in such a peaceful place and have our spirits recharged. 

 Saturday afternoon was beautiful, so we headed to the park for some fun. Caleb loves to slide!

 These boys are the best! I love watching Adam play with Caleb. He is such a good big brother and Caleb loves any and all attention he gets from Adam. 

Goodbye October

October was good to us and we are a little sad to see it go. Here are some fun moments captured from the last few days of October. 

Caleb finally conquered the stairs! He can go down them as fast as he can go up them and he is loving his new found freedom! The rest of us are loving not having to hurdle a baby gate. Caleb loves to be with the big kids. He loves playing with his big brother!

 The kids and I have enjoyed some beautiful sunrises on our way to school. We live in such a beautiful place!

 Mommy finally got to go to a football game with Daddy. It was fun to cheer on our Cougars and we got Cupbop for lunch. Mommy's new favorite food!

 Gwen's sense of style just gets better and better. Last Sunday she insisted on wearing her sparkly red shoes to church. Her argument was, "But everybody loves them!" Thankfully, her Nursery leaders think she's hilarious. 

 Adam is just a good, good boy. He spends so much time on Sunday's learning new scripture stories. He is fascinated by the Old Testament. 

 I love these moments. It's times like this, when I have all my babies around me, that I wish I could freeze time. And then someone starts poking someone else and the screaming begins and the peaceful moment is gone. But, those sweet 5 minutes somehow energize me as a mother and make me want to try harder to be better for them. 

 We are lucky that all of our kids love to read. Caleb is no exception. He is always carrying books to people to read to him. It's nice to have other readers in the house so they can help me with this. Tessa loves to read to him.

 Gwen wanted a turn to tell her version of the Chocolate Chip Ghost Story. She practiced in the kitchen before she told it to everyone. 

 Our neighbors tree is infested with ladybugs. We have found several around our yard and a couple in our house! Gwen found one in the kitchen. She had a lovely little chat with our ladybug visitor. "Hello, Ladybug. How are you? How did you get in my house?"

 Tessa was beyond excited last week when she lost tooth #2!!  The tooth fairy came again and she got another dollar. She has a dentist appointment this week and can't wait to show the dentist that her teeth are finally falling out. She's pretty sure the dentist is going to be so happy to hear this news!

A Happy Halloween!

We had such a fun Halloween this year. We had lots of family at our house to celebrate with us and that made it all the more fun. I wanted to get some pictures of the kids in their costumes before they went trick or treating. We headed to our beautiful sports park, where the colors are gorgeous right now. Caleb was not all all in the mood for pictures, so our Curious George played his part well and was very uncooperative. But they sure looked cute together! 

We were so thankful for all of Aunt Dee's hard work on the kids costumes this year. Gwen has been living in her Little Red Riding Hood costume. 

Adam and Caleb were just adorable together. They both share a love for the show "Curious George" and having them dress up as those characters was so fun. We got so many compliments on how great they looked. Love these boys of mine!

Tessa fell in love with wolves this summer and has been so excited to be a wolf for Halloween. Gwen told us months ago that she wanted to be Little Red Riding Hood for Halloween and then informed us that Aunt Dee was going to make her costume. Well, Aunt Dee delivered and made Gwen the most darling Red Riding Hood costume. Both girls were so happy with their costumes and had a fabulous Halloween!

Gwen and Tessa enlisted Mom and Dad to dress up as characters from their story. Daddy was the hunter and Mommy was the grandmother. The kids had so much fun trick or treating! They got way too much candy and they will probably be eating it until Christmas. 

Matt, Gillian, and Gia were Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and Woodstock. They were darling!

After trick or treating, everybody came back to the house and we watched Topper Returns and went into sugar coma's. A great ending to a fun Halloween.