Thirty, Flirty, and Thriving

My husband turned the big 3-0. Where or where has the time gone?? I can remember when my parents were 30! Anyways, the kids and I are just so lucky to have such a great father and husband in our lives. He is such a thoughtful hubby, always helping and making me smile. He is a hands on dad who makes the kids laugh non stop. He is the whole package, and our family would not be the family it is without him.

This year he really didn't want to do much but stay home for his birthday. We hung out around the house and got deep dish Chicago style pizza for dinner (his one request.) We had cake after, and Jen, Jer, and Kohen stopped by to say hi and give him a sweet card. It wasn't glamorous but it was a wonderful day!

One More Makes Four...

...is our blog title but also the age Dawson turned on November 12th! I just can't believe how big he is! Four has proven to be a fun age. While there are still some time outs and occasional listening problems; Dawson is a fun, talkative, imaginative, 100% boy. He loves helping out. He loves being a big brother. He pretends all the time. He loves being funny....making faces, silly voices, telling jokes. He is a total Momma's boy but his Dad's little buddy. He could care less about food, it's something that interrupts his play time unless it's candy. He is still small, weighing in at 31 pounds, putting him in the 5th percentile I think. We love this little guy to pieces.

For his birthday this year we did some fun activities on his birthday day and a kids party the next. Friday was his birthday and we did our usual traditions. He woke up to his door decorated all pirate themed. We had his favorite breakfast, cinnamon rolls. After lunch and naps we went to Build a Bear so he could make his birthday bear. This year he chose an army one with an army outfit. After we went to McDonalds (his pic) with Jen, Jer, and the Olsen/Jeseperson clan for a birthday dinner. The net day we had his pirate themed party with a dozen of his friends. They got pirate hats and eye patches and searched for buried treasure. He loved every minute of it and still asks me when it's gonna be his birthday again. Sorry buddy, you still have 10 months.

Lisa's Baptism

My sister Lisa came out here beginning of June because she wasn't doing the greatest and didn't have the best of influences friend-wise in her life. She stayed for 3 weeks, then my fam came out to visit. She was gonna go back home with them, but felt she should stay longer. About a month and a half later the missionaries came over for dinner and she decided to learn more. After that was a series of ups and downs for her, she looks back now and says she knew it was right but fought it because she was scared to change. Eventually after some neat experiences she decided to get baptized. I was totally shocked! She got baptized October 23rd and it was an awesome service. I felt the Spirit so strong and I could see how happy and at peace she was. Afterwards we had a nice luncheon, and she got some neat gifts. Still to this day I am so surprised and happy at how much she is changed, she has such a glow about her. It was such a cool experience. I love you, Lis!

October Thrills and Chills

I absolutely love all the fun Halloween festivities they have around here in October. The kiddos and I take full advantage of them to get out of the house and do something different!

1. Breakfast with a Witch- This was a first for us, and definitely not a last. Gardner Village serves up a delicious breakfast of french toast, fruit, eggs, hashbrowns, bacon, sausage, juice, and hot cocoa all the while witches walk around and chat and mingle with you. The kids get a paper for the witches to autograph, and at the end they do some fun songs, dances, and performances.


2. Witches Night Out- Every year I go, every year I love. This year was another great girls night with Tammy, Brandy, Cassidy, and my sister Lisa. Don't we make a fun batch of witches? PS Tammy and Lisa even got brave and danced up on stage!

3. Cornbelly's- We had never been before because it's a bit pricey, but this year they did a season pass on groupons for $12 so I decided to take advantage of it and get us tickets (a normal one day was $8!) We went 3 or 4 times and it was just a fun Halloween activity for the kids. They had so much to do there....big jumping pillows, slides, corn mazes, dress up, a cow train, etc. etc. Lisa and Chris even did the haunted corn maze one night and had a good spook!



4. Monster Bash- For the second year in a row my friends Summer, Stacy, and I threw a neighborhood Halloween party for the little kids around. Everyone brings food to share and we play games, do crafts, and the moms get to chat as the kids run around like crazy! I thought they were a pretty cute bunch!

5. Pumpkin Carving- The Jesperson/Olsen clan invited us to have a FHE/pumkpin carving night. Brandy gave a cute lesson called the chocolate chip ghost and we then carved our pumkpins. Here are the pics of our work and some of our own cute lil' pumpkins in our lives.

6. Halloween Parties/Trick or Treating- Our ward did their annual Chili Cookoff and Trunk or Treat on Saturday the 30th. There was so much yummy food! The weather on the other hand was not so yummy, and so we had the trunk or treat inside. Despite the cold Dawson and Chris did some door to door trick or treating after as well. On Sunday the 31st Tammy threw her annual Halloween Party where costumes are a must. Chris was a patient and I was the nurse. I got brave and made the kiddos costumes this year- Peter Pan and Tinkerbell. I am really thinking I will have to take advantage of the themed costumes while I can!

The Start of Fall

Well, considering i have catch up to do from September and on, I better start blogging again, huh? Here is a quick review of what we did the end of summer/start of fall time!

1. Park City- We like to take advantage of the cheap deals you can get in Park City during the off season of summer/fall and rent a condo for a couple of nights and just RELAX. We played games, ate food, shopped outlets, went to the slides, and had our friends the Andrus' up for a day to hang out. It was fabulous and so nice to get away for the weekend!



2. Dawson Starts Preschool- Yep, we have a preschooler and he LOVES it. He gets so excited whenever he goes and has learned so much already. He is so good at writing his letters and now writes his name. His love of drawing has taken off too. I can't believe he is so big!

3. T-Ball- Dawson did a season of t-ball during the fall and had a lot of fun. He loved hitting the ball and running bases. Outfield? A little too boring for him. The majority of the time he was out in the field he was digging in the dirt not paying any attention. Why bother when you have a gigantic sand box to play in, right? At the end of the season their coach bought them pizza and handed out trophies which Dawson thought was the coolest thing ever.


4. The Circus- Christopher and I plus the kiddos went with Jen, Jer, and Kohen to the circus back in September. It had all the classics of lions, elephants, tight rope walkers, clowns, and trapeze but I think the coolest thing was at the end when we left and we were walking down the sidewalk we had to stop so the elephants could cross. They were literally right there 6 feet away from us! I don't know if I ever saw Dawson's eyes so big!


5. BYU Football Games- Football season hit and D and Chris went to all the home games with his dad and Cameron. I am so glad the boys can have this tradition and that Dawson gets to spend quality time with his dad. One of the games we got free tickets and Lisa, Emerson, and I tagged along. It was fun and Lis got hit on by Cosmo....he stroked her hair and said call me, ha!


6. Misc.- Here are some random pics of the fam that I like!