Welcome to our World

Our local Children's Museum was a life saver. After being used to going to the park for so long we all had a case of cabin fever so Grandma Karyl helped me take my 3 to this wonderful place full of activities. We should go more often! Kaelah's favorite part was the wind room, Danny's favorite part was the jeep, & Michelle's favorite part was the toy train set. I assume Grandma's favorite part was the other Grandmas & my favorite part was not just being able to pay attention to my children instead of listening to the dishes in my kitchen calling my name. Actually, the real reason why we went on this certain Friday was because my oven really needed to self-clean & I didn't want us to be around the smell for 4 hours. (;

Grandpa helping prepare the pumpkin from our garden for dinner in a pumpkin. He is the tidiest mess-maker I know & is always good about cleaning up after. Here is Kaelah trying to clean up all the Tide laundry detergent she spread all around the laundry room & kitchen. I think this was the 3rd largest mess our home had since after #1: when the washing machine flooded the basement & #2: we replaced all the carpeting in our home. Danny having a good ol' time with his Go&Grow formula. All I can say, I'm glad he's fully on whole milk now. And his big sister helped me get up there. Just like she helps get to the treats above the microwave. But that's okay because he taught her how to get around all our child safety latches that have lovely things like cleaning supplies & make-up hidden behind them. Grrr. And don't think this little lady doesn't know how to create her fair share. lol.

We're so lucky our trips to the park lasted clear into December. There was many a moment when Danny could be found chasing squirrels... or trying to figure out how to push Michelle. Look at how nicely all these children are sharing the sand toys! Thank goodness for winter clothes and bouncy bridges. Look at Michelle, everybody! She's growing up way too fast. (; No wonder "the ball" is in the toy hall of fame. When Kaelah saw this picture earlier today she laughed heartily. FUNNY story: Kaelah used a green cup intended for making towers as a cup & a funnel as a lid. Saying she wanted to make pop, she asked me to find a straw. I found a little stick & put it in there. Showing her approval, she gleefully said, "Look Danny! Pop!" and handed it to him. Delighted, he tried to drink through the stick. Noticing that didn't work, he took off the lid & drank SAND! He was so upset & I tried so hard to finger sweep it out of his mouth for...

Michelle's 1st Thanksgiving! She & I had the most to be thankful for this year. Mostly because she & I were the only ones in the family who didn't get sick. After all that throwing up, it may be a while before we want to travel to Utah in the winter again. I'm just so grateful we arrived in safety. On the way through Wyoming I was very grateful for car heaters & AWD... and that I don't live there. P.S. Click on the photo to go to the Picasa photo album of 15 photos if you wish.

My 17-month-old son has turned into quite the little helper. He would like to help with anything & everything you let him. Here's an example of him taking out the recycling: Lately I just keep thinking, "Are you sure you're not even 1 & a half yet?" He is becoming such a little man & there is no wonder why everyone at the park assumes he's already two years old. I think part of it is having a big sister to show him the ropes, but part of it is simply that he's physically mature for his age. Amazing.

Here are a few highlights from last month: My dad, Dan & I ran in our very first Turkey Trot. The weather was as nice as you could ask for & we had a really fun time. The guys were only a couple spots away from prizes in their age group. I was quite proud of them. We all walked home excited to do it again next year. I loved the feeling of community it provided. Dads cheering on their little girls & boys was also a great thing to see. "Do you think you can make it to that stop sign?" has never sounded so loving as from some of the families I eavesdropped on. Our annual raking of the leaves. I liked this one b/c Kaelah is jumping, Dan is dancing, & it looks like Meigo just finished something up. ha ha. Our almost daily trips to the park have been reduced to about once a week due to weather conditions. An indoor activity all the children enjoy (& have to be supervised at to reduce fighting) is the fishing game we were given. I have no idea why on t...

What a loooong Halloween weekend it was. I was really glad when it was over. However, I was also really glad to see the inside of Dan's new work and meet the people he spends all day with. (Dan didn't show me his cubicle at his former workplace until he knew he was leaving & I razzed him for it. Yes, that took 6.5 years. I guess I am not as good at nagging as I thought.) Since this is a rather new satalite of the main company, most of his co-workers are in the same age range as us, so it was a blast to see A BUNCH of little children trick-or-treating to the cubicles. We had to watch Danny boy closely... he was very interested in the computers and equipment (& the little guy was a mess of sticky goo too). I promise my butterfly was having a great time -- she just doesn't like strangers taking pictures. Oh, & she has a wonderful friend from Le Leche League that she has been playing with all summer that she didn't recognize at all because it was out of ...

Every fall Grandpa helps us take the entire family to the pumpkin patch/carnival by my parents' apartment complex. It is certainly one of the reasons I look forward to October every year. These pictures tell most of the story for me. Kaelah had even more fun this year because her good friend from nursery was there too. I couldn't believe the things she was willing to try & have a blast doing simply by going along with her adventurous gal pal.

I think it is a safe bet to say Kaelah's favorite holiday is Halloween. She is getting so excited to go trick-or-treating again. One time is all it took -- she's hooked on the idea! Here's a picture of her showing off the fall decorations she made with Grandma Karyl at Discovery Days. Last Friday we had a Halloween cookie decorating party. My children were very happy. Except when it came time to clean up Michelle. In this picture it looks like she knows there is a washcloth headed her way soon. This was my feeble attempt at getting a picture of the people at the party & their creations. My ceiling just isn't tall enough above the dinning room table. Thanks to the E. family & the future H. family for joining us! It wouldn't have been as much fun without you!

You didn't think I could be a slave driver the entire week, did you? Luckily a free day at the zoo came smack dab in the middle of the week to provide some fun for the entire family. The baby giraffes were so cute. See? You can tell by how my family is staring at them. Well, except for Dan. I've trained him to smile at the camera. lol. With 4 adults we decided to take both strollers along. Here is Danny checking on Michelle in her stroller after they began giggling at each other. It is wonderful to see them becoming friends. (They both already adore Kaelah, if I haven't mentioned that before.) Strolling right along. (I'm humming "moving right along" by Kermit the frog in my head right now.) What a great daddy! The African penguins were quite entertaining. Can you tell Kaelah was having too much fun to bother smiling at the camera? Behind Kaelah & Grandma Nita you can see the construction of the new area of the zoo. This week I got really excite...