Red Butte Gardens

On Monday, Carson's class went on a field trip to the Red Butte Gardens in SLC. I was able to go as a chaperon. Nick had the day off since it was Columbus Day, so he was able to stay home with the girls so I could go with Carson. It was a beautiful day....just a little cool, but by lunch time we didn't need a jacket anymore.

I had never been to Red Butte Gardens so I was excited to go. It is up by the U of U in the foot hills and it is BEAUTIFUL!! When we got there they gathered all the kids on the steps before breaking up into groups.
Each group had a tour guide. Our guide was "Arty". I think she is from India. She was very nice!
The view from the gardens is amazing and it would be a very pretty place for a wedding or reception! I am trying to figure out how we can do family pictures there....but I think it would cost too much to get in to do pictures. But it is very pretty there!
We walked around and stopped by a little stream and the kids learned about plants (root, stem, leaves, and other plant talk!).
They even colored their hands green with a leaf. They thought it was pretty cool!
My favorite part was the rainbow trout they had in a pond. They were HUGE!!!!
Carson loved riding the bus! I was supposed to ride with him, but they ended up only having one bus, instead of two, so 6 of us moms had to ride separately. I offered to drive and we just followed the bus.
After the gardens, we went to a park close by to have lunch. We packed PB&J for both Carson and I. It was a fun day and it was so great to spend time with Carson. He is still at a fun age where he will give me hugs and hold my hand (even in front of his friends). He is such a sweet boy and I sure love him!!!!!!

Twins

When I found out last year that we were going to have a baby girl, I remember thinking it would be fun to dress both of my girls in matching clothes. That has yet to happen, until now. I had gotten Alivia's pants when Kaylee was her age from our sister in law, Kelly. Then the other day while at Kid to Kid, I found the same pants, but Kaylee's size now. So I bought them so I could have a matching type outfit for the girls. Here is a picture of them together.

I have been looking for matching PJ's, but I can never find the right sizes, so the search is on! I would like to find some by Christmas. I think finding some matching clothes will be easier when Livy gets just a bit older.

I also wanted to post pictures of what we did last night. We took the kids out to dinner at Pizza Factory here in Bountiful. We had coupons for free kids meals. They loved it, and so did we. Livy was a sweetheart and sat in the high chair for most of dinner. Of course the best part is the breadtwists they serve. Yum!!! Here are some pictures of our night out!
Afterwards, we stopped at Ross to buy some new shoes for the kids. It wasn't anything too exciting, but it is still fun to be together as a family. I am excited for tomorrow since Nick has the day off (Columbus Day) and I am going with Carson on his class field trip to Red Butte Gardens.

What a "JOY"!

Grandma Joy stopped by last night on her way to Choir Practice (She sings in the MoTab). She dropped me off some yummy HoneyCrisp Apples (which were on sale for like 88 cents a lb in Tremonton) and to spend some time with the kids. She was even able to have some home made chicken noodle soup with us too. Carson got to read to her, and Livy was even happy and Grandma hold her without crying! They were in the front room playing, so I thought I would grab a few pictures of them having fun with grandma!

My kids adore their grandparents! We are so lucky to get to spend time with them!

Our Cool Kids!

Carson started piano lessons when school started and he is loving it. (And yes, so am I). We have found it works best for him to practice before school. So after we get his lunch packed, hair combed, and teeth brushed, we get right to it and go through all of his songs. He is catching in quick I think with the notes and has to work extra hard to keep the beat with the metronome. I just had to take a picture of him practicing since he looked so cute that day! He sure makes me smile!

And of course, Kaylee is always right there while we practice. She insisted on having her picture taken as well....with her Book of Mormon. :)
Kaylee is still loving school, and today since the weather was much cooler Kaylee got to wear one of her cute sweaters. She is seriously such a girl and is so much fun to dress up and do her hair. I actually don't mind doing her hair and she is really good about letting me do it too. I love when I tell her she looks pretty and how long her hair is getting and she will always reply something like...."Just like a princess, huh?" or "It is like Repunzel's hair mom!". She is our little princess, that is for sure!
She loves to color, paint, cute, glue, and tape art projects of all kinds. It will keep her busy most of the day! I will have so many things she makes and gives to us that I don't know what to do with it all, so I will have to secretly dispose of the projects while she is asleep or gone. Who knew a package of construction paper could create such a fun past time for a little girl!
The kids have also been busy working on their motorhomes. (I think that is what they called them). They are just some empty diaper boxes and the box they came in from Amazon. Dad helped them finish them today. Seriously, who needs toys...just give a kid a box, duct tape, and some scissors!
Oh, and cute Alivia. She is just a peach! She is getting better all the time at eating solid foods...and putting everything in her mouth. I made chicken noodle soup for dinner, so while I did, I gave her a big celery stick to slobber over. She loved it!
She is the sweetest, and most serious baby! She makes noises, babbles, and squeals, but doesn't really giggle. I think that is why she squeals when she is happy...that is her version of giggling. All I know, is that I have some pretty cool kids, and we are blessed to be their parents!

X-ray

For the past 2 weeks, Carson has complained that his right leg hurts (between his knee and ankle) and has been limping. At first we thought it was growing pains, but after reading about growing pains on the internet and some feed back from friends, we thought it would be best to have it checked out by his pediatrician. I was able to get him an appointment on Thursday at 11, so I checked Carson out of school and took him in to see Dr. Reese. He first examined him and didn't find any problems with his joints, motion, or tenderness in his leg, which helped rule out anything serious (Like hip diseases). But to be safe, he ordered an x-ray for his leg. So we went down to the lab and after some waiting we headed back for the x-ray. Carson actually thought it was all pretty cool! Livy and I waited outside the room while they did his x-ray. I had my little camera with me, so I took some pictures.

He had to take off his shoe and sock, and of course, just like at home, about a cup of sand came out of his shoe with his foot....so just imagine me....in the lab, dumping sand out of his shoe into a garbage can. It was pretty funny to me anyway! We headed back upstairs to the dr's office to wait for the results. Finally, we were told that the x-ray didn't show any fractures or abnormalities of his leg. So, the Dr. said it could possibly be shin splints, that are so small they won't show up on the x-ray. We are supposed to give it 2 weeks and if it isn't better or gets worse, we will go back in for a bone scan. I am sure he just over did it at recess or while playing or during PE. He is always so active, so it wouldn't surprise me! I just feel better knowing it isn't something serious and I would much rather be safe then sorry. It luckily our insurance covers it all with just a simple copay. So I guess now we wait....and see. But at least now Carson can say he has had an x-ray. Pretty cool!

Reason 168

There are a million reason why we love where we live....this is just one of them. We have a neighborhood BBQ twice a year and we had one on Monday that was super fun! The food was great, the weather was pleasant, and the company was top notch!

Everyone brings their own meat and a side dish to share. We brought Pumpkin brownies and turkey burgers. There is always a lot of fun new dishes to try and I need to get some of the recipes from the yummy side dishes I tried!
Alivia was born 4 days after Abby...one of our neighbors baby. I think they are going to be good friends some day!

It is sad to see summer end....since it makes it easy to be outside and playing with our friends and neighbors. And we did a lot of playing this summer. We really do LOVE where we live, not because of the house or location (even though the glow of the refinery stacks can be romantic some nights), the reason we love it is because of our amazing neighbors! If we ever move, they all have to come with us!

Conference in Holden

Saturday morning, after Nick worked a half a day, (So he was home by 9:30, crazy, I know! But since he starts at 4:00, he can work 5 hours and be home by then!), we loaded up and headed down to Holden for the weekend. Ted and Karen were putting in a new hard wood floor in their house and needed some extra help from Nick, and the kids love going down so they can play with their cousins. Here are some pictures from the fun, work, and yes...I managed to get some of conference in as well!

We enjoyed getting to see Grandma and Grandpa Pace. They came over and had dinner with us and visited for a bit. We also canned 80 lbs of chicken, and so it was nice having Grandma Pace there to give us an extra hand!
Alivia loves her Bumbo (even though she is now sitting up on her own...I need to take a picture soon and post it!). Kaylee decided she would be silly and sit in the bumbo herself. She did fit, but of course it was a tight fit....we all laughed when she stood up and it was still attached!
The wood floor looks amazing and they got most of it done by the time we left on Sunday evening. It was a fast but very fun weekend! I enjoyed the time I had to relax, watch conference, and get some reading done with the boys worked and the kids played. I just finished the 5th book of the Culinary Murder Mysteries, Pumpkin Roll, by Josi Kilpack. They are a great series and I have enjoyed her other books as well! I am always looking for a good book to read! With our vacation coming up, there will be a lot of time for reading with our drive to CA! Can't wait!

Pumpkin Patch

On Thursday, Kaylee's preschool class had a field trip. We went to the Black Island Farm in Syracuse, UT to go to a pumpkin patch. I went with her, and we took Alivia with us. We met up with her class around 11 and took some pictures before we started the tour.

We then got to ride on a trailer that was pulled behind a big farm tractor We toured the corn fields, cabbage patches, and we even stopped and saw them pull out carrots from the ground! Then we made our way to the big pumpkin patch where we were able to pick out our own pumpkin. Then we had to wait for the worker to come and cut it off the vine.
I packed us a lunch to eat after the tour, and so we had a fun little picnic just the three of us. Then we joined the rest of the class in the big play field that had tons of different activities. Big slides, bounce houses, and other obstacle course type play areas.
We had a lot of fun and it was a very nice warm day. Alivia was so good and enjoyed hanging out in the front pack for most of the afternoon. I really want to take our whole family back there and play, I think Carson would really like it. It was a busy day when we got home. Nick was home early from work for a wingman day. So I was able to go to the temple with my friend Melissa that afternoon. We are trying to go once a week, but some days and weeks are too crazy, but we have been several times in the past month and a half since we started. I am so thankful for a great husband who lets me get out of the house and have a little bit of a break. He let me go shopping Friday night all by myself. It was so wonderful! I had to just find a few more things for our family pictures we are planning on taking in a few weeks and for some more stuff for our cruise coming up. Three weeks from today we will be boarding the Disney Wonder for our 7 night Disney Cruise. We are so excited!!!