Halloween 2011

We had such a fun Halloween this year! Caiden got to do a parade and have a party at school and the whole family dressed up for trick-or-treating. Grandma and Grandpa Wadsworth came over for some dinner and they tended to the house while we walked the neighborhood! Paxton stayed in step right behind Caiden and seemed to really like it. He did stop a few times to try and actually eat the candy he had been given, but he did really well at keeping up with big brother! The funniest thing was that a lot of people would just let them take one out of the bowl and everytime this happened Paxton of course would grab a whole handful. The people would just laugh and say it was ok for him to have that much. So Paxton ended up getting a ton because everyone seemed to just want to let him dive in! Our neighbors thought it was cute that Jayson and I dressed up so they gave us candy too. It was win-win for everyone!

I want to play bowling ball!

When ever we asked Caiden what sport he wanted to play he always said. "I want to play bowling ball." We decided we would take him bowling so he could see if that is really what he wanted to play as a sport! We took the neighbor friends along and wrestled the toddlers while the big kids played. The toddlers got their turns too! It was fun to watch them get so excited about pushing the ball off the ramp-most of the time they forgot to watch if they even hit any pins. All the kids really liked playing and we had a hard time dragging them home for bed after that!

Falling leaves

Caiden and Paxton loved playing in the leaves on this beautiful fall afternoon. I couldn't help but to snap a few pictures of my cute boys. We have had unseasonably warm weather the last month month and a half, but we couldn't be more happy about it! We hate to see summer go!

Caiden would rake up the leaves and then slide into them, giggling all the time!
Caiden wanted Paxton to cover him up with leaves, which he did for a while and then just decided to cover him up with his body!

The boys love their four wheelers!! I think they like the real ones even better, but these are good substitutes.

Fire prevention week

Jayson really hates that I made him go to this because he misses fire fighting so much, but Caiden really wanted to go and it was so fun for the kids. We got to the fire station early and got in line for fire truck rides right away! Caiden got to sit in the front seat and the driver told him to push the button for the horn, but he was too scared. He loved riding around the block in it though and had a lot of fun at the fire station. The fire engine from the outside.

While we were waiting in line for the fire truck, Smokey came out to greet the kids, as you can see, Paxton was a little timid about meeting the big bear.

While waiting in line, the Air Med helicopter landed in the parking lot-didn't get a pic of that darn it! They had a smoke trailer to practice safe exits in and some bumper car things that would wreck into each other to simulate what it would feel like getting in a head on collision. Pretty fun night!

So much fun when Grandma comes!

My grandmother had such a good time seeing my mom and sister and me when we visited in April that she was really felt she had to come on more time to Utah to see the rest of the family. She met Caiden when he was three months old and some of the other grand kids when they were small too, but it had been a long while since she had come to Utah-mostly because she was worried about flying alone at her age. She asked my Uncle to accompany her and offered to pay for his plane ticket and he gladly accepted. He has never come to Utah to visit so this was nice too. One Saturday while she was here, I thought it would be fun for all the grand kids to go on the Frontrunner, which is something I figured my grandmother and uncle would enjoy too. We met at the station and boarded the train set for Woods Cross! Upon arrival we walked a few blocks to the A&W for ice cream and root beer floats! The morning was enjoyed by all- the kids loved riding in the train and it was fun to get out in the remaining good weather we were having.

My grandma is such a sweet and wonderful woman-I am so glad she came to visit and hope that my kids can remember their great-grandma too.

What happens when mom does canning?

As some of you may know, I have two rather good-sized peach trees in my back yard (as well as two apple trees, a cherry tree and grape vines). So when the peaches are ready to harvest, there is a small window I have to can them or make into pies etc. On this particular day, I had to work, but I knew the peaches would go bad if I didn't can them before work. I tried to convince myself that all would be well and the children would be good-what was I thinking! In this first picture, you will notice a small bag of candy corns. They were placed on the counter only after I discovered the two boys downstairs happily snacking on dad's secret stash.The next few examples show just what damage an unattended toddler can do while mom is engaged in anything productive. This would be our laundry room-also the room that our kitty food and cat box reside. I think my purse had been hanging on the door knob, which of course he can reach. I finally had to resort to locking him in his room so that I could finish up and be on time to work. As you can see, even more destruction occurred in here, but at least he is safe and I stay sane while completing a task.Not sure exactly what is on his messy face, but once again, sure is a good thing he is cute!
--Don't you love how he is still in his pajamas too??!! Great parenting on my part today!!--

First week of school!

Caiden's first day of kindergarten was on August 22, 2011. He was so excited to go and start learning new things! The weather is still nice so at least for the next little while we will be walking to school with our neighbor Tajen who is his same age. Caiden has had a hard time adjusting to going to school everyday-good thing he doesn't have all day kindergarten like some kids!! It is definately going to take some getting used to, but I know he likes it and will learn so much!Little Paxton is starting to be a huge mischeif maker! I remember why I have blocked out the toddler phase from my memory! He is constantly opening drawers or getting into my purse or finding everything he is not supposed to! Good thing toddlers are adorable! I watched my neighbors kids one day for her and loaded them up with some sugar before I sent them home!! These kids are so cute and all four of them played very well together. We always joke that the little girl Cassidy is Caiden's girlfriend, and he doesn't deny it!

My friend Stefanie came to visit form New York (she's the one with black hair sitting next to me) and insisted that the old high school gang got together while she was here. We arranged it all via facebook and all of us could come on the same night, which is amazing since that hasn't happened for about ten years. The most sad thing about it is that all of us minus Stefanie still live very close to one another. This was such a fun night to see everyone and share stories of different trials and triumphs that we've all had over the past several years-it was so easy to just relax back into each other's company. The woman on my right is now my neighbor and she was our favorite teacher in high school. She taught us so much more than just lessons at school. I am so lucky to have her right down the street!

Family Pics

On my last post I promised some pics of our little family. I know this has been a long time coming, but I just can't ever seem to find the time. Since I know I have so many dedicated readers I apologize about the huge lag time in between posts!

Busy August

As usual, it seems we have had a crazy busy August. We started by celebrating our tenth anniversary! We stayed at a bed and breakfast in Provo and had a nice dinner at the Olive Garden. It was our first night together without kids since right before Paxton was born! We decided we need to do that way more often! It was super nice to have some alone time and not wake up to kids in our bed! The very next weekend on the 6th of August, we crashed my best friend's family reunion and went boating with her and her family! Thanks to my sister and her husband for providing the boat! Becky and her family came to visit with her family, but I managed to steal her away for a few hours of fun on the lake. The most fun we had was on a huge tube that held three people. My sister is such a good boat driver and knew just when to turn the boat and whip the tube around over the wake! So much fun we couldn't stop smiling and laughing! The above picture is me, Becky, her daughter Anna (who loved this even though Caiden was terrified of it and wouldn't even sit on it!) and her husband Stephan.
After getting back from boating, we worked for two days then packed up the trailer again and headed up to our favorite camping spot just outside Bear Lake. We had a pretty big group with us this time including my parents and our friends and their parents and sister's family. We love to take the four wheelers on all the trails and the kids never seem to get tired of it (even though the two little ones fall asleep while riding.They think they are big enough to go for a ride! Paxton and Wyatt are only three weeks apart in age. Hopefully they will be good buddies!
Beautiful Bear Lake!

This past weekend, August 19 and 20, we bought a new vehicle, had some visitors from Texas and went on a hike to Bridal Vail Falls in Provo! My new vehicle is a fabulous mini van that I'm sure I will be excited about one day. In preparation for the future, we decided it would be best to sell my Camry and get a Toyota Sienna. It does drive nice, but I despise it! I never wanted to be a minivan mom, but oh well. And for all you wondering minds-no-I am not pregnant.....yet.

Our good friends JR and Jennifer came to visit their family and we managed to steal them away for an afternoon and evening! Jayson and JR went mountain biking and Jen and I ran a few errands with the boys. Paxton totally loved Jen and for days now if I say her name he will start looking around for her. Hopefully my kids didn't scare her into never wanting to become a mommy! Ha Ha! In their defense, they were actually pretty good that day. We had a bar-b-q that night and then we forced Jennifer to take our family pictures, which I will post once she sends them to me! Our hike to Bridal Vail falls was really fun. It wasn't much of a hike, more of a little walk, but that's ok cause it was hot that day and Paxton really hated being in the little back pack thing. We got to the falls and played in the freezing cold water for a while, which both boys really liked a lot!
Yay for summer fun in Utah-you can't beat the recreation here in the summer!!!

Jayson got busy one weekend and decided to take out one of our many trees in the back yard and replace it with a fire pit! Caiden loves to sit out by it and roast marshmallows. In this picture, Jayson and his parents and grandparents are enjoying some root beer floats!

Long holiday weekend!

I got to have four days off for the 4th this year! I was so excited because it was the exact opposite last year-I worked every single day including on the 4th! We started our fabulous weekend by roasting marshmallows in our new fire pit that Jayson built in our backyard! I didn't think to take a picture of that, but maybe it will show up on a later post.
On Saturday, we got all our gear ready and took off to Pine View dam to go kayaking with our friends! Our neighbor works for Lifetime products and gets to rent out the kayaks for free. He gets to take them so that we can give our feedback on how well we liked/didn't like about the boats. It was nice to be out in the sun on the water! The kids loved it too once they got over how annoying it is to wear a life jacket. Caiden, Paxton and Cassidy.

I have no pictures of us on the water cause I didn't want to risk ruining my camera, but my friend had a waterproof one that she will hopefully share some shots with us. After our boat rides, we raced home so Jayson could take Caiden to the demolition derby-he said he loved it! Then we headed over to the neighbors annual block party and watched some awesome fireworks with the neighbors! Utah finally allowed fireworks that shoot up 150 ft! Brought back memories of being in TN!

Sunday we had a fun family dinner with my parents and siblings-food was good and so was the company. I didn't think to take pics of that event either-oh well.

Monday morning, we went to the parade here in West Point. It's not a big parade but it has lots of candy for the kids and tractors for my dad to check out! He has come with me the last few years cause he loves them so much! He actually bought a tractor recently and is going to fix it up so he can ride in it next year! After the fireworks, we headed to the park for the festivities and I entered Paxton in the baby contest. I had wanted to last year, but I had to work. There were about 30 babies total and as they read off the winners for the different age ranges, I knew I wouldn't hear his name called because when it was his turn to be judged, I sat him down and he started to cry immediately! Well once they named the 4 winners, they did a winner for the chubbiest baby and then one for the saddest! To my amazement, Paxton's name was called-I guess he had a strategy to win!

Saddest baby my eye! He knew exactly how to win that thing!


All his spoils! Not too bad!