Paintin' Our Pumpkins!

Now once you have found the perfect pumpkins...it is time to paint them.  I love this part...giving your pumpkin some personality. This is always a fun, messy family night activity and a tradition that I hope we will always love!

How do you paint a perfect pumpkin?

It takes some thought and concentration.

 a little bit of focus!

And lots of family togetherness!

Seriously how did she get that paint on her face?

Now that is a Jilly expression...If you are Jillian, life is completely exciting, so do everything with all the enthusiasm you can muster...and then grab your blankeys and take a nap!

Our adorable Annika posing with her adorable pumpkin!

A close-up!  Lots of detail on the orange face!

Here is Jillian's masterpiece.  You may notice that the only color not on her pumpkin is orange!

Cute expression, especially with the one sided mustache!

Mommy's pumpkin face

And Daddy's pumpkin face 

(They look like they belong together don't they?)

Pumpkin Patchin'

We love to go to the pumpkin patch in the fall.  It is one of those fun magical traditions we just couldn't live without.  We have decided that Day Farms in West Layton is our favorite place to go.  There is just nothing more festive for fall than riding in a bumpy trailer pulled by a large tractor through fields of beautiful orange pumpkins.  They always take you out where there are lots of pumpkins to choose from.  It is just so hard to decide which pumpkin you want to pick as "the pumpkin" especially when you are 3 and 6.

Here we are waiting to go!  We had the lucky spot of having the ladder at our feet.

Daddy and Annika (Annika was just so excited about the whole experience.  She was not quite four the last time we rode the hay ride.  We had gone to a different pumpkin patch in Farmington the last three years.) 

Mommy and Jilly (Jillian was excited, but even more nervous.  She ended up riding on my lap!  She was not quite one the last time we came, so it was a new experience for her.)

Pumpkin Poses

Running through the pumpkins!

Sisters and best friends!

Looks like Daddy found a pumpkin!

Heading Back

Happy girl riding back on the hay ride

Love the pigtails!

One final picture before we left.

Such a fun time...I can't help smiling as look at the pictures!

Love fall...too bad winter has to follow such a beautiful season!

And Then Came a Wave...

On March 15, 2013 we went to Cape Kiwanda with Fan and Peter. It was a beautiful beach with a huge sand dune.  This was really one of my girls first experience with the ocean, so it was really exciting!  As you can see from the pictures...it was a cold drizzly day.  But the beach can still be lots of fun, especially when you like to play in the sand.  Nate, Pete, Brandon, and Kenyon decided to hike the sand dune while the rest of us enjoyed the beach.  Slowly Annika and Jillian kept getting closer to the water.  I called out to them reminding them not to get wet because I didn't have a change of clothes in the car. They were just playing in the wet sand, but not getting in the ocean.  And then came a wave...a big wave that came further on to the beach than the other waves.  Annika and Jillian stood up and within seconds the wave knocked both of them off their feet, covering them completely with salty sea water...I was in full panic mode screaming at my girls to get up and come towards the beach.  Every story I had ever heard about kids being swept away from their parents had come to my mind.  My feet could not move fast enough.  With Fan just behind me we grabbed the girls who were now fighting the waves as they hit the beach.  Neither of them could stand in the swirling water and they were both screaming as the cold water kept hitting them and pulling them down.  It was one of the scariest moments I have had as a mom.  I was so glad that they were finally safe in our arms.  They were wet, shaking, covered in sand and crying, but I felt so incredibly thankful my babies were safe. Now we had another problem...it was cold, rainy, and breezy and my girls were wet through and through.  We had to get them warm.  Nate had the keys and he was on top of a sand dune, oblivious to the trauma we had just experienced.  Luckily the Phelons' van was unlocked.  We quickly took off their wet clothes and wrapped them in our coats and cleaned them up the best we could.  Finally, I felt like I could take a deep breath and feel how blessed we were through out that experience.  

Nate, Pete, and Maycee walking on the cold wet beach 

Fan freezing on the beach...but the kiddos are having fun!

Annika, Shaylee, and Jilly  before my girls got soaked!!

Putting sand in a cup takes a lot of concentration!

Love Maycee's funny face!

And what can you say about Jaron's cute face!

Moving closer to the water...

Wet sand is the best!!

So happy!!! And then came a wave...(I am not sure why Shaylee didn't get hit!)

Wrapped in mommy's coat, so sad!  She still has sand on her face!

Annika is sporting Aunt Fan's coat and her own sad face!  So thankful Fan was there to help me get my girls safe and sound!

Playing at the Park

While visiting the Garrisons we decided to take the kids to the River Park.  I had never been to this part of St. Helens before and was surprised at how close the river was.  The kids had fun playing at the playground together.  Annika also liked visiting with all the dogs that came on walks.  Our favorite was a pomeraian that looked like a bigger version of Jory.

Venturing down the twisty slide

Happy cousins!

What are those grumpy looks for?

Always trying to master the monkey bars!

Two monkeys climbing

Almost at the top!

Giddy-up Doggy!

The next few pictures are our attempt at getting all three girls to look at the camera with their eyes open and smile all at the same time.  Finally...



...we gave up and took a picture of them all looking at the river instead.  Apparently the sun was just too bright as it filtered through all the clouds on this cloudy gray day in the Northwest!

Still a cute picture dontcha think?

On the way to the park we passed some cute stores in the old part of St. Helens.  What?  Who knew St. Helens had all these adorable shops?  I was dying to check them out, so the next day Nate, Gina, Shannon, and I went shopping.  So fun... I found some great things that were super cheap at the second hand stores.  Like a wrought iron candelabra for $1.50.  What a steal!!

We had so much fun in St. Helens that the time flew by much too quickly...as vacations always do!