Halloween

Happy Halloween, Daddy! We Love You!

Well, lets just say it feels like the plague set in this week. We came down with the stomach virus and it put a cramp in our Halloween plans. I was bummmed because I actually made the boys' costumes this year. Luckily, we did get to go trick or treating! We made it around the block and then Brennan requested to go home and pass out candy. I was quite surprised. But, he had more fun feeling big and passing out candy then anything else. Anytime the doorbell rang he would say, "Well, I've got customers!"

Favorite Fall Pics from the trip

Fort Niagara

This was the highlight of the trip for Kyle being the history buff that he is! It is a fort complete with a castle that dates back to the 1700's built by the French. It was later occupied by the British and then changed hands between the American's and British a few times. It was complete with one of the oldest churches, a drawbridge, cannons and cemetery. With Kyle as my guide to explain quite a bit I really enjoyed it!

Fort Niagara Lighthouse

Niagara Falls

The Sacred Grove

My Surprise!

Lets just say after two week of seperation from Kyle I was grateful for all I have been blessed with and I wanted my best friend back! I was surviving, but I was alot more sentimental. Kyle did the best thing he could do. He bought me a ticket to NY. I was exstatic and surprisingly a little nervous! I worried about it all! What will I tell the kids? Will this make it harder to say good-bye again? What about the money? I did it all! And then I realized I didn't care! I wanted to see him again!


We spent three nights and four days together in NY. We visited the Sacred Grove, saw the Palmyra temple and the Hill Cumorah. It was a truely sacred experience, not to mention beautiful! Next we headed up to Niagara Falls. Wow! We had so much fun walking the trails at night to see the falls all lit up. It is amazing how nice it is to just hold your husbands hand and enjoy a conversation with him without worrying about where the kids are and trying to listen and carry on two or three conversations at once! I loved sharing memories and making memories with him. There I will stop boring you with my mush. It was wonderful!


For those of yo who know me well, I took tons of photos. The leaves were at their peak in Niagara and I just went crazy!

Special Moments with Dad

Life

I find it funny that we seem to think things are suppose to go a certain way in life. I worry about all the minuscual detail and make certain that I have planned out far in advance so nothing will surprise me. Why do we do this to ourselves when things are not really in our hands anyway? If you had told me 6 mths ago that I would soon find myself living in UT without my husband I would have told you you were crazy! And yet the day Kyle told me about the possibility about this job I knew it would happen.

DO you ever look back at times in your life and wonder, "Did I learn what I was suppose to learn , there?" I do! I think of all the conversations I have had and now wonder if that conversation was not just mindless chatter but rather something I needed to hear! For all of those conversations that tie into my current experiences I am so thankful for!

Sorry, I really just meant to say, I'm a slacker! Tons has been happening and I would love to share it! Please forgive me if the timing gets all jumbled.

We have arrived in Utah!

I just wanted to update everyone on our crazy family adventures!
We finally arrived in Utah on Sept 18th. I survived the first day of travel but there were moments I wasn't sure if I would make it. As if I wasn't nervous enough driving the trailer for the first time, the tire on the trailer blew and I thought I might have a heart attack. Kyle changed the tire in record time seeing as he was two feet away from being ran over the whole time. Unfortunately, the tire had to be balanced and that caused another 2hr delay! By the end of day one, I wondered if this dity move was worth it! The next day was 12hrs in the car and we made it to Grandma's!
Our house is great! Unfortunately, I am not like Suzanne Bree who managed to have her house put together with pictures hung and pictures on her blog 2days later. (How did you do that, Suzanne?) Anyway, we have seen extended family and tried to balance unpacking and family time since our time together is so short! I promise to post pictures later!

Change

For months now Kyle and I have been saying we need a change. Remember, before moving here we had moved every year! So it seems like we have been in Arizorna forever! (really just two and a half years) Anyway, remember the old addage, "be careful what you wish for"?

Well, over the last three weeks life has been turned upside down! In a only a few more weeks Kyle will be deploying! Yes, we couldn't escape the dreaded Army seperation tactics any longer.
I will be moving to Utah to be near family. Isn't it great to have family! The past weeks have been spent worrying over housing, wills, cars, and kids emotional stability. Without the calming peace I have been given by my Heavenly Father I'm sure I would be a wreck. What a blessing the gospel is to me!

So now I regret my ungrateful attitude for all I have been blessed with here in Arizona. What a growing experience I have had. I have enjoyed living near members (6 families on my street) and learning the art of entertaining and fellowship that I would like to master. I have learned more about myself then I ever thought possible. Unfortunately I think I am up for some more learning this next year!

Change, a little unsettling and yet without it we would miss out on the growth.

Ryleigh and her blankie

I caught Ryleigh trying to pull her blankie out and thought it was so cute! She is quite attatched to it!

Orthodontics here we come!

We have been waiting for Brennan to loose a tooth. All his friends have lost at least two already. Well, we discovered Brennan is attatched to his teeth and just wants to add more, like a shark I guess. The dentist encouraged him to wiggle his teeth and see if they would come out on their own. The other option is to pull all four bottom teeth. I don't think this is the dentists first choice knowing how sensitive Brennan's gag reflex is. He already threw up on him once!

Summer Days

This summer has been full of swimming lessons, camping with Papa, visits with cousins and family, four wheeling and lots more. For the past month I have been ready for school to start, anticipating the ending of me trying to entertain three kids nonstop. As the summer approaches its ending however I am a little sad. I will miss having Brennan around and the life he brings to the house. He has taught Connor how to build with legos and he is the one who will always tell you the truth, even if it starts out with "Well, here is the truth, I....". As much as I love seeing the progress Brennan makes in school I sure wish I didn't seem to miss so much. I am planning to volunteer as much as possible this year.



Anyway, here are the last fun summer activities!

A new toy is good for at least a few hours of no fighting!

These were frames bought for Valentines and never got done. We used them in a moment of boredom and had a great time! Thank goodness!

Ninja

Connor as a ninja! He loves to use Ryleigh's boa as his headband. He keeps me on my toes and laughing all the time!

Just for Grandma Joyce

This is the dress Grandma Joyce bought for Ryleigh's first birthday! Unfortunately, Ryleigh didn't want to have her picture taken, she wanted to sit on my lap and kiss the picture of herself on my camera. The picture of her pouting is my favorite one though.

Sunday Afternoon Drive

I don't know about eveyone else but sometimes Sunday seems a little long to us! I remember as a little girl we would take Sunday drives. Sometimes we went somewhere specific llike the canyon or to look at Christmas lights but a lot of the times we just went driving looking at houses and people watching. This has carried over to our family. On this particular day we went the park with a cute bridge so I could take pictures and then up the canyon to see the waterfall. Things are never boring as the boys are great explorers. Brennan found a rolly polly, Connor climbed on everything in sight and Kyle taught Ryleigh to throw rocks in the water. When we went up the canyon we found a mine. Brennan and Connor's imaginations ran wild as to all the things that could be living there and Kyle taught them all about mines. All in all it was a great day! The only problem I have is that they price of gas sure puts a damper on our Sunday drives!

Swimming Lessons

To keep us busy this summer we did two sessions of swimming lessons. It was nice because both the boys moved up a level and really improved their skills. I am still a worry wart around water though. Here are a few fun pictures.

Camping with Papa!

What a fun weekend! This past weekend we met my Dad in Flagstaff. Brennan was excited to show off on his four wheelerand ride with Papa. Connor was convinced we were going to see"bears and snakes and they would eat us!" I was just excited to camp in a little bit of style (ie. flushing toilets and a shower). We stayed in a Yurt at Fort Tuthill Airforce Base. The yurt was like a big secure tent with a floor. It was equipped with a wood burning stove, microwave and refrigerator. It was a lot of fun and nice to have somewhere to go during our short intervals of rain. Connor loved the bunkbeds because he got to sleep up top for a change!

We had a great weekend just being with Papa and Nicole. Brennan played checkers with Papa and Connor played dominos. Ryleigh mastered walking while we were gone too! I finally got to ride the four wheeler and I must say had a blast. With having been pregnant and someone always needing to watch the kids it was such a treat to have Dad and Nicole entertain the kids and let Kyle and I go for a ride together! I could get hooked! I guess I will just have to wait a few more years until Ryleigh can at least hold on until I get one of my own! The last night we were able to hook up Dad's laptop and view his Belgium trip pictures. How is that for camping in the great outdoors? All in all, it was a fun and relaxing weekend.

Our Yurt!

Ryleigh walking with Papa!

Brennan's memory rock!

Connor being goofey!