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Halloween: the Gateway to the Holiday Season

We had a great Halloween with lots of fun and lots of candy. Our ward trunk or treat was on Friday and then on Saturday we got some $.50 corn dogs (Paul's favorite food) from Sonic and then trick or treated in our neighborhood. I came up with a great nick name for Halloween- "the Gateway to the Holiday Season". I keep telling it to Lauryn so she'll help me have it catch on, but all she does is smile at me, nod and say "oh".

T H R E E

Lauryn had her birthday last weekend. I really can't believe we have a three year old! She was pretty excited about this special day and has talked about it at least once a week since her birthday last year. Paul and I were yard sale champs this summer and found her a kitchen and a table and chair. The kitchen came with a box of dishes and some food and only cost $5. The table wasn't so pretty, but only cost $.25. After some sanding, a few coats of spray paint and a little mod podge it was back in good shape.
On the morning of Lauryn's birthday she and Paul went to a dinosaur museum while Annie and I went to a church thing I had to go to. Then we rented a movie and watched it together. For dinner we went to Chuck E. Cheese and then came home for her Ariel cake and ice cream. All together, a pretty great day for our favorite 3 year old.

My mom made her this little apron to go with her kitchen, she calls it her kitchen dress.

She went back and forth on whether she wanted a Nemo or a Cars cake and then decided Ariel at the last minute. I decided that Nemo could make a guest appearance, though.

Before and after

Laughing

Preschool

Lauryn started preschool last week. She was so excited for it and then when we were getting ready to go got cold feet and decided she really didn't want to go after all. I finally convinced her to go by agreeing to stay there with her, which actually worked out well since it's a co-op and I'll have my turn to teach in a few weeks. This gave me a good chance to see how it goes.

Lauryn with her backpack and alligator (her show and tell for the letter A).

*Update: Since I wrote this Lauryn has attended her second week of preschool and this time I was able to drop her off and leave. As she told Paul that night, "I was so, so brave".

Six whole months

Annie turned 6 months last week. I can't believe her first year is halfway over. I was thinking about it last night and I about started crying when I realized that my baby won't be a baby much longer. We had her appointment today and I was not too surprised that she is in the 50% for weight but the 99% for height! Our little beanpole. Annie has the most contagious smile and little giggle. We sure love this sweet girl and couldn't imagine our family without her.

Catch up July

So, yes this post should have come before the last one. But I didn't feel like doing it that way so there you go. We actually had a really fun July. Probably the best month of the summer for us. For the 4th we went to my sister's house in Blackfoot and had a lot of fun. Paul and my bro's in law bought fireworks from the Indian reservation so they were nice and loud and big. Lauryn was totally scared of them but I finally convinced her not to be scared. So, she's finally sitting calmly on my lap when she starts to freak out again. Apparently, she'd been chewing on her glowstick necklace, which broke open and then she somehow got it in her eye. How do I know this? Because I could see it on her face in the dark.

Two weeks later we went up to Idaho again for my family reunion. We spent one day boating, one day at the waterpark, and one day to go see the new Harry Potter. And then that Sunday we were able to go to my nephews Cache's blessing. Lauryn still randomly brings up the reunion and how much fun it was, especially the waterpark. "Mom, do you remember that lazy river we went on at the family reunion? Maybe we should go there next week." She thinks cousins are pretty much the best thing in the world and she had so much fun with them. Annie was an angel on the trip and even slept through the entire movie which was probably the loudest one I've been to. I didn't take many pictures of the week, but I stole some from my mom that she took at the dam..

Finally, the last highlight of the month was Paul's birthday. He ended up working until about 9 pm on his birthday, but when he came home we had cake (actually cake balls) and ice cream. Then on the following Sunday we had dinner at our house with Paul's brother Key and our friend Wayne. We made ribs in the slow cooker and then finished them on the grill. They turned out good, but I wish we would have left them in the slow cooker even longer. And a note on cake balls, they are super rich, good, but rich. They're pretty easy to make, but dipping them was the trickiest part for me, probably because I've never really dipped anything but strawberries before. I used a french vanilla cake with rainbow chip frosting. I think a more contrasting cake and frosting combination would have been even better.
Oh yeah, we also got to go to Lagoon for Paul's work at the beginning of August. It was pretty fun, Lauryn was really brave and loved all the rides she was big enough for.

Catch up August

I've been a real slacker when it comes to blogging lately. So, I have a lot to catch up on, well not that much, our lives aren't that interesting. And really, I don't actually have to catch up, I just want to :) Paul's been working ridiculously long hours lately so the girls and I have been trying to find as many activities outside the house as we can to keep us busy. We've been to the Dinosaur Museum, the Children's Garden, the Aquarium, Cabela's, and to the zoo twice. Unfortunately, the only time I remember the camera was at the garden which also had a pretty cool splash pool. So, here are some pictures from the past few weeks:

Nothing wrong with showin' a little cheek.

Sweet little Annie just along for the ride. She's been such a trooper to just hang out in the stroller on all of our adventures.

June

Well, now that July is almost over, I guess I'll post some pictures from June :)

These first two are from my birthday. Paul came through again and made it a wonderful day. He took the day off work and surprised me by taking me for a massage in the morning. For a present he got me Wii Fit! And he got me a Rasberry Truffle ice cream cake from Coldstone, yum.

By some miracle we were running ahead of schedule and I had time to take pictures of the girls before church. Annie couldn't quite stay awake for it though :)

We attempted to attend the Saratoga Springs Splash carnival but it started pouring about 10 minutes after we got there. We only had enough time to get a Nemo painted on Lauryn's cheek which was promptly washed away. To make up for our lost fun we came home and built a fort in the living room.

Just a little bed head.
Sweet little Annie. This girl can cry like no other but is usually as sweet as can be.

Annie's blessing

We had Annie's blessing in church yesterday. Paul gave her a wonderful blessing and it was great to have our friends and family with us. I'm including a ton of pictures because there were too many good ones to choose from.

Farnsworth side

Everyone

Pahulu side
We didn't get Kelen in the group shot, so I got a pic of him with Annie later.

My mom made Annie's dress. She looked so beautiful in it. (Thanks Mom!)

Even though these two have completely opposite features they really are cousins and the best of friends.


Lauryn was so excited to be able to play with some of her Pahulu cousins.