After seeing so many pictures posted on Facebook, Instagram and the like with trips up the canyon and the beautiful leaves, I had to get in on the action.  So we took our family up Millcreek canyon to see the beauty that is Fall.

I love everything about this leafy season. I love that flowering pear tree in my front yard that turns into a flaming pear. I love the soft, golden lighting of the sun.  I love the reprieve of the perfectly warm temps.  I just love the cozy feeling of Fall. Hot chocolate. Halloween. My birthday. Thanksgiving. What is not too love?

  Wait. There is one thing...

Winter. Winter looms near. Blah.

Anyhoo, enjoy the pics from our trip up the canyon.

Oh that crooked smile.

Adam and I had our engagement pics taken in this area and specifically on the bridge over 10 years ago. Kyle was the camera man this time...

Looks Like We Made It...

...look how far we've come, my baby.

That's right! 

TEN YEARS, BABY!

It has been a wonderful ten years. I can honestly say that too.  Not perfect. No. But perfect for us. 

On the day we married I couldn't imagine loving my husband more than I already did but here I am, 10 years later, loving him more. (sigh)

We went on a cruise this last April to celebrate our anniversary so on the actual day I really wanted to spend at least some of it with the people I love the most, my kids.

We enjoyed a lovely day at the zoo and took in the new polar bear exhibit. (see crazy bear below.)

This guy kills me. He just swam back and forth. back and forth. when he reached the widow he'd kind of jump up in your face.  Close encounters!

This was our evening at Teppanyaki's...alone...with Ella.

I love you Adam!  I am excited to see what the next 10 years is going to bring!

It's Noah's turn to lose it...

Noah lost his first tooth already with another one on its way out. 

We were surprised since Kyle didn't lose one until at least half way through Kindergarten.

Noah even let Daddy pull it out. 

Brave boy.

Noah's First Day of Kindergarten

Oh my. I have had so much anxiety about my littlest man starting school.  I took him out of pre-school in Feb. because I didn't think it was doing him much good AND I didn't want to fork over $65/month for something I wasn't happy with. He just wasn't that into it socially or academically and I felt like his teacher wasn't into it. So leading up to Kindergarten I was a bit of nervous that he still wouldn't like it.  Noah could barely write his name and was still working on learning to identify letters. On top of this, he didn't really seem very keen to go to school.  It didn't help my anxiety being so pregnant during the start of it all.  

Well, I'm happy to report that as school approached, I actually started looking forward to his starting school and all the great opportunities it would afford him. It helped that Noah was starting to look forward to it as well.  

Since he began there have been no complaints from him at all and he really seems to be enjoying it.  He is in morning Kindergarten and has Mrs. Hedin.  I worried about putting him in A.M. because the kid is a sleeper but again he does done really well. (I know. I'm a worry wart...)

Noah is doing well in school and seems to have stepped up to the challenge.  In the two weeks since he started I've already seen improvements in his handwriting and other abilities.  His teacher says he is a very good boy. No surprise here.  I love my Noah and hate that he is growing up but I love watching him grow...I know. It makes no sense. Anyone that has ever sent a Kindergartner to school knows exactly what I'm saying.

Introducing! Tommy the Dog!

{Old draft}

Early 2008

So I've never formally introduced my dog and since he has had a pretty traumatizing experience recently (neutered, poor baby.) and is a big part of our family, I thought he deserved some attention on the family blog.
Tommy is a full bred Golden Retriever *Ooooo! Ahhhh!* and will be 3 years old on June 10th. We got him when he was a couple of months old and was about as sweet a puppy as you could ever want but I, uh, didn't like him. (Am I just so evil?) He required SO much attention and training that it took away from my other human 2 month baby boy. However, after lots of training ("No, Kyle's stuffed bear canNOT be your bed buddy!") and getting used to one another Tommy and I are now good friends. We have come a looooooong way in the last three years. He has become a wonderful, excited, loving, potty-trained, semi-obedient, lap dog wanna-be, walk lover (calm down, Tom), vacuum/mop, 90 lb., foot warmer of a man or woman's best friend.

Kyle's First Day of School

My big little 2nd grader.

He wan't super excited to start school until the night before.  After getting a father's blessing and talking about it he got SUPER excited and then couldn't sleep that night.  He jumped out of bed the next morning, put on his new clothes and told me we can't be late!

We got to go in and meet his new teacher Mrs. Barber.  She seems nice but I already miss Miss Farley. I'm not good with change so I'm glad Kyle is. :)

I had to include this picture because he was obsessed with getting his top center tooth out. By the time he got home it was dangling by a thread. After some work we got it out.  He is now missing both top teeth and bottom side teeth. 

Kyle is in an advanced reading class this year and we are looking forward to him being challenged a little more. And by "we" I include Kyle as well.  He always tells me he likes to be challenged at school.

At the beginning of this school year Kyle was ....

The kid is growing so fast we wanted to see how much he grew in a year. From April to August of this year he grew almost an inch!

Two week old Ella

Weight: 10.1lbs

Height: 21.6

 (I think she's taller. The nurse didn't do a good job measuring her.)

Head: 15.5

I love how Ella loves the "warning" on her carseat. Soooo pretty...

She's a big girl and definitely growing strong.  Dr. Johnson said she looks great. Duh. ;) She does have a yeast infection but other than that she healthy. Yay!

She has been a very calm and observant baby.  She nurses like a champ and it shows.  Her rolls are filling out nicely.  She is sleeping in my room right now since her nursery isn't finished yet. :(  But she is doing a pretty good job sleeping at least 2 + hours in her bassinet.

The kids have not lost interest in her and love her to pieces. Megan loves to rub her head and suck her thumb.  I think Ella even likes it.

NOTHING better than sleeping baby on your shoulder.

Look Ma! No Training Wheels!

I've been wanting to get Kyle off his training wheels all summer but he has been reluctant. One day in late June I decided today would be the day.  When I approached it with Kyle he whined a little saying he didn't want to.  Luckily, it didn't take much to convince him to at least TRY it.  He has been on training wheels for a couple of years now and I had a feeling he was more ready than he thought. Well, turns out he was more ready than even I thought. I have no pictures of Adam actually holding on to Kyle's bike because Kyle was riding by himself so quickly I never even got the chance to take any.  I think Adam took Kyle up and down our street once before Kyle was on his own.  It was so fun to see him be so successful and overcome this fear so easily. I was a proud mama.

Megan loves pushing her brothers.

Riding off into he sunset...

 Yay Kyle! Way to go!!

Old Drafts

So I've been going through old blog posts and have found that I have a lot of drafts that have never been posted and that have great information.  I don't feel I have time to go through and finish them but I do want to get them on here. Also, some of them go in blog books that have already been printed.  So I will be posting them randomly here, under simply "Old Drafts". Enjoy!

January 2008

Dang. I am tired. I have bags under my eyes from...well, you know where and I don't want to do anything but go to crawl into bed. The cause of my stupor? My sweet, beautiful, precious, little...no, make that big, baby boy, Noah. Over the past 2 weeks he has woken up an average of 4 times a night. Now remember, this is the AVERAGE. Some nights it was upwards of 6-7 times. He has had a nasty cold and ear infection.  Poor me..I mean, poor baby. Prior to this insanity, he was still getting up 2-3 times a night and he wasn't even sick. Some nights he'll wake up and I'll feel so frustrated that I pull the pillow over my head but then come morning I'll go into his room where he will greet me with a smile to make my heart melt. This is the reason I am a Mommy. This is the reason the bags under my eyes are worth it. Its amazing how the memory labor pains diminish, the wakeful nights fade,


See? Couldn't even finish the post I was so tired. ;)