October Pictures

Besides the San Diego and Halloween posts, I never got around to posting some other pictures from October.  Looking back on those pictures really makes me miss the beautiful weather and gorgeous leaves.

We spent a day at the Ranch while my Uncle Tenney, Mark, Dave, Brian and Jeff went into the hills the get a huge pile of logs.  They have since been back to cut and split all those logs into firewood for my parents when they return in January.

Mark and Dave finished it off last week.  I have never seen that much firewood at the Ranch in my life.  I'm glad may parents will be able to warm their California bones when they arrive in the dead of winter.  Nice work men.

Our Mountain Home So Dear

I love that both my boys love their books.

This is how we cut the boy's hair.  We do it outside when the weather is nice and inside when it's too cold.

Brothers in the Backyard

Timmy is especially taken with our dog Meg.  He is the first to run to her crate in the mornings to let her out.  He hugs her and tries to wrestle with her and laughs at her.  I think he loves her so much because she lets him mess with her.  She is the best dog ever.

San Diego: Miscellaneous

 We are so lucky to have my really awesome cousin Rich and his just as awesome wife Maria live right off the freeway in Las Vegas.  It was the perfect place for us on our way to San Diego to stop and let the kids out, use the bathroom, and visit for a short time with Rich and Mia.  We stopped on the way down and on the way back.

Not only is it a great stopping place and a great excuse to see these two fabulous people, but Rich and Mark share an interest in and talent for fixing and building random things.  Rich's toys are inventive, fun and sometimes a little crazy.  Mark gave Rich the go-cart below.  However, Rich was the one that majorly modified it.  He extended the length, added another seat and who knows what else he did to make it the perfect fit for he and Mia.

 As a thank you for the go-cart and other welding supplies, Rich gave us this little power wheels car he found on the side of the road and fixed up.  Thank you so much you guys!  My boys are going to LOVE it (as soon as the weather warms again and Mark gets a battery).

 Rich has so many other cool little motor bikes and toys in his garage.  It was so fun to see it all, and their house, and of course to see Rich and Mia themselves.

In San Diego we spent an afternoon at the zoo.  I can't get enough of the beautiful exhibits and gorgeous animals there.

Brian would not allow us to leave San Diego without a trip to see the ships.  I enjoyed reading more information in the museums and watching Brian pretend he was a real crew member on each ship we toured.

Halloween

We had a fun Halloween this year.  It just gets more and more fun as the kids get older. We started out the almost week long celebration with the ward party and trunk-or-treat.  It was fun, but also crazy with Mark busy helping run the thing and me chasing this darling little elephant and smiley pumpkin around the place.

The next morning Brian had his preschool Halloween party and program, so Timmy and I headed over to participate.  Brian was a bit shy for the program and just sat down and hid after the first song.  Luckily I got one picture of him preforming.

On Halloween we went trick-or-treating to Alice's work where all the ladies she works with oohed and aahed over how cute the kids were.

Then we went straight to get more candy at Mark's work.  By this time we were almost all trick-or-treated out and we hadn't even started the real thing yet.

Throughout the week before Halloween Brian begged and begged to carve pumpkins.  I waited and waited hoping to get a chance to do it with Mark around to help, but that never happened.  So Halloween morning I just decided to go ahead and get our pumpkin carved.  The kids loved it, but I felt like I needed four more hands to keep Timmy's busy grabby hands off the carving knife and to keep pumpkin guts from traveling throughout the entire house. 

 Brian would not allow us to carve anything but a happy pumpkin face.  He's a bit nervous around all the scary faces at Halloween.  The final product is in the next picture.

That evening Dave brought Jordie and Caitie over, while Alli put baby Will to bed, for some super fun trick-or-treating.  Brian especially had fun with his cousins there, and Jordie and Caitie were so brave at all the scary houses that it kept him from hightailing it home.  

San Diego: The Beach

The beach.  We LOVE it.  Maybe it seems so special because there is nothing like it in Utah.  I love the sound of the waves.  I love the smell.  I love the expanse of the ocean.  I love that my boys (including Mark) are so at home there.  This trip the beach was extra special because Timmy was finally old enough to really enjoy it and not fill his mouth with sand and Mark was there to play with the kids like a kid while I watched.  Even though it was pretty chilly we still had two wonderful afternoons at Mission Beach and Ocean Beach.