Little Red Riding Hood and The Big Bad Wolf

I just love Sara's and Wyatt's costumes this year. And they weren't even planned! I just wish I could have talked Stephanie into dressing up as Grandma. Wouldn't that have been cute?

Stephanie was being a pill and wouldn't even dress up. She even had a costume on to begin with then took it off at the last minute.

 

This year Wyatt has been so excited for Halloween. Every morning for about a week before, he would wake up in the morning and tell me "Happy Early Halloween!"  So it was no surprise when he was all smiles at his program.

Wyatt's School Program

Random Fall Pictures

The kids were supposed to be raking up leaves. Doesn't look like they got too much done!

Fruits of our Labor

Earlier this spring, Brian spent many nights preparing this area that was previously a flower bed and turning it in to a garden area for me. He did such a great job and I love how it turned out.
I had such high hopes for our garden this year because we have always been successful with our gardening in the past. However it soon became apparent that we were only going to have these huge, gorgeous plants and nothing else to show for our hard work. We ended up with only a handful of squash, cucumbers that were bitter and tomatoes that were just starting to ripen just before the first frost.  I purposefully planted several tomato plants so that I could make some salsa and stewed tomatoes. But I had to improvise and ended up buying tomatoes from Bountiful Baskets so that I could work on getting our food storage built back up.

 I ended up only canning 4 out of the 5 boxes after I seen how much it was actually going to make.

In all, I ended up with 34 pints of salsa and 21 quarts plus 12 pints of stewed tomatoes.

Luckily I have a great family who gave me corn from their garden so that I could can corn too.

It sure is a lot of work but is so worth it when we can eat corn this winter that tastes like its fresh from a garden rather than out of a can.

She's 13! Can you believe it?

Last month was Stephanie's 13th birthday! Can you believe we actually have a teenager? Crazy! Stephanie wanted to do something different this year so she decided that she wanted to have a hot dog roast at Remember the Maine.  The weather was perfect and he had a great time visiting with family.

The best part was when the boys caught a water snake and decided to scare all the girls. It was priceless and the girls provided some great entertainment! 

Last Days of Summer and First Day of School

The kids have loved the warm weather that we have had lately. Their favorite thing to do has been running through the sprinklers and jumping on the tramp with the sprinklers underneath.

We've had a really great summer and was sad to have it come to an end.

Now it's time to get back to a routine. And homework!



Wyatt's Surgery

On the 11th, Wyatt had surgery to have his tonsils and adenoids removed and tubes placed in his ears. I was a little apprehensive about having the procedure done on this day because it was such short notice and because Brian was going to be out of town. But on the other hand the timing was good so that Wyatt would have almost two full weeks to recover before school begins.

I am so glad that we decided to go ahead and have the procedure done. It's amazing how different each child is.  When Stephanie had the same procedure done in February, she was miserable and missed almost a month of school. I think a lot of it had to do with how sick she was before the surgery.

Wyatt on the other hand was a trooper. He has done great. He has his ups and downs throughout the day, but the downs have been pretty minor. And he hasn't had to take any medication for the pain other than Tylenol!

When we were at the hospital and he was coming out of the anesthesia was probably the worst part of the whole ordeal.  And he was so funny. After they brought him out of surgery into the recovery room he was pretty upset and starting to climb out of the bed, wanting to go home. I finally get him calmed down, and he looks down at his arm and asks "Did I break my arm?" I had to laugh at that because it sure looked as if he had really broken his arm when really he just had a splint and gauze from his wrist to his elbow to hold the IV in place! It's so funny sometimes what kids think.

Happy Birthday Sara!

Yesterday my baby girl turned 10! She is such a sweetheart and we are so glad she is a part of our family.

First Birthday

 10th Birthday

Several weeks before Sara's birthday I started asking her what she would like for her birthday. All she wanted for her birthday was dog treats for her dog Grace that she got for her birthday two years earlier. What kid asks for dog treats for their birthday?!!!

Sara and Grace 2 years ago

Sara wanted to go camping for her birthday so we spent the weekend on the mountain with Brian's family. It was a quick trip but we had a really good time! Then we rushed home early Sunday so that we could have a quick party with the grandparents.

While we were camping I found the tree that Brian carved our initials in before Stephanie was even a year old. Crazy that our family was just starting!

Yellowstone

This past weekend we went to Yellowstone with our good friends, the Coon's. The kids had a blast having their best friends with them. It made it a much more enjoyable time having friends to keep them from getting bored and fighting.

Sorry for the picture overload, but I had a hard time narrowing down the photos.

Day 1 - Jackson Hole

The traditional picture in front of the antler arch

The kids loved the candy store. Sara came running up to me and says

"It's an all you can eat candy buffet!"

That girl is always cracking me up!

Wyatt was so intrigued by this grizzly

The favorite part of the whole vacation for the kids was swimming.

They spent hours each evening swimming. Then the next day all they wanted to know was when we would be to our next room so they could swim some more. 

Next year its going to be an adult vacation and then a couple days at a water park for the kids!

Day 2- Old Faithful & Grant Village

Grand Teton National Park

When we first entered Yellowstone, the kids kept saying

 "This is Yellowstone?"

"Yellowstone isn't what I expected it to be!"

Old Faithful

Wyatt was more into playing his DSi than watching Old Faithful.

Silly kid!

Old Faithful Inn

 Inside Old Faithful Inn

Check out Wyatt's expression. He can't quite believe what he's seeing!

Look how close they are to that elk. And it didn't even seem to bother him that they were around!

Then we seen this sign! I had to chuckle over that.

Yellowstone Lake

West Thumb Geyser Basin

Sylvan Pass

Can you believe the snow that is still there?

Day 3- Canyon Village & Tower-Roosevelt

Very tired kids

They fell asleep on the drive into the park from Cody, WY before we even reached the entrance.

Mud Volcano- Dragon's Mouth

Buffalo and Calf

We saw this bear and then drove a little further and seen another bear with cubs. We weren't able to get a picture of the bear with cubs because the park ranger make us keep driving.  But at least we got one picture.

And Wyatt was so excited to see the bears!

We spent our 3rd night in Gardiner, MT.

Day 4- Mammoth Hot Springs, Norris, & Madison

A coyote stalking his prey.

Mammoth Hot Springs

Steamboat Geyser

And Wyatt lost another tooth!

Even though Yellowstone wasn't what the kids thought it would be, they still had a great time. The views were absolutely amazing and everything was so vibrant and green. Our days were  filled  with sightseeing, picnicking in the park, shopping for souvenirs, car hopping and most of all swimming! So many memories were made. We had a wonderful vacation and was sad to see it end.