october highlights

How is it November already? I'm kind of in denial that it's almost the end of the year. October was a great month. Full of Halloween festivities, school events, soccer, and lots of exploring and family fun. Here are some of our favorite moments!

 Exploring a new farm-themed park

 The Hammond's candy tour is always a good idea. We went on a random Thursday morning and had the private tour. 

 We found a library with a real airplane cockpit for the kids to play in. They were in heaven with all those buttons to play with!

 Kindergarten music concert! Adorable and so entertaining. 

 Tessa, taking an important business call. 

 I took the kids all the way to the train museum in the cold, and the thing they were most excited about was playing with a trainset like the one we have at home...

 Just three cuties!

 Another awesome new park. The slide is 30 feet tall so all Tessa could do was walk on one part of it. We had to drag Rhett away from the huge climbing tower. 

 Tessa is officially a slide fiend. She slides down on her own and then turns around to climb back up and slide down on her belly. Endless entertainment. 

 This picture doesn't quite capture it, but this was the crazy-ness of making lunch, putting dinner in the crockpot, and making treats for Young Women all at the same time. On this week my kitchen looked like this practically every day. 

 School fun run! Rhett had a blast and ran 33 laps. 

 We explored Dinosaur Ridge on a day off school. This is Rhett next to a real dinosaur footprint. 

 Trunk or Treat #2! Tessa wouldn't let go of her bucket and her prized two pieces of candy. 

 Last soccer game of the year. Rhett had an awesome season and improved so much. 

 Back to the farm park to explore a two-seater swing. Tessa is counting down the seconds until she can get on the slide. 

 King of the mountain!

 Pumpkin carving adventures. 

 Tessa has a new love of coloring. She and Rhett spend some serious time working on this piece of art together. 

 Halloween! Started the day with free scary face pancakes at Ihop. 

The girls who live next door are obsessed with Tessa, so of course we had to get a picture of the two ladybugs. 

Ready to trick or treat! Tessa went to a few houses on our street before coming home to help hand out candy. 

Pre-Halloween Fun

Halloween is Rhett's favorite holiday, so every year I feel the pressure to go all out and make it amazing. His love of Halloween has worn off on me. We've already been celebrating for weeks! We listen to Halloween music, drive around to look at Halloween decorations, and read alll the Halloween books. Here's a few ways we've celebrated already.

 Rhett had two days last week off school, so we met Grammy at the pumpkin patch one day. The corn kernel "sand" box and corn maze were total hits!

 Tessa's face in this picture kills me! 

 Picking out pumpkins for the porch! We found this cute family farm by our house last year and love it. Cheap pumpkins, a cute free maze, and great photo ops. We put Rhett to work hauling the pumpkins to the car. 

 A Saturday at Elitches--in costume! It was fun to spend the afternoon just Rhett and I. We rode all the rides, saw the pet costume parade, trick or treated through Kiddie Land and had the best time. 

 Trunk or Treat at Chick fil A. Free waffle fries and hot chocolate? Sign me up!

Ward trunk or treat. Tessa took a scary liking to these vampire teeth. 

home improvement projects

We've been making some serious progress on our house this summer. I still feel like we have lots of small things we want to fix/update, but the major projects are all almost done! (Except for the carpet, which we'll replace someday...hopefully).

While my parents were here, they helped me finally hang these shelves that I painted pink for Tessa's room. She was so excited the first time she saw her books and stuffed animals on the shelves. 

We finally got a bedroom set! After 7 years of marriage, we feel like we've finally hit the big time. And a king size! We still have work to do with the rest of the room, but at least the furniture finally matches!

Andre and his dad spent the hottest day of the summer replacing our deck. We hadn't been able to use it since we moved in because the wood was so rotted, but now it's beautiful and useable! 

 Our biggest (and spendiest) improvement was getting the house painted this summer. We dreamed of a blue house and did some serious scouting to find the perfect shade. We couldn't be happier with how things turned out! 

september highlights

It's October! I've got mixed emotions about seeing September go. It was a fun month with lots of great activities and a new routine. But I'm also ready for the fresh start of a new month. Here come the highlights!

 Camping over Labor Day weekend! I had heard for years that Golden Gate Canyon was the best place to camp with kids, but it books up super early. We managed to score a camp site a few weeks out and saw what all the fuss was about. It was awesome! Tons of forest to explore, kids at every campsite to play with, beautiful nature, and quite a bit of privacy. The kids did great, and we'll definitely be back next summer. 

 Tessa's favorite activity. Give her a stack of books in her chair and she'll sit still--at least for a little while. 

 Trip to Utah for Finley's blessing. The kids had so much fun with their cousins, and we all loved snuggling sweet Finley. Tessa was obsessed and would just follow her around to whoever was holding her. 

 Fun at the library!

 We ordered a new bedroom set and ended up with a ton of cardboard. Andre constructed a Bat Cave that takes up almost the entire play area in the basement and is full of secret tunnels and spy doors. Rhett loves it!

 Nana and Poppy came to visit! The kids had so much fun with their grandparents and it was great to have them here. We played, went on walks, watched Rhett play soccer, went to the lake, went to the museum, and did lots of projects around the house. 

Tessa is a walking machine! A physical therapist suggested using a push toy to encourage her to walk, so we brought it up from the basement and she loved it. She's still not standing or walking on her own, but she's getting really good at pushing the cart and turning it around to do laps in the family room. 

 We took Nana and Poppy to the science museum to check out the travelling mind bender exhibit. It was super fun, but Tessa's favorite part was the photo op in the winner's circle. 

 Putting Rhett to work...he's gotta earn his keep! 

 Tessa climbed up on the play structure at the library all on her own and was so proud of herself. 

 Tessa's first ride on the King Sooper's penny horse (which Rhett has named Cheese). Rhett was a great big brother to keep her safe. 

Saturday date to Elitches! We finally got to escape from KiddieLand and ride all our favorite rides!