Doing the Pumpkin Patch

Madison started asking a few weeks ago if we could go to a real pumpkin patch this year. Since we have never made it further than the Fry's pumpkin display before, we decided to oblige her, and go do the real thing. We made the trek out to Buckelew Farms on Saturday, where we had our pick of hundreds and hundreds of pumpkins. I was amazed at how many "perfect" ones there were. You just don't find them that nice at the local grocery store a couple of days before Halloween. They had tall, skinny ones, short, fat ones, and perfectly round ones in all sizes, as well as white ones and some dark orange warty variety. We loved the horse-drawn wagon ride out to the pumpkin patches and then tromping through the vine-covered ground. Wyatt only went down once with his feet tangled up in the vines. We did the petting zoo, which was cleaner and less odorous than many I have been in, and took advantage of some of the photo op spots (even some with cousins that we ran into there). We had lunch that, although overpriced, was quite good for coming from a little carnival trailer. Madison picked out a nice big round pumpkin of the regular variety, Wyatt got a big dark warty one, and Levi got a cute little round one that was still half green. We carved them up last night. The kids (exception--Levi) drew their own faces on their pumpkins and carved them all by themselves. We thought for sure Wyatt would give up and ask for help, as we learned the dark warty ones have very thick shells, but he sawed and sawed and sawed and...ended up with a nice looking jack-o-lantern that probably will last until Thanksgiving. The warty one didn't smell like a pumpkin either. Madison said it smelled like watermelon. I was glad we had at least one regular one so we could get a good whiff of that once-a-year pumpkin slime smell!

Halloween Party

We had a halloween party at our house Friday night. Check out some of the great costumes!

We love Halloween!

With my friend Reyna's amazing photography skills and my amazing costume-making skills, we got some great Halloween shots of the kids!

Road Trip!

We took a road trip last weekend to go to my friend's wedding in St. George and to visit family in Las Vegas. Lots of pictures...

Levi, loving the break from the carseat.

When we pulled into Las Vegas, the first thing Madison told Nana was, "Levi cried the whole way!" That was a huge exaggeration. There was a little crying involved, but I thought he did pretty well for how many hours he had to be strapped in.

Darin and Papa building chicken boxes.

Papa's neighbor raises chickens, and apparently they needed a place to lay their eggs, so Papa is hooking them up. Madison and Wyatt got to go see the chickens and pick up the eggs they had laid.

Madison and Wyatt enjoying Nana's pool.

Mid-October is a little late to be swimming, but they actually stayed in longer than I thought they would. I love that I have very similar pictures of me swimming in this same pool when I was about their age. Nana and Papa's house has so many great memories for me of when I was a kid. I was telling Madison all weekend about the toys I used to play with there and the things I loved to do there when I was little.

My friend Tracine's wedding.

What a fun wedding! They had their reception in a hangar at the St. George airport. The bride arrived in an old WWII plane, and the groom in a 1930's car, with all of the wedding guests there to greet them. We enjoyed a fabulous prime rib dinner and dancing (okay, we watched the dancing--we had the baby). Levi, who is usually the easiest baby around, didn't want to cooperate during the reception. Darin found a room with a big screen TV and comfortable couches, and he spent most of the time in there with the baby (and he was just fine with that!). Thanks to our old Tucson friends, the Calkins, for keeping Madison and Wyatt while we went to the reception.

Hanging out with the Calkins.

We had fun catching up. With their 6 kids, our 3, plus Darrel's parents that were in town, we had a full house...15 of us! All 9 kids spread out on the family room floor, and we took over their beds. Don't look too close at the picture. This is after we had all just rolled out of bed. Thanks for taking us in, Calkins. It was great to see you!

The pretty drive between St. George and Las Vegas, and cousins cleaning the yard at Nana's house.

We had a great trip. It was nice to get away from our normal lives for a few days, and to give Darin a break from the hard work he has been doing lately. It was fun to see family and friends that we don't get to see very often. The kids did great in the car. I loved that we did the whole trip without the portable DVD player that we usually take for entertainment. We read books, listened to music, and played games, and didn't miss the movies a bit.

As always, even though we loved our little vacation, it's nice to be back home!

My Boys

My Brother

My brother's worth about two cents,

As far as I can see.

I simply cannot understand

Why they would want a "he."

He spends a good part of his day

Asleep inside the crib,

And when he eats, he has to wear

A stupid baby bib.

He cannot walk and cannot talk

And cannot throw a ball.

In fact, he can't do anything--

He's just no fun at all.

It would have been more sensible,

As far as I can see,

Instead of getting one like him

To get one just like me.

-Marci Ridlon

Wyatt loves his baby brother. They are going to have so much fun together in a couple of years! Aren't they cute???