Happy Halloween!

Fireman Austin and his "fire doggie", Carson (as Austin calls him). So cute! Oh, and the red wagon is supposed to be the fire engine!


Carson being a trooper despite wearing a hot costume that was too big for him!


Austin cheesin' it up


Can you guess who we are? Look closely at the name tag on Eric...For all those Office fans, Dwight and Angela! (Notice the "dead" cat in my arms too!) And no, I'm not planning on going platinum blond anytime soon! :)


The fam at the ward Halloween party complete with chili cook-off and trunk or treating!

Past Halloweens

Halloween 2005-Fruit of the Loom. Notice Eric's last minute, deranged apple costume!


Halloween 2006-Little Red Riding Hood, Granny, and the Big (or Little), Bad Wolf


Halloween 2007-Austin dressed as his favorite animal, a monkey complete with banana in pocket

I found these pictures the other day of past Halloweens and just had to laugh. When we were living in Cincinnati, our friends had an annual Halloween party in which everyone came dressed up in theme. Good memories. Last year was Austin's first official "trick or treating" Halloween and Eric had just started a new job in Boise, so he wasn't there. I don't think we'll be dressing up together as a "family" unless there's some party or something, but definitely we'll try to have a theme with the kids as long as they're willing (which probably won't be too much longer!)

Pumpkin Patch

We went to the Pumpkin Patch with our friends last night and the kids had a blast. This pumpkin patch was like one I've never seen complete with corn mazes (for big and little kids), pumpkin sling shots, hay rides, jump house/slide, food, pumpkin patch, pony rides, cow trains, food, and much more. It really was a money-sucker, so we just did a few things. The kids especially loved running through the small "hay maze" and riding on the cow train. Picking out pumpkins turned into a "let's-throw-the-pumpkins-on-the-ground-and-smash-them" thing, so we ended that fairly fast before that turned into too much destruction (and trouble)!

My baby is growing up!

Carson is 7 months now, before I know it, he won't be my baby anymore! He really is one of the happiest, easy-going babies I've ever met, so I'm thankful for that! The older he gets, the more his little personality comes out and it's so irresitable! He adores his brother and is fascinated with his every move, always trying to get his attention. Even though he's not crawling yet, he's quite a mover and can get anywhere by scooting and rolling all over the place. I have a feeling it won't be long before I have TWO very ACTIVE little boys that will keep me on my feet (and destroy my house)!

One of the cutest things that Carson does and laugh, smile, and squeal at his reflection in mirrors, car windows, etc! He gets so excited and reaches out to touch "himself"! He's also a HUGE flirt, especially with the ladies (esp girl babies)! He just smiles, tries to grab them and "talks" to them! So cute...we just love the little bugger!

SLC trip

Brittney's boys, Zach and Luke with my boys


Jill, Julie, and I with our March babies!


Kimi and Austin at The Gateway


Austin, Jen, Kylie, Matt, Carson, and I at Spaghetti Mama's


Friends together at a wedding reception


Brett and Carson


Some of the cousins-Maecee, Maka, Ethan, and Austin coloring on the sidewalk

The boys and I spent a few days in SLC last week. I did a few Twisted Silver shows and also got to spend time with my sister-in-law, Kimi and my sister, Jen. It was super BUSY, we seriously we're all over the place! I still can't believe how well Carson did considering he hardly had a nap in a "bed" for 5 days! What a trooper my boys are!

In addition to seeing some family, I also got to spend some time with my good friend, Brittney, and met up for breakfast with my long-time friends, Jill and Julie (and our old seminary teacher!). We also had dinner with 2 of my aunts, and some of my cousins! In between 3 Twisted Shows and family and friends, we even made it to a wedding reception for Jill's brother (their family grew up next door to mine). Sunday we drove to Logan and spent a couple of hours with Salli and Brett's families and then headed back to Boise. All in all, it was a blast, but exhausting and quite frankly, I am glad to be back!

Carson's latest thing...

Check this video out, Carson loves it when we do this to him. We're not sure if he just likes the vibration of our finger, or the sound of his voice when we do this (probably the latter), but he loves it! Even when we take our finger away, he pulls it back to his mouth! Too funny!!!

More "Austin-isms" retired

"Mom, quit eating my brother's toes, they are not FOOD!!!"

"I need you to do me a favor."

"You are driving me crazy!" (I wonder where he got that from!)

"(Because) I'm the master of you guys!" (when asked why he couldn't just be a sweet, gentle boy)

"Sometimes you got to use your poop muscles to push the poop out! UGGGHHH!" (as he grunts and flexes his muscles)

"I'm not a cutie pie, Carson is. I'm just a cutie."

"I've got pee coming!" (he says this instead of "I've got to go potty.")

"Mom, SLOW DOWN! You're driving like a crazy person!"

"Hmmmm...that's lovely!"

"Yeah, I know I'm a funny dude. I laugh all the time."

"Dad, c'mon, you're taking FOREVER!"

"Mom, you're a little bit nuts!"

WHY???? (he asks)

The last few months, Austin has entered the "WHY?" stage, and let me tell you, it might be cute and funny for a few questions, but it's those times like driving in the car for a long period of time, that it gets a little repetitive! :) Seriously though, Austin will ask "Why?" for just about anything and everything. Whether it's why he needs to eat lunch, or why he needs to clean up his room, or why he needs to take a bath, or why he needs to take a nap, or why he needs to sit in time-out, well, you get the point.

Fortunately though, there are some pretty funny conversations we have to his "WHY?" questions. Like the other day we were driving, and he noticed a bunch of cows in a field and he asked, "Mom, why do cows smell so bad?" Following my response (about cow manueur), he said, "well maybe if they had toilets they could flush their poop down the toilet so it doesn't smell badly". After I was done laughing and explaining to him that cows don't poop in toilets (nor does any animal for that matter), he thoughtfully replied, "well then, maybe they need to take baths more." That was it for me! I practically had to pull over, I was laughing so hard!

Brotherly love

Today we were reading books and Austin goes, "Mom, can I read a book to Carson?" I of course thought, "hmmm, I wonder how long this will last", but let Austin put Caron on his lap while he preceded to read a couple of books to him. I watched as Austin knew all the words pretty much and as he turned the pages, he would put Carson's hand on the different textures, and say things like, "you see, that truck is ridgy". It was pretty cute. The funniest part though was that Carson of course wanted to grab the book and put it into his mouth, and this frustrated Austin, so he locked down Carson's arms with one of his hands, while he held the book and turned the pages! Too funny! That only lasted 1/2 a minute though because Carson got upset that he couldn't taste the book anymore!

The last couple of months, I've noticed that not only does Austin acknowledge his little brother, he loves to give him hugs/kisses, he plays with him, he climbs in his crib to greet him after a nap, and when Carson is tired, he puts Carson's thumb in his mouth and says, "It's ok Bubbers, just suck your thumb and you will go to sleep". It amazes me that this busy, non-stop, pretty un-cuddly, and independent kid already loves his brother and shows affection to him. It melts my heart that every night when Austin is saying his prayers he always prays for Carson to be "strong and healthy". What a good big brother!

My First Book of Mormon

Every night when we ready scriptures together as a family before bed, we always read a couple of stories from this condensed childrens' Book of Mormon book. Austin absolutely loves these stories, and what's truly remarkable is that he not only knows all the stories (of course, the shortened, summed-up versions), he can finish the sentences in the book. He also likes to ask questions, like "did the Liahona work when they weren't obedient?" or "how come Laman and Lemuel were bad?" Some interesting and complex questions and answers for a 3 year old!!! I love the fact that he loves to read the scriptures and can pretty much sit still while we read a page or so from "the real ones". He even reminds us to read them when we're getting home late from somewhere and getting ready for bed! I thank the Lord each day for such special spirits who are so good and innocent and who remind us of what's really important in life.