Halloween time

In AZ, we learned our first Halloween that you can't carve pumpkins too early. So this year we painted them and we will carve the other side the day before Halloween in hopes that it won't rot.

We also made these fun pumpkin bats. the kids did all of those, max cut the wings and eyes and lily helped put them together. i love holidays with kids!

The pumpkin patch that is really a farm...

This year we tried a new pumpkin patch.  It was a farm in Mesa. The kids had a great time! They had pony rides and bulls to rope (Max would have done that all day had we let him)

The kids played horse shoe and other games they had for us

We went on a hay ride and the guy let each kid drive.

The petting zoo was great!

Flying high

Last year for Brians birthday, I bought him a groupon for paragliding. He finally got around to make time for it. It ended up that he due to weather (or so the guy said) that he didn't really para glide but rode the motorized paragliding plane....you know the ones with the big fan in the back...anyway it wasn't what I paid for but he had a good time.

Random moments of our kids...

Here is Max and his best friend Jack at the mall.  During Fall break (Jacks breaks since he started kindergarten and we are not in school) we spent every day with Jack and his family. It was a fun week.

These carousel pictures were from the train park. I think they were the  only pictures taken. It was a fun trip!

Max rides his bike daily. He is a doll. Luckily it is in the low 90s in the evening now so we don't melt outside!

A a few Sundays ago we went for our first big bike ride with Max riding his own bike.  His other one was small enough and he wasn't fast enough that we never went very far. This day we wen to a park only about a mile away. But the next day we rode 2.5 miles to a friends house and back. He was very proud of his 5 mile bike ride! It is so nice to have him riding! Now we just need to get Lily going.... but she just loves our trailer that she can ride in! So much easier ;)
Notice how my kids are dressed... long pants, boots, and Lily in long sleeves.. it was in the 80s so they thought they should be dressed warmer..we are so warped here with hot/cold!

Elder and Sister Durst

These are Brians parents. They are serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter -Day Saints.  This isn't a new thing they are doing, just a new pictures and I thought they would love the chance to be on my blog! (you know since I am famous and all..)  They are in North Carolina. They are doing wonderful and will be home this spring. They are missed but receiving multiple blessings. We love them and are very proud to call them family.

Max's party with friends

 Max wanted a pirate party this year. He wanted "boys only" It was his first party with just friends.  We don't know if we are ready for our kids to think they are old enough for that!  Here is the pirate hat cake we made him. Brian drew the skull and cross bones, I have no artistic talent!

We started the party with a pirate pinata. Inside was the beginning of a treasure hunt with pirate gear for the boys to wear.

 The gear included swords...we really needed no other activity then to give 8 boys swords.. the hunt took them through the yard, down the street and back.

 For dessert we had Pirate punch (blue kool-aide with dry ice), cake, ice cream, muddy buddies and cheese balls.

Max was spoiled with so many great gifts!

 We also played "pin the eye patch on the skeleton" I love that his birthday is the same month of Halloween. It makes it too easy!

He has been talking all week about which theme to do next year... I should write them all down to see how much he changes in the year...

Max turns 5, October 7th!

 Friday, October 7th, Max turned 5. I can't believe he is already 5!  He woke up to his favorite breakfast, Hoot-n-annies. Brian died them blue to make them even better! I was doing my field work so I was already at the hospital so I missed the day but they all had a great time. They went fishing in a pond up the street.  The pond is in a neighborhood and we just learned that they fill it full of cat fish.  They used hot dogs to fish, yuck! And they caught many fish!  Brian took some great video but it won't upload for some reason.  The story of the day was that Max had put his pole down and a fish was hooked. Before he got to pick it up the fish swam off with his pole!! So funny! So then Max was using Brians pole and another fish was hooked. When Max reeled it in, it had a huge cat fish and the wire was stuck to the wire on Max's pole with another fish! So they were able to get his pole back.  Max tells it great...and you would be able watch it all if only it would upload.. :)

 Max wanted a new bike for his birthday. He had out grown his other one. We found this spider man bike for him, he also got this costume and a book all about our bodies and how they work.

For his birthday dinner, he wanted fish and fries. So we had salmon and fries.  He loves fish now that he enjoys catching them!  We also got a small star wars cake for our family.  These smash cakes from walmart are our favorite for our little group!

Max is just too fun these days. He is getting to that silly 5 year old boy stage.. He loves to play with anything boy. He is currently in soccer and karate. He is such a nice boy. To everyone, including his sister, most of the time.  He still loves to cuddle with me and wrestle with his dad. We just love this little guy and are so grateful he is in our family!

The joys of conference weekend...

 Great weather started the first weekend in October this year. It hopefully stays. By great I mean the 80s...heaven...
it was also conference weekend. I just love church in my pjs on my couch! The kids entertained themselves by camping in the backyard.

 Brian made us this amazing bread...

And at the end of the day (luckily I had just showered) MATT showed up at our door. What a great end to a great relaxing weekend!

farmer at heart

 Max wanted to try out his new boots and see the cows being milked Luckily we have friends... he loved every minute of it!

Some of our friends had a BBQ Saturday night before we left. It was fun to see them and their families.
I took lots of pictures of the kids but not any of our friends! I was able to see my favorite people from work twice. I interrupted their day at school one day and we went to dinner one night. It was so nice to spend time with them.
It was also nice to spend time with Katelyn but was not documented with pictures. She and I ran together twice. It was slow and I wanted to die with the elevation but it was fun to visit with her. We also had a girls outing with Lily. We got cupcakes and shopped.
It was a nice trip. I am already homesick but we do love life here and it has become home. Whether it will stay home is a different story...

Fall Festival

 On our last day in Idaho, Saturday, there was a fall festival at a park. Katelyn had a massage booth that was taken advantage of by both of my boys. (I had been given an hour massage earlier in the week at her work as a graduation gift) She is amazing, if you live close you should get her number from me.
The festival was fun and had crafts for the kids to do. Plus all the fun food like cotton candy and snow cones.
Lily saw McGruff and was scared. a few minutes later she wanted to hug him because she was over her fear. My mom tracked him down and she got her hug. Yay for Grandmas!
My parents met us there and both Brian's sisters and kids came. It was a fun day.

 After the festival, we went to Saras for some face painting and crafts.