'Tis the Season

It's time to trim the tree

Found a new buddy.

Made a new buddy.

We are enjoying this escape room advent calendar!

'Tis the season for viral infections.

Caleb wasn't happy about having to stay away from his friends.

Jayden won't wear a coat, or long pants for that matter.
But she always makes sure her fox is nice and warm.

Bounce me higher dad!

Took a Sunday walk near a horse field for this cowgirl.

Caleb was happy to get a free ride.

The rest of us waiting around while the horse whisperer tried to get the horses to come near the fence.

She was successful!
She stood at the fence and sang a song, and they came trotting over to her.

Ew!  Horse breath.

Even Carter enjoyed visiting the horses.

Time to say goodbye.
The horses followed her all the way along the fence until we reached the corner of the field.

Giddy up Daddy!

Got a kick out of this puzzle.
It has 15 missing pieces and 9 duplicate pieces.

The kids found some bike hills at a nearby park.

This boy LOVES taking his bike here.

Even Caleb joined in with his little strider bike.

It's always bad when the kids get bored and there are markers around.

We did a service project with some friends cleaning up a public space.
These kiddos decided it was time for a break.

Cheese!

We got out the old Game Boys at Grammy's house.
Carter loved them.
Caleb was concerned about why the screen was so small.

Proud of his creation.

Ta-da!  We got this stump out of the ground!
(Ok, it was just Grumpy and Daddy.  And the truck)

Took this girl to ride the ponies at the farm.
She only got to ride them 5 times.

Caleb loved his pony.
Two rides were enough for him.

Making a new friend.

Carter thought this goat hanging out in the trough was awesome!

"Look Mom, it still fits!"

Here is is 7 years ago.  He spent a lot of time in this coat.

Primary with Grammy's ward.

They got to be shepherds.

PS--Here are a few pics from Craig's phone from the last few months that we forgot to include in earlier posts.

Learning to waltz in the backyard.
Jayden loved it!
Carter was a good sport :)

Trail riding with Dad.

A fun walk home from church.

Fall fun, a birthday, and a new room!

Finally using Grammy's Christmas gift from last year:
A day at Fiesta Fun!!

And they're off!

What brings a family together better than
splitting into teams and shooting each other in the back?

Time for the fast cars.

We need more speed!

The bumper boats were a blast.
Caleb was ruthless with the sprayer.

Grammy and grandbaby golfing together.  Awww!

And now Mom & Dad's gift from Grammy:
A car full of wiped out kids.

Carter went fishing for young mens.
He wasn't too impressed.

Until he almost caught a big one!
(I think it ended up getting away)

Working hard on Jayden's new room. 
It's almost ready for paint!

Grammy joined us for a poetry tea party.
The kids made a fancy drink, so we used our fancy glasses.

Compliments to the chef....or the drink makers.

The big boys playing together at co-op

The little boys playing together at co-op.
(we didn't get a picture, but the middle-sized girls are running around somewhere too)

We aren't sure what it is he's made, but he is sure proud of it.

Walking into Walmart is much calmer than walking out of it.

Caught a lizard.
No, we can't take it home.  Say goodbye.

Exploring the lake shore.

Hot dog roasting time!

Another conference puzzle completed!

This kid is weird.
We love him!

Saying goodbye to Craig's Dad's childhood teddy bear.

Jayden panicked when she found a praying mantis in her hair.
Luckily big brother was there to come to the rescue.

Swimming with friends for the last time until next spring.

We love a wagon.

Jayden finished volleyball.
She had a great time learning to play,
and her team won nearly every game!

Hiking with the cousins.

King and queens of the rock!

More hiking

Caleb took some convincing to ride this carousel,
but he ended up loving it!

Movie night in the back yard.

Guess who's 12!!

We ran a lot of errands on Carter's birthday.

But we ended with birthday cake!

And the young men took him mountain biking
so he could use his new mountain bike!

Baby Taylor Swift

Found a lost reindeer at Home Depot.
Can we keep him?

Again, we love a wagon.

Sometimes a mom just needs to escape her responsibilities for an evening.

Ring of Fire solar eclipse.

Whoa!
And look at the shadows on the ground.

Kids, don't try this at home.

Every solar eclipse comes with lots of traffic.

On our way to a wedding reception.
What a beautiful location and time of year.

Leaving the reception.
What beautiful, grumpy children.

Carter taking a trip back to 1998.

We just learned that this is a picture of the church building Grams went to as a young girl.
And she drew this too!

And she painted this!
So many years and we never knew she was an artist!

Caleb decided to nap in this doggy kennel.

Jayden made some brownie cupcakes for Grams.

Thinking outside the box.
When presented with a checklist that you don't want to complete,
just write NO.

Enjoying some delicious watermelon we grew in our own garden!

We took Carter to the orthodontist for an evaluation.  They told us he needed to lose 6 baby teeth.  Within 2 weeks, Carter lost 3 of them.  I guess he's anxious to get started!

Don't sit down on any of our furniture Craig!

Time to paint Jayden's new room!
She chose to use her favorite color.

We moved a lot of books up to the "new" office.

Good thing we had such strong helpers!

Grammy treated us to some ice cream after so much hard work.

It's painted!

Got all her stuff moved in.

Thanks for all your help Grammy!
(And Daddy, I guess he worked a little too)

Some friends from Vernal were in town,
so we met up with them for a swimming reunion!

Saw a friend from 2nd grade at the Halloween trunk or treat!

This was Caleb's trunk or treat costume.
Cowboy boots, a robot shirt, and a robber mask.
He wore a similar smattering of costume pieces to another Halloween party as well.

But on Halloween night he finally decided he was going to be Spider-Man!
Carter was a creeper, and Jayden was Audrey from Descendants 3.

Trick-or-treat!

Caleb wouldn't go to his best friend's house for candy.
The yard was way too scary!

So proud of all the candy he collected!

There comes a time in every young boy's life,
when he feels the need to make a bike ramp.

Found a new park with a neat little creek.

And a kid-approved bridge.

Beautiful evening at sunset.  Our baby trees turned a fiery orange.

Co-op hike.

This little soldier found a good weapon.
But, I think that stake was supposed to be marking something bud.

Practicing writing some capital letters.

Caleb has discovered he is big enough to play Minecraft.
And he LOVES it!

Luckily, he still loves running around outside.

And drawing pictures.
Good job with those airplanes buddy!

Carter learning country dancing.
Looking good buddy!

Whoops, this part is tricky!

We've been reading Oliver Twist for school.
"Please sir, I want some more."

Drawing together in our nature journal on a nice, sunny morning.
Somehow his nature journal ended up with robots in it.  Mom must have been looking somewhere else.

Meet our new friend Chubby Man.

Getting ready for a Thanksgiving dinner.
"Come on Mom, where's the food?"

Good food and good family.
A perfect Thanksgiving!

Gingerbread house time!

Grammy showed Jayden how to make these cookies.

Daddy showed Caleb how to blow stuff up with TNT.

The next generation of gamers.

Finally got these kids to the dentist.
These two love the waiting room!

The kids wanted to play in and then rake up our neighbor's leaves.
They had a ton of fun playing!

And then they filled 12 bags of leaves!

And as a thank you, our neighbor gave them a cake!