Gage Eating Solids...

A couple weeks ago Gage turned six months old. Besides a few licks of different things here and there, I was excited to officially start him on solids. I spent a few days making all his baby food for the next three months. I got him all prepared in his Bumbo with the other kids nearby, and Gage hated his first real experience with solids. I was bummed. For the next several days I kept trying, and Gage kept crying. Today though was a different story, he loved eating sweet potatoes, yeah. Hopefully he continues to enjoy tasting new foods. I can't believe my little man is six months old, crazy. 

Group Date Night!

Last night Bryce and I went on a group date with some great friends. It was nice being kid free, and having good conversation with no interruptions. We went bowling at Westy's, and played a couple games, girls against boys. Both teams did great, but the boys won. After we all went to Merritt's and enjoyed some yummy scones. We had a fun night and hope to do it again soon. 

Halloween Fun!

We had a great Halloween this year. It was definitely a busy day, but we had lots of fun. I made all the kids take a nap knowing we would be out late. After naps we started off trick-or-treating at Bryce's work. The kids love going to see daddy at work, especially when they get to go inside. They walked away with lots of candy. 

After we stopped at Grandpa's so he could see the kids dressed up. We did not stay too long, Bryce and I had to get home to get ready for trunk-or-treat. We decided it would be fun to dress up in pirate costumes too. We arrived at the church, it was crazy busy with kids everywhere. There were three different wards, plus a whole neighborhood. Dinner was provided, we had hot dogs, chips and drinks. Kyra helped Bryce pass out candy, and I took the boys around to a few cars. At one point I took the hand of a little pirate only to find out it was not Miles, it was some other kid in the exact same costume. I was relieved to find Miles right after. I was scared for a moment, but it then it was kinda funny because I actually knew the other kid. Later that kids older brother came up to Miles thinking he had found his brother. We kept getting those boys mixed up all night.      

After we met up with my family to go trick-or-treating in Lexie's neighborhood. Even though the kids had already gotten lots of candy, it was fun going door to door with them to a few houses. I think Halloween is becoming a favorite holiday for my kids. They LOVED dressing up and getting candy all night long.

This year we carved pumpkins a few days before Halloween. The kids had lots of fun making faces on their very own pumpkins. 

This last Sunday we went to Pennie's for a family Halloween party. Pennie made a great dinner, everything had a Halloween theme. Before coming over Pennie had hid Halloween treats around the house for the kids to find. Kyra loved her new spooky teeth. After dessert the cousins got to go pumpkin bowling outside. They all had fun taking turns trying to knock down the glow-in-the-dark pins with a big pumpkin.  We all had a fun night together.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Preschool Halloween Fun!

Kyra went on her first preschool field trip last week. We went to The Farmstead Pumpkin Patch. Both morning and afternoon classes went together, therefore Kyra got to go with her cousin Tucker too. Lots of parents came as chaperons, plus Miles and Gage came along for some fun too. We first started with going on a hay ride to the pumpkin patch, each child got to pick a mini pumpkin to take home. After we did a variety of other activities that included the jumping pillow, barrel train ride, mini corn maze, playing in the corn box, and going down lots of slides. It was a great field trip, and the kids had a BLAST.     

Today Kyra had a Halloween party at preschool. She was so excited to dress up in her costume, she was Izzy from Jake and the Neverland Pirates. The party started 30 minutes before going home. I decided it would be fun to drop Miles and Gage off at Lexie's, and go to the party myself. Kyra was so happy to see me, she jumped up from her seat and ran over to give me hugs. The party consisted of lots of Halloween treats, playing Halloween BINGO, dancing, and reading spooky stories. The kids had a blast. It's always fun to see Kyra interact with her friends at preschool, especially during a party where all the kids are dressed up.

Push 5K!

My friend Tonya and I signed up for a race called the Push 5K. We not only got to run another race together, we got to run with our kids too. Everyone ran the race with a jogging stroller. Kyra and Miles were so excited to run a race with mommy, and I was excited too. As we were waiting for the race to start pinwheels were handed out to each kid to have fun with during the race. All the kids were quite entertained. The race started and there were jogging strollers everywhere [single, double, and triple], it was crazy. Collin, Tonya's husband ran with us too. Bryce and Gage cheered for us on the sidelines from a couple different locations during the race. After crossing the finish line there were treats for everyone. The treats were definitely my kids' favorite, small apples, gold fish, and fruit snacks. The race was definitely not competitive, but the kids and I had lots of fun together.      

Kyra's First Dentist Appointment!

Kyra had her first dentist appointment today. I scheduled both of our appointments together. I went first so Kyra could watch and hopefully feel comfortable by the time it was her turn. While I was getting my teeth cleaned Kyra was everywhere exploring and asking questions. It was a bit stressful, but we both survived. It was finally Kyra's turn. She was super excited to sit in the big chair and play with the equipment, but not too excited about getting her teeth cleaned. I think next time I will schedule our appointments separately, that way we are not there as long and we can focus on just her. Kyra's favorite part was picking a prize out of the treasure chest, a necklace. Hopefully her next visit will go a little better.      

Blazer's Basketball Game with Grandpa

Portland Trail Blazers played in Boise this weekend against Utah Jazz. Bryce purchased tickets a couple months ago for him and Grandpa to go. Grandpa was super stoked for the game because he used to live in Portland, and was a season ticket holder for 30+ years. They both enjoyed the game, especially the final score which was 96-86 Blazers.

Linder Farms

We LOVE going to Linder Farms each year, it has developed into a yearly tradition [as I'm sure it is for many others too]. We met up with some of my family, we all had a blast. Some of the kids' favorite activities this year were the big slide, the straw bale maze, the pedal tractors, going on a hay ride, shooting pumpkins, the swings, and bull riding [ok bull riding may have been mine and Bryce's favorite]. The bull riding only happened because our group was the last ones to leave Linder Farms, therefore the guy in charge let anyone of who was interested try it out for free. We got some good video. No matter what without fail we ALL enjoyed snacking on yummy treats at the food court too. Overall it was a fun night. I already look forward to next year. 

Barber 2 Boise 10K

This year I committed myself to run the Barber to Boise 10K race. With other things going on I only had five weeks to train, plus it was my first race since having Gage. Training for the race went surprisingly well. Race days always make me nervous, and today was no different. This morning I got a ride with my sister-in-law Kim and her sister Melissa to BSU. From there we took a shuttle to Barber Park. The race started at 9:30. I started off slower than normal because there were so many people, but once everyone started spacing out I kept a pace I felt really good with. My final time was 1:02:45, yippee. My dad, my brother Brent, Bryce, and the kids were all cheering as I crossed the finish line. Before the race Bryce and I had a misunderstanding as to where the headphones were, therefore I had to run the race with no music. I was not super thrilled about the idea because I had trained for this race listening to music. Shortly after crossing the finish line Kyra ran up to me saying she had a gift for me. Behind her back she pulled out new headphones, woohoo. I'm so excited to have my very own headphones again. Thanks so much Bryce. This race includes a pancake breakfast that did not disappoint. It was fun running in a race again. I actually came home and signed up for the Ogden Half Marathon in May 2014. I hear it's a beautiful race. I'm excited to continue running and train for another race.

The Day of the Dead

Bryce decided it was time to kill the chickens because it was too expensive to feed them with no eggs being laid. He was originally going to do it for a church activity until one of the young men got squeamish. Ethan really wanted to help, so Bryce said he could the following day. It was a good and interesting experience. 

Cousin Party & Ogden, Utah...

My sister Lexie wanted to get all the cousins together one last time for an overnight before my sister Lauralee moves to Atlanta, Georgia in a few weeks. We ran into a small problem, the night picked for the cousin get together was also the night our family was leaving for a weekend trip to Ogden, Utah. Because the kids really wanted to party with their cousins we decided to do no overnight, but leave for Utah at about 10:30 Friday night. It all worked out great. The kids had a blast together. They played outside, hiked/walked around the Wetlands, ate yummy pizza, played some more, and watched a movie. They sure packed a lot into five hours.

[Tucker, Miles, Kyra, Ruby, Avery, and Ella] 

[Riggin in the stroller]

They both were tuckered out. Kyra was asleep before we got out of my sister's neighborhood, and Miles was asleep as we approached Mountain Home. All the kids slept great for the majority of the trip. We got to Sam and Jen's house at 3:00 in the morning. Once we unpacked the car and got the kids settled I think we were all asleep by 3:45.

Saturday morning came too fast. We all lounged around for most of the morning. Later once everyone else arrived [Pennie, Seth, Kimmy, and kids] we decided to go to Sam's restaurant, Pizza Pie Cafe for a late lunch early dinner. The new restaurant was beautiful, and the food was delicious as always. After Jen took us to one of her favorite stores, Smith and Edwards. This store had everything from camping gear to canning supplies, it was lots of fun. The night was spent chit chatting with one another, good times.

The main reason for going to Ogden was because Sam and Jen had their third baby girl Emmalyn a couple months ago, and Sunday was her blessing day. The blessing was beautiful. I'm so happy we were able to come and be apart of Emmalyn's special day. After there was a luncheon at Sam and Jen's house with lots of family. There was lots of food, everything was delicious. By about 3:00 we said our goodbyes and headed back home to Boise. We stopped in Jerome for a few hours to say hi to Ryan, Deanna, and kids. We had a great weekend, it's always fun spending time with family.

[Madde (1 month), Emma (3 months), and Gage (5 months)] 

 [Pennie with her three newest grandchildren]