Birthdays, Conference, and October Fun

Paul had a birthday! We had a fun family breakfast and pull apart cake after the kids got home from school. Paul has been telling me for years about an awesome Christmas village his family had growing up that his sisters painted so for his birthday this year I collaborated with his sisters and we each painted a Christmas village piece I bought on Etsy. He loved it. We got to go on a birthday date too.

We celebrated his birthday with his family by holding a Great West Pumpkin Bake off. It was so fun. Everyone brought really yummy treats. Rebecca brought a pumpkin cake worthy of the Great British Baking show. Michelle brought pumpkin cookies and pumpkin oreo cheescake cupcakes. Benjamin brought pumpkin pecan crumble bars. I made a pumpkin cheesecake. It was all delicious! Paul was the judge and he crowned Rebecca the winner. 

We loved watching General Conference and learning from all the uplifting messages. My mom had tickets for the women's session and it was Susie's first time attending. It was really special to be there together for a historic women's conference. 

While my mom was there we made her a chocolate roll and celebrated her birthday too. We collected scriptures from lots of family members and gave them to her to read day to day. 

We went to Black Island Farms for a preschool field trip and took the big kids out of school so they could join in on the fun. 

We had a great primary program and some fun with the primary kids afterwards. 

Perhaps the most exciting news of this month is that Clark is FINALLY potty trained! He still had accidents here and there but he's doing it and I'm so relieved. He's definitely been the hardest to train. This was our 3rd attempt and I'm so glad we've made it! 

Happy Birthday Timmy

Sweet Timothy turned one! (it's been a month ago now). We got him his own little camelbak and some bedding for his crib haha. He loved his cupcake with sprinkles. Timothy has taken a few steps but is feeling really hesitant about it. I think walking is still a ways off. He loves when he hears the neighbor's dog barking, he says "dah! dah!" He can go up and down the stairs really well. 

Olivia came to visit before she took her nursing exam. She had to take it in Ogden so she hung out with us for a few days before hand. We had great time! The kids love to play with her because she's a kid at heart. She was fully clothed but still couldn't resist joining in on the splash pad fun! 

Clark and I started a 3 year old preschool class. I usually just do a free mommy and me class when I have a 3 year old but I had a few parents interested so we have a few moms staying and a few moms dropping off. We have the cutest class and it's been a lot of fun so far. 

Fall weather is the best for playing at the park! 

So Long Summer

We had a great summer. We went on a few trips (see previous pages) but we also had some fun at home. Here's all the rest of our summer pictures...

We went swimming! The kids took swim lessons again right after school got out so they were excited to go back to the pool a few times. 

I got to take all four of the kids on all of our errands.

We did a few craft projects. My kids are crazy about painting, building, anything crafty! 

We saw a few summer movies. Paul took the oldest 2 to the Pokemon movie and Susie and I saw Aladdin. 

Braden finished his first season of baseball. He got to be on the same team as friend Axl.

The kids set a few learning goals this summer. They wanted to learn about rocks and Susie wanted to learn how to make pizza. One of my favorite parts of the summer was having Clark pick up rocks every chance he could and ask me, "this a metamorphic rock mom?" Too cute. 

We loved Syracuse days. We watched the princess show, got snow cones, and went on a few rides.

Grandma Susie babysat while Paul and I went hiking in the Tetons. 

We celebrated Father's Day with steak and cinnamon rolls.

We took our canoe out a few times.

We went to a fun fireworks party at the Johnson's again this summer. They put up a big pool this year and the kids had a blast. We stayed late for fireworks and it was the best! 

We had some successful harvests. We're still getting tomatoes and still waiting on cucumbers.

We played with neighborhood friends. 

We went to 2 weddings! Three of my cousins got married this summer. Cayla got married, then Kimbol (we were at the West reunion so we missed this one), and Weston got married last weekend. 

 We went to the Dinosaur and Airplane museums. 

All summer long we did our best to track our pages read for a little reading race. I can't believe how many pages Susie read. 2, 623! 

Now it's back to school for these two! They are loving it so far. 

I had to add this cute picture of Clark in nursery. I was helping in there one week and it was fun to watch him play with his nursery friends. He starts preschool with me this week.