Exploring at the Mountain

On one of our days at Grandma and Grandpa's house, they wanted to take us on a drive to find some fall leaves (or "fault" leaves, as Trevor calls them).  We drove up the highway a little ways and stopped by the Sunrise ski resort to have a picnic.

My boys having lunch

My boys with Grandma and Grandpa

And here's the "silly" shot!  :) 

Daddy took a few minutes to teach the boys how to skip rocks.
Yet another hidden talent of his.  :)

Then we decided to keep driving and take in some more of the beautiful scenery.  We ended up near the town of Greer.  Derek and I have never been there before, so we went to check it out.  And we LOVED it!  It's such a charming little town and we're already making plans to stay there sometime (sans children, of course!). 

Trevor with his two favorite guys.

Daddy and the boys doing a little rock-hopping
(and NO ONE fell in!)

I love to watch these 2 boys together.
They have so much fun exploring!

Isaac found some initials carved on this log and was really excited .
He was sure that it was a "secret message."

Isaac also found a wild raspberry.

Trevor loved all of the "fault leaves"

On the way back to "Grandma's Mountain," we took one more detour to this spot with beautiful aspen trees.  They were so colorful!  The boys loved grabbing armfuls of leaves and throwing them up in the air.  It's so fun to watch them explore!

Our first family photo with little Carter.  :)

It was a day filled with lots of driving,
but it was totally worth it!  :)

It's ZOO Time Again!

The weather has finally cooled off enough for us to start our zoo trips again!  It's one of our favorite places to go.  This time was especially fun because it was Carter's first trip!  :)  It was also Isaac's last day of Fall Break and we convinced our best buddy, Sara, to skip work and come along.

Trevor at the petting zoo

We found some baby goats and they really loved Sara!
Now I call her "The Goat Whisperer."  :) 

We've been to the zoo MANY times before
and we've never seen this big, brown cow.
I'm not sure how that happened,
but the boys were really excited about it!

Isaac and Trevor were really excited to have Carter with us.
I love this picture of my cute little boys.

Mama and her boys  :) 

Climbing up the giraffe lookout with Sara 

Carter loved being carried around in the wrap all day.

Here's to another great zoo season!  :)

Fall Break Fun

We spent another great weekend at "Grandma's mountain" for Fall Break.  It was so much fun to be together and to have Grandma and Grandpa to ourselves for a few days.

The boys got to pick a pumpkin from Aunt Trish's garden on our way to Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Grandma had cookie dough all ready to go when we arrived.
She sure knows the way to their hearts!  :)

We happened to be there for General Conference weekend, so we spent lots of time watching that.  We did our "Conference Bowls" and "Conference Store" to encourage the boys to listen as much as they could.  They LOVE doing it!  It pretty much turns Conference into a sugar frenzy, but they get really excited about it and enjoy trying to listen, so it's worth it.  :)

Isaac was probably the most attentive listener.
It may have had something to do with those bowls of candy/pennies.  :)

Carter just loved snuggling and being held during General Conference.

After so many hours of trying to listen, they had to unwind with a little bit of brotherly rough-housing.  :)

Isaac with all of his treasures from the "Conference Store."

Daddy convinced the boys to try riding the quad.  They were both really nervous at first, but by the time we left,
Isaac was able to drive it by himself.

I LOVE Isaac's face in this picture!

Trevor was trying to wait patiently for his turn.  :)

So excited to try it out.

When Trevor and Daddy were riding,
Isaac and Storm thought it was fun to chase after them. 

The boys spent HOURS creating a "Rock Shop."

Here's a close-up of the merchandise and price tags.  :)

Trevor...just doing a little shopping.

Carter was enjoying the outdoors.

Carter's very first "bumy ride!"
(Just to clarify...he didn't ride in Derek's arm like that.
I got in and held him tightly in the back seat.)

We made the boys wear these helmets when they rode the quad.
They thought they were super cool,
so they pretty much wore them all day.  :)

 We were so lucky to have the chance to go on this little vacation.
We love "Grandma's Mountain" and all of the memories we make there.

Special Visit

We were able to spend a few days of our Fall Break up north at Grandma and Grandpa Allen's house.  On our way into town, we stopped by to visit Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma Adams (Derek's grandparents).  Isaac and Trevor always love to visit them and it was Carter's very first time to meet them.  Here are a few pictures...that are pretty meaningful.  :)

Our 3 boys with their great-grandparents

Meeting Grandpa Adams

Grandma just lit up when she saw Baby Carter.
She has Alzheimers and is often unsure of what's going on around her.  It seemed like she had a little moment of clarity when she saw and held our sweet baby.  It was a very neat moment for all of us.

 

She kept rubbing his little feet and saying,
"Ooo...look at these little toes!" :)

 Grandma and Grandpa Adams are such great people.  They have always made me feel accepted and loved as one of their own grandchildren.  I'm so grateful that we could visit them and create these special memories for our family. 

Life is Good (and BUSY!)

It's time to do a little catch-up on pictures.  Our days are long and busy, but pretty great.  In addition to the arrival of sweet little Carter, the last couple of months have been eventful.  

Here's what we've been up to:

Isaac was selected by his teacher to attend a "Leadership Lunch" with his principal.  One child is chosen from each class (once a month) who has excelled in academics and leadership skills.  Isaac was the very first one chosen from his class!  He's such a great little boy and we are very proud of him. 

Trevor started preschool (with Mommy) in September.  He was very excited to be in the "big kid" class. 

My cute preschooler :)

Trevor is doing so well this year and I am loving having him in my class again.

We are all adjusting well to life with our sweet little Carter.
He's so much fun,  He just LOVES to be held, so there have been lots of baby snuggles.

This was a funny moment I happened to catch...
Derek framed Carter for the disappearance of some fruit snacks.  :)

Trevor and I are enjoying our days together.  He's a lot of fun to be with.  We built this awesome  fort one day and decided to have our lunch in there.

Isaac rushes in from school everyday to hold his baby brother.
This little baby is lucky to have brothers that love him so much!

My 3 boys...just chillin'  :)

Isaac and Trevor also started their soccer season last month.
They are on great teams with some friends from our ward/neighborhood and their coaches are awesome!  They have both improved a lot this year.  It's lots of fun to watch them.
I'm definitely their #1 fan!  :)

Isaac was so into it during his first game.  He even scored 2 goals!

Waving to Mom from the field...makes me melt.

Trevor has loved practices, but because he is quite shy, he was a little unsure of himself at his first game.  You can see it on his face in this picture.  :)

Sweet action shot!
(Thanks to our friend, Sara, who was the photographer for me.)

Such a cute guy.

Kicking it in.  Check out that tongue!  :)

A little one-on-one time with sweet Carter.
I love this little man.

Father and son

I  LOVE this picture.  Carter is pulling the best face!  :)

Well...there you have it.  There's a lot going on (much more that's not photographed!), but we wouldn't change a thing.