Halloween Fun

We had a really fun time celebrating Halloween with our kids.  I've never really been into Halloween, but everything is fun with these boys!

We invited some friends over for some pumpkin-carving.

Here are my cute little preschoolers at our Halloween party.

Trevor and his buddies  :)

Isaac got these crazy glasses from his school Halloween party
and the boys got a kick out of trying them on everyone...
starting with poor Baby Carter!  :)

Trevor with the crazy glasses, witch hat, and spooky teeth!
What a look, huh?! 

 

 

My superheroes
Trevor-Thor
Isaac-Batman 

 

And here's the cutest little skeleton ever!

 

Ready for some Trick-or-Treating!

This little skeleton slept through his 1st Trick-or-Treating!

These boys are so much fun!

Little Moments

One of the very best things I've experienced as a mom is to see my kids enjoying each other.

 

 

 

 

 

Love these three boys!

Carter's Blessing Day

Our sweet Carter was given a name and blessing from his dad on Sunday, October 14th.
It was such a neat experience to watch my baby in the arms of the worthy priesthood holders that I love most.  Derek gave him a wonderful blessing and then we celebrated our little man at a brunch afterward with our friends and family.

Here are a few pictures I took of my boy on his big day:
 

 

 

 

Isaac wanted to get in on the picture taking!  :)

 

Love these sweet brothers.

Our little family

We were grateful to have Grandma and Grandpa Allen with us.

 

Proud mama  :)

All tuckered out after his big day

I am grateful for this special moment in the life of our sweet boy.

We are grateful everyday that he is part of our family.

Birthday Boy!

Well, October 19th came again and now my boy is another year older!  It's crazy to me that he is already SIX years old.  How did that happen?!

We had a great time celebrating his special day.  We started the day by letting him open one present (the one he was really wanting).  He was so excited to get his "Captain America that talks."  :)  Then we got in touch with Grammy and Papa in Africa so they could wish him a Happy Birthday.  They sang to him (in English and French) and then he opened a card from them with "birthday dollars" in it.  After that, it was time for school!  This is the first time I haven't spent his birthday with him and it was a little sad for me.
I even tried to convince him to stay home with me, but he was too excited to go to school to celebrate with his teacher and friends.

So happy!

Birthday wishes from Africa

And then it was off to school!

Dad, Mom, Trevor and Carter all went to school for his afternoon recess to bring in a treat for his class.  It was so fun to see him at school and to see how excited he was that we were there.

After I picked him up from school, I took him to Target to use his money from Grammy and Papa.  In true Isaac-style, he picked a superhero toy and a stuffed animal.  Then we met up with Grandma and Grandpa Allen at Texas Roadhouse (his choice) for his birthday dinner.  He loved being the center of attention at the restaurant and was so adorable all night.

Here he is with his new Batman toy and turtle.

He LOVES the Texas Roadhouse rolls!

On the birthday saddle.  Yee-haw!

Mom with her sweet little 6-year-old!  Love my boy.

The next day, we let Isaac choose a few friends to go with us to Jumpstreet.  He picked a couple friends from church, a couple friends from school, and a couple cousins.  It was a great group of little boys!  They had so much fun jumping and running around together.  After Jumpstreet, we went back to our house for cake, ice cream and presents.

Fun at Jumpstreet

The birthday crew
(plus a sister that came along for cake and ice cream) 

Isaac and his Batman cake

He has some really great friends.

 

This boy LOVES new toys! :)

 

Happy Birthday to my smart, caring,
sensitive, funny, and totally wonderful little boy.

We are grateful every single day
that you were sent to our family.
We love you, Isaac.

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!  :)