Pre-Hallween Fun

WARNING: LOTS OF PICTURES!!!

Friday night we found a pumpkin patch. This was the kid's first pumpkin patch experience and it might be their last for awhile since there is no Halloween in Europe, as far as I am told. They had fun picking out their pumpkins. RJ picked out the biggest he could find, weighing about 50 pounds.
Savannah's found a pumpkin just her size, weighing at 4.5 pounds.

They were both very proud of their finds.

They also found Brownies on a stick:

Look closely, I am actually in a picture!!

I thought this was a fun shot:

At home Savannah enjoyed drawing all over her pumpkin. It was a little too small to crave anyway.

Jared about ready to cut into the monster size pumpkin:

Savannah trying her hardest to help scoop out the insides:

Can't quite get it:

Almost there:

After the pumpkin was all cleaned out, Jared decided to try to put Savannah inside the pumpkin. Oh, the things we do to our children.

While all this was going, RJ was working on the perfect face for his pumpkin. After two pages of drawings (front and back) he finally decided on a face.

The kids enjoying the success of their work.

Daddy's handy work:

Saturday night we made out annually graveyard pudding dessert. This year I let the kids decorate it. The did a great job trying to make it look like a scary grave yard. Afterwards, we enjoyed a family movie night, Night at the Museum, which was really good.

Both RJ and Savannah were invited to a friend's Halloween party. Here is a little costume preview for the year. Savannah as Strawberry Shortcake and RJ as a Knight.

Savannah's Protector.

Savannah has always been a tough little cookie. She has had no problem defending herself and usually demonstrates her powers on RJ. He takes it and usually doesn't fight back. The past few months I have noticed him defend his sister around others. It has been nice to see him stick up for her but lately I think it has been getting a little out of hand.
Last week the kid's were at my Aunt's house playing with Seth while I was at a Doctors appointment. My Aunt told me later how protective RJ was of Savannah. How she was sitting in a chair and Seth was sitting close by. RJ was sure Seth was trying to get Savannah out of the chair so he hit Seth telling him to leave his sister alone. We have had other similar situations. Last night was a little worse and we decided that a talk is in order.
We went to a friend's house last night for dinner. They are in the process of building a house so they took us out there to see it. The kids were all playing in the back yard while we took the tour. All of a sudden we heard Savannah start screaming. Jared went out to investigate. By the time he went out there another little girl Savannah's age was screaming. The story he got was that this little girl pushed Savannah so RJ came over and punched the little girl for pushing his sister.
Later that evening we were back in their apartment. Savannah was playing with a book. She put it on the couch and moved on to another toy. The little girl asked me if she could look at the book. I said yes and gave it to her. Once Savannah realized the girl had the book she had been looking at, she got all upset. She tired to take the book away and we took her away from the situation telling her to share and that Emily was looking at it right now. Well she didn't like that very much and she ran down the hall to get her big brother. She took him by the hand dragging him into the front room all the time yelling "Get her, RJ. Get her"
This was the first time we have ever seen Savannah ask for RJ's help. RJ usually just steps in. We had a hard time not laughing at what was going on. But we realized this protective stuff is getting a little out of hand. I enjoy that RJ is protective of his sister and that Savannah knows that she can rely on him, but I can see this is getting out of control and so we will be having some talks with the kids.

Our weekend

We found a pumpkin patch Friday night. It was the kid's first time getting pumpkins in a pumpkin patch and since we are moving to Belgium it was probably their last time, for while. They enjoyed it very much. RJ picked out the largest pumpkin he could find and Savannah go one just her size. It was so funny to look at the two next to each other. I will post pictures later.

The primary program was yesterday. It was RJ's first time being in it. He had his part all memorized and he was so excited to speak into the microphone. When it was his classes turn, the boy in front of him forgot his line. The teacher helping them whispered RJ's line for the boy to say. RJ got really flustered and wasn't sure what to do. When it was his turn. The teacher realized she had a mistake and tired to have RJ say the other boy's line. RJ said No. Of course the microphone was right there so everyone heard this little arguments even though they didn't really know what was going on. But the teacher didn't argue back and let RJ say his line. He was so upset and flustered at this point that even though he had it all memorized he still needed help. Needless to say, the show still went on, and the primary all did a great job. RJ however was really bummed out all day long. He dramatizes everything. If it would have happened to another kid I am sure it wouldn't have been that big of a deal, but it had to happen to RJ.

(The Primary Program is held once a year for children in Primary (ages 3-11). They put their program on during Sacrament meeting and they all have their turn to give talks and bear their testimony of Christ. They learn and practice songs all year for it and we all look forward to it every year.)

Also this weekend we moved Savannah from her crib to a toddler bed. She has done amazingly well. The first night she didn't get out of bed at all. Last night she got out once and told Daddy her nose hurt. He gave her a kiss and told her to go back to bed. She did and didn't come down again. Hopefully this continues.

Baby Update

I think I just felt my first kick today. To me when I feel the first baby kick, the pregnancy seems more really to me. It is more of a realization that yes, we are having another baby.
I had my last doctors appointment on Wednesday. I scheduled my ultrasound to find out the sex of the baby. I was hoping to find out around the 7th because I'll be 20 weeks then. But I couldn't get it scheduled till the 21st of November. So I have another month of not knowing.

The map

I have heard this before some where but my dad just sent it to me in an email and wanted to share it with everyone. It is so fitting in today's world.

A father wanted to read a magazine but was being bothered by his little girl, Shelby. She wanted to know what the United States looked like so he tore a sheet out of his new magazine on which was printed the map of the country. Tearing it into small pieces, he gave it to Shelby , and said, 'Go into the other room and see if you can put this together.
This will show you our whole country today.

After a few minutes, Shelby returned and handed him the map, correctly fitted and taped together. The father was surprised and asked how she had finished so quickly. 'Oh,' she said, 'on the other side of the paper is a picture of Jesus. When I got Jesus back where He belonged, then our country just came together.'

If we center our lives around Christ and bring him back to the hearts of the people in America I believe our mess here in the States can be fixed. When we look to the Lord we make peace out of chaos.

Trip to Boise (yes another trip!!)

Friday night I came home from a SimplyFun party and Jared told me we were going to Boise the next day. So Saturday morning we packed up the car and drove the four hours to Jeremy and Lisa's house . We stayed till Monday morning. I am so tired of traveling. We thought back on the last eight weeks and realized that we have only been home one weekend during that time. Crazy!! Jared was supposed to go to Virgina this coming weekends but thankful he is finding someone else to go in his place. We really need to start working on the house and get it ready to go on the market.
So anyway, Jared's dad was in Oregon for a motorcycle race. I believe he won first in his class! Go Grandpa! Anyway, he decided to head over to Boise for a visit before driving back down to CA. He called and asked if we would come up so he could visit with us as well. And that is why we took the unexpected trip to Boise. We very much enjoyed our trip and the kids had fun seeing Grandpa and playing with their cousin Makale.

Grandpa and his trophy We took RJ fishing. No bites, but RJ still had a blast.

The boys bonded again over pumpkins.

And the kids (my kids) enjoyed pulling out the gunk.

Savannah even tired some pumpkin.

She didn't like it.

RJ tired his hand at drawing a scary face on his pumpkin

Savannah and Makale played in the dog's water bowl.

Pumpkin seeds. Lisa made really good seeds with salt and cinnamon.

With the help from Daddy, RJ's pumpkin had the scariest face of all. He was very pleased.

Jeremy's, Jared's, & Hawk's jack-o-laterns

Grandpa Hawk's birthday is on the 28th, but we decided to celebrate it early with a Steak and shrimp dinner followed by yummy cupcakes that everyone enjoyed.

Grandpa and his three grandkids. Lisa is also expecting so there will be five grandkids next summer. Not sure if we will be able to fit all five on his lap next year.

Random Pictures

I love taking photos of my kids. I , like most parents, think my kids are the cutest! RJ has such big blue eyes and he loves to show off his "moves" in front the camera. Savannah has a cutest curls and the sweetest grins, when you can capture it. She is becoming too busy to have her picture taken. It is becoming a challenge to get her to look at a camera.

Last Thursday a friend of ours look family photos of us down by the creek in Freeman park. We all wore white shirts so I didn't want to put them on the kids before we were ready to leave. While were getting ready I had the kids wear these white T-shirts. They both looked way cute in them! So we had a mini photo shot. Yes, we are in the bathroom, but like I said we were already in there getting ready for out real photo shot. And I liked the wood paneling in the back.

RJ's tough guy pose.

Sweet Savannah

I haven't seen our family photos yet. But my friend said that only one family photo turned out good. Either RJ was pulling a face or some had their eyes closed. But she said she got some cute ones of RJ and myself as well a Jared. Savannah was tough and didn't want anything to do with he camera. She kept putting her back to the camera and was more interested in playing in the wter and leaves.

DC and Salt Lake Pictures

A couple weeks ago I mentioned that Jared went to DC and came back early to take the kids from me so I could enjoy my Scrapbooking convention in Salt Lake. I said he didn't have any photos but I was wrong. I just downloaded all the photos off his camera. He enjoyed DC and seeing some of the sites. But after Europe he wasn't too impressed with some of the buildings.

Like mentioned before, he took the kids to the Salt Lake Zoo. Here is two out of three photos he took there. The kids are measuring themselves up to a Gorilla. They had a blast spending time with Daddy.

They also went to visit the Lai family. The kids always have a blast visiting the twins. Seth and Ethan are three. I am sure it was a zoo having so many kids under four running around the house.