American West Heritage Center

We have awesome neighbors and about a week ago we were able to go with some of them to the American West Heritage Center for the Fall Festival. It was a blast. I think Draven could of stayed there all day! They had so much fun stuff and we love spending time with our neighbors.

We got to ride in a covered wagon pulled by two mules, jump into straw, drink hot chocolate, go on a super slide (which was my favorite), and lots of other fun stuff.

Draven loved the Pirate Ship. He loved it so much that we had to play on it twice.

All of the neighborhood kids (except Audrik) all got to ride in the little train. It was a lawnmower with landscape carts behind it.

There were also pony rides - both Draven and Audrik took a turn.


There was a larger train that the parents were able to ride with the kiddos. Draven loved it, although he was bummed that the caboose wasn't open so he could ride in it.




And of course there was the corn maze. It was a lot of fun. Luckily, our neighbor used the map and navigated us through - otherwise, I think we would have been in there forever!

Kurt, Draven and Audrik

Draven with his friends, Kaden and Maddie.

Draven was lucky enough to get his very own ride on our way to the car.

Football

My nephews, Wes and Dusty, played football this season. We had so much fun going to their games and watching them. They were awesome and really did do a great job. I didn't get any pictures of Wes because my camera died right when the game started but I got some of Dusty's game.

Look how big that football is when Audrik holds it.

Dusty

Drave and Wes wrestling. Draven loves his cousins!

Draven, Maddie and Audrik all fell asleep on the ride home. They were holding hands - so cute!

One Crazy Fun Week

We have had so much fun this week. It has been crazy but lots of fun. Last Friday, I took the kids and went and picked apples at my parents house. Our neighbors, the Woodstocks, came along and I am so glad. It was nice to have the company - thanks guys for letting me tag along to dinner. Kurt was at a Halloween Party for some of the other grad students that were leaving to go back to China. I have great plans for these apples and hopefully will get to them this weekend.

Audrik found the apple stash. He was in Heaven.

On Saturday morning we went to the USU homecoming parade with our friends, the Woodstocks. It was Draven and Audrik's first parade and so much fun! Kurt rode on the Logan Stampede float and had one of the other players run a frisbee chuck full of candy to Drave - he thought it was great.

The Logan Stampede Float

Kurt - the only picture I got was blurry. Bummer.

Saturday evening, I had the opportunity to attend the Relief Society General Meeting at the Conference Center in Salt Lake with a bunch of my family. My cousin, Steph, was invited to sing in the choir. It was such an amazing experience to be able to listen to the speakers and choir. After the meeting we went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. It was Jen's birthday, and Becky's birthday was in a few days so we celebrated both. They gave the last piece of chocolate coconut cheesecake to Jen. I am still trying to recover. Good thing I love you Jen :).

The whole gang: Top - Kim, Jen, Janet, Steph and Wendy. Bottom - Britanie, Nicole, Pat, Me and Beck.

Me, my cousins, Beck and Wendy, and my sister, Janet
Sister-in-laws, Britanie and Nicole, Me, and my super cute mom.

My cousin, Steph, cousin-in-law, Jen and her sister, Kim

I have the best family ever!

The rest of the week consisted of:

• Canning tomato soup - for 10 hours, it was crazy.
• Canning stewed tomatoes, salsa, and bbq sauce. Thanks mom and Jan!
• Work for Deb
• Preschool for Draven
• School for Kurt
• Helping Janet make a scrapbook page for Maddie's spotlight at preschool
• Two birthday parties for Draven - he had so much fun! Fun fact: both were for Madison's and both turned 5 :).
• Soccer for Draven
• Gymnastics for Draven
• Guys night for Kurt
• Girls night for Deb!

We have had so much fun! We live in a great neighborhood. I am so grateful to be surrounded by so many wonderful family members and friends. It will make moving bitter-sweet.

Draven always is stopping to give us thumbs up during soccer.

So Cute!

Kurt and I do not have any baby/childhood pictures of him. In fact, I have seen very few ever so I asked Kurt's mom if we could get some. She gave us an envelope of negatives so I hauled them to Inkleys and asked them if they could put them on a disk. Unfortunately, the negatives were a different size than what their standard processes handle so we had to have them sent out and we could only get actual prints (no disk). We got them back today. I am so excited and Kurt is even more excited, which is a good thing since I was worried he wouldn't be happy with how much I spent to have them reprinted. It was a small fortune but I really wanted my kids to have pictures of their daddy growing up - so I justified it as money well spent :). Here are a few of the pics that I had a chance to scan in. It is so fun to see his little personality and facial expressions and how much they remind me of Draven and Audrik.

Teresa and Kurt
They look like pure trouble!

Kurt, his sister - Teresa, and his mom - Carol

Teresa and Kurt

Kurt and his Dad - Richard

The Three Musketeers

Josh, Maddie, and Draven
Draven's cousins

A Saturday Morning Picnic

Last Saturday I woke up to Drave excitedly telling me that he had put together a picnic. I came out to the kitchen to check it out and this is what I found:

Quite the assortment! He was so excited so I put together an actual picnic.

In my defense - Draven got out the four cokes. I was a little worried when he got out four. . . how much coke does he think I drink :).

Some of Audrik's Favorite Things

Audrik got this toy for Christmas. He loves it! He has figured out the horn, how to lift the bucket and how to use it as a step to get up on things.



Audrik love his toys, being outside, and baths but nothing compares to his love of food! Some of his favorites are:

• tomatoes
• chicken
• zuchini with tomato sauce on it
• ice cream
• strawberries
• milk