Thankful

I love this time of the year when I get a chance to really think about the things that I'm so grateful for.

• I'm so grateful for my family. They bring me so much happiness and joy. They make each day beautiful!
• I'm grateful for work. Even though times are difficult in this economy and jobs can be hard to find, I'm grateful we haven't been too badly effected.
• I'm grateful for good health.
• I'm grateful for my freedom.
• I'm grateful for my faith and the help and strength it is in my life.
• I'm grateful for so many great friends that have touched my life for good.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Halloween

We had a fun Halloween. We had a few parties and events that we enjoyed from a Halloween festival at the zoo to trick or treating at the library/county building. This year Talmadge was a spiderman and Mia was a little bumblebee. Talmadge had a mask that he loved to wear when we first bought the costume but when Halloween came along the mask was bothering his face so we bagged the mask. It was a blast to have Josh, Jace, and Jairden here to go trick-or-treating. Talmadge loved going around with them. Mia loved watching Talmadge run around and have fun.

The amazing spiderman

Halloween face painting.

Trick-or-treat fun at the library

Birthday Fun

This year we celebrated Talmadge's birthday a couple weeks early since his cousins from Washington were here. Talmadge loves his cousins and most of them aren't able to celebrate his birthday parties with him so we took advantage of the timing. This year Talmadge wanted to have a horse party. We played pin the tail on the horse, and horsey, horsey, pony (duck, duck, goose). We also had a horse pinata for everyone to try to brake. It was a pretty cold afternoon and no one was having any luck braking open the pinata so we finally got a metal bat and had an older cousin swing at the pinata...that did the trick. Talmadge had a blast and loved having his friends and cousins there. Thanks again to everyone who helped make Talmadge's birthday party a success!

Birthday boy.

Talmadge saw this cake in the grocery store when we went there to pick up some items I needed to get to make his cake. He wouldn't stop telling me how much he loved the cake so I thought, "I can make that cake". When I asked how much it was for the kit and the people working couldn't help. It was turning into more of a problem than it needed to be so I just bought this cool pre-made cake. It turned out to be a great idea and ended up relieving the stress of making a cake. I'm glad Talmadge spotted the cake he wanted.

Star Wars

Cameron turned the big 30 this year. For his birthday celebration we went to Star Wars in Concert. To tell you the turn I wasn't extremely excited to go since I'm not a super fan of Star Wars. Don't get me wrong, I do like Star Wars but I'm not fanatical. It turned out to be a really good concert. They had a full symphony playing music from the movies while the actor who plays RT-D2 told the entire story line. After watching the concert I felt like I understood the story line better. In fact I wanted to watch the movies again...which we did. We had a fun time. Cameron's parents joined us. Cameron's dad is a huge star wars fan so it was fun to see Cameron and his dad enjoy this concert. Before the concert we ate at Sette Bello, the best authentic pizzeria in Salt Lake. Every time we eat there it makes me miss Italy!

Here is a picture of the symphony with the scenes from the movies playing behind them.

It was pretty cool to see people get excited and dressed up as their favorite Star Wars characters. This was a picture of a cute family that dressed up their 4 young children.

We even got a few pictures with some of the Star Wars characters...yes that lady's hair really is shaved bald.

The Emperor was such a funny guy. He was cracking out jokes the entire time. He was my favorite character.

Fun With Dad

A couple of months ago Cameron took Talmadge shooting for the first time. Talmadge loves hanging out with his dad whether it be fishing, shooting guns, or just being tickled by his dad. These memories are so important for Talmadge especially now since Cameron is so busy with work. I can tell that he reminiscences on these memories often since he likes to talk to me about what he want to do next time he goes fishing with dad or other fun things he wants to do. Cameron is such a great dad!

Crawling

Right before we went down to California, Mia started crawling. She perfected her crawl while in California. Now she is really close to walking. She walks really well when held by one hand. She cruises along the furniture really well. When she crawls it is like she is running. I don't think it will be very long before she walks on her own. She is taking a step or two and then looses her balance. She wants to run and play with her brother so bad. It is going to be fun when they are able to run together.

California

This summer, Cameron had one week between fall and summer classes so we decided, at last minute, to visit Cameron's brother in San Diego and have a little vacation. It was a jam packed week but so much fun. It was especially fun visiting Johnny and Mandy and their cute family. They are such a fun family! Thanks again for allowing us to stay with you guys. You were great hosts and we had a blast. We hated to leave!
Sea World was so fun. It is small enough that we could walk all over the park without Talmadge getting too tired but big enough to have a variety of attractions.

La Jolla Beach was a blast! We got there just before the high tide came in. There were tons of sea creatures along with the hugest star fish I had ever seen. The kids had so much fun finding hermit crabs and sticking their fingers in the sea animates.

We were able to see the San Diego Temple. It is so beautiful!! I wish we had had time to go inside especially since Johnny and Mandy offered to watch the kids one night if we wanted to go.

The Wild Animal Kingdom was amazing! This is Talmadge petting a deer. They had a section where you could go and mingle with the deer. That was pretty cool.

This is a picture of the savanna area of the park. I was so shocked to see all the animals roaming together. So different than a zoo with caged animals.

Petting Zoo

During the month of August, Thanksgiving Point has 2 for Tuesdays. All their venues are $2 for admission on Tuesdays. I invited Kris and Jackson (whom she tends on Tuesday) for a play date down to the "Point". It was so much fun.

A bit nervous to be next to such a huge animal but so brave!

Giddy-up!

Talmadge and Jackson having fun in jail.

Talmadge thought this was so much fun. He would get in with all the big kids and stack the cards and put them on the conveyor belt.

This smile says how much fun he had!

Dinosaur Park

We were lucky enough to go to the dinosaur park twice with Talmadge's cousin's from Washington. Talmadge has really gotten into dinosaurs. He especially like to watch "Dionsaur Train" on PBS. It a real cute show that teaches kids about dinosaurs. I highly recommend it!

"Watch out for that dinosaur!!"

Dino dig. "What dinosaur are you digging up?"

World's most dangerous creatures.

"Howdy cowboy."


Mia is pooped.

Ruth Lake

One of my favorite hikes in the Unitahs is Ruth Lake. It is a really nice hike that Talmadge was able to do. The day was perfect minus the swarming mosquitoes. Note to self: "don't forget the mosquito repellent next year".