it's fall

It's here, and we are feeling it. This is 2 pictures I took on one of my morning walks. The sun was barely coming up to the East, and the moon was still shining strong to the West. It was crazy, and I am not a fan of walking in the dark. 

Also, hockey has begun. We tried to talk Elliott into it. He loves wearing the gear, but does not want to play. I'm hoping now that we have ice, we can get him more comfortable and have him out there in January. We are all a little disappointed that he's not playing, especially Ethan. Poor Ethan tried everything to get Elliott to want to play.

He even took him outside and showed him how to pass, catch a pass and shoot. 

Elliott loved it, but is still sticking to his guns, and doesn't want to play. 

Best thing about fall is the weather. I love sweaters, hoodies and scarves.  

It is also cool enough to bake! Ethan wanted to make his favorite cookies. I forgot how many one batch makes, so we had to share with our friends. We don't need over 100 cookies in our house. 

With the cool weather and back to school comes the sickness. Poor Elliott got it first thing and it hit him pretty hard, but only for a couple days. He's back to normal now. :) 

I love decorating and can't wait till we have a house to decorate, but until then, we can do fun crafts. Jason helped me with this. 

Just glue and glitter and you have a spider web when it's dry. It's fun, but we still have glitter EVERYWHERE! 

This was our first night at the rink. Ethan is the 4th from the left. It felt good to be back and Ethan hasn't lost a thing. He's so fun to watch. 

This is nothing new for Ethan, but he just reminds me so much of myself when I was in elementary school. It's just easy for him and that makes me happy.  

After hockey last Monday, I headed over to Andrea's house for a new "do". I can't stop staring, I love it so much. It's easy and fun, and totally new. 

Here is our front porch. Not too shabby. Ethan helped with all the decorating, and we made the spider web from rope. I am quite impressed. 

I really hope that watching all this hockey will get Elliott wanting to play. 

I was asked to make a Minnie Mouse costume for Kyah this year. There is 3 yards of tulle and almost 300 sequins on that skirt, all glued on one at a time by hand. I also free styled the ears and bow. *Pat myself on the back* I can't wait to see her in them. 

Saturday mornings in the fall aren't good for anything except hanging out in your jammies and eating awesome breakfasts and drinking coffee. I made, from scratch, pumpkin pancakes with cinnamon syrup for the boys. It was so yummy. Good thing Jason wasn't home because the boys ate them all up. 

After our yummy breakfast, we headed out to the Kids Fall Fest downtown. They got to find sticks in the hay and get prizes.

Ethan learned some sword fighting, and they played some other games and did some crafts. They had a great time. 

I love how much these two love each other. Yes, they fight and bicker. Yes, they have their not so nice moments, but for the most part, they are best friends. Elliott has started really watching Ethan while he skates, and cheering for him.

And Ethan loves showing off for Elliott. He flips the puck up into the glass and "checks" himself into the boards in front of Elliott. It's so fun to watch them together. 

This weekend is Elliott's 4th birthday party. WHOA! Yeah, 4! We have big plans for a fun time, and I can't wait to post about it, but that also means I have a lot to do, so until next time.......

trip to CO

We have been planning this trip for quite a while. Our friends were getting married, and we saw it as a perfect opportunity to spend some time with Abby, Chris and Henrik too. It had been a whole year since Jason had seen them, and let's just say Henrik has changed a little. :) 

We left after Jason got off of work Wednesday and Erica was nice enough to let us get some sleep at her house before continuing our long drive. The boys were excited to wake up and play with Carson for a little bit, and they had a blast.

Then we were on our way. Jason and his friends were planning to ride Winter Park, CO on Friday, so we brought the bike with. This became a familiar scene out of the window.

Finally, we were in CO. I can't believe how good the boys were, even I was cranky.  

We stopped by to see Chris and Abby, and ate some dinner before going to the hotel. Friday morning, Jason left super early to hit the mountain, and the boys and I spent the day playing with Henrik. First thing on the list, Henrik's birthday present. 

Henrik was definitely not as excited as Chris about his gift.  

But he did put it on long enough for a photo opp. 

Then is was time to play. The boys love harassing Uncle Crash, and Henrik warmed up to them after a bit. 

Elliott tried to get Henrik to play with the toys like they were meant to be played with, but didn't have much success.  

And of course Tucker had to get some play time in too.  

Saturday was my birthday (this is the 2nd year I've spent my bday in CO, but I kinda like it). I woke up to Jason and the boys heading downstairs at the hotel to get me a coffee. 

Then when we got to Abby's, there was this, my bday gift of handmade rice bags that can be heated or frozen, lunch, and she was working on a cake and dinner too! 

While Abby worked on dinner, Chris and Henrik joined us for some swimming at the hotel. 

Then it was time for my bday celebration. There were decorations, and this awesome red velvet cake. 

Dinner was awesome, and she even invited my amazing friends, Gwen and Tim to come too! They drove into town from Cheyenne just for me. It was so nice, and they brought gifts! Like I said, amazing friends. We all decided to take in a CSU hockey game after dinner. Great game, great friends and a lot of laughs. It was a perfect ending to my 30th birthday. 

Sunday was wedding day. Jason had to be there early for pictures and such, so the kids and I just hung out and took in the scenery. It's gorgeous, and with the changing leaves it made it even better. This sign was along a dirt road on the way to the ceremony. I couldn't resist a picture with it, and Ethan thought I was crazy, but c'mon, that's funny.

Yes, my handsome husband is in this picture, but check out that view behind him. WOW!

The reception had a live band. I thought they were good, but Elliott was less than impressed.

Well, right up to the point he realized he could dance with all the pretty girls, then he was in. 

He even got a dance with the bride. Good thing he's cute. 

Monday was the dreaded long drive home. 

The boys couldn't see their movie screen because of the sun, so they made a blanket fort. Again, I was shocked at how good they were. It was a long day, but they were troopers. 

Pit stop and Daddy let Elliott ride the dinosaur. 

Tuesday evening, I got a package in the mail. I couldn't believe it. My best friends had chocolate covered strawberries and browning pops delivered for my birthday. Our trip kind of screwed up their plan to have it delivered before my birthday, but having them do something so thoughtful was more than anyone could ask for. Could I be any luckier? And for the record, 30 is awesome.  

Life is back to normal, whatever that is. Looks like October is going to be busy though.