a few stragglers...

I just wanted to post a few random pictures of the fall happenings. I am always so grateful for the view out my backdoor. I am so grateful to have fields and mountains behind us. This was one of the biggest selling features for me when we looked at this house and I am grateful every day to not live in a subdivision - it really means a lot to me to have space.

We have the most perfect little spot to have a fire and hot dogs and smore's up Blacksmith Fork Canyon and we ran up there any chance we got it. Being in the mountains and having a fire is something we really really love. The only thing that would make it better is if we had a 4-wheeler to take with us. We keep looking at them but no matter how we slice it, a 4-wheeler cannot make it on the priority list. Someday we'll have one I'm sure, but for now, we'll be content with a fire in the mountains and some perfectly roasted hot dogs.

I wish I would have captured this on video because it was the funniest thing (I can't remember if I already posted about this. Forgive the repetition if I have). I found Tyce with his Lego construction equipment teaching Jacey's Barbies about the danger on a work cite. Ha! I think we have another safety guy in the making. He is so much like his Dad, it makes me smile. I'm happy to have him take after his Dad. Wish Jacey would do the same, but unfortunately, she has much more of her mother in her.

I really hoped that Jacey changing her clothes every few minutes would be a phase that would pass but not so. Every time I turn around, she has something different on. This one was a particular favorite.

Before it turned cold, the kids were playing in the sandbox first thing in the morning and wouldn't come in for breakfast so I brought it out to them. We had oatmeal out in the warm sunshine. It was the most beautiful morning and it was one of those moments where I felt so grateful for my beautiful children, for our home, and all the happiness that we feel. I just wanted to remember this particular morning because it really meant something to me.

Rustin's cousin Eric came to Utah State and he comes out for Sunday dinner every once in awhile. We love having him, especially Jacey because he always sits down and plays dolls with her. I love him for this because playing dolls is one of my most hated tasks. He is way better at dolls then I am and she adores him for it. It's pretty dang cute.

Tyce has really become a Lego master. He will spend hours going through each page of instruction and meticulously sorting through all the pieces to put it together just exactly right. I love watching him concentrate. Tyce has really started to become a little boy and by that I mean he has really started to be incredibly obnoxious. The kind of boy obnoxiousness that I have dreaded. I have to remind myself so many times that he is just a boy and to let him be a boy but holy cow its annoying. I want to beat him and I feel like I am constantly telling him to stop being so weird. Anyhow, so when he is just sitting nicely playing Legos, it helps me to remember that he really is cute and nice.

Oh just another random outfit I found Jacey wearing :) She is quite the princess. She walks around on tip toe, with her arms out, twirling and singing all the time. She has become so dang funny. The words that come flying out of her mouth sometimes are hysterical.

I like this picture of Tyce and the Wellsville Mountains. It has been so fun riding our bikes around town.

A couple more of our camp spot. I sure love my boys :)

Wyoming trip

In September my sister Hayley came to visit from Arizona. She and my sister Lisle went to Star Valley to see my sister Maggon so I went up to see all of them. Of course I didnt take any pictures but Lisle did so I stole a couple from her blog. We mostly sat around and ate and talked while the kids played - pretty perfect :) It was not really warm but the kids stripped down and played in the water trough anyway. They were so funny to watch.

Rustin didn't come because he had an Elders Quorum activity (shooting clay pigeons) he needed/wanted to be to. As much as he loves sitting around with the girls and chatting, he decided to stay home and invite his brother Caden up to go shooting and golfing instead.

They had a great day together. I love that Caden and Rustin have gotten so close. They are such great friends and I think its pretty cool.

It was such a fun weekend for everyone involved.

Cado's Birthday

Rustin's brother came up to visit on his birthday and I made him a bacon birthday cake. It took about one thrirty-sixth of the time it took me to make Jacey's cake so that was sweet. I couldnt figure out how to make the candle's stay so I stuffed part of his pancake in the middle to hold them. Some of my better work I think.

Some of Caden's favorite things are bacon, milk, cholula and creamies so we obliged. It is always great to have Uncle Caden. We sure love him.

Our new Lieutenant Governor....

A few weeks ago we went to the Aggie vs BYU game here in Logan with my sister and her family. It was probably one of the more depressing games I have ever been too. Of course we still had a great time. Everything is a party with my sister Charity, but seriously, BYU scored within the first ten seconds of the game, Chuckie Keaton hurt his knee and is out for the season, and it just went down hill from there. and to top it all off, I was walking up the aisle at half time and some guy ran into me and pushed me into the lap of some other poor man. I think I scared him to death. Clearly my center of gravity is a little off or I probably would have caught myself. We had a good laugh anyway. Well the next day my sister Abby and her husband Spencer, stopped by on their way out of Logan and told us some incredibly big news. Governor Herbert had asked Spencer to be the new Lt Governor. We were all pretty dumbfounded and no one was more shocked then Spencer. Abby and Spencer were both very very humble and blown away by all that this means for their cute family. It is going to be an incredible sacrifice for so many reasons but they really felt like if they do what the Lord has asked them to then they'll make it through all this. I was so amazed at their humility, their faith, and their strength. They really are very incredible people and I know they will be a powerful force for good.

We were able to go to the Capital last Wednesday and watch the Senate vote on him and watch him get sworn in. It was so amazing to be there and feel the gravity of what he has been asked to do and see how well he is taking it on, although my heart breaks for Abby and the kids.

 Several of the Senate members cracked jokes about how they had to check his birth certificate to make sure he made the age requirements for the position and asked that Spencer be patient with them as most of them have children his age. After the vote was unanimous, Spencer received a standing ovation and it made me cry (of course everything makes me cry these days), his kids looked so little and cute on that bench in that big room with everyone staring at them. It was so crazy.

All in all, it was a great day and I was grateful for the chance I had to be there and witness. You don't often get an opportunity like that and it was pretty incredible. I sure love Spencer and I wish them the absolute best in this new life-altering endeavor.

Home

I spent last week at home because Tyce didnt have school and I love being home in the fall. We typically only go home on weekends which means we get there late Friday night and spend Saturday and Sunday jumping between both families so it was so nice to have a whole week where I had no agenda, nowhere to go, nothing I had to do. It was so nice to just be there.

I didnt take many pictures. I actually kifed these from my sister's and cousin's blog.

One afternoon Tyce and Jacey were playing with some cousins and they asked if I would come help them get up on the haystack in the barn. I went down and helped them climb up. Since the hay is stacked in ton bales, its hard for the kids to climb up on them. We got to the top and they were playing around and then I heard this noise that sounded super far away, kind of like a kitty. I realized it was Tyce screaming frantically. He sounded so far away but I saw him just seconds earlier so I couldn't figure out where he was. I finally figured out that he had fallen through a hole in the ton bales. The problem was he had squeezed between two ton bales and then fell in the hole. There was no way I could fit through the small opening to even look down into the gap so I had no idea how far down he was. He sounded so far away so I thought he might have fallen to the bottom which was 3 ton bales down. I was yelling down, trying to tell him that I was right here and that I would get him out. He was screaming for me to help him but I could barley hear him and he later told me that he never heard me calling to him. I called my mom and asked for someone to come down to help. I was pretty scared. I didn't know if he was stuck and if so, I had no way to get to him. You cant move ton bales without the tractor and it was in the back of the barn so there is no way to get to him. I didnt know if he could breathe very well or if he fell head first (which is super unlikely but I panicked and of course was thinking of the worst scenario's). Anyhow my sister ran down and she went to find a rope to see if we could get the rope to him somehow. I guess Tyce realized he was on his own and figured out how to climb out. So I freaked out for nothing but it was the most helpless feeling hearing him screaming for help, knowing he was so scared and I could do nothing. It really scared me. I was so grateful that it all ended up being fine.

I wish I would have got this on video. My Mom was playing the piano and Jacey was perched on the couch singing her little heart out. It was so cute.

My sister Charity took Jacey on a horse ride which Jace was super happy about. I wish I could have taken her but I am getting pretty large and we would not fit in the saddle together.

I took Tyce and Jace on a 4 wheeler ride which was heavenly. The leaves were pretty and the snow was kind of fun.

Aren't children wonderful? I so love how they can be so entertained by mud, a puddle, rocks, sticks, and a worm. I could hardly get them to leave.

This picture was on my cousin Mandy's blog so I stole it. It was taken a few weeks ago. Left to right is Mandy, me, Anna, Hayley, Heidi, and Lisle. It was so fun to have so many of us together. I sure love my sisters and I love my home. It was so nice to be there for a whole week with no schedule, nowhere to be, time was irrelevant. I did what I wanted when I wanted - that is my kind of life :) Apparently I got a little too used to that because today I was going about my morning doing laundry, dishes, picking up, swept out the garage and got mixed up in my mind and totally forgot to take Tyce to school. The worst part was I had another little girl at my house who I was suppose to take to school too and by the time I remembered what time it was and what time they were suppose to be at school, they were an hour late. Seriously, where is my brain? I swear. It was so embarrassing, I'm sort of a retard sometimes. Anyhow, I had a wonderful, relaxing time at home. I am so grateful for a wonderful place to go home to.

bike ride in the rain

Tyce learned to ride his bike a little over a month ago and its the cutest thing. It has given him so much confidence. He wanted to go on a ride so badly last night so we loaded up and went even though it was pretty cold. It rained pretty hard and then hailed for awhile. We took cover under some pine trees and the kids thought it was so fun. It felt good to be out and play together. Riding bikes all together made for one of those moments where all is right in our world. It was so nice.

Jacey is pretty in love with the bike trailer. She just sings her little heart out and tells Tyce to go faster. She is so much fun.

Anytime Rustin is not on-call (which is not super often), we try to run up the mountain and have a fire. The kids love it so much. They are at the FUNNEST ages right now. Makes me wonder why we are starting over :) They are so fun to take places and they really are not much trouble (besides Jacey having this chronic need to go #2 at least 15 times any time we go in the mountain). I am getting pretty big but I still feel pretty good so I am not feeling too anxious yet. The baby is breach at the moment so I hope he flips around, he has 8 weeks to do it (if my dr starts me a week early like he said he would :)). Everything in our world is going so well right now and I feel so grateful.

Happy Freaking Birthday Jacey

Late as usual, but here are a few pictures from Jacey's birthday cake and her 3rd birthday. She was such a nightmare that day and the days leading up to it. I copied and pasted the Facebook post I posted for her birthday. I wanted to keep it so she could have it some day.

I so wanted to casually post this picture as if making a Barbie cake is just part of a typical day for me. I feel like posting this picture makes me look like a put-together mom. I would love for you all to think that but I can’t post this in good conscience because it was nothing short of a miracle that I pulled this off without killing one or two small children…..a miracle, sheer luck, and several YouTube videos (as long as I’m being super honest). Jacey really wanted a Barbie cake for her birthday so I thought it would be cute if I took her to the store and let her pick out a Barbie for her cake – that was a nearly fatal mistake. She picked it out but was absolutely outraged that she couldn't have it to play with “RIGHT NOW!” For two days she has been screaming and wailing about how she doesn't want a Barbie cake, she just wants the Barbie. So of course after a couple of days of this when my patience was spent, I found myself saying, “I don’t really care what you want, I’m making the dang Barbie cake!” Lets be honest, is her birthday about her or me? Such a put-together mother. During the making of the cake Tyce and Jacey wanted desperately to help and I kept saying things like, “Please don’t touch that…..please get off the counter….. no, you cant eat that yet…..please don’t touch that…..please don’t dump those out…..no, you can’t help me right now.…get your grubby feet off the counter…..DON’T TOUCH!.......if you dump that on the ground I promise I will chop your off your ears!!!” so on and so forth. So for those still reading this ridiculously long post, before you make a comment like “What a great cake!” or “You’re such a good mom!” just know that it wasn't without some emotional scarring. So Happy Freaking Birthday Jacey, here is your damn cake J Love you with a heart and half J

For Tyce's birthdays, he always decides what kind of cake he wants and then we go to the store together and pick out the stuff for it and then he sits on the counter and watches me make it, all the while giggling and telling me thank you and telling me I'm his favorite Mom. It's the best! So I was thinking I would do the same for Jacey - holy crap, that backfired. She was such a beast. She screamed for two days, no exaggeration. Screaming because she wanted the Barbie, screaming because she didnt want a birthday cake anymore, screaming because I had to saran wrap the barbie while I put frosting on her, "I don't want a sack on her head!!!" It was about all I could not to beat her. I kept asking myself why I insisted on making the cake she clearly didnt want it anymore. I think mostly because I had all the stuff for it, I had watched a few YouTube tutorials, I was armed and ready and couldn't bring myself to throw in the towel (although doing so would have brought peace and happiness back into our home....o-well, that's way overrated).

At any rate, we did manage to have a happy birthday after all. After she opened a few presents and realized her world hadn't completely come to an end, she perked up and became quite pleasant.

Pink candles on German Pancakes won her heart..

A few princess crowns to go around...

Some ice cream with friends...

and Barbie's dress on fire? It's the only place I could put the candles. I just about made cupcakes for everyone so they wouldn't ruin my cake but refrained. Good rid-dens, honestly. Anyhow, it did shape up to be a fun birthday and despite my frustrations with my Jacey, she really is the light and life of our house. She is a party and I love her for it. Happy Birthday Jac!