October 2013

 I play the piano for Kindergarten singing time on Wednesdays every other week.  Wes gets excited to see me at school.  I played when Jackie was in kindergarten too.  It is a ton of fun.  I never got a picture when I played for Jackie, so I snapped a quick one this time.  The teachers are great.  They handle so many kids, and the kids have fun singing.  They were singing "I'm a Mean Old Witch" and "I'm a Big Black Spider."

We spend a lot of time in the car

The kids do like to have their pictures taken most of the time.  Tommy is almost always smiling.  He has a birth mark that I call his "Angel Kiss" that momma loves.  Wes is always doing funny gestures.  All the kids have beautiful blue eyes.  

 

These are my two little helpers.  They grind the wheat and help me mix together ingredients.  Chloe feel off that step ladder in the picture, so I have to watch them close.

I bought a few bike helmets for the kids who didn't have them.  North Ogden recently passed a law that all kids need to wear them, which is good, but it took me a while to get around to getting them, so while we were at the Walmart we got some.  (As a side note, Wes got lost while we were shopping and ended up by the women's dressing room where we picked him up.)  Tommy was so excited to get his helmet that he put it right on and wore it the rest of the day.

Wes loves chocolate  milk

Devil's Slide

Our family has started a big adventure.  Tyson and I have been talking about how amazing Utah is.  There is everything!!!!  He started looking into how many state parks there are on top of national parks and was surprised at how many of them there are that we have never been to, so we made a goal to go.  This was the start of a day trip to Vernal.  Jackie asked if we were going to go down Devils slide.  We fed the kids the whole way there.  Tommy and Chloe threw up.  We took a detour towards Evanston too.

But we did make it to Vernal (even without electronic devices to keep the kids entertained.  However, we will be buying a DVD player for future adventures.  I almost bought one at Walmart when we had to stop to buy Chloe a new outfit after she went through the two extras I brought.)  Here is the Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum (with Dinosaurs, and the kids love Dinosaurs.)  We had a picnic out front on their lawn.  It was fun, and there is a lot in Vernal, so we're planning a camping trip to come back.

Chloe loved climbing that big set of stairs.  In the courtyard outside we saw a lot of big Dinosaurs.

Glad this dinosaur isn't real

 Our purpose of this trip was to find "Fantasy Canyon."  We think Hoodoo formations are cool.  "A hoodoo (also called a tent rock, fairy chimney, and earth pyramid) is a tall, thin spire of rock that protrudes from the bottom of a badlands. Hoodoos, which can range from 5-150 feet tall."  Wikipedia.  This South of Vernal located on the East shore of what used to be Lake Uinta.

         My friend Jen lives in Vernal, and her family had never heard of Fantasy Canyon, but we verified it's there, and it was really cool.  It was small and located in the middle of the desert.  A lot of the formations have been given names and it was fun to find them.  Nature is amazing.  These looked hand crafted.  Ty said that eventually this will erode away, but not until the Cravens got there :).

 

Every day moments 

Ordinary miracles and moments

Kids bring so much joy

View of our mountains during a sunrise

Halloween is always fun.  Chloe got tired of waiting for the kids parade to start and sprawled out on the floor- almost getting stepped on.  Wesley is way into super heroes and wears this costume all the time.

Lincoln is our carpool buddy.  Jackie did a good job stopping so I could get a picture.  Thanks for remembering Jackie!! Several kids were dressed up as a Fox, and I learned "What Does the Fox Say?"

Then we went straight to another adventure.....Preschool Pumpkin Patch.  The kids are cute.  It was chilly but fun, and was very exciting for Chloe to see a cat and chickens.  This is her pictured with my neighbor Erin Andersen who moved into the neighborhood this year and has become a good friend to us.  Here is a picture of all of the kids that went with us.  The middle four are in our mommy preschool (Joseph, Lizzy, Tommy, and Corrine) and the two boys on the edges are the kindergarteners.

 

Simple joys are found as the kids hopped from one stump to the next

 

Here's my little pumpkin getting weighed to see how much she is going to cost me.  "Cheeseball."

 

Here's the "SCARY HOUSE" as the kids call it.  It scares them but they love it-all except Chloe.

I bought a used stroller from a friend that can be a bike trailer or stroller and it doesn't have separate seats.  Chloe doesn't like sharing with Tommy.  She likes to ride by herself which kind of defeats the purpose of having a double stroller if I can't take two kids. Wessie loves to ride in it even though his feet hang out the front.



Andersens invited us to Cindie's first birthday party.  My kids loved all the leaves, and Elise caught this picture of them jumping.  "Pure Joy."  Tommy has an apple in his hand off of their tree.  One of the activities were bobby for apples.  Erin's twin nephews, and Chloe couldn't stop playing in the water.  It was a nice day, but not nice enough to put your hand in cold water.

We found out that Ron has a secret talent- he makes cakes- not just a sheet cake but the decorative ones.  I guess he worked at a Bakery, and he made the cutest Bear cake (no picture, but seriously cute.)  I took a cake decorating class and know it's not easy.

The whole party was a blast.