October 2016

October was such a fun month for us! We have been absolutely enjoying the cooler weather in the mornings and evenings, and the mild temperatures during the day (70's). These first few pictures are from our Saturday trip up to Estes Park. We drove up on Saturday and had a great time exploring. It reminded me of Waterton back home in Canada. 

 In addition to loving the cooler weather, the leaves and fall scenery have been gorgeous!! That was one of the things I was so excited about moving here, and it did not disappoint. This is a gorgeous place to live!!

 Love this stud of mine!

Walking the streets of Estes Park

 I loved all the candy shops there. This shop had a candy machine in the window pulling the candy - so cool!!

 We were hoping to see an elk while we were out and about ... when we were driving out of town we were a bit sad we didn't see one. Then we saw people pulled over on the side of the road and saw this amazing creature. A huge elk ... and it was really close. Such a neat thing to see!

 My three cute kiddos just after church one sunday.

 These kids had fun making potato head pumpkins

 Canadian thanksgiving!! In the past I have been too lazy to make a thanksgiving feast, but I need to get my bum in gear. This year we had a big dinner and invited our good friends the Gertch's over for dinner. Loved it and can't wait to do it again in a couple of weeks with Julie & her family!

 Yummy food & good conversation.

 This month Avery had crazy hair day at school. Ironically, her hair is usually a mess by lunch time anyway. She always wants it done cute in the morning  but because she is crazy, it usually gets smashed shortly thereafter.

 Playing with bikes and scooters in the backyard. Thought this picture of Griffin was so darling! Notice the bright red tree in the background too? Pretty!!

Hope this video works! Avery let a trantula crawl on her face at her friends birthday party. Brave & crazy if you ask me!

 Jaxson & Ryan finished their flag football league. Lets just say everyone had some fun and everyone is glad its over. Teaching football to young kids who have never played is frusterating ...

 Ryan took the boys up to a collegue's house in the moutains for their son's birthday party. The kids had a blast exploring and riding the toddler 4 wheeler.

 Just snapped a piture of our house because I thought the tree outside was gorgeous!

 Jaxson had 3 weeks off at the end of Sept to the middle of Oct because he is on year round school (9 weeks on, 3 weeks off). We broke up the time by going to Utah (last post) and activities like going to the Hammond's candy factory here in Denver. It is neat to get a glimpse of how different candy is made ... yummy!

 Just a typical day in the house. Avery comes up with the craziest outfits - she cracks us up!

 Raking leaves in the front yard. First time ever (I think!) that these kids have been able to play in the fallen leaves.

Trick or treat party at the local high school for Jaxson's elementary school mates. 

 Spider boy! He likes to dress up with Avery (usually in dresses) so I tried to get something more appropriate for him and he loved it.

 Ready for our ward Trunk or Treat. Avery the witch.

Jaxson the BYU football player

 Griffin the cow

 Harry potter fan. Bet you couldn't guess but I was excited to dress up as such :)

 Avery with her best friend Reese

 All the kids loved this fishing pole prize game. Can't blame them, that was my favorite growing up too!

 Jaxson with his best buddy Boston.

 That is the face of a very happy boy!

 That one too! Halloween is the best as a kid!

My cute little witch at her halloween party at school. 

More dress up. Avery felt so pretty being Elsa while she was watching Frozen. 

 I could tell by the way Avery was moving and prancing that she felt beautiful. I hope she always feels this way because she is - inside and out!

 These last two pictures were actually this morning after church. Most people say he looks more like me that my other two, which is a compliment to me - how cute is his smile!! What we really love is how much happiness and sweetness he brings to our family. Can't believe he turns 2 in just a couple of weeks! Love you Griffy Bear!

September 2016

Woohoo, its my favorite season of the year! I haven't had a real autumn season for 6 years while living in Texas - we are loving this cooler weather. Makes me want to wear sweat pants and eat good food so I can hibernate for the winter :) We got up to a lot of fun stuff this month and are excited for all the fun activities we have planned ahead.

We have a resovior near the house - the kids love playing in the sand and wading in the water. We will have to go more often next year. I felt like this summer we were always busy doing projects/decorating, so hopefully next year we explore our area here in Denver more. 

Griffin was hit into the door frame by his crazy older sister. Luckly he didn't need stitches, just glue.

New hair cut for this princess.

Their favorite ride at the grocery store. Best penny spent!

Flag football saturdays with these two. So fun they get to be on the same team together!

Griffin always trys to be a part of the action - he will love playing one day!!

We spent a couple hours at Oktoberfest in a nearby town. Ryan had fun taking Griffin down the huge slide.

Jaxson made a bed out of toy crates and a spare blanket so Griffin could sleep next to him. It was so cute. I guess if they are being this sweet to each other, I don't mind if they stay up hours past bedtime :)

Snuggling with my babies while watching a movie. It doesn't get any better than this.

Dessert date with my wild child.

At the park waiting to drop Avery off at preschool

At the pumpkin patch with friends

Poor Griffin...

Hay maze

Petting zoo

Griffin LOVED the animals

Giant tractor with the Gertsch kids

Such a fun visit to the pumpkin patch!

Another morning of football. Griffin loves to sit on the sidelines with the boys.

After football, we drove 8 hours to see our cousins in Utah. It was conference weekend and we had fun playing the conference candy game, playing with cousins, and celebrating Papa's 60th birthday!

Afternoon conference is really hard to stay awake for ...

Happy Birthday Dad! Its catully on Oct 16th, but we had fun celebrating early.

Kid table

Nice decorating Brian B! Nice posing Brian L!

I took the kids to temple square to look around for a little bit before meeting Julie & her girls for lunch. I love these crazy kids of mine!

Joseph Smith building

Visitors Center - so neat!!

SLC tempke in the background

Play area in the mall

These girls had a blast playing together - the twins were born only a few weeks after Avery.

I met up with some of my high school BFF's and had fun cathing up with them and looking at year books.

"This is the place Heritage Park" let us ride ponies - so fun!!

Someone is in heaven!

Griffin loved it too.

Train rides, homemade donuts, crafts, panning for gold, etc... the kids had a blast!

Someone was really good at finding gold. Looks like he was born about 150 years too late for the big gold rush!

The kids had a blast at the park. Then we spoiled them and headed to the bounce house.

Kids loved the bounce house too. What a fun weekend of great food, good laughs, and great memories. Thanks for hosting us Julie & Brian!

It was a long 8.5 hours back to Denver. This kid knows how to catch some Zzzz's when he is tired.

Daddy was gone while we were in Utah, and he got home the day after we did. The kids (and I)  were sooooo excited!

That night we took the kids to the circus because our friend got us free tickets - yay! Avery really wanted her face painted - Daddy gave in and let her do it. Cutest butterfly we have ever seen!

Such a fun night! Thanks September, you were fun!