Random Fall

Connor falls in with his sister as being one of those totally random kids that just do weird stuff. For reasons unknown he decided to open a new package of wipes and stick it to his head before getting back in his bed to take a nap. We just never know what we're going to find when that kid is left alone.

I really slacked off on picture taking at Halloween for some reason. Sometimes walking an extra 10 feet to grab the camera or plug into the printer is just more than I can do apparently. The girls dressed as 50's girls together. It's hard to tell, but Hailey has a really cute pink poodle skirt, I found at a thrift store with a matching sweater set. The girls did have high, 50's style pony tails with ribbons earlier, but their hair is so dang slippery things just fall out, and about 1 brushing a day is all they can take. Notice Connor's lack of a costume? No I am not too lazy to get the kid a costume. Just as Hailey needs sensory input from everything, Connor gets overwhelmed. His dinosaur costume had a hat and elastic at the wrists and ankles and he was having none of it. We consider the fact that he is wearing shoes (albeit without socks) an accomplishment.

I love taking pictures of my kids in the fall leaves. Nik and I started trekking to the University of Idaho campus a couple of years ago when we lived in Pullman, and I've kept it going around here. Usually I take the kiddos up to Manito Park, but now that we have this huge maple in our front yard, I can save myself a trip. While the maple is beautiful, I never knew a tree could drop so many leaves a day. I think we went out and raked everyday and still didn't get them all up before it snowed.

Connor is the world's best helper. He is better than any of the other kids about helping out. He just jumps right in. We bought a kid sized rake and snow shovel, its just too darn cute. Sometimes I want to freeze that kid in time so he never grows up.
Greg's preschool co-op took a field trip up to Green Bluff. I wish I could remember the name of the farm. We paid a flat fee per kid and got a train ride, corn maze, and a pumpkin. Having spent several years living in southern Idaho and Utah, we've been through a lot of corn mazes. Those things seem like they are the hot entertainment ticket around there in the fall. The one up in Green Bluff had a new twist on it we liked. As you wind your way through the corn, you get to a lawn in the center, with a series of hedges you have to navigate through to get to the rest of the corn maze. Rising high above the mazes in the middle is a huge castle (well in comparison to the general scheme of things.) It was 3 stories high and all painted up inside to look like a medieval castle. At the end of the maze is a playground with a pirate ship as the main structure. Oh and a "zoo", which is actually a cage full of giant stuffed animals, that the kids all found strangely intriguing.

My boys on the farm's train.



Celeste and her kids came over one afternoon to make fall sugar cookies. It was a lot of fun and a huge mess, as only 7 children can make in a small kitchen. We really miss living next door to their family and being able to run back and forth every day.
We hosted Thanksgiving at our house this year, seems as how it was our first Thanksgiving in our own house. However, I also failed to take pictures of that, so I have no proof that I did not ruin turkey dinner. On the contrary we brined our turkey and it was one of the best we've ever had. No really, you can ask people.

Hailey's Baptism

Our sweet miss Hailey was baptized on Saturday, February 5. She still seems like such a little girl to me, I can hardly believe she's 8. It seems like McKenzie was so much older when she was baptized, but then she's always been a little adult trapped in a kid's body. But Ha's Ha, she's all cheese and grins. She came out of the water grinning, just like how she swims (think of a baleen whale). I think I freaked her out a little beforehand. We'd been talking about accountability before and after you're baptized. I think the idea that there was now this responsibility for her actions was a little unnerving. Not to worry though, after a day she seemed to have forgotten all about that concern.

Dave's mom, Katherine, and two of his sisters, Amy and Cheryl flew out for the baptism. My parents and our friend Celeste came too. We had invited more people, but the week before the baptism, we got hit with the plague. It started with Connor getting a cold, then kindly passing it along. Friday night, it was clear that Greg had something different, and we were told he had influenza. The kid was just miserable. And Connor and I were just fountains of grossness. So I swung by the ER and stole some masks for the boys to wear to the baptism and muscled through. Greg hacked his way through the baptism and Connor was his usual wild self. The other kid getting baptism was unfortunately named Cooper. Nothing wrong with the name, but it gave Connor the opportunity to yell "pooper!" every time the kid's name was said. That's my boy. Needless to say no one wanted to sit near us, and I have a lot of leftover food.
Greg with his missionary Little People we found at the church bookstore. You can tell he's really enjoying the face mask. He was pretty good about it despite his annoyance with us.
As you can see from our family picture, it went delightfully smooth. There was 3 different cameras taking pictures, so we are all looking in different directions. Connor really wanted to continue destroying the church, rather than take a picture. Greg really just wanted to go home. It's not a pretty picture, and the only one we got. Of the entire baptism. I felt bad, because Kenzie's was such a big deal. But things just fell apart this time. I guess that's life when you're one of the middle kids, lost in the foray of madness. We love our Hailey and are very proud of her choice. And we are grateful for our families that came to share this day with us.