Somersaults

Talmage has learned how to do somersaults (by watching his big sister of course) and he LOVES it! He just strikes this pose and waits for me to roll him over! So cute!

Santa Parade

Yes, from Halloween to Christmas. Don't ask me why Scranton has a Santa Claus parade before Thanksgiving; just add it to the list of all the things that make Scranton "unique". (You may laugh at "The Office" because you think the characters are nuts and "out there", but Dallin and I laugh at "The Office" because we know it's what people are really like back here!) I've always disliked how the stores jump from Halloween straight to Christmas and Thanksgiving gets the shaft. Should it really be that hard to find socks with turkeys on them this time of year? I mean, come on. Anyway, we thought it would be fun to take the kids yesterday to see the parade and Santa Claus. However, whose idea was it to hold this parade on THE coldest day of the year. It was honestly only 15 degrees out AND it was windy! (Have I mentioned I hate being cold?) We attempted to survive for quite a little while by hiding in a building alcove but the parade kept stopping for five minutes at a time and the kids couldn't last any longer. So we headed back to the truck but then Kaia started crying because she didn't get to see Santa Claus. Never fear, SuperDad figured out we could drive down an alley that led straight to the parade and we could watch it from the comfort of our heat-blasted truck! (Talmage had even more fun playing with the steering wheel and blinkers.) Sorry about the bad picture but Kaia was so excited that she stuck her hand out the window to wave to Santa just as I pushed the button. Then we came home and had hot chocolate and whipped cream. (I think I'm going to need to stock up. Anyone know where they sell 25# bags of the stuff?) Everyone was happy.

Halloween

I know I'm way behind, but I have some cute pictures from Halloween that I still wanted to post (Hey, at least its not past the next holiday, yet.) The kids had a great time at the ward trunk-or-treat. Talmage was a lion and although he can do a great lion roar, whenenver we asked him to roar it was always a whisper so he was more of a timid lion.
Kaia was very focused on everything she did and wanted to do it all by herself.
Half the time I didn't even know where she was because she has made friends with all of the young women so they took her around to each of the booths. She loved these vampire teeth from the fishing booth.
Kaia is certainly NOT a timid ballerina. At the end of the games they had everyone in a costume parade across the stage. Kaia gleefully pranced her solo across the stage. I hope she is just as bold when she has her part as a snowflake in the ward christmas party's Nutcracker in a couple of weeks.


Kaia was also invited to a friend's birthday party before Halloween. Although she didn't know anyone besides the birthday girl she soon joined in what everyone else was doing and had a fun time. (By the way, Riley is older than Kaia. Kaia is in the 99th % for height!)
They even had pony rides. Kaia always asks to ride my horse but then she wants back off soon after. She only made it halfway down the route when she decided she wanted off, but then she did make a full loop a little bit later. Crazy girl. I would have loved to ride the pony considering I haven't ridden a horse since I was pregnant with her. She doesn't know how good she has it!

Where's the SUN?!

This picture was taken a week or two before Halloween and I think I can count on one hand the number of times I have seen the sun since. Although it hasn't "really" snowed here at our house it will flurry off and on. I don't think it got over 35 degrees today. Can I just tell you how much I hate to be cold? And I'm always cold even when everyone else is not. I keep tucking my hands in my legs as I'm writing this. Maybe I should just go make some hot chocolate.... with marshmallows.... and a candy cane.... OK, maybe winter's not so bad after all :)

Rambo

Kaia is obsessed with wrapping things (jumpropes, ribbons, rubberbands, anything) around herself (fingers, arms, waist, etc.) so when this ripped off piece of Dallin's collar was floating around the house she thought she would wrap it around Talmage's head. Dad helped tie it and Talmage thought he looked pretty good (even though he was afraid to move his head). Mom just thought he looked cute but hopes he doesn't make a habit out of it (and don't ask me why I am referring to myself in the third person).

Rocky

Apparantly I failed to post the most important picture of Philadelphia- that of the beloved Rocky. So here it is for all of you adoring fans. Kaia is doing her best punching impression. (Dallin's friend Abe is with her. The picture of Dallin is on his friend's camera.)

Turkey Anyone?

I spotted these wild turkeys on my way home from my horses. Now that's something you don't see in Phoenix.

It's a lot of fun to have so much wildlife surrounding us. We have squirrels, chipmunks, and skunks in our backyard as well as a groundhog that lives under our shed.

We had several families of birds in our bushes and birdbox over the summer. Our neighbor has birdbaths and birdfeeders in his yard so I often see finches, chickadees, bluejays, and sometimes cardinals from out of my kitchen window. I have also seen deer and heard about bears out by my horses.

I need to enjoy them all while I still can- and remember to take more pictures!

And, oh yeah, the occasional monkey.

Philadelphia

I was able to spend a day with my kids, mom, and sister in Philadelphia back in August. Dallin was able to take the kids for a day in October when he met up with his friends Matt and Abe (while I was at a "retreat" near Lake Seneca, NY with some other ladies from church). I hadn't ever really liked Philadelphia before, probably mostly because I didn't like their hockey team, but we all really enjoyed visiting. For a "big" city it still seems pretty small to me since I am used to LA and Phoenix where the suburbs just keep going and going. However, the downtown area is very packed. This is just a teaser for those of you who are still trying to make up your minds if you want to come visit us. There is so much to see!

Independence Hall was our first stop. Although it was huge for its time, its hard to imagine that the entire foundation for our government was created in one small room in this building. As much as I love other countries and their cultures, and as many troubles as we are having in this country, there is still nothing like the great United States of America and the freedoms, opportunities, and love of family and country that we enjoy.

Apparantly George Washington actually sat in this chair.

The Liberty Bell (with Independence Hall in the background).

The very first post office that is even older than our country! The arch is the passageway that Benjamin Franklin would drive his carriage through to get to his house.

Betsy Ross enjoying some sewing on a warm sunny day. Her house was sooooo small.

Somehow Kaia heard that there was a carousel in town so we had to go find it. Talmage thought the animals were great- until they started moving! I had to pick him up and hold him the rest of the ride.

This was a sand sculpture made of imported New Jersey beach. I guess they make one every year.

Dallin was able to get some great pictures around town (trust me, there were lots more).

Garden Goodness

I love to garden. I can't say that I know very much about it, but being able to see the fruits of ones labors is very rewarding. This is the first year we have actually planted an edible garden, but I am hooked. Our garden got started very late because we remodeled our yard, but we were still able to have a pretty good harvest. We just experimented and planted tomatoes, green bell peppers, yellow squash, basil, chive, and we even planted the bulb ends of our grocery store green onions and leeks. The squash and bell peppers were fantastic. I only discovered in the last couple of years that I absolutely love squash and since growing my own garden my vegetable horizon is steadily increasing (for those of you who might be astonished by the fact that I actually admit to liking something that isn't made purely out of sugar). We were afraid we might not be able to get any red tomatoes but we managed to get a couple dozen before it got too cold. Dallin just picked the remainder of what was in our garden two days ago and it's a good thing because today it is completely done for. Anybody have a good recipe for fried green tomatoes? I'm already excited about filling up our entire planter for next year's garden (now that I am a pro of course). Maybe we'll add some berries, zuchhini, lettuce, mushrooms......

Fall Fun

Although I am sad for summer to be over, I am enjoying the spectacular fall that Pennsylvania has to offer. Normally I dread fall because it just means that cold winter is right around the corner. I'm more of a spring person. However, given the opportunity to take it all in, I see why everyone around here absolutely loves the fall. There are trees everywhere you look and now each one is a different color. Animals are out and about preparing for winter, the air is crisp but sunny, and it is just a joy to be outside drinking in the last few beautiful days. Caramel apples, pumpkin bread and waffles, warm homemade soups, and hot chocolate are enough to get anyone settled down for the winter. Kaia is very optomistic about the weather ahead. This afternoon we were playing outside and we went over to look at our garden. Kaia looked at the plants and said, "Mama, they're sad." I explained that our garden was all done for this year because it was too cold (it was 20 degrees at 7:30 this morning!). To which she responded with an excited grin and both fists pumping, "Does that mean snow is coming soon to Kaia's house?!" Ah, to be as carefree as a child!

Two weeks ago we went to a local family farm that has animals to pet, corn and hay mazes, pig races, pick your own pumpkins, a kid's playground, and a giant jumping pillow. We spent several hours there and had a fun time.

Summer Smiles

We had so much fun this summer that I didn't even have time to post all of the things that we did. Here are some pictoral memories of the joys of summer. We only wish it didn't have to end.

My kids absolutely love the water and would stay out in it all day long if they could.


Talmage loves this firetruck that Dallin found on the side of the road.Kaia had a great time playing baseball with her dad at the church activity. (Yes, that is the ball that she is supposed to be hitting).After a few more great swings, Kaia was proud to be on first base.

Beautiful Ballerina

Kaia loves to dance. I don't think we ever really taught her how to dance except when she asks us to dance with her I end up doing something balletish and Dallin does some form of endzone dance. Thankfully she has picked up more from me and her Barbie movies than she has from Dallin. However, she did inherit her father's lack of inhibition so I have a feeling I'm going to be in trouble when she becomes a teenager. For now Kaia is be-you-te-ful as a ballerina. I'm not big on Halloween costumes, especially when it means spending money on them, so I decided to keep it simple. Kaia already had a bunch of leotards and ballet slippers that had been handed down to her so I figured I could just sew up a quick tu-tu and call it good. How hard could it be to sew a little tulle together and wrap it around a little girl? Well, nothing that seems so easy ever really is. I learned a few things from sewing this "simple" project: 1) never underestimate tulle (now I know why noone likes to use it) 2) I am never going to be a professional ballet or theater costume designer or sewer 3) ballerina's really are beautiful and 4) it's OK to live out your own dreams through your child, right? In the end I think it turned out pretty cute and Kaia can dance all she wants for years ahead.

Little Musicians

Both Kaia and Talmage love music. The only way we could get Kaia to sleep when she was a baby was for Dallin to take her outside on our bench swing and sing to her. Singing is still a part of her bedtime routine. Talmage does the cutest little up down dance anytime he hears music and sometimes will even put his arms up and dance on his toes like a ballerina (that's what happens when you have an older sister). Although I'd be hard pressed to play even Happy Birthday fast enough for anyone to sing to, I still wanted to have a keyboard for me and the kids to practice on. They love it.
We also happen to have a ukulele (or as Kaia calls it- a cuntar) that was given to Dallin as a souvenir from one of his bosses. Needless to say the kids also love to pluck on the strings. Kaia is so cute when she plays because she actually holds it the right way.