So fashionable

We had our first snow storm of the season the other day. Natalie and Tanner wanted to go out to play right away but Natalie was dressed like it was still 100 degrees outside so I told her to go change. This is what I got.

She's ready to go! Tank top, biking shorts, tights, snow boots and her snow coat. I was actually just impressed that she was wearing something other than a princess dress. She wears her princesses dresses every minute except for at preschool and church when I make her pretend NOT to be a princess.

Happy Halloween

We were so busy partying this Halloween that I didn't get very many pictures. Lame! Since we had a cute frog costume that fit Tanner and the girls always love being princesses, we went with The Princesses and the Frog theme. My mom got Natalie this awesome red and gold very regal, almost queenly looking costume that even had a hoop skirt. She was so excited about it and begged to wear it everywhere. But while we were getting in the car to go to our first Halloween party she had a potty accident. I was already stressed out about getting everyone ready in the first place so I didn't handle that well. Especially since I had no idea how to wash a dress with a hoop in it. I told her many times how unhappy I was about this while I made her change into one of her old princess dress-ups. She kept asking "Are you happy with me now mommy?" while we got her dressed and I kept saying no, but finally I told her "I'm not happy right now but I still love you." And she said "You still love me?!" like she was sure that was out of the question. So I felt a little bad about that and learned my lesson that I need to chill out about the potty accidents. I got her dress cleaned the next day but after that she was too worried to wear it so we don't have any pictures of her in it.

So we had six parties the week of Halloween. It was a fun crazy week. Here are a few pictures.

This is the best picture I got of my kids. The little guy on the left is my nephew Noah who definitely looks like he could be one of mine too. Tanner and Sydney look so bored in this picture. I vow to do better at getting more pictures next year!

Sydney loved getting all dolled up every day and I've gotten a lot faster at doing my girls' hair from all the up-dos lately.

We go to my parents' ward party every year. Our ward doesn't do a Halloween party so we have to crash theirs. :)

We went to "trunk or treat" for Josh's work. There were no trunks involved and it was all indoors so that was nice.

Camryn was a fairy princess. We lost her little tiara in the parking lot at our first party so she's mostly just a fairy, but still super cute.

We carved pumpkins too. The kids took out a few seeds and then put their orders in for how they would like me to carve their pumpkin. I don't really mind because I really like carving pumpkins. Someday it will be fun to have them participate a bit more.

Like I said, the kids picked what the pumpkins would look like. We had the scariest pumpkins on the block. :)

Well that was fast...

My baby is 5 months old! Crazy how fast that went. I don't remember the other kids growing up this fast. I've been doing our own little photo shoot with Camryn every month. This is something I didn't really do with the other kids, but I didn't have as much of an interest in photography back then either. I think it's good though. At least she won't be the last child who never has any pictures taken of her!

One day old...

I didn't take her first pictures. This one was done by Baby Bella at the hospital.

Ten days...

This picture was taken by my awesome photographer sister-in-law Wende.

One month...

I love naked baby pictures. We had a hard time getting one at her newborn photoshoot so this was the best I could do at her one month!

Two months...

Three months...

Four months...

Five months...

Oh how we love fall

Have I mentioned how much I love taking pictures of my kids? I think they are quite photogenic! But, for some reason when I tell them to smile they can't seem to make eye contact with the camera. Oh well, it's still cute. We went to Gardner Village last night to see the witches. If you haven't been you really should go. It seems to be especially well decorated this year. And Sunday evening are great for taking pictures because the shops are closed so there are a few less people wandering around. And Natalie dressed up so we had our very own witch with us!

I made the best little discovery last night! This adorable little pink bench. So cute for pictures! And luckily Camryn was dressed to match so we just did her 5-month photo shoot right there! She not quite sitting up on her own yet so Josh sat right next to her to keep her upright until right before I was going to take the picture. This ended up being one of my favorites.

Bear Lake

Over Labor Day weekend we decided to go to Bear Lake. This was our only vacation all summer. That's what happens when you have a baby right before summer starts! We had considered going down to Lake Powell with the Muir family that weekend but Bear Lake is much easier with a baby and we really love it up there. It's the perfect kind of trip for our kids right now. Short drive, beach, plenty of things to do. We stayed at Ideal Beach which was great because we could walk right down on the beach and it had a pool and plenty of lawn area. It also has a mini golf course and kids craft area which we didn't even get around to visiting.

Here's the view from our condo. We were right by the pool and the playground which was very convenient for us.

When we got there I was bummed to realize we'd forgotten the frisbee and bocce ball set I was planning to bring. But then in the closet of our condo... ta da! Bocce ball set and frisbee and also a croquette set. We made the kids play a game of bocce ball but they seemed a little confused as to how this is fun. I guess it is kind of a weird game that somehow becomes fun when you get older.
These condo units are all individually owned. I would love to meet the people who owned ours. I imagine they are a little elderly couple who just love collecting things and have a lot of grandkids. That would explain the plethera of stuffed animals and beanie babies all over the condo. They also had birdhouses and fish hanging off the ceilings and light fixtures and a whole wall of Bear Lake Monster wood artwork. But the best surprise was when Josh and pulled down the murphy bed we were going to sleep on and found this.

The picture does not do it justice. The wood art in the middle says "sleep in the forest." It was like sleeping in one of those themed rooms at Anniversary Inn! So romantic...
We decided to start the weekend off right and get our raspberry shakes on Friday night. Last year we got them when we were leaving and had to deal with meltdowns. The kids were much happier this time around.

We also spent plenty of time at the beach. It was nice and warm on Saturday but a little cooler and very windy on Sunday so we played at the pool on that day.

My parents also joined us on this trip which was so fun. It's always great to have a little extra company, especially company that loves to hold our baby!

Camryn really bonded with her grandpa on this trip. He held her quite a lot and bounce her on his knee to her little heart's content. My parents decided to join us on this trip because that way my brother Nate could come along as well. He just got home from his mission and started school up at Utah State so he's basically just around the corner from Bear Lake. He earned lots of "favorite uncle" points over the weekend with our kids.

I've always thought these bike/cart things looked fun. 4 people can pedal on these things with 2 kids sitting in the front. Our little family did not all sit in this one. I couldn't pedal since I was holding Camryn so Nate and Josh pedaled ours and my parents took Sydney riding in theirs. They were really fun and once again I'm glad we had my parents along because we couldn't have done that on our own!

First day of school! First day of school!

Well as much as I didn't want summer to end, I have also been looking forward to this day. Twice a week for 2 hours and 15 minutes I have 3 kids in school. The quietness is blissful... Okay I really do love my children. But it is a nice little break. Camryn is sometimes even sleeping.
Sydney has been so excited for 1st grade because she gets to eat lunch at school. I've packed her a lunch a couple times, but she prefers school lunch and that's easier for me anyways. If Tanner and Natalie see me making a sandwich in the morning they get all confused and decide they want sandwiches for breakfast instead of cereal.

Here is our cute little 1st grader. She is a vision in pink. She loves her teacher and loves having TWO recesses.

Tanner and Natalie started preschool last week. I can't believe they are getting so big. I hope their teacher understands them when they talk. Sometimes I can't even understand them. They loved their first day. They learned about the letter A, the number 1, and the color red. While they were eating lunch later, Tanner was studying his Capri Sun really hard and pointed to it and said "A." He already knew that letter before preschool but it was cute to see that he was excited about what they'd talked about that day!

I always tell them to hold hands when they're walking somewhere. It's just too adorable. And I might as well take advantage of that while they are at the age that they will actually do what I say.

Petting zoo

All summer I've been meaning to take meaning to take the kids to the petting zoo at Gardner Village. We used to take Sydney when she was little and she loved it. I called my mom and my sister Rachel to see if they wanted to come. Rachel had to work but my mom came and brought Noah along. None of the other kids enjoyed it quite like Sydney. Tanner and Natalie seemed to think I was a little crazy for wanting them to pet the animals. Especially the ones that were bigger than them. The little goats were also having kind of any off day and kept head butting each other.

Here are Natalie, Noah, and Tanner up on "high ground." They are trying to find a safe place away from all the animals.

If we do this again I will be letting them go on the pony ride FIRST. The whole time we were in the petting zoo all I heard was "can we ride the ponies?", "when do we get to ride the ponies?", "can we leave now and go ride the ponies?" Pony rides are one thing I don't like spending my money on. $9 for 2 minutes of entertainment. Oh well, they love it and we don't do it very often.

After our visit to the animals we went to Pine Needles quilt shop just to be a little crazy. It was a short visit with 5 little kids. And then we headed to Sweet Aftons candy shop. I let the kids pick out a bunch of saltwater taffy and my mom let the kids each choose one candy for themselves.

Is it just me or did this summer go super fast? It seems like it just started and now it's over. It's probably because I had a baby at the beginning of summer and so we didn't get out as much as usual. I love fall, but I'm really not ready for cold weather. Hopefully it will just be a long and mild fall and winter will go as fast as summer did.