October 2015

Dear friend, 

October was a blast!  So much fun and so many great friends.  

The month started out with OctTOBER conference.  

We have made it a tradition to go up to Tober for the LDS conference each October. 

 This year we were lucky enough to have my parents join us.  

It was wonderful to hear from our prophet and apostles, 

 

enjoy meals together, 

eat s'mores, 

and watch the kids explore the place know and love.  

The fall colors were amazing and the company was even better.   

 Plus, there is something about sleeping in a small, log cabin room with all of our children at our feet that is just really special.   

We talked my parents into driving back to Santa Fe with us to enjoy a few more days together.    

 

 My dad was nice enough to watch the kids and give me a little girl time with my mom.  

But I do have to wonder what he is teaching them on these "Grandpa Peter Adventures".  

A week after they left, I happened to break my cardinal rule and let the boys out of the cart while grocery shopping.  It had been a long morning of errands and I just had to grab a few more vegetables before we were on our way to check out.  I figured they couldn't do too much harm.  While reaching for a cucumber I was suddenly soaked with water.  I looked up to find this scene.  What!?!  As my siblings can attest to, this is a classic move by our dad.  How else would Smith have even known what that was, let alone how to use it?  

Yeah, those Grandpa Peter Adventures may need a little supervision in the future...

 

Aside from the antics, we had a blast in the 48 hours they were here.  

We met up with Elias for lunch at a park and even carved pumpkins.  

 They are always so helpful around the house.  While washing the car, Boyd decided to start a water fight.  As referred to above, my dad is always up for a good splash, so it was a riot to watch.  

The highlight was the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta.   

 

 I love that my kids aren't in school, so we could just pick up and go on a Tuesday morning.  

It was perfect weather and there weren't any crowds.  

It turned out that Boyd was freaked out by the balloons.  We were right up next to them as they were taking off and he refused to come out from hiding.  It was as though they were huge, fire breathing dragons coming to life.  

Luckily, once they were a little further away, he really began to enjoy it.   

It was beautiful.   

I love sharing these moments with my kids.  

Elias is the only thing that could have made that morning better. 

Our dear friend, Redding turned three this month and held a super-hero birthday party.  

It was an amazing party and you will find that the masks and capes show up continually throughout the month.  Especially on Smith.   

(Boyd was there, he is just a little like his dad and tends to stay away from the large groups.  

At least until the food is served.) 

 

Boyd & Smith have really stepped up their game this month.  

 

The have just become little boys.  They are talking more, but they are also picking their nose and eating their boogers, laughing at burps and farts, hitting anyone and everything just looking for a fight, and playing in the mud.  Oh, so much mud.  

Boyd got his comeuppance after months of being the more physical one, 

Smith has now unleashed his teeth.  

I just feel like the majority of my time is spent cleaning and disciplining. 

 There are moments like this,  

and moments like this. 

Moments of this, 

and of this. 

Just enough sweet moments to keep me from going crazy.  But it's unreal what they can accomplish with a few unsupervised minutes.  Boyd will pull a stool up to the pantry door, climb up it, unlock the pantry, climb down, push the stool to the side, open the pantry, pull the stool back in to position, climb up the stool and then go to town on any food he can get his hands on.  Smith will insist on wearing specific socks and shoes only to then promptly walk outside and climb knee-deep into a mud puddle.  

There was one week I wasn't feeling well, so for multiple days in a row, I would just lock us all in the boys' room and try to sleep while minimizing the damage to the house.  

Summer continues to enjoy the more feminine things in life.  Around 2pm she will start asking me what she should wear the next day.  I have a hard time offering an opinion since I know she will be changing her outfit at least four times before we leave for preschool.  

 

She continues to be the ringleader around here, but more often than not it's pretty darling.  

Some of the toddler adventures for this month included: 

making raspberry jam, 

going to the park, 

playing "Follow the Prophet"  

spending time with John & Debbie,  

making crafts, 

having a bonfire in the mountains with friends,  

putting on superhero shows,  

 making Halloween cookies, 

going to gymnastics,  

 goofing around,  

pen-paling with Summer's primary teacher,  

 riding our bikes to the park with Daddy, 

and dressing to match our walls.   

A major highlight of this month was flying to DC all by myself for a girls weekend. It started off with catching up with two of my dearest friends from college. College was four of the most fun years of my life, mostly due to my amazing friends.  I love these girls.  We missed you, Laura, Katie & Hill! 

From there it was on to a reunion with the Stanford girls!   These girls are all such amazing women, wives, and mothers, so it was an uplifting weekend catching up and learning from one another.  

We also squeezed in a little time out on the town so all in all it was a blast! 

 Summer had made me a necklace to wear so that I wouldn't miss her too much, but it was still great to get back to my family.   

One Friday Elias surprised us all.  We went to meet him for lunch and he announced that he was taking the rest of the day off.  

He took us to the zoo and we had a great time as a family.  

  Elias really is the best.  

 The kids even got to try cotton candy for the first time.  Like most things, it received a two out of three approval rating; this time it was Boyd that did not approve.  

 The nightly wrestling continues.  

A new game is quickly rising to the top of the charts.  

Pretty much Elias just throws pillows at the kids hard enough to knock them down and they all crack up laughing until someone starts crying.  

We've been talking about different emotions around here,  

 and all of the kids are getting pretty good at giving you emotional faces on command.  

With or without a mask.

 One day we joined some friends for a tour of the fire station.  

The kids took their hats very seriously.  

All of them loved it.   

The month concluded with Halloween and an awesome visit from Chelsea and Taylor.  

We went to the ward party,

 

and trick or treating at Elias' office.   

Chelsea and Taylor definitely won the awards for the most fun aunt and uncle.  

They even dressed up as pirates with the kids to go trick or treating.  

(Let it be documented that Boyd & Smith were pirates, and Summer was a pirate-princess-captain.  It's very important that you remember all three parts.)

 

Aside from the Halloween festivities, we took them to the new Krispy Kreme in town, 

and on a hike up tent rocks.  

 

The kids were good little hikers.   

But we borrowed an extra backpack so we could carry all three and make it all the way to the top.  

It was a gorgeous day to hike one of our favorite places in Santa Fe.  

 

It meant so much to us that they were willing to drive all the way out here to spend time with us.  We love you Chelsea & Taylor!

Hope all is well with you and yours. 

Always, 

Elias, Brittany, Summer, Boyd & Smith