October 2016

Dear Friend,

This month started with a wonderful conference weekend!  I love hearing from the leaders of our church.  

 

Elias spent the weekend with his parents in Boston as he had a work conference in New York starting that Monday morning.  He loved spending the weekend with them and taking a tour of his home town.  

Unfortunately Elias missed out on our adventure in the sky as our neighbor John took us up in his airplane.  

We had a blast learning more about airplanes, 

and hanging out in the hanger.  

It was a ton of fun!  But once up in the air,  Summer and Smith ate it all up while Boyd and I just focused on not throwing it all up.  

This month also brought the annual Hot Air Ballon Fiesta!

The weather actually wasn't the best and we only got to watch the balloons go up for about 30 minutes before it started raining.  

Then we were stuck in the parking lot for about an hour and a half, but we had a blast spending time together and drinking hot chocolate.  

I really like our kids.  And there is no one I would rather be stuck in a parking lot with than this crew. 

Another highlight was Joy's baby blessing.  We invited our friends and neighbors to join us and our librarian came out for the occasion.  Thanks Ms. Susan!

Oh, how we love this darling little girl.  

 

I really don't filter these pictures.  She just smiles a lot!

She now has two teeth and is officially the happiest teether I have ever seen, but when she isn't smiling is she is always chewing on her fingers.  

We all love her so much and I am so grateful she joined our family.

I love being her mom.  

And it's so fun that everyone thinks she looks like all of our other kids.  They say, "Wow!  She looks just like ____!" But then they say a different name every time.  She's the perfect blend!

Summer loves looking at her baby pictures and then trying to dress Joy the same way.  

Here is a side-by-side comparison of Summer and Joy.  

Summer is constantly trying to dress the same as Joy.  She often requests a crown braid so even their hair can be the same.  

And Joy moved into Summer's room this month, so we now officially have a "boys room" and a "girls room".  (This is Summer's "I'm so happy she's in my room!  I love her so much!" face.  And yes, Summer made that mobile for Joy.  "It's all of the plants so she can dream about space.")

This month we have enjoyed riding bikes is great weather, 

making firetrucks at Home Depot and meeting real fire fighters, 

morning cuddles, 

making geodes, 

exploring new food,

introducing Joy to food, 

enjoying pumpkin spice (and Zombie) donuts at Krispy Kreme, 

wrapping up circus gymnastics (this is her and Indigo), 

dressing up, 

cuddling with Daddy, 

playing hopscotch, 

having diaper fights, 

pumpkin smashing, 

enjoying backyard adventures, 

roasting pumpkin seeds,

working in the yard, 

and playing rocket ship, 

hair salon, 

and ice rink.  (They set out this blue blanket and then filled up 20 cups and bowls with ice.)

Summer had a literacy night at her school which Elias joined her for and they had a fun daddy/daughter night.  

She continues to write us notes.  "I love you Mom and Dad.  Nothing is better than you.  I love you."  It's pretty great.

I have really enjoyed having a few hours to get things done while the big kids are at school.  I've even snuck in some time with great friends

and hosted a baby shower.  

The kids really play well together for the most part.  They will disappear for an hour and I am continually amazed with how creative they are.  They create obstacle courses, 

play pretend, 

set up lemonade stands, 

and read books together. 

And I have to document the day that Smith thought I was the best mom in the world when I let him have spaghetti for breakfast. He absolutely loves pasta and isn't the biggest breakfast eater, so he loved me all day the morning I let him have spaghetti when he woke up.  

One Saturday Elias and I got a babysitter so we could take Joy out for an afternoon with friends and a quick hike.  We didn't get in as much hiking as we wanted, so we took the kids the following day after church.  We hiked up Sun Mountain.  It's only about 2.5 miles to the peak and back but the path is narrow and steep at points and it is surrounded by cacti.  The kids were such great hikers that we found ourselves going all the way to the top.  Unfortunately my phone died and we misjudged how quickly it would get dark after the sun went down.  Needless to say, it got a little tricky hiking in the dark with four kids and cacti all around.  We made it home safely though! (Thanks to Elias carrying three of our four kids in his arms for the last quarter mile. Got to love those muscles!!!)

And this month brought the long-awaited Girls Weekend!  I was going to Time Out for Women with my mom and sisters in Vegas so I just had to bring my favorite girls to join in on the fun!

They were great travelers.  On the way there Summer was so excited.  She exclaimed, "They are going to freak out when they see me!  They love me so much!!!"

Summer loved her time with her cousins and Uncle Matt

while Joy joined the big girls in shopping, Time Out for Women and getting our nails done.  

As always, there was dancing,

great food and lots of laughs so we had a blast!

The boys had a blast enjoying Boys Weekend with Daddy.  They were able to play with lots of friends while Elias was at work on Friday and then the party began.  They camped in the backyard, ate hot dogs, 

went swimming, went out to eat, went to the park, went to the store and carved pumpkins.  

Elias is the best.  

Another highlight from this month was the Lantern Fest.  

The kids and I arrived early to enjoy the concert, a picnic dinner, and decorate our lanterns.  

Then Daddy arrived to join us for s'mores and the lighting of the lanterns.  It really was magical (except for the moment that I got hit in the back of the head by someone's flaming lantern that didn't quite take flight and it burnt off some of my hair).  

 

I'm so glad I could be there with my family!

And then there was Halloween.  Two astronauts, Elsa, and Thing 4. The kids had a blast celebrating at school.  

And they always love trick or treating around Elias' office.  They expressed their disappointment that they only get to go inside his office one day a year, but once we told them it was the only day there was candy everywhere, they seemed okay with it.  

And to honestly document the holiday I have to admit we didn't go trick or treating around the neighborhood.  Okay, I didn't even turn on my lights so people could come to our house.  By 5:30pm Smith had thrown up all over his costume and candy and Boyd had peed in his costume while trying to "wait to go potty until all his suckers were ready".  I was just trying to get my kids to bed at that point, I didn't even want to deal with anyone else's.  I know...call me the Halloween grinch this year.  

This month was a blast, but as always, these were my favorite moments. 

We call this "floor time" and everyone in our home is happier when we have it on a regular basis.  It's really just time that we all hang out on the floor in the living room.  We wrestle, tickle, cuddle, play games, talk and read books.  It's the best!  I love this crew. 

Always,
Brittany et al.