Fall Clean-up

The only problem with having seasons (well, there is probably more than just one problem in my book but that's a whole other post) is that they require lots of hard work, shoveling snow for instance. And in the fall after all the pretty leaves change colors they fall, off the trees, to the ground, and they don't go away by themselves- pesky little things. And while I found raking leaves the first year lots of fun, like a fun fall activity, all picturesque, you know, the charm I once felt has worn off a bit. Like how the beauty of freshly fallen snow turns to yucky, black, slushy mess. So, it's a good thing I have kids now so I can make them do most of the work- ha,ha. Anyway, here's a few pics of them having fun with FALL!

Man, holding this bag is hard work!

Who knew that a snow shovel could be so versatile?

Give Me Some Space!

About a year ago at the dentist they discovered that Matthew had an underbite(?) I'm not sure what they really call it, his bottom teeth stuck out farther than the top teeth except in front so looking at him you couldn't tell but if you pulled his cheeks back you could see it on the sides. This gave him a mildly chipmunky look to his face since the bottom of his cheeks puffed out a tad but you probably wouldn't really notice this unless you looked closely. Anyway, his top teeth were starting to push on those bottom teeth and slant them inward causing lots of space issues for those poor bottom teeth. So they determined he needed a spacer to spread out the roof of his mouth and make it so those top teeth are in the right position and also help those bottom teeth get back to where they need to be. Its been a long process with all the banding and molding and consulting and such but the big day finally arrived and they put the spacer in Matthew's mouth, poor thing. Can you imagine having such a contraption in your mouth? It seems way more worse than braces. After we got into the car he was saying that he couldn't swallow and I hadn't even thought about that, he can't put his tongue on the roof of his mouth to swallow. He was trying so hard and kind of gagging. He's now figuring out how to suck it in really fast. Right after his appointment he had scouts and they got a little snack size hershey bar for their treat and it took him over 30 minutes to eat it, I told him that was the longest it has ever taken him to eat a candy bar! He can hardly eat a thing, he only had two bites of cereal before he decided he couldn't eat that so then he just sucked on a go-gurt. I'm hoping he gets the hang of it soon or he'll be skin and bones. One interesting thing they said is that it might help his nasal problems because spreading that bone will help to open that passage up. I found this fascinating since he has suffered with nasal problems since he was two, we always just thought it was allergies but this gives me new hope that he won't have to deal with that for the rest of his life. Here's to hoping he can survive the next 3 weeks of spreading that bone and then the next year or so that he has to have this thing in his mouth.


Check out how green his eyes are in this picture, I just thought it was cool because I'm always saying how interesting his eyes are and how they seem to change color to what he is wearing and then I saw this picture!

Old Friends

Yesterday, I was feeling ambitious and energetic and so I thought I would work out. It's something I've been meaning to do for a while I just haven't felt like it yet... I was doing pretty good before I got pregnant, working out a few times a week. I have some DVDs that my mother graciously donated (I'm not exactly sure she's aware of this, since my sister Britny brought them when she came to stay and left some for us, Michelle and I, that is.) Mom, just take heart in the fact that your money is going to good use. I haven't worked out (other than riding my bike) for who knows how long, sometime after I got pregnant. So I put on my tennis shoes and pulled out a Turbo Jam DVD. It was like hanging out with old friends I haven't seen in a while. There was Chalene and the gang as perky as ever. I got all excited to have one of their bodies which I know I will have in no time if I do their workouts twice a day! No problem! Hey, I can dream can't I? Miraculously I made it through the whole 50 minute workout! I only took one little two minute break, go me! You should have seen Rex doing Tai Chi at the end with me and telling me "Good Job, Mom!" right after Chalene had said it. Then, later in the day I was feeling so energized I thought I would help the kids rake all the leaves on the lawn. By 6 o'clock I could hardly move and I had headache to go with it, maybe I overdid it just a tad. But I was just so darn proud of myself for exercising. Maybe tomorrow I'll hang out with my friends Teigh and Gillian of Yoga Booty Ballet fame, I've missed those two.

Gran and Pops

We had a great time when Gran and Pops came to visit. The kids were all so excited they could hardly stand it. I was so sad that the time flew by so quickly. We did lots of fun things, I just hope we didn't wear them out too much. We went to two museums, they took the kids to the Nature Park, we rode Dan's parents horses, picnicked at Mesa Falls, did a session at the Rexburg Temple, and went to Yellowstone. We all can't wait for the next time when we will get to see them. We miss them tons already!

Blessing Day

Yesterday we blessed our sweet little Colby (Kris and I also had the added pleasure of speaking in sacrament meeting). It was a beautiful blessing and I was so glad that my parents could be here for the occasion, I would have been really sad if they couldn't have made it. But strangely enough, even though most of our family lives in Arizona we had quite a crowd at the blessing. My parents, Kris' parents and his sister Hayley, Grandpa and Grandma Walz, my cousin Logan and his family, my cousin Lindsay and her husband Ronnie, Dan and Michelle, and Dan's parents were all there. We are so blessed to have Colby in our family, he brings such a sweet spirit into our home. All in all it was a wonderful day (except for the part when my parents had to head back to Arizona).

Two-Wheelin' Owen

One of Owen's training wheels broke off of his bike the other day so Kris just took off the other one and I had been meaning to go out and practice with him so he could learn how to ride but lo and behold he taught himself! He had us come out and watch him and there he was just riding around. I could hardly believe it! (What a blessing after the nightmare that teaching Gracie was!) We are so proud of him. Maybe it wasn't too hard because his bike is so tiny, I have to laugh because I think he looks like one of the bears at the circus riding on those tiny bikes. (We're thinking about getting him a bigger one for his birthday.)

Gracie's Fall Photos

The other day Gracie wanted to take some pictures so I let her take the camera with the warning to be careful and don't take a bunch of pictures of nothing. When she brought the camera back to me and I scrolled through the photos I was well impressed. Here's a few she took including a self portrait:

Our next door neighbors' beautiful maple tree
This tree is in our side yard
She's had fun collecting leaves this fall, she'll bring in a few different colored ones,

but of course they are all brown by the next day.

Good job Gracie, our budding artist!