October Celebrations- A Wedding and a Birthday

The month of October brought lots more fun for our family. This fall we were super busy. I feel like the last 3 months have flown by.
First the wedding train made it's final stop at the Stoker resort. Diane, Ashley, James, Caitlin, and Charlie all flew in for the big bash. Unfortunatly it was the beginning of October break so there weren't a lot of people in town to celebrate. Fortunately all our favorite people were here and we had a great time hanging out at home with our family. The backyard looked beautiful with lanterns and lights hanging in the sky. I was so grateful to my mom for offering to stay and help. The kids especially took their jobs seriously.

Jackson was in charge of the sign in book. He made sure that everyone that walked through the gate signed the book in the appropriate spot. No one got by him.

Lizzy was more concerned with making sure she looked as pretty as the bride. On several occasions she mentioned to me that she looked prettier than Ashley but she didn't tell her because she didn't want to hurt her feelings.

We all socialized, played with the cardboard cut out of Grandpa, and danced to the wedding mix James made. It was really fun just hanging out and celebrating our new family member.

Then we celebrated Christian's second birthday. We were able to celebrate with all our family since they were still in town for Ashley's wedding in Mesa. Christian is obsessed with trains so I made him a train cake. He loved all the attention. He is such a fun loving boy. At 2 he is average height and weight but the thing that impresses me most is how talkative he has become. He likes to put his hands up to his mouth and yell out the kid's names. He loves playing princess party with Lizzy but he also loves dressing up like Superheros or ninjas with Jackson. And every day the kids get off the bus he runs to them and gives them both the biggest hug to let them know how much he missed them.

My biggest quirk with him is his lack of sleeping. He doesn't want to miss a thing so his naps are really short and he gets up several times at night. He also wakes up at 5:30 almost every morning asking for a bobble of chocolate milk (a sippy cup) and t.b. (tv) He is one crazy kid but we love him no matter how crazy he gets.

Water Fairies and Yellow Dragons

It's soccer season here in AZ. Most of our Friday nights and Saturdays are spent at the soccer field. The kids are having a blast. Actually let me be more specific.

Lizzy loves her team. She is on the same team as her best friends Jessie and Megandee Welch. There are 6 girls on the team and Liz is one of the oldest. Her competitive spirit has arrived this year. She wants to win and has scored a lot of goals. Sometimes she fights over the ball with Jessie (who is also good and competitive) but we are working on teaching the girls teamwork and passing. She loves soccer and is excited for the Frozen Water Fairies games each week.

 Jackson has struggled. His coach is great and very encouraging but the kid does not care about soccer or have any idea where the ball is most of the time. He wanted to play because he thought he would get on the same team as some of his friends but unfortunately he e is a on a team with 8 new boys he has ever met. I try to explain it is a great opportunity to meet some new kids and he has but it is tough when you only see the kids 2 times a week for 8 weeks. I think his main issue is he doesn't know where to go. His team plays 6 on 6 and is much more organized than the U6 league Liz plays in. The last game of the season he played goalie. I thought this would be a good place for him because he doesn't have to chase the ball and he knows where he needs to be. The first half was tough, he forgot he could use his hands and the defense kept letting kids get through to the goal. He stopped 3 balls but got scored on 3 times. At the half I could tell he was feeling pretty defeated poor kid. But we explained that he could use his hands and he cheered up. The second half he blocked 2 goals and didn't get scored on at all. It was a Yellow Dragon (that was his team name) victory and Jackson felt much better about his soccer skills.

 It was a fun season and we were happy to celebrate with our new friends when the season ended.

A Second Trip to New Hampshire

Towards the end of September we received a wonderful gift, a trip to New Hampshire for Ashley's wedding without the kids. My sister and mom came into town to watch the kiddos and we were off on an adults only adventure.

As much as I love my children and missed them we had a wonderful time exploring Vermont and New Hampshire on our own. Aside from the wedding we spent one of our vacation days in New Hampshire at the Franconia Notch State Park Flume. This was an incredible experience. A man-made trail leading up a gorge with a natural river running through it. We hiked all day, a beautiful day, with the fall leaves changing color and nature all around us.

Another day we visited a Shaker Village. I didn't know anything about the Shaker Church before we visited the village but we learned a lot about a small portion of the early colonies history. The Shakers lead a humble life and it was very interesting to walk a day in their shoes.

Finally it was wedding day. Ashley looked like Princess Buttercup on a beautiful day in Boston. The temple ceremony was beautiful. Having all our family, minus the missionaries, together in the temple was perfect, and we welcomed James into our family with open arms. After the ceremony we spent the afternoon reflecting on memories of our lovely Ashley. Her tenacity, passion, and love for her family and the things she believed in. It was perfect and lots of love was shared.

New Hampshire is beautiful in the fall, full of colors and warmth, but I was glad to come home when it was all over.