Raking the Leaves

Autumn is so beautiful here in Johns town. Its like living in the middle of a forest and color is every where. I thought it would be so much fun to go out and rake the leaves today. I gave up after an hour (i had blisters on both hands), but the boys had a huge pile of leaves to play in.

Weakland Farms Pumpkin Patch

Happy Fall! We went to Weakland Farms to get out pumpkins this year. It was really fun. They take you on hay ride out to the pumpkin patch...which was huge and then you get to pick your own pumpkin. The boys loved it. We also played in a hay maze and corn maze.

Taten's first day at Preschool

Taten's first day of preschool was September 16th. It is hard to believe he has been in school for a month now. I was really looking forward for Taten to start school. Since moving to PA he really hasn't had many kids to play with. Taten loves preschool. He was the only kid not crying on the first day of school. In fact he doesn't even say goodbye to me when we get there. I love picking him up though, because he is always excited to see me.

We are still working on making friends. Although we have been to a few play dates. Taten still tells me that he doesn't have any friends at school and how come everyone doesn't want to play with him?
He is learning so much and I am so proud of him. He knows his colors, counts to 10, knows his abc's and can name sooo many animals. Taten goes to preschool at a Methodist church so bible stories are part of the curiculum. They also sing a song at snack time. Taten started singing it at the store the other day. "Thank you God. Thank you God. For this food. for this food. That we are sharing. That we are sharing. God is Good. God is Good."

Ryker

It is hard for me to believe that Ryker will be celebrating his 1st birthday next week. He is so busy, he loves to empty any drawer within reach, and constantly makes his way to the stairs. I have tried blocking the stairs but Ryker always finds a way around the blockade. I bought a gate for the bottom of the stairs, but when I installed it I broke the stair...so the gate had to go.

Ryker loves his brother Taten. He follows Taten all over the house and wants to play with what ever Taten is playing with. He can feed him self with a spoon and loves bath time. We thought Ryker would be walking before he crawled but once he figured out how fast he could get around crawling he gave up trying to walk. He can stand with out holding on, so maybe walking will come soon. But Ryker still is not talking, not a single word. Can't you see the mischief in his eyes.

Potty Training

I really procrastinated this one. I thought Potty Training would be easier if I waited until Taten was ready. But with preschool fast approaching we had to get a move on it. Thanks to Aubrey for sharing "3 day potty bootcamp" by the end of Day 2, I thought I would loose my mind and that my house would smell like urine for the rest of eternity. But day 3...things just clicked...Thank Heaven. On day three Taten peed in the potty every time. Poohing on the Potty has not come so easily though. In fact we are still working on it.

Ryker took a tumble

Ryker took a tumble but it unfazed. Here is our cute little busy body. He seems drawn to danger...I can't keep him off the stairs and this time we couldn't keep him away from the camp trailer door.

Dan and Mindy's Wedding

Dan and Mindy's wedding. This was one of the funnest things we did all summer. We left our kids with the Grandparents and witnessed two of our friends get married and then stayed for the party. The wedding was beautiful. I wish I could have captured it. We are so happy for Dan and Mindy.

Strasburg Railroad Train Museum

Since we moved to PA we haven't done much site seeing. But I did talk Dave into taking us the the Strasburg train museum. It was about a 2 1/2 hour drive to Lancaster for a 15 minute ride on an old Train. It was as much fun to drive along and see the Amish in their horse and buggy. The museum was huge complete with several toy trains for the kids to play with.

Lance's Wedding

This is the only picture I managed to get of my brothers wedding. My baby brother is married. I really love his wife. They are so cute together. He goes to the U of U and she goes to BYU. They were lucky to find the cutest basement apartment somewhere in between. Their wedding was really beautiful, and it was so wonderful to see all of my family, and neighbors and friends that I have not seen in forever.

Lagoon

My family was all together this summer for my little brothers wedding. He left for his Honeymoon...and the rest of us went to Lagoon. Taten's favorite ride was the airplanes. He could ride them all day long.
Here Taten is with his cousins Rachel, Alexa and Sarah.

Taten and Dave on the Chinese dragon. Taten was really scared, but when I asked if he wanted to ride again. He said yes.

Papa's Lawnmower

How cute is this? Grandpa didn't want to leave anyone out...so all three boys got to ride on the lawnmower with papa. Riding the lawnmower with their grandpa happens regularly for Taten's cousins. But for Taten this was a real treat. Thanks for the ride grandpa.

Taten loves to fly!!!

I was nervous this summer to fly home to Utah by my self and two kids...But Dave was able to walk us to our gate and the boys were so good. I am so glad we bought Taten this airplane though. For some reason the battery to the DVD player did not charge, this plane was Taten's only entertainment for the 5 hour flight. I am sure glad he loves to fly. He also prays nightly that he can fly to Grandma and Grandpa's house.
We love flying Southwest. The flight attendants are usually pretty funny, they don't charge for luggage, and more than once Taten has been invited to meet the Pilot in the cockpit.

Pictures-Taten 3 years, Ryker 6 months

Taten's Bowling Birthday Party

Happy Birthday Taten. This year for Taten's 3rd birthday we celebrated with a bowling birthday party. Here are a few pictures to show how much fun we had. I made the birthday invitations and party favors. And ordered a fun bowling cake from Giant Eagle. Everyone bowled and then we enjoyed pizza and cake. Thank you to all who came and celebrated with us. I am so grateful for the nice friends we have made since moving to Johnstown.

Rykers first foods

Ryker started eating solids at 5 months. I tried feeding him rice cereal at 4 months and he didn't show any interest. But this kid loves his baby food. Top picture I am letting him suck on some cantaloupe. Bottom picture is Dave feeding him some sweet potatoes. Ryker is so cute, because he leans in to get the food or will grab on to your hand to get the food to his mouth quicker. So far he has loved every food I have given to him.

New Sink and Countertop

We finally got our new sink and counter top installed. Here are pictures of the before and after. We love our new 57 year old house but the sink and faucet were leaky and I just could never tell if the counter top was clean. So they had to go. We like the change...next the kitchen gets a new floor. I wish I knew how to fix the icky musty smell in the cubboards. Any suggestions?

Easter-Here comes Taten Cottentail...

We had a really nice Easter. We had been talking with Taten about the Easter Bunny all week and about the Savior and why we celebrate Easter. Taten woke up early that morning and asked if the Easter Bunny had come. (of course the Easter Bunny was still sleeping) I told Taten we would have to wake up Dad and have him go outside and look for signs of the Easter Bunny. Meanwhile I took Taten upstairs to get dressed...when Dad came back inside..he reported that the Easter Bunny had come and that Taten must have been a very good boy.

We celebrated this Easter with friends. They came over to watch conference and we had a yummy dinner. Here is a picture of the table setting.

I painted- I didn't enjoy it.

While Dave was in Vegas, I painted. He was gone for 5 days and I wanted to surprise him when he came home. So I painted the upstairs hallway, bathroom, and boys room and the downstairs Den and bathroom. I have never painted before and it was a lot harder than I expected. Especially because I had a 2 year old helper and crying baby. I also finished hanging pictures and decorated the fireplace mantel and entertainment center. I didn't tell Dave what I was doing because I wanted him to be surprised. He came home, went in the bathroom-said nothing. He took Taten up to get him ready for bed and said nothing. I worked really hard, granted I am no professional so the job wasn't perfect, but I worked pretty hard. I actually had to point out that I had painted and all Dave saw was the imperfections. At least that is my story and I'm sticking to it. He did say something about the boys room but thought I had forgotten a second cote. But I purposely used 2 different colors. Dave I love you. I am sure he appreciated my hard work.