Halloween Fun

We had a great Halloween! On Tuesday our ward youth hosted an awesome kids carnival, Ayana and Asher had a lot of fun playing the games and seeing their friends. Then on Friday we went to a place called Trick or Treat Street in Idaho Falls. It is an event where some of the local RV dealers loan the use of their RVs for local businesses to decorate and pass out candy from. We went with our friends the Lewises, they have 2 kids close to Ayana's age so they have a lot of fun together. After the trick or treating we all went out for dinner and had a great time. Then on Saturday night our complex had a dinner/Trunk or Treat. I made some peanut butter balls that looked like eye balls and won the award for best presentation, so that was pretty fun. The kids got so much candy at the Trunk or Treat that Asher couldn't even carry his bucket anymore because it was too heavy! All in all it was a great time. Trever and I did decide that we need to dress up next year, we felt lame at all the events in no costume. I made Ayana's with costume, and am pretty pleased with how it turned out. It is the first time I have ever done sleeves or a zipper in clothing. It was far from perfect, but she was the cutest witch ever. We bought Asher a hamburger costume at Old Navy and it was sure a hit, everyone commented on it and thought he was so adorable. Hope all of your Halloween's were as wonderful as ours! Here are some pictures of our little monsters!

5 Silly Monkeys

Someday soon I am going to take the time to put a real post on here again...until then enjoy this adorable video of our little angel Ayana singing her new favorite song!

So summer finally arrived in full here in Rexburg. Less than a month ago we were still having weird snow flurries, but now we are in the 80s everyday. It is hot, but fun. We are definitely missing our old apartment with the air conditioning. Right now in our apartment it is 84 degrees, that is with the windows open and the fans running 24-7. Oh well though, we'll survive. We have been enjoying the summer sunshine and having lots of fun. There is a program that provides free lunch for kids at a couple of the local parks 5 days a week. So almost every day we either walk or ride the bike to the park for the lunch and to play for a while. At Porter Park there is the splash park that some of you played at with us last summer. The kids love it. There are a lot of different size fountains and a few water slides. Ayana finally got brave and now goes down the water slides on here own. Ayana is still in toddler lab at the University and she enjoys all the different activities they have there. The teachers are very creative and there is always something new to try. Her favorites are playing at the sensory table (usually has water or rice in it), playing outside, and the role play area (mini grocery stores, etc.). Today while Ayana was at class we brought Asher's little push toy that helps him walk and he LOVED having long hallways to walk down instead of crashing into the walls all the time like at home. Our other summer activity is the library reading programs. We go to story time every week and Ayana loves to get stickers in her program book for being read to every day and get her prizes like passes for the carousel at the park, etc. I am in a reading program too and have been able to earn some fun certificates like free ice cream and a swimming pass. We are excited for when Trever is done with school in another month so he can join in more of the fun with us. Other than that we just hang out at home and try not to melt. Last Saturday we went with some friends to some local caves and had fun walking through them. Asher got a little bothered by the dark toward the end, but Ayana loved using a flashlight and did really well walking on the uneven ground and scrambling over the rocks. Anyway, here are some pictures of our latest adventures. Love you all!

Ayana and Asher with their friends at the caves


Splash park fun







Ayana enjoying the country girl lifestyle at a local stores anniversary celebration

Lesson of the day

Today at church a man told a story that really struck me. I though I would share it on here, both so I can remember it for the next time I need reminding and also just in case it help any of you. Here it is:

There was a man who desperately wanted a nice lawn. He spent all his time out in his yard trying to get rid of the weeds that were growing among his grass. Every Saturday he would go to the local nursery and buy another product to try to kill those weeds. When a week passed and he didn't see a noticeable difference he would go back to the nursery again and get another product to try. He did this for a couple months with little success in killing all those weed for good. At the nursery there was an old man who had been a landscaper for many years and was an expert in lawn care. After several months of watch the young man come in and buy weed killers he finally approached him and gave him some advice. He told the young man to forget the weeds and spend his efforts fertilizing and nourishing the grass. Then with only the exception of a few necessary pluckings now and then he would no longer have the weeds. Instead he would have a beautiful lush lawn that kept the weeds from growing in the first place.

The speaker then compared this story to us as parents. How often we spend our energy on the things we see as faults in our children. We put so much effort into plucking out and killing the weeds in their lives that we are out of energy to do the fertilizing. Sometimes we even do the same thing in our own lives. If we focus on encouraging and nurturing the good things we see in our children and ourselves then we will discover that those things will blossom until there is no more room for the bad. So save your plucking for the really big things and otherwise just spend lots of time fertilizing and enjoying the wonderful lawn it produces in our lives.

The Kids' Dance Party

I (Trever) took this video a while back and thought it was a lot of fun to watch the kids get down. Enjoy!

Asher is 1!

So,our little man is growing up, on Tuesday he turned one! He is such a joy to have in our family. His favorite things at the moment are standing up (still holding on though), filling and emptying containers, and anything involving him getting attention from Mommy, Ayana, or Daddy. He finally decided it was okay to crawl on his hands and knees, but still army crawls when he wants to get somewhere fast. He will walk with help and is beginning to cruise along the furniture, but I think it will be a little while before he really walks. No words yet, so maybe he will be a late talker like Ayana, we'll see. He is definitely a Momma's boy, he prefers Mom to anyone else, but will settle for Dad when he has to. I am sure that if Ayana was able to carry him around he would like her best though, he always wants to be where she is and do what she is doing. He is a very happy little boy quick to smile for his family, but a little shy around strangers. He loves to eat cheerios and kix and just about anything else he can get his hands on. He is still my little snatcher who will grab a hold of anything and everything, even when you are sure it is out of his reach. He is a wonderful addition to our family and we feel so blessed to have him!

Here are his one year old stats:

weight: 21 lbs (20th percentile)

height: 28 inches (3rd percentile)

5 teeth

and

The cutest little smile ever seen!

Asher's first picture

Asher at 5 months

Asher at 10 months

Asher as a One Year Old!

So last week we had Weinhard's Root Beer with our dinner. THe kids were enthralled with the bottles. Trever saved the last few sips of his for Asher and gave him the bottle. He couldn't quite figure out how to drink from the bottle, but he sure loved playing with it. So here's some cute pictures of my two crazy kiddos. We are excited for Asher's birthday in a couple of days, and I will be sure to post some pictures of him enjoying his birthday cake.

Ayana trying to play her bottle like a flute

Dad, this bottle is just too tall!