October

At the first of October we had Parent Teacher Conferences. Both boys are doing awesome in school. After Chase's conference I was able to take him out on a little date (I think Ben was home with the other two...I honestly can't remember what I did with them?). We went to Twisted Sugar and I let him pick whatever cookie he wanted. Third grade has been a little tough for this kid- a few issues with mean kids and figuring out that social stuff has ben a little bit of a rough adjustment. He's doing pretty well with it though and Ben and I keep reminding ourselves that these are life lessons he's got to learn somehow- even if it is painful to watch as a parent.

 I got to chaperone Hudson's class field trip to Red Butte Gardens in Salt Lake. It was a beautiful, but COLD fall morning. We had a really cute little group of kids to tour the gardens with. He's got a great little class!

 Red Butte was a project that was dear to my great-uncle's heart. My mom's aunt and uncle donated this part of the garden so I snapped a picture of Hudson with their sign.

 I am tempted to take pictures of Davis napping all the time. He just looks so peaceful and sweet. This little boy is such a blessing in so many ways, but I especially love naptime with him. We sit in his rocking chair and read a bunch of books. He laughs and laughs through most of them (he likes funny books). Then I sing to him and he snuggles into me while I sing and usually smiles at me the whole time. Then I lay him down and tuck him in and he sweetly says "sweet dreams" to me and then just slips off to sleep. It's the sweetest and I treasure it every day.

 The kids were getting ready for a Harry Potter Halloween party and Davis just HAD to be part of it for a minute. He really doesn't know was Harry Potter is, but he does like to be included!

 Chase had his fall piano recital! I'm so proud of this boy. He works so hard at the piano. Our rule is that he has to practice 30 minutes every single day. So he does. Sometimes he complains a little. Mostly he just gets it done. And he's reaping the rewards, he's come so far in just one year of piano. At his recital he played "Hedwig's Theme" from Harry Potter- it was a hard song and it really stretched him. He did amazing! Then he did a cool duet with his teacher that I loved- it was a good 2 minutes long, which is a long song for such a young pianist!

A definite highlight of our whole month was the Harry Potter party! Our neighbors family puts it on and it was incredible! So many cool decorations (SO MANY!). We had a feast in the great hall, the kids all got sorted into houses (mine were both Gryffindor and very happy about it). They played quidditch and went to a bunch of classes. All the classes were taught by incredible people dressed up as various professors and the boys were in heaven! The attention to detail was out of this world. They did potions with Snape (who was actually our neighbor, Blaine, and Chase didn't even realize it!) They got their own Felix Felicis potion to drink. They did divination with Trelawny, repotted mandrakes with Professor Sprout and did a Care of Dragons lesson with Hagrid, got to make their own wands with Ollivander and Tonks, and finished off the whole night with a trip to HoneyDukes to fill their own little bags with candy. The boys were grinning from ear to ear all night long, it was such a special night.

 We had our primary program, which was so adorable! The boys did great. We took Nora and Anna to church with us that Sunday so their mom could rest with the new baby (Will was out of town) and so they got to go to nursery/primary with the boys too. It was cute to see all the little cousins together!

 Over fall break Nana and Papa hosted a fun pumpkin party for the grandkids! We started at a pumpkin patch (owned by Papa's farmer friend) and the kids got to pick any pumpkin they wanted. Of course, Chase and Hudson picked the biggest ones they could find. Then we went back to Nana and Papa's for chili and hot dogs (this group of kids loves hot dogs and they polished off 12 of them!), some games and sugar cookie decorating! It was such a fun night. These kids are lucky to have such fun grandparents!

 One Saturday we needed the oil changed in a car, so Ben took Chase along and they had a little date. Chase is frequently asking for more "one on one" time with us, so it was a great excuse for that. Ben took him to get Korean food and he was so proud that Chase loved it ALL! Chase wants to be just like his dad, so I was surprised. Ben went a little crazy and ordered a bunch of entrees because he "wanted it to be a good experience for Chase." I just rolled my eyes a little and mostly was happy they had a great afternoon together.

 We took this picture to announce on instagram that baby sister is on her way! We had our 20 week ultrasound and she's looking good and healthy! And definitely a girl. I don't know if we've quite wrapped our heads around having a little girl yet, but we sure are excited over here!

 Creekside put on a fun fall carnival. This is the only picture I took! There were tons of games and the boys had a great time. They loved the "lego death walk" which was walking on legos with no shoes on. I laughed because obviously that is just like walking around in our basement on any given day, but at a carnival it's that much more fun I guess!

 Chase started his basketball season! He's had two games so far and he's doing great! So much more aggressive this year, steals the ball frequently, has gotten so much better at dribbling and has made 5 baskets so far! He's on a team with Luca (not pictured), Levi and Austin again which is a win-win for everyone because the boys have so much fun, and I only have to drive to practice once every 4 weeks!

 And Davis got a haircut. We love his hair long, but it was getting ridiculous! So I took him to my friend Alison and while he hated the actually process of getting it cut, I think the result is just darling!