Made by Memilyrae

Evie had fun at her Preschool Halloween Party. I did not take pictures but my friend did so I stole these from her. (Thanks Nikki!)

We had a blast for Lauren’s 13th birthday party. Since Lauren is so into acting and comedy, I thought she might enjoy Comedy Sportz…a clean improve comedy show…family friendly and, like I said, clean. They found out it was Lauren’s birthday so they had her participate in a few skits. The whole thing is based off of 2 teams acting against each other using the audiences’ suggestions. It was HILARIOUS! I was crying from laughing so hard! And Gavin was a hoot! He laughed just because others were laughing, but louder! A few times the “ref” would stop and just laugh at Gavin’s laugh! Lauren did great and I think she and her friends had a fun time…I know we adults did! I do have video of the times she went on stage but have to get them uploaded…so until then, here are a few pics….

Well, it started off rainy and windy when we started trick or treating, and I didn’t get pictures of everyone…so hopefully I can get some off of the rest of the family (hint hint!). Here are a few pictures…

We went to the Planetarium with Grams, Papa, and Uncle Matt in SLC. We only did the free portion but there were a lot of things to do and to see and the kids had a blast running around. The coolest thing to me was the big ball thing. That and the scale that told you what you would weigh on other planets. I LOVED the fact that Pluto was still there, even though it’s not considered a planet anymore. LOL Papa left with Uncle Matt to take him to the airport. Boo. I dont like it when family leaves. Grams Steve, the kids and I walked around the gift shop and then headed home. I think we got some great pictures! Fun stuff!

My family from Oklahoma came to join us for Garrett’s baby blessing. We knew mom and dad were going to come and ‘much to our {not} surprise’  Brent and Matt were able to come too. (Stephanie accidentally spilled the beans! LOL) They were here for a week or less but what a busy week we had! We were able to spend some time with everyone as a whole and have a little one-on-one time too. We did niece/nephew soccer games, shopping, family photo shoot, food (of course!), etc etc. Best of all, Garrett got to meet his Grams and Papa and Uncles Brent and Matt! He gave them some pretty good smiles and even talked to them. One of my favorite things was seeing Papa on the back porch just chatting away with Little G.  I still believe Garrett has so much knowledge he’s trying to share with us before he is veiled from everything – too bad we just don’t understand!

And you might noticed that I have shelves!!! Yes! I have SHELVES! Papa and Brent put up shelves in my laundry “cubby” !!! It’s only taken 17 months of begging for me to get them!

I’m not sure if I’ve cleared them off of my camera or not, but I have pictures of Brent holding Garrett too…so, once I find them, I’ll put them up!

My friend, Triana Ord, took our family pictures over 2 years ago and I loved them! We decided now that we have another member of our family that it’s high time we took new ones. Triana is great! She knew of this neat old barn and field (which I’ve loved a lot lately) and took tons of pictures. We went with the yellow theme with a few other colors mixed in. I love how they turned out (and I even love the way I look in a few of them…I don’t always love how I look in pictures, but I think a lot of people say that about themselves, right?) Here ya go. THANK YOU TRIANA!

Last Saturday we were trying to decide what to do…we haven’t had a full day with nothing planned for quite a while! Steve thought it would be fun to head to Salt Lake…let the kids ride on the Trax Train and spend the day at Temple Square. Sounded good to me! We called and invited Steve’s parents to come with us and we’re so glad they did!

We parked in Sandy, got our tickets (Wahoo! $12 for 4 adults versus $5.50 each adult!) and tried to not get blown over! The wind was insane! Evie was a bit scared when she wasn’t holding hands with daddy…she thought she was going to get blown away. I strapped Garrett in the snuggly backpack and we waited for the train to leave. The kids LOVED the train! It’s a 35 minute (ish) ride from Sandy to Temple Square and it wasn’t too bumpy.

(unfortunately the picture I took of daddy and Evie did not copy over along with 4 other photos)

We hadn’t had lunch (but we had a late breakfast) so we were ready to eat around 3:30. We went to a restaurant across from the Trax platform where we got off to eat. After that we went to an LDS history museum (I don’t remember the name). They had many neat things and we only saw a section of it before the kids were needing fresh air. Next we went to Temple Square and I ran into a girl who just started her mission about a week or two ago and will be heading to LA this Wednesday. We also ran into our neighbor who was at the Temple for his cousin’s wedding.

At one point I called to Spencer and Evie “Hold up you two!” and as I did, two sister missionaries were walking by, paused and turned to look at me. I said “sorry…not YOU two!” We had a good laugh!

We went over to the Conference Center and took the tour…even though I’m sure we’ve taken the tour 4, 5, or more times. You always learn something new every time you go, plus the people giving the tours are super nice. Mom Shaw’s feet were tired so they offered her a wheel chair (I almost asked for one too!) and Evie decided to help push and get a ride throughout the tour. At this point Garrett went to the bathroom in his diaper (which was a size too big) and it went down his leg and onto my jeans. At least it was only pee!

so I feel big. really big. too big too fast…(wait, didn’t I complain about this last week too?) Our bouncing baby boy is really starting to move, but I’m not sure if it’s really noticeable to outsiders yet…I know I feel him moving – especially after ice cream! – and it’s getting fun!

Here’s what Baby Center says for week 23:

And now that he’s more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango), you may be able to see him squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in his lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby’s increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing him for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won’t faze him when he hears them outside the womb.
So I ended up buying new shoes yesterday – slip on shoes that is! I was having a hard time getting my regular shoes tightened and tied, and when I played with my friend, Amanda, yesterday and saw her slip on shoes, I decided that’s what I needed too. So, I got some – and I can put them on without a struggle! YAY!!!!

The office is half clean so we’re getting closer to switching the kids room – they are so excited. I can’t wait to get more organized and have everything in its place. I’ve been getting rid of things we do not use and throwing away things we don’t need anymore. We noticed after we moved into our new place that we still feel overcrowded because of all the junk we have. So, we’re slowly getting through it. We’re saving up to buy new couches so I will be excited about that – we have a lot of ‘wants’ on our list to do so I’ll keep this posted as we do things. Can you say “nesting”?

So I’ve decided to give away our parakeets. First, since getting our cat, they haven’t had a lot of flying time outside the cage and I feel bad for them. Secondly, getting rid of the fish (and almost the tank!) and going through the office to prepare for the kids swapping rooms in prep for the baby, I’m ready to get rid of more stuff!

So, if you (those of you who are local) want or know someone who wants parakeets (cage, food, etc included) for free, get a hold of me!

Thanks!

So last Saturday while I was at work, Steve and the kids went to the weekly Stake basketball games. At the beginning of the game Steve took off with the ball and was on a breakaway…that was, until he went around an opponent and his break away almost became simply – a break. He was down with a rolled/sprained ankle and some of the ward men helped him off the court. We didn’t know how bad it was but Saturday and Sunday he iced and bandaged it. Come Monday he decided to make sure it wasn’t fractured or broken. Luckily there’s not any and the doc gave him and ankle brace. Look how lovely his ankles are!