Princesses and Race Car Drivers

Amelia thought she wanted to be a princess for Halloween until she saw Oliver in his snazzy race car driver costume. She's been begging for a pink race car driver costume ever since. Anyway, we've been keeping pretty busy this week and here's the proof:

Playing in our neighbors' leaves. Oliver and Parker: best buds.

We made one last trip to Trafalga with our season passes before it gets to cold.

Racing with Daddy.

This is the hardest I have laughed in a long time. Oliver (and every other boat) was pelting Christian. He was soaked. And it was really cold outside.

Oliver and Amelia going out to the trunk or treat at our ward party.

Too sour! But that's not going to stop her from consuming every last nerd.

Hanging out in her princess dress.

Me at 30 weeks.

Pumpkin Patch

Let me tell you- Utah has a plethora of amazing pumpkin patches and I think we picked one of the best to go to last week. We had so much fun at Hee Haw Farms. They had so many fun things to do there the kids did not want to leave.

Off subject: Oliver and Christian made this basketball court out of play-doh and they were both very proud of it. Enjoy.:)

Amelia ran right to this little pony. He was certainly no Lil' Sebastien, but he was a close second. She was such a natural on him and loved it. She wasn't scared for even a second. A lot of that might have been that she was only 2 feet off the ground, but still, I was impressed.

Have I ever mentioned that my mom was a rodeo queen in Idaho? Looks like we have another one in the making!

These "animals" were hooked on to a riding lawnmower and the kids were pulled VERY slowly around the farm. But, Oliver and Amelia loved it. They kept running away from us and jumping in before we could stop them.

The potato sack slide. It was pretty fast and, no, we didn't sign any waivers.

Even Christian was a little scared to go down. But not Amelia.

Feeding the goats. No fear for this little gal.

And this was the highlight for Oliver and Amelia. They loved the corn box. Christian and I had a lot of fun burying them.

The only way we could get them out of the corn box was for the pig chase. The kids were divided in to age groups and put in the pig pen to chase the pigs. Our kids didn't fare too well, but they had SO much fun and I was laughing the whole time. I love how Farmer Joe is totally decked out in farming attire...except for his blue tooth.

Oliver wasn't at all afraid to get his hands dirty with the pigs.

On the hayride to pick out our pumpkins. I don't know if I'd call their pumpkin field really authentic or just primitive. Either way, we got a lot muddy and had to weave through sunflowers and tons of poking vines to get our pumpkins, which were all still attached to the vines. No one told me to bring my axe, so I just gave the pumpkins a good kick to break them loose. (I was on my own at this point because Christian had gone home to record the GOP debate.)

The fruits of our labors! The kids had the time of their lives painting and carving their pumpkins. I love this Halloween tradition. And, guess what? Fresh pumpkins are SOOOO much easier to carve than the ones you pick up at the grocery store!

I know you're all wondering why I let Amelia's hair get this long. Put your mind at rest- she got a hair cut the next day. Her stylist (my sis, Julie) is just super booked:).

Goodbye, Summer

We're sad to say goodbye to summer here in Utah. Especially when we think of the long winter months ahead. But, Fall has been nice so far and we're going to enjoy it while it lasts!

Amelia is really going to miss the sprinklers- she would beg to go out whenever they came on.

A last summer run through the sprinklers with the neighbor kids.

Amelia is so nice to share her bed with her baby, Tami during nap time. She actually doesn't do much without her baby, Tami.

Oliver spent about an hour dreaming up and creating this domino art. He is quite the artist. We still aren't sure where he gets it from.

Cruising in our neighbor's Hummer.

Fun Times

This has been a really packed month with a birthday, family visiting, education week, end-of-summer trips to Seven Peaks, etc. I was able to go to a few days of education week which I'm so grateful for- I loved it. My Mom came to town a couple times which is always fun, and we went swimming a TON because my kids have turned in to little fishes.

Amelia practicing her floating with Daddy.

Amelia's pretty much learned to swim this summer. It's been SO fun to watch her little body squirming around in the water.

Amelia has also been training all summer to be a Mommy. She even sings a song about wanting 6 kids someday.

Oliver speeding along on his scooter that he loves.

We spent a couple days at my parents' cabin up at Sundance for Labor Day. And what a Labor Day it was. I spent 9 hours doing deep cleaning up there for my Mom.

I love Sundance. I think it has to be one of the most beautiful places on earth. My kids played and played all day.

Oliver's Bday Party

So, after our family birthday celebration for Oliver on his actual birthday, we had friends over for another birthday party that weekend. I didn't realize what I was getting myself in to and perhaps there are people that are reading this that also don't know about parties for kids so I'm going to include a few helpful tips that I learned from this experience: 1) invite only as many kids as your child is years old (ex: Oliver is 5, I should have invited 5 kids, not 10) 2) no kid party for any sane parent should last any longer than 1 1/2 hours 3) lunch is not necessary and will most likely not even be eaten 4) kids know how to entertain themselves, let them do it as much as possible. ...and you're welcome.
Alright, so Oliver really had a ball. We had a lady who does face painting come and paint all the kids arms/faces. Her work was incredible. We had a bubble gum blowing contest, a balloon-popping contest, the kids decorated and played with swords, they made their own pizzas, and then we had cake and presents. Whew- sounds like a lot. It was. I'm afraid the rest of our kids aren't going to be having parties until they're 12 years old. :)

The face painter

The kiddos showing off their arm paintings

The sword play

The bubble gum blowing contest

Oliver's snake cake

The presents

Happy 5th Birthday!

Oliver kept telling me all day that he didn't actually turn 5 until he had his birthday cake. So, he turned 5 years old at approximately 7pm last night. We started the day off with his favorite breakfast- German pancakes with buttermilk syrup. Later, when we were at the grocery store, he asked if he could have a birthday doughnut. How could I refuse? He played outside ALL day with friends and then we went to another one of Oliver's faves, Chick-fil-A for dinner. This kid and his Mommy have very similar tastes! :) After dinner, we came home and ate cake and ice cream. Oliver's having a face-painting party on Saturday with all of his friends and he is SO excited.

Oliver enjoying his birthday pancakes. I decorated the light above the table with balloons and streamers and he was so excited to see that when he woke up.



Big 5! You might be wondering about that small corner removed at the bottom of the cake. All of the things I bake require taste tests. Plus, that cake was calling my name at about 4:00. Ladies: I KNOW you know what I mean. Dang, I have a handsome husband. And two adorable kids. I am so lucky.

I had reached my creative and cutesy capacity for the day so Oliver's presents didn't get wrapped. We had a sort of scavenger hunt for him, though, so there was some build-up for his gifts (a new (green) scooter, a drawing pad, and a plastic ninja sword). Aunt Rachel also got him the outfit he's wearing that he put on immediately as well as a couple more shirts and a gift card to Target. What a lucky little guy!

I love my sweet little boy, Oliver. He really lights up a room when he enters. He has such a sweet and tender spirit and personality. He is so friendly and accepting of anyone and everyone. He loves to play outside on his scooter, draw, paint, swim, read (or be read to, rather), snuggle, and play with his Daddy. I love him SO much and I am so grateful he's my little boy.

August 2011

Amelia discovered make-up a few weeks ago. I found some old lipstick and compact and this girl went to town. I don't know who taught her how to apply it- it certainly wasn't me.

We went up Provo Canyon for FHE a couple weeks ago. We found a spot, started a fire, roasted hot dogs, played some games, and were just about to roast s'mores when a friendly passer-by informed us that there was a "NO FIRES" sign about 10 feet away from our campfire and that some kids had been ticketed a few days prior. We had some very underdone s'mores before quickly stomping the fire out. We have LOVED being so close to 2 canyons this summer and have tried to take advantage whenever possible. There is NOTHING better than a Utah summer night in the canyon.

We celebrated Uncle Seth's birthday at Provo Beach Resort with cousins Cooper, Luke, and Ethan. Here they are watching Uncle Seth tear it up on the Flowrider.

Grandma and Grandpa brought the kids some suckers from their visit to Peurto Rico. It took Oliver and Amelia days to finish them and it took a lot of discipline from me not to throw them away while they weren't looking.

At the Bell Family Reunion in Park City. Pre-lunch treat with all the cousins on PC Main Street.

The day before, we spent the whole day at Jordanelle. Oliver jumped on a tube behind a boat without even being asked. He did so well and loved every minute. He even went hands-free for a second. Wow. Amelia got on as well, with Daddy holding tight, and loved it too. If you look closely at the above pic, you can see my pregnant belly at 20 weeks. For those of you who hadn't heard, we're due January 3rd with a GIRL!

Look closely at Oliver's right leg.

Oliver's drawing of the earth. He is quite the artist and will go through phases when he will color for hours on end.

Our best friends from Albuquerque, the Alders, were in town. It was SO fun to see them and catch up. We miss them! They have two darling little girls, Lucy and baby Mae. This is Oliver's new camera face I guess.



Amelia begged to hold baby Mae the whole night. We finally consented and she was ecstatic.

Oliver's first soccer game. Which turned out to be more like a dog-piling sports event. Either way, it was so fun to watch. Oliver has a soccer prodigy on his team that scored 7 goals in the first half (15 min. halves, mind you) so Oliver didn't see a lot of action. But, he had the sloppiest grin on his face the entire game.

Dog pile # 49.

Amelia is definitely in her happy place in the pool, or any amount of water.

Last week, Aunt Meredith and Cousin David came to town. David's starting at BYU and we got together a few times to celebrate. Here's Oliver with Ben and Abe at Abe's pool.

We took a trip to Thanksgiving Point's Dinosaur Museum. It was $2 Tuesday (as opposed to $10 rip-off day). The kids had fun time digging for fossils and admiring the bones and dinos. Like $2 fun, definitely not $10 fun. :)


Amelia likes to pretend that her sippy is her baby. She tells us when the baby is crying and when it needs t o be held. She is very careful when her sippy is in "baby mode."

Snuggling her "baby" whom she affectionately named Tammy??