Yesterday, we went out to The Pumpkin Patch in Suavie Island. It was so fun! We got to take a hay ride out to the pumpkin patch to pick out our own pumpkins. The kids got to play on a cool hay pyramid and we rode the "cow train." Joshua really liked the pumpkins. We bought him a baby, baby one and he loved it so much he tried to bite it!
Noah picked this scary looking pumpkin out all by himself. He carried it all the way back to the hay ride...which was pretty far for a little boy to walk by himself carrying a pumpkin that probably weighed almost as much as him ;) I tried to carry it for him and he kept telling me, "No...I'm fine."
Here's a picture of us on the cow train. I will NEVER ride the cow train again while I am pregnant. I was almost certain I was going to go into labor, it was so bumpy. It was even to bumpy for the kids!

What a cute little silly!
We couldn't get Noah to look at the camera, but at least he's smiling!
Daddy and Arwen, looking cute!
Joshua really liked the hay ride. He liked watching the tractor that pulled us to the pumpkin patch.
Arwen found the coolest green pumpkin...the only one around for miles! Too bad it was too heavy for her!Little Noah snuck out of his bed last night. He had been sleeping with his pumpkin. Well, he dropped that pumpkin down the stairs and SPLAT, now his pumpkin has a mouth. Poor little Noah has the chicken pox right now. Crazy stuff....the Doctor said he had no idea how things would progress because of the chicken pox vaccine...which Noah HAS had. Oh well. He's just covered in pox on his belly and back, but at least they don't itch. He's had a mild fever and been SUPER grouchy today. Hopefully the other two don't get them!

Ahhh! I have lots to tell, but unfortunately, I have no pictures to post. I hate doing that! Oh well. Friday night, we had a huge CELEBRATION!!! All three of the kids have been working hard on certain things and got them accomplished all at the same time! Arwen's goal has been to get herself dressed without having tantrums. She's probably been smart enough to do this for years, but has always refused to even try and would throw a horrific tantrum if asked. Well, she can finally do it for the most part, and has learned to ask nicely for help if she needs it. (you know...it's tricky deciding which is the front and back in little girl panties!!) Noah has recently started to wake up in the middle of the night if he has to use the bathroom! He has stayed dry and not needed a pull-up for TWO weeks now! Go Noah. And Joshua...he has graduated from his bottle to a sippy cup! He did get super jealous at church today when he saw a little girl with a bottle filled with milk. He can also take a step or two before he falls down, these days! Hopefully we'll have him running before the next one arrives! The kids decided that it would be fun to go to Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate. We ate lots of pizza, drank too much root beer, and played lots of games! It was so fun. We bring Aaron because he's really good at playing that silly game where you put your token in and have to make the lights line up in the right spot before hitting the button to win the BONUS tickets. He won 200 tickets for us with just one token! He does that every time we go! Try it...it's impossible! The kids had fun riding all the rides too. Noah loves Chuck E. He followed him around for quite a while and kept giving him high fives! Good old Arwen got herself lost 8 or 9 times! I kept hearing, "MAMA!!!!!!!" and would go off searching for her. At one point she had convinced an employee she was lost and could not find her family. The great thing is, I was right there, five feet away! Anyways, we had a really fun night and can't wait for the kids to amaze us again so we have another excuse to go out and CELEBRATE!!!

We got to go to a really cool place for play group today. A couple from church lives way out in the country and have the most amazing backyard for their grandkids to come and play. They invited us for today. There was an amazing sandbox with tons of dump trucks to dig with that the kids spent most of their time in. There was also a great swing set, a teeter totter, a trampoline, and lots of John Deere kid tractors to ride on. We also got to see their chickens. What a fun morning!!

Here's Arwen having fun in the sand box.
Joshua didn't eat any of the sand...YEA!

Here is Noah with his "birthday cake."

Aaron let me go to the beach with a group of friends from church this weekend. We stayed at a beach house over night. We had lots of fun playing games, watching movies, and eating yummy things! It was really fun. I found lots of sand dollars and lots of cool agates (and this was just a sand beach without any rocks to hunt in for them!!). Aaron and the kids had fun at home.
Aaron had all three of them on the swing set. It looks like they had tons of fun!
There were probably ten pictures of Joshua like this. What a silly boy!!

Here's a Josha update for those who care to know! He had another physical therapy session last Thursday. This was the first time he showed his therapist his "true colors." Usually he cries and pretends to be shy, but this time he Mowgli crawled all over the place with her. She was very pleased...Then yesterday, Joshua decided it would be a good day to stand by himself. He doesn't need any help to stand up and then can do it for quite a while. I was cleaning my room yesterday and he kept standing to impress me. Then I thought he fell down straight onto his belly. But he kept doing it...he was like a frog. He'd get up and dive immediately onto his belly. I think he thought he was trying to walk. He did it across my whole room. It was hysterical! What a sweet, silly little boy I have!

And I quote..."This is the yuckiest dinner."

Aaron got a new calling last Sunday. He's the new...Ward Mission Leader! I think this means we'll be feeding the missionaries a lot!! They came over on Saturday night, and then played on the trampoline after dinner with the kids. Here's Arwen's sweetest jump...
Noah got quite a bit of air...He also got jumped on by the big missionary. He did one of those cries where he didn't breath for like 30 seconds. I thought he was dead! He's fine today he informed me!

The kids and I had a fun time preparing to celebrate Aaron's birthday this year. We spent the say shopping for things to decorate with. We decided on a candy theme this year.
We had quiznos and jamba juice for dinner...after all our running around all day and making little cakes, we didn't find much time to cook dinner! Sorry Aaron.
We bought lots and lots of suckers. This one was Noah's favorite!
Arwen really needed the pink one, of course!
Joshua had a blast with this sucker...it's had a foot long stick that he usually insisted on holding at the bottom. Then he would swing it around until it got lucky enough to get in his mouth...he had sticky candy everywhere!!

Happy Birthday Aaron!!!

Arwen loves you because:



Sheloves to play with you


You jump on the trampoline with her


You play ring around the rosies with her


She loves to hug you and play with you


You draw pictures with her






Noah loves you because:



You letted him go in the car


You bring him on the trip and bring him back home


You just did magical things


You give him wands


I just love him







I love you because:



You are a handy man


You are so spiritual and make this family a happier one


You're cute


You help a lot around the house


You make me a better person







We love you lots! Happy Birthday!!

We had a fun Labor Day weekend. We went to our new Ikea on Saturday to get the kids new dressers for their bedrooms. How great will it be to not have to hang EVERYTHING up now! We also got a new book shelf as the kids have outgrown their little one. Then, on Monday, we went into Portland to play. But first we stopped by Noah's bagels for yummy breakfast. Then we went to the park by the zoo. The kids LOVE this park because it has a huge sand area!
Josh loves to play in the sand!
Here's Josh trying to scoot off a 6 foot drop-off...crazy little boy!
He loved riding on this sea horse. It was so funny to see him shaking his body to make it move.
Next we went to the mall and had Hot Dog on a Stick. Then we walked next door to let the kids play in the fountains. Here is Josh just doing his thing! People are always asking about Josh's crawl...like, is that really how he crawls...No...you're just imagining it! A little kid told me does a monkey crawl and some lady told Aaron he looked like a lion. Anyways, people LOVE his crawl! Arwen loves to play in the fountains. She soaked herself, but when some kid threw a cup of water on her, she was devastated that she was wet!!
Little Noah runs around in his bathing suit with his bum falling out the whole time. I can't get any pants to stay on him...unless Aaron gets him dressed and he puts him in Josh's shorts! Josh would laugh and cry while splashing in the water. I guess sometimes it got to be too much! Then we came home and made yummy hot fudge sauce (it's so good, that sometimes I'm tempted to just eat it with a spoon!) carmel topping, and jersey topping to make yummy ice cream dessert! What a terrific day!

My friend Jen did a photo shoot with my kids while we were visiting her in Utah. Here are a few of my favorite shots!

Yes...Arwen did lose her first tooth. It happened in Denver at our family reunion. The tooth fairy brought her a silver dollar, which she immediately lost. (Good thing I'm friends with the tooth fairy and was able to get another to bring home safely with us!)

Sorry for not posting in forever...the kids and I took an extended vacation. We drove through Idaho to Utah. We stayed in Utah for a couple of days with my friend Jen, who used to live here by us. Thanks Jen for letting us live in your house!! We had 7 kids there between the two of us and it was a mad house! It was sooo fun though! Then we drove to Denver to visit my family. We did lots of fun things with my parents. First off, we went fishing at this little stocked pond up in the mountains.

Arwen pretty much thought fishing was boring. She spent most of her time running between her pole (laying on the ground) and grandma.
Noah thought fishing was great...that and throwing our lunch into the lake to "feed the fish!"
Noah was the only one who got a fish. He was so excited about this!
He really needed to hold his fish in his little net...until he realized the fish was squirmy and he immediately dropped it.
Noah was scared to death of his fish...which he named Bruno. This is a before shot...I didn't manage to get the after and it's probably better that way. The kids threw dirt, grass, flowers, grapes, worms, salmon eggs and lots of other junk into the bucket with the fish in it. Then they took their nets and tried to "wake Bruno up." And Aaron wonders why I didn't want to eat it!


We got to go to the annual family reunion at the park this year. It's with my mom's side of the family. We had a Mexican Fiesta with lots of yummy Mexican food.
Here's Arwen ready for the sack races.
The poor girl was in dead last...but like grandma said, "Everyone gets a prize." Arwen loved that part!
What a silly little girl!
Arwen had fun whacking the pinata!
Josh managed to crawl in and get his share of treats once the pinata was broken!