Halleeners

We carved pumpkins at grandma and grandpa's house this year.  Addie loved scooping out the seeds and slime and offered everyone her services for their pumpkins.  Jack was mesmerized and just wanted to stroke the pumpkins for longer than my arms would allow.  Perhaps he felt a certain kinship towards them since they share a name. 

Here are our fabulous jack-o-laterns.

Addie was a bad witch...

 ...and Jack was a cute tiger cub.

I took Addie and Jack out trick-or-treating while Jason manned the door at home.  (That's a broom that Addie made for her costume by my feet.)  We walked up the street, crossed, came back down the other side and called it good.  Jack fell asleep before we made it home.  When we arrived home, Addie immediately dumped out her candy and neatly lined it all up in categorized groups : tootsie rolls, Snickers, suckers, and so on.  Then we headed to G&G's house to show off costumes and get more candy.  It was a fun night of sugar and spook.

 Despite Addie's insistence that I go as a flying monkey or Glinda, the good witch, I lacked the time and energy to actually make any costume.   Next year I'd like us all to go as Goldilocks and the 3 Bears, so maybe if I start now...

80% Redneck

 A few weekends ago we went to Richfield to help pick corn.  Or, as Addie calls it, torn.  The morning of the Great Pick (I'll just call it that to add a little more adventure to this post...although it sounds kind of Hunger Games-ish, huh?) I woke up to see my kiddos snuggling together.  Awww, how sweet!  So, naturally, I snapped a dozen photos of the moment.

Jason went on numerous dove hunts throughout the weekend.  Those of you in a hunting family will be familiar with this type of photo:  the weapon, the victim(s), and the kids.  I'm not sure why every hunt needs to be documented this way, but I theorize that is has to do with gathering together a man's accomplishments into one proud moment. 

Now, picking corn may sound like a fun, enjoyable way to spend a lovely fall morning, and in many ways it is.  However, in your daydreaming about corn-picking, I'm sure there isn't an overabundance of mosquitoes or bloody fingers or sweaty filth.  Your daydream is a lie.  That being said, I do like to get dirty and put in a good day of farm work every now and then, and there's no better people to do it with than family.  Plus, one bite of fresh, sweet corn makes it all completely worth it.

Some people set goals to exercise, do family history, or organize closets.  We should set those goals, but we don't. We just make one goal every year: attend at least one rodeo.  This year we accomplished it with Mitch and Lindie, our dear friends that don't live close enough.  It happened to be on a stormy Saturday night, so we sat through some rain, lightening, and thunder, making the rodeo events seem even more dangerous.  This was Jack's first, and I think he was only slightly amused.  In time, my boy, in time.

Addie started preschool!  We're doing a sort of neighborhood joy school.  I'll be honest, after having only one turn teaching, I'm thinking we'll send Jack to a real preschool.  As it turns out, I'm not tough enough to handle six 3-4 year olds and a baby on my own for two hours and still feel happy afterward.  Everyone survived, but it was touch and go towards the end.  Addie sure loves it though, and she does have some fun classmates.

 Here's a random photo of Jason and Addie catching night crawlers in our garden one night.  Yes, Addie is in her pajamas.  We intended to go fishing with them the next day, but unfortunately ( or fortunately, in their case) didn't get around to it.  The worms remained in captivity for two days and then were set free.  It was a fun family activity nonetheless.  I'm sure that if you were to ask the worms about it today, they would have no recollection of ever spending time in a tupperware container, especially since Addie had provided them with dirt and leaves. 

The weekend before last we all went out shooting.  I was skeptical about the wisdom in having children and guns together in one place, but figured we'd give it a shot.  (Funny joke, no?) Anyway, Jack had discovered his feet only the day before, and so couldn't be bothered by the sounds of any gunshots or explosions.  Heck, it was like finding a whole new set of fingers to suck on!  He stayed in the car most of the time anyway, and got out only during cease fire.  The above photo is of Addie and Jack hanging out in the car during shooting time.  Jack is sucking on an empty fruit snacks package, which makes a lovely sound and tastes fruity.  Don't worry, he was under close supervision.

Addie was in and out, but was very careful about where she went and kept headphones on.  She was searching for rocks and bullet shells when she brought me a handful of small rounds things and asked, "What are these?"  I took one glance and identified them as poop.  Good lesson learned.  Jason even helped her shoot a .22.  That's right potential burglars, don't try to bust into our house!  Even our children are trained to handle a gun!  I  got to shoot some rounds out of my .22 pistol, which is admittedly therapeutic.  If you happen to be a Gatorade bottle reading this, I'd take warning and stay out of my way.  In conclusion, it turned out to be a good family outing and no one got hurt, just a bit dirty. 

Addie Pants

 I figured it's about time again to share all the things we love about our growing Addie, and the funny things she says.

 #1: Addie is adventurous.   She's usually up for anything, including dancing in a rainstorm with Daddy.  She's willing to taste every food at least once, she's never shy around other kids, and she's excited to go just about anywhere (except the fabric store).

She's trying to catch a "snail" boat in this one.  She and J were racing empty snail shells down the gutter. 

 #2: She's imaginative.  Here she is snorkeling in the bath, pretending to find sea creatures and treasure.  She makes up fabulous stories and is pretty creative with problem-solving, too.  For example, Jason was about to put a bite of her dessert into his mouth last Sunday, but she yelled out, "It's poisonous!" at the last minute.  Dessert was saved.

 #3: She gives everything a good shot before giving up.  You can see how she's giving it her all to get herself a drink.  (That doesn't mean she doesn't get good and frustrated, though.) 

 #4: She's brave.  She does things, even when she's scared.  She was scared to take swimming lessons, but she hopped in the car, drove to her first lesson, and entered the pool all without hesitation or fit-throwing.  (She ended up loving it and was excited to go everyday.)  I've seen her do this with immunizations, giving prayers or scriptures in sharing time, and trying new things.  She tells me she's scared, but does it all without even a hint of fear.  What a girl!

She passed preschool level 1 swimming this year! That's her instructor, Dani, in the pool.  We sure love this kid! She means more to us than we ever thought possible. 

And now for a good story:

So, a few nights ago I made a bad dinner.  I confess, as shameful as it is to admit it, I occasionally make a bad dinner.  This one was particularly bad, like black and inedible bad.  Making a balsamic vinegar reduction is not as easy as it sounds, my friends.  Also, here's a little tip I'm going to try from now on: taste the sauce before dumping it all over perfectly good food.  Anyway, as we were all eating, gagging, and shuddering, we ended up in laughing fits.  Addie kept us chuckling by trying to figure out what went wrong.  " It has too much black on it."  "I think it got too roasted."  " Maybe you cooked it too long."  "This reminds me of that berry I ate once."  That berry she ate once was poisonous, by the way.  We laughed about our awful dinner all the way through eating the bowls of cereal we ended up having instead.  How nice it is to have such funny people to call family!  It makes everything more endurable, even tar-covered dinners.

And some Addie-isms:

Addie was trying to convince me that tickling her back would make her go to sleep one night.  "See mom?  It does help me go to sleep!" she says, while tickling her own back with her eyes closed.

We were holding hands one day while walking when she all of a sudden stopped walking and pulled her hand down.  "Mom!" she exclaims, "I don't want people to see my armpits!"

She has a dinosaur vitamin everyday, but I have to cut them in half for the correct dose.  She always requests the "bum" half.  One day she said, "I love to eat vitamin bums!  Also, it's gross to eat real bums."

We were practicing letter sounds one day, and I pointed to the letter H.  "This sound makes a 'huh huh' sound, like huh-huh horse, " I explained.  "And like huh-huh dog, " she adds.  Who could argue with that? Dogs do make that sound.

I love how she says "bath-tize" instead of baptize.  It makes more sense.

This was awhile ago, but I don't think I have properly recorded it yet: We were all riding in Uncle Eric's truck when Addie got bored.  "Let's play some car games, " I suggested.  While I tried coming up with one, she just sat there looking puzzled.  After a few minutes of thinking, she says, "But mom, we're in a truck."  Not quite following, I said, "Yes we are."  "We can't play car games in a truck!  We have to play truck games!" she exclaimed. 

One day I said, "Should we curl your hair?"  To which she replied, " Like the old ladies at the haircut store?"

Lake Powell 2012

Addie fell asleep during the houseboat ride from dock to beach.  The anticipation of the trip mixed with heat and vinyl cushions makes for one sweaty coma.

Babies are at risk for such comas too, despite wearing bulky flotation devices. This is just further proof that babies can sleep anywhere.  It's too bad that skill gets lost somewhere along the way to adulthood, because I would benefit greatly from it.

Addie and Jack are snuggle buddies, even on vacation. I guess I should say that Addie is a snuggle buddy, because Jack doesn't really have a choice. 

 Jack loved the lake.  He was so content to just sit and let the waves wet his little toes, and I was just as content to sit there with him.  Vacations are good.

 Addie was a little mermaid the whole time and was in the water from dawn to dusk everyday.  I did manage to catch her out of the water in this photo.  It was probably the only time.  She and Caitie were hard at work with their sand construction.

Jack got a little lake immersion, too.  Doesn't he look so relaxed?
 

Jason took him out for his first dip.  He didn't love it at first, but he quickly got used to the water and joined in the party.

 This year we had sea doos, which are both scary and thrilling.  Bapa and Addie went for a ride and spun some donuts.

We also had a couple of little old men along on this trip.  If I didn't tell you this is actually a picture of little baby cousins, you would go on believing it was two old men, wouldn't you?  Babies are awesome that way.  Stetson and Jack hung out a little bit, but were both fairly busy with eating, pooping, and sleeping to get any good quality time in. They know they're peeps, though.

We went on a boat ride one day to find some arches.  We looked really hard and just about missed them, but lo and behold, we found 'em.  Sneaky rock formations, those arches.

 Bapa, Jack, and Jason.  It was a triple-generation boat adventure.

Another sneaky arch.

 Addie really wanted the last few drops in that can.  She could see them, but they just weren't coming out.  I watched this for a good five minutes before I decided to take a picture.

Jack had a little outdoor sand nap...

... in the opening of an awesome sand cave.  He will thank us for this one day.

 Here's a couple of lake giants out for a stroll, most likely gazing down on unsuspecting but delicious vacationers.  Okay, it's just Addie and Jason, but you get that eery giant feeling looking at them, am I right?

Addie and I took turns burying and labeling each other.

This was Addie's first time writing "mom".  I'll be honest, it was a touching and emotional moment....  can we just move on to the next picture please?

 A Lake Powell trip wouldn't be complete without some beach game tournaments!  And this year, there were no ants to throw off anyone's game.

 Addie really loved it this year and was sad when it was time to go.  I asked her, "Do you want to come back next year?"  and she said, "No! (sniffle) I want to come back tomorrow!"  After a good shower and a night in my bed, I would be ready to come back, too.  As always, Lake Powell is definitely a big highlight of the entire year.  Thanks, Nana and Bapa!

Farewell, Elder Colton!

Colton had his mission farewell on July 8th (going to Bangkok, Thailand!), so we headed down south on July 6th to spend the weekend with the fam.  The drive there proved to be rather eventful: we ate at Wendy's at the only outdoor table they have (above) and saw a complete double rainbow (below).  Jason and Addie got really excited and yelled, "Double rainbow! Double rainbow!" over and over again into the wind out the open windows.  I was busy steering while Jason took pictures, but I could still feel the overwhelming excitement.  They were omens of the coming weekend.

The next day we went out to Gunlock for some boating and beaching.  Addie is quite the fish this summer and is up for anything water-related, including tubing with her aunties.

Addie and Caitie sitting with Uncle Nate to get warmed up,  He's a good uncle!

Nate and Colton doing tubular tricks.

The four youngest and I got beached while the rest went back out for more boating.  We played in the sand and paddled around in the water for an hour or so.

Jack slept peacefully (and sweatily) with his life jacket at the ready should he suddenly find himself in the mood for nice dip in the lake.  He never did.  He did, at least, wake up to eat.  It was an enjoyable morning at the lake, if I do say so myself.

On Sunday we very much enjoyed Colton's talk and the family lunch afterwards.  Colton will be such a fabulous missionary.  He has such a sweet and genuine heart, and is just so darn likable! Jack was introduced to many family members, including his Great Grandpa and Grandma Utley.  Jack was a good boy and delighted them with with many enormous smiles.  Great Grandpa kept saying, "He's sure a dandy!"

I decided it was about time we had a family photo with our newest member, so I insisted everyone stay in their Sunday clothes until we could snap one.  I, however, Picasso-ed my dress in BBQ sauce so I ended up having to change.  Looks like I'm the one that needs the bib.  Anyway, I'm glad I finally got the photo!

And here we are with the current Elder Utley.  We've already really enjoyed his letters and are excited to share in this exciting adventure with him.  Way to go, Uncle Toten!