Fall Arrival

Fall has arrived in our little Cedar City town. We packed up the kids first thing and headed out to the open mountain air, with Conference blaring in the background. I should note, things were not as easy getting ready as I just made them sound. The morning consisted of slow breakfast eaters, dish doing, lunch making, kids dressing, bottle making, and the occasional threat that one may get left, if one continues their decision making. Just keeping it real, since, years from now, when I (and my kids) look back on this experience, I want to remind them that it is still a good thing to go through all the rug-a-moro of leaving to get to see the beautiful amazement that is Cedar City in the fall.

Case in point:

These were just a few of the lovely leaves we saw this afternoon. I love these ones with a hint of the green still on them, and the rest a vibrant gold. Reminds me of lemon lime, for some reason?

Anyway, James and I had planned on taking them up the canyon to see the leaves for quite some time. It can be a time sensitive activity, since it can snow, or we get a major storm, and all the lovely colorful leaves can be gone. Glad to have waited till the first weekend in October to go. The leaves did not disappoint, and my littles got to appreciate the beauty with us. We packed a picnic and ate at a little picnic area along the way. We took pictures, and headed down to Panguitch lake to fish. 

Grant has decided that he likes to fish, ever since he took a fishing trip with his Uncle David, Grandpa Killpack, his dad, and his cousin Brett. He did not catch anything then or today, and although he got close today to giving up for good, he never fully did, and kept on trying. Another fishing trip will followlow. We also got Audrey to try it out:

Of course, Adam and I were there, so I had to get a few of him. He is a new walker, and the beach at the lake was extremely rocky. So I sufficed with a selfie:

He was a trooper, and we forgive him for crying almost the entire way up. Seriously. Wailing. The whole way. Then we fed him an early lunch and he slept peacefully until we arrived at Panguitch Lake. The weather was a bit chilly and windy, but the kids had a great time fishing. Love that Grant took his dump truck and will be sad when he is too old to bother with it. For now, though, he thinks it  is the greatest thing. 

Audrey wore flip flops. In the cold mountainous region, she hiked around all day in the flip flops she wore all summer. Made a point to tell her, that we are in fall. Time to retire the flip flops. 

On our way back down the mountain we saw a road we have never been on. Vista Ridge? Vista Road? Can't remember, but we took it, and were blown away with the view. 

Angel Moroni

On Thursday, September 22, 2016 we got to see the most amazing sight, and we will probably never see it again.

Yes, that is the Angel Moroni going up into the air! My cute friend Joella Cox texted me that she had heard that the Angel was going to go up today, in between, 9:00 and 10:30. Of course, I got the baby ready as quick as I could, and threw my hair in a wet bun, and went makeup less (is that a word?) just to get to see him go up in the air. Well, we waited...

 and waited....

and waited. James, who took the morning off work, waited with me and Blaine and Joella. We were even interviewed by the paper about the event (which James was misquoted. They used Blaine's words with James saying them. :( ) Anyway, we were there an entire four hours before they decided to put it. Our secret little meeting, ended up being most of the town to witness this event. We had great seats!

Unfortunately, We left at about 1:00, not knowing when they would ever put it up, and it went up like 10 minutes later. On a high note, the traffic getting out, I heard, was terrible. James and I got out without a fuss.

 

The final product. James went back a little later and got this shot! It was a neat event. Glad we got to see it!

Kirk

Of course, having Kirk back from his mission means that we get to see him a lot! I am not complaining! I love this kid! He is such a great example for my littles, and he is super fun to be around! My parents can't quite swing coming up to seed him so I get to take a lot of pics like this:

And when the sun is in the way, Kirk will oblige again when I ask for another one:

It has been fun!
We told him he has a standing invitation to dinner on Sunday, and really whenever.
One of the things we love to do as a family is going to SUU football games. We went to their first game, when it was still really warm, and got to see Kirk play his trumpet. My parents couldn't be there, so I took as many pictures and movies and pictures as I could.
The kids seem to do well at games for the most part. Had to laugh at all the stuff Grant brought to keep him entertained:

:

Yes, that is actual scissors, and paper, and cardboard being made into a scoreboard. When Grant grows up he wants to be a scoreboard operator. :) As long as he is entertained!

Audrey loves to dance and sing, and is not afraid to belt it out no matter who is around her. 

Of course, little Adam came too. He loves to walk around our knees, eat whatever we are eating, and giggling whenever the crowd goes wild. We sure love him!

Audrey does too!

My Blog Revisted

So for the sake of keeping family records, and being a more mindful parent, I am jumping back on to the blogging bandwagon. I miss when I did this regularly, thinking about my kids in the moment, remembering to take pictures, and imagining what I would write about for what picture. These little people are not getting any younger, and I feel like I have sort failed in some way. Not in the normal taking care of them every day, but remembering how they are right now. I think for now I am going to go month by month. I am not even going in to fill in what I have missed, although I may have some remember when posts for big moments like Christmas and birthdays. We will just have to see how this goes. I really miss how present I was a few years back when my first littles were small.

And now I have a new little!

Meet Adam:

My 11 month old little gem!

He is sure a sweet, good baby!
He sleeps through the night. He plays with anything that is around him. Very easy to please!I just love this new addition! Seriously! He did throw us for a loop when he was a new born. I think some of that was our fault, since we just simply forgot what it truly is like to bring home a new baby, when you already have kids.

It was quite the ride, but now we are in a good place. We are trying to get him to crawl. My laid back baby is also quite content on being in the same place, although lately he has figured out how to move and groove around the living room. He is so  almost crawling. We will have to wait and see.

My other littles have also grown up quite a bit.

Last night was the Pinewood Derby. Grant is only seven at the moment, but I am a cub Scout leader. I took them to the event by myself, since James was out of town. I was amazed at how well they did! We had a dinner of sandwiches. There were no tables set up, and each of them were able to get their own plate, and eat at their chair without incident. Major accomplishment in our family, since my kids spill every two seconds. I also had my hands full with the baby, so I was extremely grateful that both Grant and Audrey were able to eat in this way without it being a major big deal. It's the little things, I guess!

Anyway, Audrey turned 6!

Traditional pancake in the shape of her age. Can't believe she is already 6. Audrey loves Kindergarten! She adores her teacher Mrs. Ross. She is very creative and loves drawing pictures and doing crafts with her mom. Which I absolutely love. She is my shadow. She follows me everywhere. She is very easily entertained, and can go by herself for hours and just play, play, play. She is loving her new Legos she got for Christmas. She LOVES Frozen! She has watched that movie so many times, and she can belt out Let It Go, and some of the other songs word for word. She is learning how to read, and is doing amazing! She loves her little brother, and loves to entertain him, and make him laugh! We just adore her!

We had a birthday party with only family on Saturday the 9th. We had so much fun.  We served homemade pizza, and broccoli salad. The kids had fun with Grandma and Grandpa Killpack, and David and Becky. Audrey desperately needed a new bike, so that was her big present from Mom and Dad. She also got a singing Elsa doll which she absolutely loves. Grandpa and Grandma gave her a new Elsa outfit, which was also much needed. Grandma and Grandpa Bevan weren't able to come, because Grandma was sick, but we will see them soon!

She loved her Frozen cake and I love how Grandpa is smiling in  the background as she is blowing them out!