Birthday Central

As many of you already know.....we have three birthdays in October, two of which are on the same day!  It is sugar, present, decoration crazy around here for those few days.  But, I feel like we have to make a special effort for each birthday just like we would if they were several months apart:)

So.....Camille's came first.  She is 10 years old this year.  Wow!  A decade old, double digits, a true milestone.  We love our oldest daughter.  She is bursting with energy, ideas, and creativity.  Life would truly be dull without her in our home.  She is an excellent student and recently won a Mustang of the month award.  I went to eat lunch with her at school for her b-day and we got to eat with the principal!  Her teacher had fabulous things to say about her too.  We love her so much and are so excited to watch her grow!

 Breakfast in bed!  Scrambled eggs, toast and hot chocolate are amongst her favorite foods.

Flower cupcakes!

A video of her art easel.  Now she can really play school:)

More art supplies...

Next up....Mason - 5 years old

He has been asking for a "red car" for a couple years now.  Some friends down the street have a motorized car that you ride in.  Jared and I don't want to give our kids any motorized toys, so Jared found this beauty on KSL.  Awesome!  I can see hours of fun in the works:)

This year Mason got to have a friend party, so this is the lovely cupcake cake I made.  It's supposed to be a dinosaur (in case you couldn't tell)!  I think I'm getting a little more talented in the cake department, maybe:)

We invited 10 friends for the party....Cason, Scarlett, Mason, Kade, Dallin, Camille, Owen

 Austyn, Sawyer, Laney, Annie (Keagen and Kale not shown)

  Aunt Carly, Camille, and Riley were my helpers!  Good thing, because we had a house full.  We played lots of dinosaur games....

Ate dinosaur cake...

 

and opened presents.

Short, sweet and simple...that's my kind of party.

We sure love our Mason boy!

He is probably our most challenging child.  He can be unpredictable and throw some really big tantrums.  Lately we've been having to take him out of sacrament meeting (not Paige or Dallin).  I had to remind him that he was turning five and that means no more fits:)  He just smiled and giggled.  We call him our sweet and sour child.  He is a tricky kid.  On the other hand, he is such a good helper in the kitchen.  He has been my biggest canning buddy this fall.  He helped me with grapes, tomatoes, bean, apples, peaches, pears, and everything else in between.  He has a love of the garden that he gets from his Daddy.  He is a sweetheart when he wants to be!  We love you Mas!

And last, but surely not least is our little Paige - 1 year....

She is a joy!  I can't believe she is already one.  Where did the time go?  She still nurses 4 times a day and eats all three meals.  She loves food!  I haven't found anything that she doesn't like yet (we'll keep our fingers crossed).  She takes two naps and is by far my worst night sleeper.  Occasionally she will sleep until 6:00, but often wakes up at 4:00 or 5:00 to nurse and then go back to sleep.  I really hope she sleeps better once I wean her:)  She has a special bond with each one of her siblings, but I think she prefers Mason the most.  He just has a way with her that no one else does (could it be they share a birthday?).  She is starting to stand up to things....so maybe by Christmas she will be walking.  She is getting a cute little personality.  She loves bath time and is a crazy lady in the tub.  She splashes and yells and falls over and about drives you nuts before you can get her washed and out!  She is a little angel from heaven.  We love her more and more each day.  

Capitol Reef Trip

We went on one last summer trip at the end of September!  We had a lot of fun even though it was pretty chilly:)  Fruita is the old town right in Capitol Reef.  It has these cool orchards that have been there since the pioneers came a hundred and fifty years ago.  The Park Service does all the upkeep on the orchards and let the public pick and eat/buy the fruit.  The apples were on while we were there.  It was so fun to roam in the orchards and eat the apples.  A few of the hikes we wanted to do were closed because of rock slides, fallen trees and washed out roads, but I think we still had a fun time.  Thank goodness for Grandma and Grandpa's and Jason and Melissa's trailers!  Thanks for letting us stay with you:)

By our camp spot!  The kids found all kinds of cool places to explore.

Garet, Hailee, Camille, Mason, Scarlett, Ava, Hazel, Taylor

Camille and Taylor in the orchard

 Grandpa and Dallin, finding the perfect one.

 

 These apple pickers were very handy for reaching those perfect apples way up high.

 Hazel, Jason, Ava, Grandma, Grandpa, Mason, Terra, Taylor, Hailee, Garet, Camille

 Visiting the old Fruita Schoolhouse. 

Top:  Ava, Dallin, Hazel, Mason, Scarlett

Bottom:  Evie, Camille, Hailee, Luke, Garet and Taylor

 The black smith shop.  Grandpa was telling all the kids about this 'contraption'.

 An old wagon.  Dallin and Mason.

 More apple picking.

 The little campground by the orchard had this amphitheater and the kids thought it was so fun to play at!

Trying to go on a hike and we ran into this problem several times:(

 Playing red rover at the little picnic area.

 The last day a few of us went on a hike...Terra, Crystal, and Carly.  Jared and Andy were off on their own trail:) 

 Here they are.  Good times.

Luckily, we made it to Capitol Reef just a few days before the government shut-down!

Preschool

Mason's first day of Preschool.  We are doing a neighborhood preschool for Mason this year.  Their are six mom's/kids's that are participating.  We do it 2 times a week for 2 hours.  It has been a lot of fun.

 Dallin has learned how to ride his little bike.  It is not as easy for him as it was for Garet and Mason, but that is just fine with me.

 Paige loves to go for walks.

Paige is at the stage where she makes a huge mess when she eats.  It is sure funny to watch her, though!

 We broke out the Halloween costumes the other day.  Mas and Dall decided they would be pirates (Garet and Mason used these costumes a few years ago) and Paige fit right into Camille's old Lady bug costume.

Too Cute!