stuffed

Yet again, we got to host the feast for Thanksgiving this year! We ate lots, and still have plenty of left overs. Grampy made a couple batches of his famous fudge and Grammy made her famous wassail. The smells that filled our house made all the memories of childhood holidays come rushing back and that alone made the weekend extraordinary.

...and that's how his plate looked the rest of the night. He wouldn't touch it.

The husbands played Rook long into the wee hours of the evening, the boys primarily stayed in the playroom and the girls chatted and cooked... and then we all crashed.

Gunnar and Wade just loved spending time with Grampy. They came up with all sorts of fun games to play with him. Some of which included Gunnar falling into the pool and those swim lessons sure paid off! By the end of the weekend, they found that falling from great heights was indeed the way to go.

No Work and All Play

Tan took a half day at work so the four of us (Hannah too!) decided to head to the zoo. Gunnar took his nap extra late that day so it was 3:30ish when we finally left the house to visit the animals but we had to run a few errands first. At around 4:00 we were finally on the road for sure this time. I thought it might be a good idea to check out what time the zoo closes... 4:30. At least I was smart enough to call. Tanner was bummed, Gunnar was bummed and I was tired. I quickly tried to come up with a good idea that would be worth Tanner taking time off of work. Enter: Bass Pro Shop. This place is like a grown man's Disneyland and the second those words escaped my lips Tanner's face lit up like a Christmas tree.

The holidays are by far the best time to visit this joint. They have a huge aquarium filled with elephant sized fishies, popcorn, crafts, games, rides and pictures with Santa all for FREE! As in... no money! The boys were in heaven and Hannah and I had fun too. Gunnar particularly ejoyed his time with Santa and we thoroughly enjoyed the picture we got of him.

Guess who's staying with us for a whole month!

This girl!

Halloweenie

I must say that Halloween was a blast this year! I love that G is big enough for us to use him as our decoy to take candy from our neighbors. He has not eaten one piece of his trick-or-treat candy... but Tanner might have a stash in his nightstand. We started off the weekend at my parent's trunk-or-treat with cousin Wade. I love theirs because the entire stake puts it on which makes for a gazillion cars and even more kids roaming row after row in a parking lot. When else is that ever a good idea? It took all of one car before Gunnar realized that all he had to to was to walk up to someone, bat his pretty little eyelashes and in return he got his choice of sugar! He was an instant fan.

SO EXCITED!!!

We walked around handcuffed to make it just a bit easier for me to keep up.

We also spent the eve of Halloween at our own ward's trunk-or-treat but I was slacking and did not snap one photo. Halloween night we once again put Gunnar's costume on and by now he knew that the longer he kept it on, the more candy he would get. His eyes lit up when I handed him his candy bag. We ate chili with Tanner's parents and hung out with all of the cousins to see their costumes then headed home. Tanner took the boy to a few houses while I stayed home with Hannah and our friends brought over donuts and cider. We blasted Halloween music from our outside speakers and told kids to take all the candy their hands could carry. It was all that I hoped for and Gunnar slept in the rest of the week.

Pumpkinning

Fall has arrived! I'm in love with chilly mornings and breezy days. The smell of pumpkin spice and cinnamon pine cones fill the air (... maybe a few Christmas songs as well) and all I want is a fireplace and a good book!

Gunnar and Wade spent the morning at the pumpkin patch and we just had such a fun time. I love to watch how they get along and play with each other so easily. They are the cutest together.

Gunnar just loves his Grammy and Grampy too! It is so fun to see him run up to them and give them hugs and kisses. It doesn't bother me at all when he pushes away from me for Grammy or Grampy which happens almost as soon as they come into view. I love having such a close family. I know we don't all live so close to each other but it's so nice that we can pick up where we left off whenever we get to play!

Alright, onto the obligatory photo shoot from the pumpkin patch! Especially enjoy the last shot of Grampy and Gunnar laughing and playing with the goats... it's my favorite of all time. Gunnar decided to mess with the goats a little and he would put the food in their mouth and pull it out before they could chew it. Where does he come up with this stuff?!

fishy!

Life lately is quite remarkable. The little dude napping upstairs makes every day an adventure. Our pool in the backyard is gateless while we remodel its surroundings leaving this little momma's to heart skip a beat if G so much as looks out the window at the tempting blue color in that pool. Naturally emergency swim lessons have begun and my nerves are getting a little bit more comfortable. I could swear overnight somehow G developed gills or dreamt of little flounders all night because he rocked it this morning. I know all moms think their child is the biggest and bestest... but mine unquestionably is. Case in point:

he's learned how to paddle,

swim to the wall,

and even froggy jump from the bottom!

and then he slept.

Happily

One of Gunnar's favorite aunts got married! We are so excited for M&M! They are such a perfect couple! They also love my baby so there is not much to complain about. I was clever enough to bring out my camera for the rehearsal, but not as brilliant on the actual day of wedded bliss. I'm sure the photographers' photos are in truth much better than mine could ever be at any rate. We spent the rehersal trying to gear G up to walk down the aisle (fail), visiting with family, teaching G how to catch and trying to catch him.

They found a nice little place for rocks

and tried to eat them...

G gave out lots of kisses

and ventured off with puckered lips to find another willing kissy face