Cold Weather is Coming....

This past weekend, temperatures in Ogden ranged between the upper 70's and 80's. Today (Tuesday) I think the predicted high is 85! And then there's tomorrow.....the weather forecasters are predicting a high of 50 on Wednesday. That "high" will come at 3:00 in the morning!! We will likely see snow on the mountain, and maybe a little around here. Yikes! Good news is, we should only have a couple cold days before nicer weather returns. Knowing that our warm days are limited, this weekend we took the kids back up to Pine View Lake so we could check out the trees that are changing to gorgeous red and orange, and enjoy a picnic on the beach. The next day we headed to Antelope Island on the Great Salt Lake. It was quite pretty too, in it's own dry, salty kind of way :)

(Here's my unofficial 17 week pregnancy photo :).....I'm getting a little bump but it's hard to see at this angle!)

Antelope Island on the Great Salt Lake

We also saw antelope and bison. Kale was soooo excited!

New Boots and a Little Dancing

Boots....

When we were in Kansas in August, Dain got a pair of cowboy boots. Ever since then, Kale has been BEGGING for his own pair. Well, yesterday his wish finally came true :) He is was so excited about the darn things, he came charging into our room at 7:00 this morning carrying his jeans and boots. We told him there was no need to get dressed for church yet, but he insisted...

(Of course, Bailey had to get in on the action of of waking Daddy up, too)

Later that morning before church, we had a little dance party (I'm not sure if that's appropriate pre-church etiquette, but they were having fun........) Sorry it's sideways!!

After church, Kale played a little football.......he spends about half his day doing this or shooting hoops....

Family + Fair + Football = Fun, Fun, Fun!

I say it every time, but we had a great time in Kansas. Next time we come back (in mid October) we'll get to have to sono and find out if we're having a boy or a girl! I can't wait! Since I'm just now at 4 months, I'm not really showing, but I'll post some belly pics soon so you can watch me grow :)

While in Kansas we hit the State Fair in Hutch.....wait, let me re-phrase that. We ate our way through the State Fair in Hutch! It was an impressive showing of Pronto Pups, Funnel Cakes, Hot Dogs, Ice Cream......and on and on!

We also got to attend two football games while we were back: Cousin Brandon's high school game (Free State won BIG....yea Brandon!) and the KU vs Duke game on Saturday. We left Bailey at home for that one, but Kale had a wonderful time hanging out with Cousin Kaden. Between the two of them, they had 2 hot dogs, lemonade, a snow cone, skittles, and a bottle of water......all before half time! My brother made the comment that at that rate we were going to need to take out a small loan to afford their eating habits. The first picture below is with former Coach Fambrough, a KU legend b/c of his strong dislike of Missouri :) The second picutre is a Missouri Street sign someone covered with Fambrough's name!

Saturday night after the game we headed to Brett and Kelly's for a family bbq. We had Temples, Ballards, and Hammerschmidts, so a lot of laughs were shared and it was a great time! The kids had a "dance party"...Bailey felt the need to wear Kaden's backpack for some reason!?

All I Want for Christmas.....

My son is like any other four-year-old boy. He loves dinosaurs, mud, cars, spider-man, and any sport. Lately he has been fixated on one, and only one thing he is CERTAIN he wants for Christmas: A "Touch-N-Brush."


I know what you're thinking....a Touch and what?? Don't worry. You're not behind on the latest kid toy. A "Touch-N-Brush" is a wonderful gadget advertised on TV. It is a small plastic looking thing you mount to the bathroom wall, stick a tube of toothpaste in (any kind!), and it magically dispenses the perfect amount of toothpaste with no mess. My son thinks it is WONDERFUL, and he is quite adamant that he really, really wants one for Christmas or his birthday. Chances are (and pending they cost under $20), I will end up getting him one, simply for the purpose of teasing him later in life about how he desperately wanted a toothpaste dispenser when most kids are asking for toys and games :) And just in case you think you might want one for your bathroom.......a visual aid:

Game Day in the Hammer House

(This picture of Bailey was taken in May....look how much she's grown since then!!)

Also, Kale insisted on wearing his basketball jersey, not his football jersey....that's one of those "I'm four and I want to make my own choices" things that I've learned to let go.......

Rock Chalk!

"So Fun"

Now that we're living in a third-floor apartment, we've made some changes to our nightly schedule, namely that we venture out almost every night after at least one round of indoor basketball, football, soccer, wrestling, or combination of all four. Once outside, we walk anywhere from 15 minutes to and hour, then the kids usually play at the playground. It's not that we're trying to be super-parents, it's just that our sterile, white, box of a home gets a little boring, and Ogden has many walking trails. Dain and I have also talked about how much more energy we have now, and the fact that it makes the nights a lot more enjoyable.


Anyway, the other night we went for our usual stroll, and Kale brought along his football so he and Dain could play catch. We took a different path and headed around the cluster of medical buildings that sit across from our apartment complex. Kale and Dain would stop and toss the ball around, running plays on the grassing lawns while Bailey and I looked on. Kale kept saying over and over, "Man, this is so fun," with the biggest smile on his face. It really was adorable. And the best part? His pure happiness was as simple as turning off the TV and heading outside :)

And a few of my favorite quotes from my favorite 4-year-old over the past few weeks.....
(Kale) Can we go to "No Davies" today?
(Me) I have no idea what you're talking about!
(Kale, repeated about 5 times, getting angrier each time) "No Davies, Mom" "No Davies"
(Me, still no idea what he's saying) Maybe another day.
(Kale, as we drive past Old Navy) "THERE! No Davies!"

(Me) Look Kale, there's a praymantis outside our door!
(Kale) Whoa, cool! Dad, Dad, we found a Carry-Cantis!

(Kale, very serious after we left the dinosaur park) I think I know why the asteroid that his earth killed all the dinosaurs.
(Me) What happened?
(Kale) I think the asteroid crashed into the backs of all the dinosaurs with spikes, you know, like Spinosaurus. I think their spikes made it explode and they all died.