Halloween 2012

We had our ward Trunk R Treat on Friday night. So glad we had a photographer to grab this shot since Axel will never look at me when I'm behind the camera. They were so thrilled with all of their candy and kept showing everyone. We let them pig out and when we sent them to bed, we pigged out on the rest of the candy and told them the Halloween Fairy ate the rest:) They went for it!

Preschool update

 Sometimes I don't realize how funny something is until I'm talking to one of my sisters. I'm chatting with Tera on the phone telling her how Austin said a boy named Fisher in his class "hurt him" two days in a row. The next morning on the drive to preschool, I can tell Austin is upset about something. I ask him about it and he talks about how Fisher has hurt him and it makes him really mad. I should have known something was going to happen that day. Didn't I tell mom the night before my fight in high school?! So the next day I get this note and Austin pushed Fisher into the bookshelf and "left a mark" on his back. Is mom laughing up in heaven or what? The line of "I hope you get a kid like you" is in full play at this point! Tom asks Austin about it later and he admits he pushed Fisher like it was no big deal. They haven't had a problem ever since. Stand up to your bullies and they don't bully anymore right?! I have to admit, I'm proud of Austin!

Here is his preschool picture. How could this sweet face hurt anyone?!

October 2012

 Our friends invited us to The Whole Hog for dinner which is a super yummy bbq place in town. All of these kids play with each other at playgroup and they were so excited to go out to eat together! Here is Max Walker, Ansley and Avery Graham, and our boys.

 This was on a warmer soccer day;) Axel has to have his ball and kicks his ball around on the sidelines while Austin is practicing with his team. Looking forward to many more years of sports!

 Here is Austin in his policeman costume on the day it arrived in the mail. He is so happy with himself that he picked his own costume. We are constantly under arrest over here.

 Yesterday we went to the Kindersongs spooky concert at the N. Little Rock library. There were 200-300 kids there. It was seriously the place to be! They picked 5 kids who had the cutest costumes and Austin was a winner! He was so excited and won this Halloween book. The boys were dancing to the music and loved their goodie bags. Holidays are so dang fun with kids!

Here is Axel in Austin's costume. He is yelling "Yee-haw!!" Ever since he saw Jessie on Toy Story (the cowgirl) he thinks anyone wearing a hat should lift it off of their head and yell yee-haw. It's kind of catchy and we all find ourselved doing it over here!

Grandma and grandpa come to town

 Austin was so excited to have grandma and grandpa come to his soccer game! It was 47 degrees and had rained the night before. It was pretty muddy and cold. We were shocked they still played. Austin finally came to the side and said he was too cold to play so we all left. He always enjoys playing but we were glad he felt as cold as we did so we had an excuse to leave.

 Caught the boys snuggling in blankets on the couch.

 We took grandma and grandpa for a walk on some of the paths by the Arkansas River. The boys love to throw rocks in the river. There was a guy flying two model airplanes and it was so fun to watch those.

 Here are the crazy boys!

 We went to Bobrook Farms to see the pumpkin patch. Here is dad and Austin on top of the hay.

 Austin kept trying to pet the pig but the pig kept moving away from his hand.

 Grandpa and Austin petting the pony.

 We all took the tractor hayride. We woke up Axel since he was asleep in the stroller which is why he looks totally out of it.

 There was a cute maze made of bales of hay. Austin kept hiding from everyone.

 We had so much fun exploring new places with grandma and grandpa and were so sad to see them leave. Austin kept crying for two weeks before they came that he needed grandma and grandpa to come. So glad they came to save the day!

 Beautiful sunflowers until we started getting chased by a couple of bees.

We went to the Old Mill in North Little Rock and the boys ate lunch on the large wooden train.

Fall Festival at First Christian Preschool

 Austin's preschool had their annual fundraiser. He is really enjoying preschool for 3 hours a day, 5 days per week.

 Axel was happy to help raise money by eating pizza.

 The boys liked all of the little games they had and were digging for treasure in the sandbox.

Here is Austin with his teacher Mrs. Eubanks. He loves her! She has been teaching for 28 years and is wonderful. He constantly tells us that she has rules in her class. I tried to give him gum before preschool one day and he said, "No-Mrs. Eubanks doesn't let anyone chew gum in her classroom." Glad to hear he listens to someone:)

More summer 2012

 Our playgroup which we LOVE, had a pioneer day activity and had the stick pull activity. Austin and Riley were pretty evenly matched. They kept coming out with an even score and couldn't get the other one up. Austin was proud of himself since Riley is 7 and Austin was almost 4 in this picture. They kept cracking up!

 We found Super Soakers at Target and kept shooting the trees....and each other. Now a favorite bath toy!

These guys are best buds. Wrestling right before bedtime is a tradition!

Came home to a tree in our roof

We thought about redecorating the boys room to a Jungle Room theme......Seriously kind of freaked out when I went to put Axel in his crib after a LONG drive and found a tree had crashed through the roof right next to his crib. One of those situations that I'm glad we were too busy to think about all of the what ifs too much. The boys thought it was cool. Glad we are renting and our landlord got to pay for this repair. God protected us and we are forever grateful!

Onto Houston, TX

 With dad in town, we headed down to Houston to add another 1,000 miles of fun onto this trip:) Tom had to work and was unable to go. We decided to celebrate Austin's birthday with his cousins. Aunt Alisa fulfilled his birthday wish of a cinnamon roll birthday cake!

 Axel loving the ice cream!

 Hot Wheels fest!

 Jenna was a great sport to ride bikes with Austin on their street. Austin made Jenna nervous since he would ride his bike right next to her and he was pretty wobbly.

Axel was checking out his tricycle but decided to just run and keep up with Austin and Jenna instead.

Up to Idaho

 Dad joined our crew in Utah to help us with the crazy drive after Idaho. Tom's boss has a silly rule of nobody taking time off from July 15th through the end of August so we needed to be back for work on Monday and Heather's wedding/reception was Saturday morning and night. With dad's speeding driving help, we made it back in time and enjoyed Heather's special day. Here is the family at the visitor's center.

 Heather and Matt coming out of the temple! This is one of the most awesome weddings I have ever been to! We couldn't help but feel overwhelmed with joy and happiness for this wonderful couple!

 Austin would not leave Heather's side. He wanted to give her a rocket right when she came out. Before we went into the temple, he saw Heather and Matt walking into the temple (I didn't even see them) and ran out of the car to hug them and say hello. It was so tender! He knows and loves Heather so much and we are so happy she is part of our family!

 Here is Austin close by:)

 Isn't Heather gorgeous?! So gorgeous inside and out! She is such an amazing example to all of us! We are so honored she let us be a part of this memorable day.

 Austin wouldn't let go of Axel!

Happy Day! We love Heather and her family so much!

Next stop was Utah

 We stopped for a night in Vegas at Circus Circus on the drive up. The boys enjoyed the hotel and we all got a solid night of sleep before continuing onto South Jordan, Utah. Tera let us crash at her place (even though it was on the market). She let us throw a birthday bash for Axel!

 This picture just makes me laugh since Austin looks crazed and Tom is acting shocked.

 No need to spend a lot of money. His favorite toy-2 balls that lit up!

 We went to feed the ducks in Tera's neighborhood a few times. Some ducks were too friendly and came right up to us. Melanie and her kids came with us. Melanie is so fun to hang out with us the whole time we are in town. We wished we lived closer to family to enjoy these fun times more!

 Austin and Brook looking for fish.

Axel thinking of taking a dive;)

6,200 miles of driving in 3 weeks

 Sometimes we don't realize how far away we live from everyone until we hop in the car to make an incredible trek to see everyone. We decided to power out the 24 hour drive to California without stopping. Tom drove all but the last two hours. First stop was at Aunt Cynthia's house in Valenica, CA. We were spoiled by cousins, aunts and uncles! Brandon and Joey were Austin and Axel's idols!

 Uncle Nathan with Axel. We were able to see 7 of my 8 siblings, all nieces and nephews except Tera's kids, and all in-laws (except one) in this three week adventure. We were able to see all of Tom's family except Gena and her family.

 We stayed at Marty's house in Oceanside with Tom's family and went to the beach a few times. Hannah wanted to bury Austin and he was loving it!

 Breaking out!

 Sarah was baptized and the kids had so much fun with Mason, Avery, Hannah, Jenna, Allison, and Sarah.
Here is Joey with Axel on the trampoline!

 While serving in Yreka, California on my mission, I came to know the Stocks family well! I was able to teach Ray and Judy Stocks and see them baptized. This is the family I went back after my mission to stand proxy for Judy as Ray and Judy were sealed. Their son Dan baptized them both. He lives in Pismo Beach and kept asking when we were coming for a visit. We went up for a day and they spoiled us with kayaking out in the ocean. We went through caves and waves and had such a great time! Here is Austin holding down the kayak.

 Here are the boys looking at the ocean before we went out!

This is about as good of a family picture we get anymore! Ready for the water!