Return of the "Elder" (this is not a Halloween post)

You know your family is cool when.....


They pick you up from the airport like this.

We picked up Kevin's youngest brother, Mikey, on Thursday, Oct. 27 after serving for 2 years as a missionary in the OK Oklahoma City Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We wanted to make it memorable. How did we do?


Reed did awesome! Bribing him with candy to keep his Yoda ears on helped too.


Shoulda been our engagement photo...


Kevin's sister, Whitney, converted their umbrella stroller into R2D2. How cool is that?


At home pictures were more successful. Yes, this is success.


Cutest baby Ewok I ever did see.


The whole family. We had a lot of people stop to take pictures of us, especially Kevin as Darth Vader. We only rented the costumes but Kevin is now thinking of keeping a fund for a Darth Vader suit. You never know when you'll need one again, right? WELCOME HOME MIKEY!

Halloween party--Joy School style

Reed and his Joy School friends (Reed, Chaela, Carter, Annie, Dallas)


Baby sisters were invited too.


Watching a witch's brew


Coloring pumpkins


"Ghost" bowling...it's much easier this way, as you can tell.


A parade, of course.


Dads were invited.


The best part? Jumping in the leaves!


And burying the baby up to her neck. :)

Pumpkin Farming it up

So impossible to get 2 kids to look at the camera at the same time.


How about just one? Much better. Reed is finally starting to "smile" for the camera again.


Just in time for Taryn not to.


Reed still doesn't like swings. But he's still young enough to force him to do what we want. Perfect. :)


We loved the corn box.


Even mom.


Though this baby girl was pretty unsure of it at first.


The slide was a hit again this year.


Even with Grandma.


We squeezed ourselves into the animal train.


And finished off the day with a hay ride. I love pumpkin farms! They bring back some fond memories of my childhood. One of my all-time favorite family activities ever!

Vacuum

We got a new vacuum.....


...and her name is Taryn.

Catch up: Summer

Painting the sidewalk


Building forts


This is what happens when you let Reed put his own peanut butter on crackers


or wash his hands unattended.


Hiking Stewart Falls. Reed did surprisingly well. He hates the backpack carrier, so he walked a big portion of the hike. It was great, Reed says some really funny things when he is tired. (While whining)"I am sooo tired. I need to go to sleep in my bed." Or "I'm too big for this!!!" (while we tried getting him the backpack carrier). It was quite entertaining.


Holy crap, cute baby. Sometimes, I can't even stand it.


Raspberry picking. Seriously the most fun I've had in a while. Something about plucking raspberries is so satisfying. Kinda like vacuuming. Plus it made me feel so domestic for some reason, living off the land in all. :)


Bridal Veil Falls on Labor Day.


Peek-a-boo. Taryn is finally sleeping in the same room as Reed. Oh no, she wasn't sleeping in our room; we would put her in the kitchen. Don't judge. It has gone much better than expected having them in the same room.


Reed started Joy School and loves it! These are his friends in school with him. They are "resting."


Ice cream from ice cream trucks and riding bikes


The Tracy Aviary in SLC with Oma, Whitney, and Matthew. Kevin's sister, Whitney, and her family spent the summer in Alpine while they were waiting on buying a house. It was a lot of fun having her around.


Growing up. We have a crawler on our hands now!


Just hanging out


Hiking the Grotto


Some time in the Canyon


Catch up with best friends, Lesley and Katie


Reed sucking out his own boogers. Yep.


And snuggling with my babies. :) It's been an amazing summer.

Catch up: Reed's Birthday

Happy 3rd Birthday, Reed! We celebrated with family mostly and per request of Reed, we had a "Blue MIckey Party." The Mickey part was encouraged by me a little bit, but he just wanted a blue party.

I have heard from several people that 3 is much harder than 2. I do understand what they are saying--more demands, more whining, more manipulating, more lying. But I also think 3 is much more fun than 2. For one, Reed is much funnier. He knows when he is funny and tries to be funny. He also has made advances in development and interests. I love that he wants to draw now when before, he really could care less. He wants to write letters and tries to draw actual pictures. He thinks he is drawing cows but in reality, they look like smiley faces. But I love it! He has always been interested in books, but I think it has reached a whole new level. He understands the story line more and tries to "read" on his own. (Good thing he has memorized all the books we own). :) 3 really has been great. We love our Frog!

Catch Up: Vacation

Minnesota trip with the Wilson family
(*A couple days before we arrived in MN, we found out that the state basically shut down. All our plans of renting a boat, water skiing, etc. were out the window. We had to make our own fun...)


Lots of sand play


Reed thought he wanted to swim in the lake when he saw his older cousins doing it. It took less than one second to realize he hates to swim.


Tiniest-parade-in-the-world-watching. However, we got water balloons thrown at us and a array of dogs in costumes. Very creative.


More sand. They had a cute little beach area next to a lake that we spent most of our time at.


Kevin's older sisters had a few minutes with Taryn and this is what happens! :) Pigtails!


Short canoe trip. I was just happy we got Reed to go in it at all.


Cousin-burying


This is as good as it gets with Reed.


Just the thought of going in the water made him crazy. Okay, okay, we get it.


We celebrated Reed's 3rd birthday!


The humidity did something CRAZY to Taryn's hair! I love this picture.