Top 10 reasons why I love the Fall!

1. Cooler mornings, warm days, cooler nights.
2. The Balloon Fiesta - It is an amazing sight to see all the balloons up in the air during a mass assention.
3. Brawn's birthday (only 12 days away!)
4. Ethan's birhtday (only 20 days away!)
5. Halloween. I don't know why, but I love dressing the kids up and decorating. I wish I was more orgainized to do more.
6. Decorating for the fall. This year I plan on doing more than in the past. Hopefully the cute ideas will pan out this year.
7. Thanksgiving. Not really the dinner - I don't really care for traditional Thanksgiving dinner - but, I love spending time with family and taking time to reflect on all the blessings we have. It is something I should do more often, but I'm trying to be better. I guess as the kids get older I think how important it is to teach them about being thankful for all that Heavenly Father has blessed our lives with.
8. The changing of the leaves. (Sounds like the changing of the guard). I love looking out over the river and seeing the beautiful colors of the leaves.
9. Pumpkins. I guess this goes along with Halloween, but over the past couple of years I love taking the kids to a pumpkin patch and letting them pick out a pumpkin and then taking it home and letting them carve pumpkins with Daddy. They have such a great time picking out their pumpkin and making a mess with Daddy. I can't wait to do it this year.
10. Hot chocolate. I have a hard time drinking hot chocolate when it is warm, so the cool mornings are the perfect time to have some hot chocolate.

Fall brings us just a little closer to winter. And there is so much to love in the winter with birthdays, Christmas and this year a new baby. I am so blessed with all that I have and the family I am surrounded with. I have a wonderful husband who works hard to allow me to stay home with my children. I have three beautiful children, who despite the hard times we have sometimes they have their sweet precious moments too. I have more family that supports and loves me and my family and we couldn't do it without them.

Sunday Adventures

We have had a busy Sunday. I thought the Sabbath was supposed to be a day of rest, but with young children I guess that isn't really possible. We woke up this morning and began rushing to get ready for church. I had a meeting before church so I was trying to get ready and Alexis's hair done before it was time for me to leave. Well, all I finished was getting ready. So, Trevis, being the wonderful and supporting husband and dad was left to get three children ready which included combing and curling Alexis's hair and getting snacks ready for Sacrament meeting. (Daddy did a good job! - said Alexis and Mommy) After my meeting, I rushed home to gather the fam and head back to church. Brawn and Alexis participated in the primary program. From where I was sitting both Brawn and Alexis were behind the pulpit. (at least daddy could see them) I could catch a glimpse of Brawn as he was singing the songs. He even knew most of the words!! When I finally saw Alexis, my heart broke. She was tearing up and I could see her beginning to cry. Finally, she came down and sat with Daddy. Apparently all she wanted was a snack because she was "sooo hungry and she could not wait for a snack."
We can't go a day without Ethan busting his lip on something. And of course it had to be in the middle of the primary program. At least he is a tough boy and didn't cry very long. I don't think it would be a normal day if he didn't have an injury of some sort.
Other than our busy morning we had good church meetings and were able to come home to a little bit of rest. Now, dinner time is calling so I better quit blogging and start fixing dinner. At least Trevis is grilling the steaks!

Dressing Up!!

It's a Baby!

With our first three children we either were not able to find out or (Trevis) didn't want to find out if we were having a boy or a girl. So this time around I really wanted to find out. I don't think Trevis really wanted to find out, but through a little pursuading by myself and others, when we went to the ultrasound last week, he said we could try to find out. So, we go in for the ultrasound and the technician asks if we want to know. I say I want to know, but I'm not sure about Trevis. She looks at me and then at him and says, "oh, he doesn't matter." and then she laughed. After looking at everything and taking all the measurements she has the picture on the baby's legs and asks if we want to know. Well you could see or at least guess what we are having. We said yes and she said we are having a GIRL!!! (Now, I would be just as excited if we were having a boy)
When we came home we told Brawn and Alexis what we are having. And we got both ends of the spectrum. Alexis is very excited we are having a girl and she is going to have a sister. Brawn, however, cried. He wanted a boy. We talked to him and told him that this is what Heavenly Father wants for our family. And it wasn't like we went to the doctor and said, we would like a girl. So after Trevis talked to him a little bit longer, he decided having another baby sister wouldn't be that bad.
On the way home from school the other day he told me, "We have three boys and two girls in our family. That makes five. When our baby is born we will have three boys and three girls. That will make six. And we will be even, because three and three is six."

Labor Day 2008

After living in New Mexico my entire life, you would think that I would know a little about it. However, I am finding that I have lived a sheltered life. I never knew there were ice caves in New Mexico, but this past Labor Day we found one. We went out to Grants, and hiked around. We went to the top of the Bandera volcano and saw the rim, or at least what is left of it after it collapsed on itself. After a brisk walk up, a little festivities with Ethan (choking on his cracker because he is too impatient to chew his food), we had a picnic lunch at the bottom of the trail. After our lunch we hiked to the ice cave and we were amazed at the temperature difference when you stepped down just one step. The caves never go above 31*F so it was pretty cold. After that we drove over to Malpais and looked over some sandstone cliffs. We also walked up a short trail to look at an arch. Overall, we had a pretty good day and the kids loved being outside. We are planning on taking more day trips around New Mexico to broaden our horizons to what New Mexico has to offer.