Trick or Treat

I already posted pictures of us in our Halloween costumes, but I wanted to share the trick-or-treat experience in more detail.

We went to my parent's neighborhood since it has more houses and less 3 story high condo stairs to climb. We enjoyed the traditional chili and cornbread dinner, then headed out to teach Blaze the tricks of the candy trade.

Lucky for us the weather was nice and we went out early enough in the evening that Blaze's little legs didn't freeze in his short shorts. We also decided to only go to about 10 handpicked neighbors' doors so we weren't out very long.

At the first 2 doors Blaze thought we were going over to play so when the door opened he would walk right in and make himself at home with whatever book, toy, or pet he saw. As soon as he realized the purpose was to get candy, his approach changed. For the rest of the houses we visited he would quietly mumble something that sorta sounded like "trick or treat," hold out his bag, and as soon as he had the candy he would try to shut the door so we could move on. It didn't matter if the person was still talking, he got what he came for and was ready to keep going.

Of course the neighbors said he had the best costume they saw all night. I would have to agree.

October

The most important parts of October are visiting the pumpkin patch and dressing up for Halloween. The pictures of us enjoying these traditions pretty much speak for themselves.

September Part 2

After all the family left we settled back into a more normal routine. Since summer was almost over we thought it would be a good time to tackle some of the items on our summer-to-do-list. We had to at least say we tried.

First on the list was the backyard. We reseeded the entire thing. Blaze really liked helping and had to wear "gubs" while he worked. 

Let's hope the seed takes root and next spring we have a fun place to run and play. 

 After our hard work in the backyard we needed a snack break, of course.

 

And then we headed to the canyons to enjoy the beautiful colors of fall before they faded.

We'll get to the other items on that list next year.

September Part 1

In September the relatives came to Utah to visit!

I have an equally cute, almost identical picture of Leah. Some day I'll put them side by side and compare levels of adorable.

One of my favorite pictures of Blaze of all time.

Outfit #2 of the day after playing in the creek.

Outfit #3 of the day... I might have just given up at this point. But at least he has shoes.

Blaze thinks he is one of the big kids. No way he was going to sit at the table like the babies (no offense Alice or Naomi).

S'mores!

August

August was all about our trip to Denver for Hannah's baptism.

Oh and we also went to a ballgame when we got home.

July

Our summer was jam packed with visits to family and from family and with family. So to not overload the family members that read this blog, I'll break up the posts by month.


Pennsylvania

4 Generations. Some day I plan on learning how to use Photoshop so I can fix pictures like this ...

Playing on cousin Josh's 4 wheeler

Tractor ride. Blaze cried almost the entire time, but then talked about it for weeks afterwards like it was his favorite thing ever.

Examining a butterfly

We took a trip to the aquarium with Grammy, Aunt Wynn, and Aunt Janet. You would think 5 adults could keep up with the energy of one toddler, but not this toddler. He wore us out. 

 

Hogle Zoo

They can never, ever, ever get rid of this drinking fountain. It's been one of the most memorable parts of the zoo for decades.

Dinosaur Museum

1.5

Blaze is now a year and a half! I want to remember some things about him at this time:

He is 31 inches (17%)
He is 27 pounds (86%)

He says over 20 words and seems to be adding to his vocabulary every day. He LOVES going "sye" (outside) and gets really excited when he hears someone mention it and, like a puppy, will sit at the door whining until you let him out.

He climbs on EVERYTHING he can - stools, chairs, railings, his crib, rocks, walls. In fact I don't think he has any fear or sense of self-preservation. At the pool he will jump in whenever he wants and not bother to check if any one is ready to catch him (thank heavens for floaties!).  So he is constantly getting new bruises and scrapes. I guess this is something I will need to get used to.

He runs everywhere he goes. Sometimes it is on his tip toes, or with his arms straight back, or with his chubby little legs and butt wobbling as he tries to keep up the momentum. But it always full speed and energy ahead. 

He is very social, loves nursery and playdates and park trips - any place with other kids.

He is also starting to say No when he doesn't want to do something and throw tantrums when I say No to something in return. I hope this is not something that lasts long.

Overall though, he is still the most adorable little boy who loves to have fun, be silly, laugh and make others laugh.

Blaze and his cousins before swim lessons. He and Naomi were in the same class, and even though he spent most of the time trying to swim away from me and toward the toys, he got his very first certificate of completion!

3 Days, 89 Years

Over Memorial Day Weekend we took a little road trip to Southern Utah for some family time.
We spent a day hiking with some cousins at this little rock formation park they knew about.

Hiking and tolerating the backpack

Blaze wanted to climb on eveything, especially if the big kids were doing it too

A little high adventure bouldering...

...Blaze is already a pro!

  The purpose of the trip was for my Grandpa's 89th birthday. He has accomplished a lot in 89 years, not the least of which is a wonderful family. It was nice that so many of them could get together to celebrate!