Pets!

At the beginning of October my neighbor posted on Facebook that she was selling her 36 gallon fish tank and stand along with all the stuff that went with it (light, heater, gravel, plants, etc.). I was really interested. Ian and I had talked about getting fish again, but never really pursued it. We decided to go for it. It was so fun setting up the tank and picking out the fish. We started out with a school of neon tetras (7 have survived), two African dwarf frogs (we've had to replace one of them), plus the kids each picked a fish. 

The tetras didn't get names. The frogs are Sherlock and Watson. Weston picked out a black Molly and named it Shadow (he has since died), Davin picked out a Dalmatian Molly named Joe, Talia picked a powder blue Gourami named Mr. Rainbow Fish (has died, been replaced and #2 has died), and we helped Beckett choose an orange Platy named Sunny. We also added a school of 5 black skirted tetras and an orange Gourami.

It's pretty common to lose fish when you first set up a tank. We now have the neons (7), the black skirts (5), Sherlock and Watson, Joe, Sunny, and a sucker fish. We still love the tank and the pets! The kids remind us to feed them and I think they look really nice in the front room. Yay for pets!

Fall

One of the perks of living in Utah is the beautiful Fall weather! I love when the temps cool down a little and the leaves start turning pretty colors. It's the best. Talia loves going to the Thanksgiving Point gardens. She calls it the big vegetable garden, which makes me laugh because there are no veggies. I like going there too though, so one October morning we headed over and wandered in the beautiful Fall sun. Talia and Beckett got to feed the koi fish and run around. The gardens are almost always empty when we go. It's a really fun, peaceful outing.

I love that Beckett loves to color. He randomly wrote on the wall with a pencil one day while I was watching him. Silly boy. He had time out and hasn't done it again. :) Also, when the little ones have had a long outing sometimes a car nap is inevitable. Luckily they both stayed asleep for about half an hour.

A Conference Weekend Surprise

Surprise! Papa came back for another football game. This was a quick spur of the moment trip. Ian had an extra ticket to this game and his dad really wanted to be there since they were retiring Jim McMahon's number that night. Jim flew in Thursday evening, hung out with me and the little ones on Friday (we ran errands and hit up In N Out) then went to the game against Utah State with Ian that night. They had a great time. Even though the Cougars lost.

Saturday morning we watched General Conference. After the morning session we split up. Ian took Beckett and Davin with him to the airport to drop off Papa while I took Talia and Weston to Weston's soccer game. We met back up at home halfway through the afternoon session of Conference. It was a busy day.

Sunday was more General Conference. The kids were restless though and we decided we needed to get out of the house between sessions, so we packed a picnic lunch and headed to a new park. We listened to the end of the morning session while we drove to the park. It was pretty empty for the first 30 minutes or so of being there. It was an absolutely beautiful day! We fed the ducks (Beckett loved it!). Then we walked around the little lake. We let the kids play on the playground for a bit too.

By the time we sat down to eat our lunch the park had filled up with people who had the same idea of getting fresh air between conference sessions. By that time though we hid out by our picnic table and just enjoyed the weather and our food. We were all hungry! It was just one of the perfect afternoons. The kids were good. We all had fun and the day was gorgeous. I'm so glad we went.

We headed home just as the afternoon session was starting. The little ones took naps, the boys played in the basement, and Ian and I curled up and listened. That night was nice and low key. Davin practiced playing chess with Ian and almost beat him. Have I mentioned that the big boys are taking chess lessons? They are taking from another neighbor and are loving it. They are almost ready to start trying out tournaments! Anyway, we had a wonderful weekend. It was so fun to have Papa here again for a quick visit and to listen to the leaders of the church share messages about following Christ.

Two Year Old

Beckett had his two year old check up at the doctor's on October 2nd. He was such a good boy and is perfectly healthy. He is a little behind on his language, but I'm not concerned because he is learning new words almost every day.

Beckett's 2 year old stats:
Height: 31 1/2 inches (2nd %ile)
Weight: 23.3 lbs (10th %ile)

Beckett is such a sweet, happy little guy. Since he turned two he has definitely started acting his age. He throws tantrums when he doesn't get what he wants. He hits his sister and pulls her hair. I have no idea where he learned that. I've never had to deal with hair pulling before either! He does go in time out in the corner and stays there (unlike his sister). He says sorry and gives loves. He also is super happy to play by himself when Talia is at preschool or dance. When Beckett takes long naps Ian and I let him stay up late with us. He's always so stinking cute when this happens. He seems to know that he is getting special time. Anyway, we sure love our baby Beckett and are so grateful he is growing up healthy and happy.

Tiny Dancer

At the end of September Talia started taking dance classes! She goes to a basement studio in the neighborhood next to us. I love having it so close and it's nice and low key. Her teacher, Miss Tanya, is so good with the girls and Talia loves it. She was so excited to get all her dance clothes on for the first time and she spun around like a ballerina for 15 minutes before class. It made my heart happy to buy her tights and ballet shoes. So glad I have a girl! 

It's pretty exciting that Talia is old enough for extracurricular activities too. It makes her feel like such a big girl and it helps me remind her to act like a big girl. :)

Wilson's Blessing Weekend

Dad flew in on Saturday morning for the the weekend. Mel and Brad picked him up and brought him over to our house. We all hung out for awhile that day. Weston had a soccer game in the late afternoon. I had planned on us all going to the game, but it was cold and raining, so Ian took Weston to his game. 

Grandpa and I took the rest of the kids to the dinosaur museum to play for a little while. Then we all met up for dinner at Cubby's. We hadn't been there before. It was fun to try something new. The burgers were really good. We tried a couple of different types of fries too. The kids were starving and they ate all of their food, so that was a win! It was a really fun day.

Sunday morning was low key. Wilson's blessing wasn't until 1pm, so we had all morning to relax and get ready. We got there in plenty of time. We even beat Brad and Mel there! :) The kids got some wiggles out in front of the building before we went in and sat. The blessing was very nice. Brad did a great job and Wilson looked so sweet.

We took group pictures afterwards at the church. Mel put on a beautiful luncheon at Brad's mom's house. It was fun to visit with all the people who came. I even got a chance to snuggle Wilson. I thought it was a really nice day. We sure love baby Wilson and are so happy for Brad and Mel!

Sunday night we were pretty exhausted, so we put the kids to bed and started watching Brooklyn 99. Monday was chilly again, so we stayed inside. Mel brought Wilson over and hung out with us. We had a lot of fun just chilling and visiting with Dad. Mel took Dad to the airport that afternoon. It was a quick visit, but we had a wonderful time!

In Between

We got to have lots of fun grandparent time in September! First Grandma Denny and Papa came for the football game and Beckett's birthday. The next weekend Grandpa Bob came and spent the weekend with us. He was here for baby Wilson's blessing, but we got to spend some quality time hanging out with him.

Before he got here though we had some in between time. I got the house cleaned up again, did the laundry. That sort of thing. I had to run a few errands at the mall one day so we made a fun pit stop at the dino playground. It has gotten pretty ghetto and sad. I don't think it has funding anymore so as stuff breaks they just take it out. At least the big blue slide was still there.

When we got home from our errands/playing a package arrived. It was another birthday present for Beckett! He loves his big Thomas the train. Thanks Joy and Jules! So much fun!

Talia got some new jammies while we were out shopping. She wore them that night. In the morning she was modeling them. I have no idea where she learned to pose! Beckett also got a haircut during our in between week. He's such a handsome guy! Now he's all ready for Grandpa Bob to come!