My Loves

 

First Karate Tournament

 Zander and Lucas participated in their first karate tourney. They worked really hard to memorize their katas. They were some of the first ones up and they did great! Zander ended up winning 1st place and Lucas got 3rd place in their division. Way to go boys!

Lucas was edged out of 2nd place by a 10th of a second

Fall Break in Elba

 We had fall break a couple weeks ago and decided to stay at the newly built cabin in Elba. We were one of the first ones to get to stay there! We stayed two nights, and Grandpa and Grandma came up for a night to spend some time with us; it was a lot of fun. The kids played a lot outside building their forts and playing in the pasture. We took the next morning and drove up to City of Rocks so the kids could explore and climb the rocks. It was a beautiful day and the kids loved it. We stopped at Treasure Rock and Window Arch. That was one I didn't know existed, and it did not disappoint. We got home just in time for mom and dad to pull in and roast a wienie and marshmallows in the fire pit. Then Grandpa taught Zander and Lucas how to use an axe to chop wood. They couldn't get enough of that. 

We went out for ice cream for dinner in Almo. I tried their cantaloupe ice cream. Not bad, but ended up getting an orange cream cone. We got back to the cabin and ate our real dinner and then watched a slide show of pictures from mom and dad's trip to Jerusalem and Egypt. The kids got to have a sleep out in the loft except the second night Lucas got smart and slept on the bed with Hannah in their sleeping bags. The next morning we took the kids out for rides on the four wheelers and razrs. It was fun to get away for a couple days to relax and explore and take time to be with one another. We also gave Grandma her birthday gift. I told her the gift is not what was in the sack, but the time it took us all to put the gift together. She loved it.

City of Rocks

collecting crystals

snack time!

These two were pouting together.

Elba in the Fall

Happy Birthday Mom!

Grayson

 Grayson is a ray of sunshine. He is two years old and the happiest little thing. He loves bananas and doing everything by himself. He still will not eat dinner no matter what it is that we're having, but hopefully one day that'll change. He is always ready to take a picture and then wants to see the picture right after I take it. He still writes on my walls, and wakes everyone up at 6:00 in the morning. He loves to read and look at pictures either on my phone or in one of the many photo books I have. One of his favorite shows to watch right now is Morphle on Netflix. The same episode plays on repeat all day long, and that is the Halloween pirate episode. He loves to help and never wants to be left out of anything. He always has to make sure he says goodbye to anyone who leaves the house for any reason and waves, blows a kiss, and says, "I yu you!"

We had to take his "nana" with us to the store. He carried his banana peel with him everywhere that day, haha!

Rainbow Corn!

 I bought some glass gem corn seeds last year. I have been anxiously waiting to plant it and see how it would turn out this year. It did not disappoint! I mean, my crop didn't do as well as I had hoped. About half of the stalks didn't mature, but I got several small, but ears of colorful corn! It's almost like Christmas morning unwrapping the cobs because you never know what you're going to get. The kids loved helping me harvest it and play with the corn stalks like swords. I learned a lot from this harvest like what to do better and what not to do next time we plant it. This corn is just so beautiful to look at; it seems like there is no way something so colorful that you can eat could occur naturally, so I had to find out for myself. I'm using the stalks for fall décor on my porch and the cobs inside the house, then I'll gather some kernels for seeds for next year and use the rest for popcorn or cornmeal. 

My first cob!