Fall in a Flash

We had a very full fall! I feel like we've never been busier. Here were some highlights!

If you tell Violet there's a contest, she's the first to sign up to participate. She hadn't had much luck up to this point (not even the monthly library coloring page contest), until she entered the pop bottle contest for the school fair. Basically you decorate a pop bottle any way you want. She planned it all out and it had multiple drafts. Travis helped her put it together.

She got second place in the 2nd grade category. Travis and I were so relieved that after so much trying she FINALLY won something!

We went to the school fair later that afternoon.

Jaxon went to the Space Center for the first time. He LOVES it. Like father like son.

Smart aleck math.

We went to probably my favorite restaurant ever- Leatherbys- for my birthday. My friends and I have a girls night out once every few months and we always come here, so I've been wanting to take Travis for a while. Everybody loved it. Ginger ordered a banana split from the kids menu. Her reaction was priceless. :) Our waiter was actually a former student of mine. As if I didn't already feel too old that day...

We had to get Talmage's pumpkin patch picture before it was too late, so the day before Halloween we ran down to Jakers and had some fall fun.

Talmage didn't feel like cooperating much. Ah well, at least we got it.

The next day was Halloween! Talmage donned Jaxon's first costume as Superman. So glad I finally got to reuse that. Jaxon for the first time didn't really care what he wanted to be. I told him he didn't have to go trick or treating if he didn't want to, but that if he did he'd have to dress up. He was disappointed but finally wore all black and found a pointy stick so...something scary anyway. Violet was a mummy, Ginger was a ghost, and Ivy was a cat.

We love going trick or treating with cousins. It makes it so much fun.

Also during our busy month of October, Violet had her acting class at the Hale Center Theater. It was her experience gift she got at Christmas. She had so much fun, and was able to wear her mummy costume. The kids did a really good job.

And we did enjoy our fall break, albeit a week late...Travis got the dates mixed up when he booked our Park City condo. Oh well! So we technically got two breaks. It was just what we needed for some R&R.

 

Fathers and Sons Backpacking Trip

Travis and Jaxon went backpacking with the Wendels a couple weekends ago and had a blast. 

Jaxon couldn't stop talking about the lake and fields of crazy rock formations that they climbed over and through. He especially liked drinking the lake water from Brad's pump filter.

They were also able to catch lots of fish!

I'm so glad they enjoyed themselves.

Meanwhile the girls and I got Happy Meals, a first for us. Looks like everyone had a fun weekend. :)

Jaxon Turns 10

 Jaxon is now in the double digits! A decade old. :)

We love this quirky, intelligent, funny kid. He's Spock one minute and Goofy the next. Definitely keeps us on our toes. He's such a good, patient, thoughtful big brother. Crazy to think what he might be doing in another 10 years!

First Day of School 2021

 Jaxon is going into 4th grade

Violet is in 2nd grade

And Ginger is in her second year of preschool. Here's hoping she catches up on her English before kindergarten next year, ha ha.

And then when they're gone it's just these two kiddos at home with me. In a messy house. Oh well.

This was kind of strange. Last year I would write a "would you rather" question on Jaxon's lunch bags in order to help him talk to others at his lunch table (help him socialize). I haven't had to do them in a long time because it actually worked and he made some friends. :) But Violet started doing her own just for the heck of it. Some of her questions have been a little...out there.

More Summer Pics

At first I thought Talmage kind of looked like Jaxon

.

But it wasn't long before he started to get his own look. Brown eyes. Definitely more bald.

Ginger just waltzed into the kitchen being Ginger.

So many memories in this swing.

I may not have always been on top of their summer homework (especially after Talmage was born), but they definitely read a ton.

Violet's very sensitive to thematic elements in movies. It's not unusual to hear Violet break into, "Oh no! No, no, no!" when a character is in peril, and end up in Travis' arms. I don't remember what movie we were watching this particular movie/pizza night, maybe 101 Dalmations?

Watching Violet ice skate.

While entering the library, Ginger insisted that she run ahead and try to hide. Nice. Our girls think that even if we're in the same room, as long as I'm not looking directly at them they're somehow invisible.

Toptal gifted us some merchandise to say congratulations. :)

We went to Splash Summit and Ivy was quite taken by this lone duck waddling around.

 Travis wraps our kids like burritos. Cute. :)

A Crazy Low Key Summer

Besides the arrival of Talmage, we had a fun, easy going summer.

The kids had fun catching up with their cousins on their weekly visits.

Went to the park before it got too hot.

And when it got hot we had our own fun in the backyard.

We enjoyed swim lessons through the month of June and some of August.

 

In July we celebrated the fourth at the balloon festival. Violet and Ginger are saving up their money for a hot air balloon ride. Might take a little while..

Celebrated fireworks with cousins

We had a fun family reunion in Hurricane.

Jaxon had a fun outdoor recital where he played a group song with a couple other kids. 

We hiked around Cascade Springs and enjoyed milkshakes in Heber.

In August the kids enjoyed their last couple of weeks of freedom outside, doing things like catching butterflies and eating ice cream.

Travis thought it'd be fun to let the older 3 sleep on the tramp. They got so many mosquito bites I'm banning it forever.

And before we knew it, it was back to school! I tried to make this summer as low key as possible, but in many ways it seemed like a CRAZY low key summer!

Talmage Travis Anderson

Baby #5 finally made his debut and we just love him to bits. We feel so, so blessed to have little Talmage join our family.

Believe it or not, he is not named after James E. Talmage, ha ha. Way back when I went to build houses in Mexico there was a guy in our group named Talmage. I thought it was a nice, unique name- so I put it on my list for a possible future baby name. :)

Everyone was so excited to meet their little brother. Due to Covid restrictions they weren't allowed to visit in the hospital. But to be honest, waiting till we got home was a lot easier! Poor Ginger and Ivy were sick with bad colds while I was in the hospital, shout out to my mom for taking care of them while we were away.

Ivy LOVES Talmage. A little too much sometimes. She runs to his bed any time he makes a squeak.

It's so fun to finally have another boy in the family. He kind of looks like Jaxon as a newborn, but with brown eyes. He's definitely been the biggest hit this summer.