Busy, Busy Fall

We had a fun Labor Day weekend at the cabin. We invited cousins to spend a day with us.

We also spent one last actual Labor Day at the Anderson's timeshare. They're selling it, so it was bitter sweet. We've spent many a Labor Day playing with these Duplo and swimming in the pool. Here the girls spent some time making a zoo.

Things like this remind me that even though they fight and argue and sometimes wish they were an only child, they can actually play well together. If they really want to.

The girls competed in Oktoberfest and had a lot of fun preparing for it.

This little guy is growing up too fast. And he got his first haircut.

Pop bottle contest again...I'd personally like to thank the academy...went through so much hot glue but Violet ended up with a blue ribbon, so I suppose it was worth it. ;)

We had our annual Culture's Night in our ward. This is actually the biggest, and most fun activity of the year for our ward. Everyone comes together to represent the country they come from and make lots of yummy food for everyone to sample and share. There's probably around 12 different countries represented. It's a good learning opportunity for the kids. We contribute to the US table, hence the tricorn hat.

Poor bishop.

Just cutting the lawn with his freshly cut hair.

These two spend lots of time together during the school day.

We have a new tradition of going to Leatherby's on my birthday. Ice cream is my favorite, so it only makes sense. We all look forward to it. ;)

And of course, more time at the cabin.

We all worked together to make a fort of sticks.

We invited cousins up again. These boys love a good game of Monopoly.

And these girls had fun looking for "treasures" with the metal detector.

 

Double August Birthdays!

Jaxon is 11! I can't believe this is his last year in primary. Seems like just yesterday he was the only kid in our ward's nursery. And sunbeam class. And possibly HLJ 4. (Eventually, other kids his age started moving in.) It'll be nice having him in YMs with Travis.

And I can't believe this little girl is 3. She'll always be 2 in my mind.

Ivy has missed having her older siblings home with the start of the school year. She always says, "I miss my brother and sisters." But she's still got poor little Talmage to boss around until the older kids get home.

New School Year

We've got 3 kids going to the same school now!

Jaxon in 5th grade...

Violet in 3rd grade...

And Ginger in full day kindergarten! After two years of preschool she was ecstatic to be in kindergarten and be at the same school as her older siblings.

Can't wait to see what fun experiences they'll have this year!

Family Reunion

 Earlier this summer, we had an Anderson family reunion. It was so good to see everyone again.

We went to Deer Creek and had fun on Brad and Kami's boat. Grammy had some fun activities planned for those waiting for a boat ride.

The kids loved the tube!

Brad always lets Jaxon have a turn at the wheel. He takes it very seriously.

This kid...did not have fun at the reunion. He was going through a very clingy phase at the time, add a ton of unknown faces into the mix and he was Mr. Unhappy. If he wasn't right next to me or in my arms he would just cry and cry. And the schedule was so eventful that he didn't get any good naps in, so cue more screaming. But he was able to squeeze in a short 10 minute nap on our boat ride!

There were lots of games...

We went to Lagoon and rode the rides...

Rattlesnake Rapids is always a favorite. Brings back memories of when I went with my friends in junior high.

This guy got his quick nap in right before dinner.

The final day we met for family pictures. Poor Talmage had basically had it up to here by this point. Not going to lie, it was kind of hard for me to relax this week with a cranky, clingy baby, but of course the other kids had fun, too, and it was really nice to catch up with everyone again and just talk.

Summertime Part 2

 Here are a few more snapshots of how our summer has been.

We had our annual ward picnic...don't get between Ginger and her carne asada. Actually, don't get between me and carne asada either.

We've spent lots more time at the cabin. Whenever we have visitors the kids love to perform some kind of puppet show, or show an art gallery...this particular time the kids did a dance for Tia Kami.

Here's Violet's art gallery

And there's always plenty of animals to watch or catch.

This was a lizard

This is a horny toad.

Ginger has been very worried about her upcoming kindergarten assessment. She brought these Brain Quest cards along with her to practice. Just to be safe.

They've been able to earn some extra money by cleaning empty units.

And we've spent lots of time at the pool.

Just being silly, nothing out of the ordinary here.

Now THIS was hilarious. We got masked visitors! We heard racoons outside our house (not cabin, HOUSE) one morning and saw a mother and 3 babies. Once Travis went outside the mom ran up our chimney and onto our roof. Meanwhile the babies were just squeaking. 

They got really gutsy, though. Violet was so excited (animal lover) we let her go outside and see them from a safe distance. But apparently it wasn't safe enough and the babies started approaching her. A couple seconds later Violet was running for her life. She made it inside but then they went after Travis. Travis took a stick and started fending them off but soon he was being chased too. He would literally fling them with his stick across the lawn and they'd get up and resume chase. I finally threw some shoes at them and it distracted them long enough for Travis to make it safely inside. I sooo wish I had caught that on camera. So much. We called animal control and they took the babies away. I like to think they let them out safely into the wild. Yes. I will think that.

We spent the Fourth of July at the cabin, but had Pioneer Day fireworks with cousins.

We celebrated Travis' birthday at the cabin.

He and the YM have been building birdhouses for their last few mutual activities. It's been so nice for them to experience something they've never tried before, and find pride in their work.

Talmage Turns One!

Talmage celebrated his first birthday! Hard to believe he's been with us a whole year!

(Excuse the mess in our "cabin corner")

He was a big fan of cake and ice cream. :)

He's a little cutie pie and we love him so much!

 

Violet Turns 8 and is Baptized!

 Violet is now 8! She was very specific about what she wanted her cake to look like.

She loves animals, and since we got out cabins she's been especially into wild animals. Jaxon and Ginger got her a turkey call and salt for deer. Not your typical gifts for an 8 year old girl. 

She was baptized the following month. We had a fun mommy and me date finding her baptism dress.

She had something very specific in mind, and was adamant that it was NOT white. So I let Violet be Violet and after visiting a couple stores we found the perfect dress. She loved having her own photo shoot at our temple.

Her baptism day was so special! She was so happy, and we are so proud of the amazing girl that she is.