October

We had a great General Conference weekend!

These pictures don't do the fall colors justice. We just love the changing of the season!

Grandma and Grandpa got Lily this beautiful Rapunzel dress, so I found a wig to complete the look! 

Brielle wanted to be a ghost. I'm glad Carter could re-use our pumpkin outfit :)

Time to Trick or Treat!

Love my new tights!

Right before the Halloween parade....by the end we had filled all three buckets with candy!

The girls chose these designs...pretty cute!

Carter stole my sunglasses at the pumpkin patch!

Carter's birthday breakfast!

We love our Carter boy! He is always on the move. He loves to bounce on his toes or knees, point out construction vehicles, eat snacks, watch Nintendo, play digital games on any device, read Little Blue Truck, swim, climb the bunk bed ladder, and say the meal prayer. 

For the longest time he would include "birthday cake" in his prayer and then would ask everyone what kind they liked....and he would always say "I like PINK!" We convinced him that sharing a Twix candy cake with Daddy was a good plan for his birthday.

He also got a birthday sundae at Red Robin

Old Navy dog on display

At HersheyPark in the Dark, playing with leaves, riding the rides, getting some candy!

And to prove it's not always happy, here he is sobbing that the syrup has dripped off his pancake onto the plate 😂

A Special September

Putting their heads together for some family cuteness!

Carter started Soccer. He has fun with it!

At Brielle's baptism photo shoot....

Daddy did a great job with her photos!

Can't believe she's Eight!! We love Brielle's fun personality; she's friendly to all and makes friends easily. She likes to read, do crafts, play with friends, watch Daddy play the Nintendo, help in the kitchen, play piano, and ice skate. 

Found this at the store, so funny!

Last year I made Brielle a rainbow layer cake. I had all six layers cooling on the counter, and Carter reached up and took a big handful of the purple layer! So her cake only had five layers. I guess I didn't learn my lesson, and once again had her cake cooling within Carter's reach. 😬 She got a smaller cake than originally planned!

We had Brielle's birthday at the gym. The kids loved climbing, jumping, tumbling and bouncing. She was so excited to have so many friends there!

My first real attempt at a making a video with iMovie!

The following weekend was really special with Brielle's baptism. Lots of family and friends were able to come visit and be a part of the program. Mama Judy and Marian from TX,  Grandma and Grandpa from UT,  Eric, Natalie and Estelle from NYC, Amy's family from DC, Jared's family from NY, the Clydes from Allentown, and several friends from the ward.

For the special musical number, Lily and Michal sang "When I am Baptized" accompanied by Grandpa on the guitar! It sounded great, and I could tell Lily felt the Spirit as she sang.

Brielle's Activity Day leader made these adorable cookies for us!

The donuts were supposed to look like "8's" also :)

So fun to all be together, that doesn't happen often!

After the baptism most of us went to Chocolate World and then played at our house. I made Cafe Rio burritos for everyone (22 people!!) and then we went to my Symphony performance...It was a bunch of John Williams movie music as well as his Tuba concerto! It was a fun night. Lauren's van got a flat tire so that was a little wrinkle but everything worked out. 

August Visitors

Neil and Rebecca's family came to visit! They spent a couple days in New York with Eric, Natalie and Estelle and saw some NYC sights before meeting us at the Crayola Factory in Easton.

I like these next two photos because Lily's smile is normal...she's so happy to see her cousins! We made a bunch of art creations together.

The giant Light Brite is always a hit!

That evening we drove back to Hershey and had dinner and treats at a restaurant. The next day we went to the Farmer's Market in downtown. The kids loved painting rocks, getting their faces painted, browsing the items for sale, and playing 9 Square in the Air.

Then we went to the Turkey Hill Experience and ate lots of yummy ice cream!

Sunday we had a nice time at church, then Monday we played Nintendo, went to Duck Donuts, Chocolate World, and a little bit of HersheyPark. We did more HersheyPark on Tuesday which everyone loved! Kaden was adventurous and tried every ride he could! It's a good thing he was just barely tall enough to do many of the coasters and thrill rides. Brielle was glad to have someone to go with her on some of her favorites. I didn't get any photos at the water park, but that was a lot of fun too. The bigger kids and dads were able to try the new mat racing ride before a cloudburst shut the waterpark down for a little while. 

 We finished out the summer going to the gardens with Lily's friend from preschool Sophie....

Going to Build a Bear...

Carter loved giving his Chase pup a bath

Lily got a rainbow unicorn, Brielle got a beautiful white horse, Carter got Chase from Paw Patrol

Going to a Family Fun Festival at the park where we saw friends Tanzeela....

and Olivia...

HersheyPark with Jared and Lauren's family...

So glad they could come visit us!!

(this is from the first week of school, we got someone to watch Carter and while the girls were at school we went to the waterpark and loved it!!)

A big day for the girls! Lily was so excited to ride the bus. They did great and like their teachers and classmates. Should be a great year!