Happy Campers

I wanted to go camping one last time before it got too cold, so we headed up to the Fallen Leaf Campground near South Lake Tahoe at the end of September. Our friends, the Tidwells, came with us (Thanks guys!). We got there kind of late because Casey had to go play golf for work (I know, poor him) and we got a little lost, but we made it there and the boys set to work immediately making a fire and setting up camp. We had Glazed Apricot Pork chop/Chicken foil dinners which were yummy and then stayed up late telling stores, talking, and making s'mores. The next morning we had a delicious egg breakfast then set out to explore the lake. When we got back we cleaned up and headed out. It was a beautiful spot and I definately think we'll go there again.

Casey stoking the fire. It was pretty big

All the boys throwing rocks in the lake. I guess it never gets old :)
We couldn't resist taking a picture with such a beautiful background

Someone had abandoned this little row boat by the side of the lake, so the boys took it for a ride.

It turns out, the S.S. Minnow was abandoned for a reason, so the boys had to abandon ship.

Katie and I taking a turn. It wasn't long before we had to turn around unless we wanted to go swimming with the fishes :)

The very picturesque Fallen Leaf Lake

Adventures in Baby Food

I've always wanted to make my own baby food, I just never did. Well, now I do. I just decided to do it one day and used what I had on hand. I made carrots, peas, bananas, peaches, and blueberry applesauce. Since then I have made pears, sweet potatoes, green beans, and bananas with strawberries. I have so much fun with it and it is so easy. I don't know why I didn't try it sooner. I only buy entrees now (the ones with meat) and it feels pretty good knowing I'm saving us some money :)

Up, Up, and Away

Casey would tell me about going to the Hot Air Balloon races when he was little and lived in Reno, so I always wanted to go. We had thought about going, but Casey was in the middle of busy season and we weren't sure if we could pull it off. At 9:30 at night on Sept 10, Casey made a spur of the moment hotel reservation and we started the 2 hour drive by 10:00pm. We got there around 12pm and tried to sleep as much as we could before we woke up at 4:45 so we could see the Dawn Patrol. It was a short trip, but I'm so glad Casey made sure that we went. It was amazing seeing all of the balloons up in the sky and absolutely beautiful. It was a lot of fun too and the boys had a great time and were happy even though they had to get up so early. Thankfully they slept the whole ride home. I'm excited to go again!

The Dawn Patrol. Started at 5:30am!

It was early, but it was fun seeing the sunrise. Waiting for the Mass Ascension

Blowing up the balloons

They had a special fly over with red, white, and blue balloons in memory of 9/11

It looked like it was going to take forever for all of the balloons to blow up and get going, but all of the sudden they all blew up at once. It was one of the neatest things.

Benson waking up from his nap

The four of us

Just a few fun pics of the balloons

The boys with the balloons

All of the balloons in the air

We had to park at the UNR campus and they had all these flags on the lawn in memory of 9/11

After the Hot Air Balloon Races we went back to the hotel for breakfast, watched some ESPN, and had some fun! It was a great day!

Slumber Party At Our House

At the beginning of September, Jason and Ashley went to Hawaii, so we watched their kids for a week. It definately kept me busy! I felt like I was feeding, putting someone down for nap, or changing a diaper every minute of the day, but we managed to do a lot of fun stuff. I even ventured out with all four of them by myself one day and went swimming with our friend Ally. She was great and even provided snacks for the kids. Other than that, we stayed at home a lot, but I made sure to do some fun activities to keep them entertained and they played outside a lot too. Taking care of my two boys seems like a piece of cake now :)

Weston's bedroom after the first day.

Weston and Paisley playing with homemade playdough. This was one of Paisley's favorite things to do.
Poor little Spencer after the first day. We had gone swimming that day and he was a little worn out.

Finger painting. I made the recipe my mom used to make for us as kids and it was pretty fun.

Casey hanging out with the kids in the front yard

Benson doing his thing (exploring and finding a stick). He was great the whole time and allowed me to take care of everybody else. He got his time at night after everyone went to bed.

Fun in the Sun

Sacramento is really hot during the summer and we tried to take advantage of the heat/warm weather when we could. A few memorable pictures:

The Fountains had free train rides the last Wednesday of every month. We went about three times and Weston loved every minute of it.

Took advantage of our apartment pool before we moved
Weston started swimming by himself in floaties

Went to a few water parks

We both laughed every time the water hit him in the face :)

We went to the park quite a few times. Benson enjoyed hanging out and eating the grass.

We Are BYU Football

We went over to our friends the Wutkees to watch the first game of the season. We had a BBQ, the kids played, and we won. What more could you ask for? This was Benson's first offical football game, so it required pictures of him all dressed up in his BYU gear. Hopefully, our team will start playing a little better for the rest of the season. I know we'll be cheering for them. Go Cougars!

Benson all decked out in his BYU stuff

Weston was a little more interested in all the new toys than the game that day
When I was teaching Weston animal sounds. I would teach him how a cougar growls, but one day he had his own response for what a cougar says and has been saying it ever since. He makes us so proud!

Snoozy Cub

A few cute pictures of our little Benson Bear sleeping over the last few months.

Half A Year

6 Months have come and gone. If it keeps going this fast, Benson will be a year before we know it. This is what he is up to:

-Started crawling. He still scoots a lot, but is slowly but surely figureing out crawling.
-Started solid foods
-Drools like crazy
-Enjoys Weston's roughhousing more and more
-Sits up and can go from crawling or scooting to sitting up
-Is a little night owl
-Crawls up onto things like our bed, the fireplace, into our laps.
-Was 15lbs and 26 1/4in at his 6 month appointment

Benson on the big day

Benson the day before with his cousin Spencer while watching the BYU game.

Just Like Daddy II

Remember this outfit? I promised Casey that each of our sons would wear it (it was Casey's when he was a baby) and I don't like to break a promise, so here it is. He does look quite cute in it if I do say so myself :)

If you got them, flaunt them. He figured this was a good time to show off his muscles :)

Rice, Rice, Baby

Benson had his first bowl of rice cereal a few weeks ago. Since then we have been really busy and I haven't given it to him very much, but he likes it when we do. Here a few pics from the big day!

Here we go! First bite.

Looking like he's not too sure

Casey's turn. It always gets messier at this point :)
One happy baby. Success!

Aunt Charity's Beach

We got to take advantage of Charity's beach access a couple of Saturdays ago. Jason and Ashley and Chris and Ally came with us. We had sandwiches, fruit, and Charity brought cupcakes. The water was a little choppy, but still plenty warm and we had a fun day.

Benson getting acquainted with the sand. They got along just fine :)

Chris and Casey playing wiffle ball
Weston and Ally building a sand pile. Weston really likes Ally and associates Target with Chris and Ally because we got their wedding present there.

Enjoying the water