You are my Sunshine

November 2011

2011-11-30T22:38:00.000-08:00

November:

Griffins 3rd birthday

Our 10th Anniversary :)

Bens parents came out for Thanksgiving

baby cousin Brandon is blessed

lots of fun with the all the Barkers

put my tree up before Thanksgiving (and then didn't decorate it for weeks)

Griffin still dressing up in fire attire and making me call "911" a million times a day

Grey getting up on his hands and knees and starting to crawl

meeting Santa at the library

getting SUPER excited to go to UT and ID for Christmas!

G & S

2011-11-06T22:26:00.000-08:00

Griffin & Sladie

Just takin' his lady friend for a ride in his "vehicle"

SO adorable these two

3

2011-11-03T16:35:00.000-07:00

My little Griffin turned 3!

All I've been hearing about for the past year was how he wanted a fire truck cake for his birthday. He somehow found a youtube video of a lady making this exact cake and has watched it everyday since he turned 2. It was the first thing he asked for when he woke up his birthday morning. Good thing I made it. As you can see it was a hit.

The day was fun and full of fire. Ben came home in the afternoon and we gave him his birthday present which was...

a Fire truck (shocker).

He LOVES it and for some reason refers to it as his "vehicle". Later in the day we went to Chuck E. Cheese's and had a great time playing games and choking down the worst pizza I've ever had (seriously?! why is it SO bad?!). Then it was home to celebrate with some friends and attempt to eat that cake. Overall I think Griffin had a great day. I will say this every year but I can't believe he's 3. Its just flown by and it makes me sad and happy at the same time. He's so sassy, stubborn and most of the time a little stinker, but man I love that kid. Happy Birthday to my little first born and the best 3 year old I know.

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T23:56:00.000-07:00

Halloween 2011 was fabulous. We did all the regular sort of things...made caramel apples, sugar cookies and all sorts of yummy soups and fall foods, went to the ward Halloween party and did some trick-or-treating to name a few.

I absolutely LOVE this time of year.

I know its a HUGE surprise that Griffin was a fire fighter

Grey was a skunk this year.

He was the cutest little stinker I've ever seen

Griffin and his buddy Andrew- such a cute killer whale costume

He takes his fire man job very seriously...

Grey and his friend Wesley as Yoda- these two were so adorable

Grey was so cozy in his costume he fell asleep both nights we were out

Griffin and Penny as "the groblin king" otherwise know as David Bowie from Labryinth

SO hilarious- loved this costume. Griffin was not amused and didn't like Penny in this get up

Griffin & Sladie as a sailor- so cute

Bates Nut Farm

2011-10-30T21:34:00.001-07:00

I had been hearing about this Bates Nut Farm place for awhile now so I thought it was time we checked it out. We went last Saturday and met Ben's brother Brian and his wife Rachel. It was a really cute place with lots of Fall festivities to be had...tractor hayrides, pumpkin picking, costume contests, pony rides and lots of delicious fall food. The only thing that did not make me happy was the 95 degree weather. No joke. Of course I dressed my poor kids in long sleeves and jeans for the day, because of course it is the end of October for petes sake! I should always remember how stinkin' hot it is here in the Fall. The heat really did a number on Griffin and he was in true grumpy form because of it. Once we got ice-cream on our way out he perked up a little, but the picture taking was rough with him. I do foresee a new Barker Fall family tradition of visiting this darling place though, and next time I'll just remember to dress everyone in their swimming suits.

Grandparents & D-land

2011-10-23T23:29:00.000-07:00

We were lucky to have my parents come visit at the beginning of the month. We had a grand ole' time as usual. Lots of shopping, eating out and we even hit up Disneyland for the heck of it.

Grey's first time on "Its a small world"

(he looks petrified- I guess it is a little creepy)

He thought he was a pretty cool guy hanging out in the stroller puttin his feet up most of the day

G on a fire truck. So weird

riding the train

Griffin crashed hard around 4 pm after a crazy tantrum

When he woke up he was in the silliest mood I've seen in a long time

I told him to smile and this is what he gave me-

his smile is crazy and makes me laugh

Here he is thinking he was making Splash Mountain light

up every time someone dropped from the top

Bet you didn't know there is a fire station at Disneyland...

Well, now you do.

You can thank me later for that little tid bit.

I'm pretty sure we could have just spent all day in here and

he would have been the happiest kid at Disney

Grey 4-6 months

2011-10-23T22:49:00.001-07:00

This little guy is now 6 months old

It has gone SO fast the second time around, I can't believe he is already a half a year old!

He's such a sweet babe

He is:

still throwing up buckets, rolling all over the place, is obsessed with any cell phone within his reach, is nick-named Bunzy or Buzz, loves his blankie, can find and put in his own binki, is learning how to sit on his own, LOVES watching Griffin play, is in the beginning phase of teething, loves to jump and only has eyes for his mom :)

Grey 3 months

2011-10-17T16:52:00.000-07:00

Dr. Barker was kind enough to give Grey his 3 mth check-up this time around

oh Griffin

2011-10-12T20:44:00.000-07:00

Oh Griffin

What am I going to do with this child...

Sometimes he's so sweet and hilarious and other times I could strangle him

new things he yells to me:

"You don't tell me what to do!"

"You leave me alone!"

Poor guy, he doesn't realize yet that I'll be telling him what to do and will be all up in his business for the next 15+ years (and lets get real- probably way longer than that!)

He also constantly tells me

"I'm mad at you!"

and if he's in time out he yells...

"I'm so mad at time out!"

But then a minute later he'll come up to me and say

"Mommy, your pretty"

so that kinda helps

He's still all things FIRE obsessed. He calls 911 on his fake phone about 50 times a day and tells me there is a cat stuck up a tree he needs to rescue.

He has a huge hat collection (fire hats, hard hats, knight hats etc...)that he must lay out on the couch first thing in the morning

He LOVES his baby brother and is so sweet with him

He started "preschool" with a few little boys from our ward and LOVES it

I heard him telling a lady in the fabric store "Thats Julia, my mommy. She's crazy"

My little boy will be 3 soon (although if you ask him how old he usually says 16)

I can't believe how fast he is growing up and I love him. Sass and all.

my boys

2011-10-09T15:13:00.000-07:00

Love these two little stinkers

{Griffin 2.5 years}

{Grey 4 mths}

Grey 2 months

2011-10-09T12:02:00.001-07:00

When I was home in Idaho for Grey's blessing my cousins wife Jessica Baum took these first 3 pics of Grey. I feel like he looks so much older than a 2 month old. I love them.

I also had my friend Janeese Summers snap a few, as I always do whenever I go home. She always takes such sweet pics of my kids. Love them all.

Newborn Grey

2011-09-30T11:20:00.001-07:00

*pics by my sweet & talented friend Lisa Webb {@ lisawebbfoto.com}

Padres game

2011-09-30T10:32:00.000-07:00

I'm SO behind on this blog. Seriously people. My goal this weekend is to get caught up.

Anywho, here we go...

A few weeks (or months?!) ago we went to a Padres game with the Stubbs family. It was a ton of fun and the kids were in rare form that night. Free food, tickets, great seats and fabulous company= a GREAT summer evening!

Griffin and Slade had mad skills dancing on the table that evening. It was beyond hilarious. These pictures don't capture how funny they were.

I was laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes.

We can never get a half decent family photo

G and Ben checking out all the construction downtown.

Griffin really loves the cranes everywhere.

Did you know I LOVE these curls? I do.

Blessing

2011-08-02T23:10:00.001-07:00

Grey's Blessing Day

July 3, 2011

We blessed Grey while we were in Idaho. It was so wonderful to be able to share the day with so many members of our families. All of my brothers and my dad were able to help with the blessing along with Ben's dad and brother Richard. We also had lots of cousins and extended family members there. Our house was definitely full of love. It was so sweet and special. We love this little guys so much and we feel beyond blessed to have him in our family.

Idaho

2011-08-02T21:25:00.000-07:00

We spent 2 weeks in Idaho over the 4th of July like we usually do. We had the BEST time, like we usually do. Idaho in the summer is beautiful. My entire immediate family was there and tons of my cousins and aunts and uncles. We did fireworks, BBQS,went to the splash park, blessed Grey, ate tons of delish food (Carrie-Anns Gelati anyone?!)and just spent quality time together.

IT WAS HEAVEN.

Griffin was SO excited to fly in an airplane to see everyone. I bought him this hat the day before we left. He called it his "Idaho hat" and seriously didn't take it off the whole trip. I forgot my camera charger so only got pictures from the first few days. I was SO mad at myself for forgetting the charger. The real kicker is that 2 weeks later as I was re-packing to fly home I found the charger in my bag. Nice. So I don't have many pictures of our trip- but we will always have the memories.

After we landed and my parents picked us up from the airport Griffin was yawing in the car and my mom asked him if he was ready to go to bed. He thought for a minute and said, "No, my bed is far away"- little smarty pants. Needless to say he didn't get away with not going to bed. BUT he did get away with lots of other stuff.

We spent a ton of time in the front and back yards watching the kids play and doing fireworks. I like my dad in the background hangin out on his motorcycle in his pajama pants.

If I had a dollar for every pop this kid drank in those 2 weeks I'd be a millionaire. Don't judge me. Blame it on my parents.

Griffin, Van and Jack watching my dad do a

mini firework show for them

Once again don't judge me. My dad let Griffin "drive" his truck home from church. Only in a small town right?

Blame it on my dad.

The uncles playing with G in the yard.

Love this action shot of Joe

The only picture I got at the parade before my camera died. As you can imagine the fire trucks blew Griffins mind this year. He also took a trip to the fire house with my dad one night.

del mar fair

2011-06-27T16:19:00.001-07:00

Last Saturday Ben's brother Brian called to see if we wanted to go to the fair. We weren't sure we wanted to go on a Saturday and brave the crowds, but then he told us there was a fire truck expo and we knew we HAD to take Griffin. I'm glad we did- we had the best Saturday we've had as a family in months. It was so fun to watch how excited Griffin was to see all the fire trucks. He got up close to a bunch of them and got to talk to real fire fighters. We spent most of the day at the fire expo, but did venture out to take him on a few rides and of course to eat some deep fried food. We ended the day by watching the demolition derby. Both the boys were gems, which is unusual especially since Griffin skipped his nap. Best day with my boys.

grandparents

2011-06-27T16:15:00.001-07:00

cookies

2011-06-17T16:37:00.001-07:00

I've always wanted a daughter. Its no secret. Someone I can bake and shop with and who will want to come home to me for the Holidays. It's probably not going to happen and I'm getting to the point where I'm ok with that. What I'm learning is that I can do some of those things with my little guys. Griffin helped me make cookies the other night and we had the BEST time together. He was absolutely darling and was a big help in the kitchen. I wore my apron and so of course he wanted to wear one. He looks pretty cute in pink. He loved to "read" me the ingredients and ate way too much dough. It was a night I won't forget. So now that I've got the baking thing down...on to dance classes and shopping.

1. month

2011-05-20T16:25:00.000-07:00

first weeks

2011-05-19T13:08:00.000-07:00

We are all SO in love with this little guy

His first few weeks home have been an adjustment (of course)

but have also been so wonderful-

there is nothing like those first few weeks of having a new baby at home

Its such a special time that goes by way too fast

"Siretrucks and tools"....

2011-05-19T11:33:00.000-07:00

What this little dude has been up to since we came home with baby Grey...

A few fun beach outings

Swimming with dad while we watch from the side

dressing up like his 'Mart-mar"

(which in this case is his Grandma Griffin)

He's also been doing a lot of work around the house

with his new tool set

And most importantly still OBSESSING about firetrucks...

or "siretrucks" as he says

Here he is watching his fire truck movie...in his fire coat, with his fire truck and holding his fireman...seriously?!

And one day right outside our house a

real fire truck pulled up

It was his best day in a long time

brothers

2011-05-18T10:26:00.000-07:00

This little dude continues to surprise me:

To be honest I was dreading how Griffin would act towards the new baby. He didn't want Ben or I to even look at another baby or child let alone hold one, so we were scared to death. Well, little Griffin Barker somehow is completely in LOVE with the baby. It still blows my mind. He hasn't said or done anything even remotely mean towards the babe. He talks sweet baby talk to him, wants to help me feed him, change his diaper and hold him. Now, this might not seem like such a big deal, but all of this is coming from the little boy who can't handle ANY change. He cried and threw the hugest tantrum when we got a new fridge and they came to take out the old one, cried for an hour when he realized I got a new washer and dryer and still can't handle our new chair or anything new that we get around the house. SO...its crazy to me that he's ok with another little person coming home with us and taking away my attention from him. Its like he just knows its his little brother and is ok with that. I have a feeling these two will be the very BEST of friends and I hope Griffin continues to surprise me.

meet Grey

2011-05-14T14:00:00.001-07:00

39 weeks

waiting to go in for my c-section

4.22.11

Grey Benjamin Barker

7 lbs 3 oz

20.5 inches

first time Griffin met Grey

he loved him at first sight (which was a shocker)

it also helped that Grey brought Griffin some presents :)

first family photo

Grandma Barker and the boys

LOVE this picture

We are so blessed to have this sweet little

baby in our family

We love him beyond words

Sunset

2011-04-19T15:21:00.000-07:00

Saturday night we went down and ate dinner at the beach and watched the sunset. I really do love living here. It was the perfect end to our last Saturday together as just the three of us before we welcome this new little baby into our family.

It was perfect.

Del Mar Villas

2011-04-19T15:05:00.000-07:00

My cousins were here a few weeks ago staying in the most amazing Villas in Del Mar (no seriously...they are beyond amazing. I tried to move in). So of course G and I went down a few times to see them and to take advantage of the perfect weather and pool. Griffin loved playing with all his "cousins" and asked asked to play with them all week. When I would tell him we were going to see them he always said "I'm SO happy!"...it was so cute. Ben and I got a sitter one night and went out to a wonderful dinner with the adults to celebrate my Aunts birthday. It was just a beautiful week.

April Showers

2011-04-14T15:16:00.000-07:00

I don't mean to brag...but I do have some of the BEST friends ever. My Carlsbad friends and my OC friends are some of the very best people I know and I'm grateful to have them in my life. Both groups threw me a little "celebration" to welcome this little babe. It is my second boy, so we kept it small and simple- but both showers were SO much fun and I'm SO grateful to them all. Thanks girls- I LOVE all your guts.

Both groups gave me money towards my double stroller

(I'm SOOO excited to get it!)

Above: some of my CB friends

Britney, me (36 weeks), Heather, Emily, Krista & Shanda

My OC friends....

so happy they all drove down to see me

Barbara, Patience, Brooke, Me, Sara, Melissa & Camille

After dinner we took a million of these pictures...most were hilarious and we were all laughing so hard. I'm sure people outside the restaurant thought we were drunk. This is the most tame so its the only one I'll show :)

It was such a FUN night!

March

2011-03-29T15:34:00.001-07:00

We took G to the Zoo for the last time in a while. Our passes are up and since I'll be having a baby soon we probably won't renew right away. It was a sweltering 80+ degree day so we didn't stay too long, but had fun the short time we were there.

Looking at the Polar Bears

We also had a visit from the Leprechaun on the 17th! Griffin was so cute when he saw the green footprints the led downstairs and was really excited to follow them...

It got even better when he realized the Leprechaun left him a pot of gold candy :)

"Ben Barker"

2011-03-08T14:09:00.000-08:00

Griffin really loves his dad. He's his favorite person in the world- hands down. He also has been calling him "Ben Barker" the past little while (he heard me call him that once and thought it was funny). Everywhere we go he tells strangers "My daddy's name is Ben Barker"...its kind of hilarious. He wants to do everything his dad does. Shave, shower, wear his shoes, eat a "meat sandwich" with his dad, you name it.

Its also a great trick to get him to do things as long as Ben does it first:).

Alvin & the chipmunks anyone?

We celebrated Ben's 35th Birthday this month. We went to dinner with friends & family and then he went race car driving with his friends. He's a leap year baby so it always gets a little tricky and he's a little sensitive about it, but I think he had a great day. Happy Birthday to the BEST husband and father we could ever ask for!

ps- I'm not sure whats going on in this picture....

Legoland

2011-02-24T13:35:00.000-08:00

Griffin and I have a pass to Legoland. I haven't been for a little while but finally took him and he's tall enough to do a bunch of the rides now! We had a great day together. He's SO into Fire trucks these days (and ambulances & police cars)- Seriously, one day I'm going to count how many times he says"fire truck" in one day.

It will be in the hundreds. I'm not joking.

Thankfully Legoland is full of this kind of stuff. The highlight was a fire truck show where firefighters put out a fake fire. It was a good day for little G. I am loving spending time with just him before our new babe arrives in about 7 weeks. Our days of just us are numbered.

Tide pools

2011-02-06T13:14:00.000-08:00

In February we went up to OC to spend the day with some of Bens brothers. His younger brother Tim and his family are moving to WA so we wanted to see them and get the boys together to play one last time. Griffin only has 2 cousins- Issac and Owen (there are more on the way though...all boys of course!) so we are sad they are moving and that we won't get to see them on a regular basis. We had a great day and went to the Little Corona Tide Pools. The boys played their hearts out and were the dirtiest I've EVER seen them.

We all had a great time.

Issac (4) and Griffin (2)

Love this picture

33 Years

2011-01-31T21:00:00.000-08:00

I turned 33 a week or so ago. I'm ok with it. I think 33 will be a good year for me. We rode the train down to Old Town San Diego for the Mormon Battalion celebration. That part was just ok, not as much fun as we hoped,but it was still great to be out on such a beautiful day and to spend it with family & friends. What WAS a lot of fun was riding the train. Of course Griffin couldn't get over it and has asked everyday since if we can go back and ride it. It was a pretty easy way to get down to SD and the beach scenery was beautiful. Then during naps I went and got a mani-pedi and later we celebrated with friends over dinner and bowling. It was a great birthday :)

This was the scene at one of the stops, which of course was

a huge bonus for all the kids:

Ben with all 5 kids

Griffin filled himself up on rock candy and soda

that his dad bought him. The sugar high was amazingly fun

Bowling....

It was cosmo-bowl or something like that and the fog machine was seriously out of control.

It was like the "Smoke Monster" from LOST joined us

Oh ya, and bowling 7 mths pregnant is not recommended. I used stomach muscles I haven't used in months and after 2 games was broken. Sad but true.

My gift from Emily & Chels

Isn't this a beautiful piece of art? bahahah....

It really was just a pain-in-the-butt way to get me a big gift certificate.

SOOO fun to haul this thing in to return it with Griffin in tow...

thanks ladies. I still love you anyway:)

Jan. 17

2011-01-17T14:33:00.000-08:00

Yes, its been beautiful here most of January and we've been taking advantage of it. I have a love/hate relationship with the beach. I know I should just love it, and I DO when I'm there. A lot. But I really hate the clean-up when I get home and finding sand in every crevasse of my car and house. Anyway- I still do love it and LOVE that in January we can enjoy the beautiful outdoors. Take that cold wintery snowy places :)

This face is hilarious. And ohhh so dirty.

Ben helped the kids build a "hot-tub"

It was a huge success

Some of the worlds cutest kids

Rockin' Out

2011-01-09T14:10:00.000-08:00

Griffin saw the Rockband drums in the closet and insisted on playing. He also insisted on standing to use the petal while playing most of the time. His singing was also hilarious (and actually better than Bens, sorry love ;). It was funny because he got all embarrassed when I brought out the camera to take pictures. I guess he doesn't want to show off all that raw talent just yet. Thankfully I managed to take a few before he got too put out.

Ringin' in 2011

2011-01-01T15:19:00.000-08:00

We spent New Years at the Adams house this year. We ate a crap load of Fondue. It was beyond delicious. We seriously ate for probably 2 hours straight. It was a good night. Played a bunch of games, laughed really hard as usual, stayed up WAY too late and left feeling bloated and had crazy dreams all night from eating so much. It was amazing.

Krista & Chelsey

(K really loved this picture so I had to use it for her ;)

Ben and the McHenrys

The boys

It was special that Daniel wore his Justin Bieber t-shirt

to ring in the New Year. Pure class that guy.

The girls (minus Shanda...where were you?)

ps. I obviously didn't get the grey memo

Christmas 2010

2010-12-30T14:24:00.000-08:00

We hosted Christmas at our house this year with the Barker family. It was so nice to have them here and to be able to spend time with them. We had fun doing the regular sort of things...lots of eating, game playing and just having fun hanging out together. It was also fun for Griffin to have his only cousins here too. It took a little bit to learn to share his new toys, but he really does love his cousins and they had a lot of fun playing together.

Ben reading scriptures Christmas Eve

Opening Christmas pajamas

Showing them off with his cousin Owen

Its nearly impossible to get a decent picture of

these 3 busy boys...

Owen (18mths), Isaac (4), Griffin (2)

ps. I really like this picture of Tim ;)

Opening presents from the siblings Christmas Eve

It was so cute after Griffin opened this present from Brian and Rachel he looked at it for a minute

and said, "It's me!"....and it was the cutest picture of him on the beach from their wedding. We love it!

Later after the kids went to bed we brought out the presents. We got G this train table and knew it would blow his mind in the morning. It totally did and he has been OBSESSED with it ever since. He actually didn't open any other presents until hours later that morning. I would like to thank you Mr. train table...my new babysitter, love of my life, BEST money I've ever spent!:)

Grandma & Grandpa Barker

Ben and his precious watch winder. Any of you who know Ben also know this brings him much happiness

Hours later opening his fire truck and other presents

Reading new books with Grandma and Dad

Very Festive

2010-12-18T20:09:00.000-08:00

Dan & Chelsey hosted our annual friend Christmas party this year. It was hilarious I must say. Some good white elephants, great food and even better company. Oh and of course some mighty fine sweaters and festive wear as usual.

Here is Chelsey opening her white elephant...which happened to be original "Ben Barker" trading cards. Its a VERY long story that has come about over many years (and I wish I could tell it because it's hilarious....) the moment was priceless and

we were all laughing with tears.

Ben felt super classy all evening. Nothing like a turtleneck to make you feel good.

The boys-

ps. I'm not sure what my husband is doing in this picture.

I'm also not sure why I keep posting pictures like this and embarrassing myself.

I guess if you know him you'll understand :)

The girls

Thanksgiving

2010-11-28T23:36:00.000-08:00

We hosted Thanksgiving this year. My whole family came to CA (except Joe & Ashley who were greatly missed). After braving a huge snow storm to get here (seriously- it was a blizzard for days and they still drove out. My dad is one hardcore roads-man :). Once they got out of Idaho and Utah the weather was great and we all had a great time. Ben took the boys out surfing everyday, we played lots of games, had a bonfire on the beach one night, ate way too much food as usual, got in some good shopping and just had fun spending time together. It was so wonderful and I was so sad to see them go. Benoni even ended the trip with a case of the chicken pox...thankfully we all have had a case of them and G has been vaccinated ;)

Daniel, Ben G, Ben, David

It was a first for some of these Idaho boys and they loved it

Griffin with his aunt Leslie

Playing with Grandpa

The Fam

Griffin helping Benoni play games

(or cheat as he usually does...)

The girls

A very Duma Party

2010-11-06T14:30:00.000-07:00

We had a little birthday party for G to celebrate him coming into his manhood. It was construction themed (of course), with hard hats, dirt cupcakes, construction cones and a big birthday cake in the back of a Duma. What more could a kid of two want? We were going to have it at the park but that didn't happen (long story)- so we moved to the house last minute. We ate, opened presents, the kids played and we had a great time celebrating with our friends and family...

2.

2010-11-03T15:23:00.001-07:00

Today my baby turns 2

I still can't believe it, and I'm guessing I will say that every year

He has more energy than any other kid I know and challenges me in EVERYTHING we do,

BUT I guess those are some of the reasons why

I love him so much.

He's not an easy going kid, but he is still adorable and has such a funny personality

I love this little guy to pieces and feel

blessed to be his mom

Here are some things about little Lou

I want to remember at this age:

-his favorite song is "wheels on the bus" and he sings it to himself in his crib often

-obsessed with all things "DUMA!" and also loves trains

-favorite movie right now is Cars...he's definitely all boy:)

-likes Pablo from Backyardigans and all things "Tom"

-favorite food is Pizza and also "beeps" (which is edamame)

-loves all things sweet- just like his mom

-life might end with out his "blanks" and "binks"

-really loves our cat Sophie and tries to carry her around

-actually loves going to nursery

-yells "mmmmmine" and "nnnnnoo!" way too much

-loves to talk about "mama's car" and "dada's car"

-loves wearing socks and always has to have them on

-is definitely a daddy's boy

We love you our sweet baby boy. Happy Birthday!

Halloweekend Fun

2010-10-30T13:49:00.000-07:00

We had a fun and busy Halloween week.

We started it off with a night of pumpkin carving

with a bunch of friends.

We ate delicious food and ate way too many treats.

Later in the week we joined our ward for our trunk-or-treat...

Here is G and his darling little tiger friend Jackson

More trunk-or-treating with Heathers stake the next night.

This is the ONLY picture of Griffin wearing his hood

and I'm glad he's also roaring like a dinosaur in full Halloween spirit...

Now, G is not one to obey and likes to be a

"free spirit" you might say,

BUT when he realized if he took his bag and said

"trick-or-treat!" to people and they gave him candy?!! It pretty much blew his mind and he hit every car possible.

It might have been one of his best nights yet

His favorite thing to do was to look in his bag and see all his candy and then try to get us to open it.

As usual he took his dad for a ride

and probably ate 20 pieces of candy by the time it was over.

Later we went trick-or-treating with the Adams family

(they all dressed in adorable Mario costumes)

Love G in this picture even though his eyes are closed.

He was too cute in his little dinosaur costume.

Its so fun to do these kinds of things for

the first time with him.

He didn't get it last year so it was so fun to get him

ready in his costume and just watch him.

I just couldn't get enough.

Party

2010-10-29T14:49:00.000-07:00

The Manvilles had a Halloween party this year.

We played games and ate tons of yummy food (caramel apples, caramel corn & homemade root beer to name just a few)-it was a lot of fun!

Ben, Chelsey and I dressed up as "sister wives" to Daniel.

It was probably something we shouldn't have done,

but we did it anyway :).

My husband is such a good sport and will pretty much dress up as anything. You have to be pretty secure in your manhood

to pretend to be a sister wife with two other girls and wear a really ugly dress and a wig.

My favorite thing in this picture is Chelsey's shoes.

She also was freakishly good at doing "polyg" hair...

The Manvilles

Anthony & Burt

I think their costumes speak for themselves

Shanda after she made her delish homemade root beer

bobbing for apples

"Spud Harvest"

2010-10-25T15:41:00.000-07:00

We spent a week at home in Idaho during "spud harvest"

Yes, in Idaho you get a week out of school (back in my day it was almost 2 weeks!)- to help the farmers harvest the potatoes- so my mom was off of work! It is my FAVORITE time of year and little G and I are always in attendance. I love going home in the Fall. We had the BEST time.

I left Griffin for a few days with my parents and went to Park City for a girls weekend. A bunch of our HS friends planned to come, but in the end it was just 4 of us. We still had a blast. I LOVE these girls so much and feel so grateful to have them in my life. Park City was BEAUTIFUL as usual. I love that place.

Lunch with my "Duma"

2010-10-13T15:13:00.000-07:00

Griffin is obsessed with all things "Duma"

You might be wondering what a duma is... well somehow its a dump truck, tractor, bulldozer or any combination of big machinery. I don't know where he came up with the word, but he's beyond obsessed. It's the first thing he asks for when he gets up in the morning and we spend most of our days looking for them or watching them work at construction sites.

Sometimes lunch can be hard...but I found when you bring

a Duma in to help you can get it done pretty efficiently ;)

Last Hurrah

2010-10-02T13:50:00.000-07:00

Our Disneyland passes expire this month :(. Even though we moved and are farther away now, I'm still sad about it. It was always so much fun to take Griffin up for the day.

I'm sure we'll renew at some point,

but we are going to take a little break for now.

I am glad that we got to go again while it's decorated for Halloween...its my absolute FAVORITE time of year.

We had a GREAT time.

Griffin loved riding the train, Dumbo, Its a Small World and playing in Toon Town... and equally hated Pirates and the Haunted house.

It was a beautiful day, no lines, time with my little family,

and I ended the evening with a big ole' caramel apple.

Doesn't get much better than that.

lately

2010-09-21T15:15:00.001-07:00

This little hambone has been having way too much fun lately...

Griffin & Amelia

He loves looking at himself in the mirror

and thinks he's pretty funny

He also loves to wear his cowboy hat while brushing his teeth

Playing at the Kid Museum at Balboa Park with the Adams Fam

Griffin & his girlfriend Penny

(or "Pen" as he calls her- they are too cute!)

Riding the train with Janeen & Christian

I thought this was funny-

He lined all of his cars, trains and tractors up...