Gracie's Birthday in pictures

Getting ready to open her present from Nanny and Grandpa.

The "Strawberry Shortcake" cake that Gracie had requested. I was pleased with how it turned out. It was the perfect balance between having a really special cake and being really simple.Getting ready to blow out the candles!As she blew out the candles, Gracie leaned a little too far forward and burned her forehead (not bad, just enough for us to see a reaction). It was kind of funny.

My Birthday

My 29th birthday was on Friday. It didn't disappoint. I had a beautiful day and felt loved by so many people. Some highlights of my day were...
Justin making french toast for me in the morning

Consuming some of the delicious Dulce de Leche cheesecake I had made the day before. (I'll have to post the recipe... it was great).
Going out to dinner with Justin (didn't take a picture). Taking the kids to Treatsylvania (trick or treat at the farm). The last activity was a cool local thing where the kids knock on some doors that are really close together so they don't get too tired. The doors were about every 5 or 10 feet. Gracie went as a ballerina and Gunner went as a cow. I only got one of Gracie, but I'll get more at our upcoming Halloween events.

Balmy October

Our neighbor gave us this little green turtle sandbox last week and the kids wanted to put some water in it. It was about 4:30 in the afternoon and the next thing I knew Gracie's swimsuit was on, Gunner's pants were off (he's wearing a long sleeved onesie), and they were acting like crazy kids on a warm October day. I can't believe how nice the weather has been- but I'm not going to complain. It really did feel like a summer day (except the freezing hose water was not one bit tempting to me).

CSU Homecoming Parade

On Friday we went to the homecoming parade. We went to this parade last year as well. We got a bunch of candy and saw some cool floats, dancers, marching bands, cam the ram (the school's live Ram mascot), scary people advertising haunted houses, and prancing horses. I was the embarrassing and annoying mom calling attention to the people handing out candy to not forget my children. Hey, it worked. Gunner's favorite part was his balloon and the horses. Gracie loved scrambling to the ground to get candy and also loved the tacky beads that a high school cheerleader gave her (I had to put my foot down when she tried to wear them to church today).

Below are all the friends who were with us (and their moms of course)

Cozy Cow Dairy

The day after the pumpkin patch we went to the "Cozy Cow Dairy" in Windsor (not far from Fort Collins). A girl in our ward organized it and we ended up having a group of around 50 people that went (counting parents and kids over 2). I wish I had grabbed a few pictures of the giant Holsteins that came in to be milked. They gave the kids milk and cheese curds for a snack and showed them another petting zoo. Gunner wanted to bring this calf home (and I did too). I tried to get a better picture of Gunner but I always seem to get the back of his head because he is always running to the next thing.

If you are wondering where Gracie is, she found a nice mother we know who was buying all of her children ice cream in the gift shop and convinced her that her mom (me) said she could get a scoop of ice cream. In Gracie's defense, it was good ice cream and she was nice to share with Gunner and me.

Punkin Patch

I love it when people say "punkin" instead of pumpkin. I love pumpkins. I always feel happy to have a pumpkin or two (or five) around the house to make the house feel like fall. We went with pre-school on another field trip to a local pumpkin patch. They have a petting zoo, hayrides for $1, and a pumpkin patch. It was a lot of fun.
Gunner sitting up on a wagon. I thought he was going to jump in with the pig that was there. He kept going back to see it and pet it. He has such a fascination with all animals. I'd say more than the average child. He is going to love being Justin's helper in the vet clinic one day.
Gracie and her preschool friends (minus one who was there but camera shy). They had fun picking out pumpkins, eating snacks, going on the hayride and picking out pumpkins. Gracie picked out the smallest pumpkin that was there. She loves everything baby sized.

Don't Worry, BEE happy

We went on a little field trip with pre-school to the CSU flower gardens to look for bees and then went to a little honey shop in town that had a hive behind glass that the girls could look at. It was a lot of fun and we love the girls we do pre-school with.

Wishin' and hopin' and thinkin' and prayin'...

Every once in awhile I'm transported to a different life when my world revolved around singing all day long. I'm filled with happy memories of performing at rest homes, assemblies, Disneyland, and Christmas parties. I hear certain music, my body strangely remembers choreography learned over a decade ago, and I wish to be on stage :) Is it just me? I'm happy with where I am, but I do love to surprise Justin with ugly dances or songs or impress him with the words I know to way too many songs.

Today I was in goodwill and heard "Wishin' and Hopin". I thought of my girlfriends that sang with me and happy memories of our all girl's show choir. "4. 1. 'Cause you won't get him...". I would post old pictures, but I'm too lazy to plug in the scanner.

Here's to happy memories!