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Ryan
was out of town a lot this month so I was flying solo! Lucky me!
Both
Ashby and Dalton had Fall/Halloween parties at school. Dalton
got to dress-up for his and he loved that. Ashby's class did
a 2nd grade party with all the 2nd grade classes. They rotated
to different classrooms with d We were able to go to the pumpkin patch as a family including Daddy this year. It was a lot of fun to have Ryan along with us. We went right after parent-teacher conferences. Ashby is a star student and her teacher had nothing but good things to say about her. We are so proud of our little girl. We enjoyed the hay ride, farm animals, bounce house, games, and picking pumpkins from the patch. Brooks was crazy running around the whole time saying, "pumpkins, pumpkins!" We carved pumpkins as a family and roasted pumpkins seeds too! Ashby and Dalton loved cleaning out our pumpkins and everyone loves turning out the lights and seeing the Jack O' Lantern all lit up as we sing 5 little pumpkins! Brooks was in awe of the whole thing!
We were also able to
check out the new Children's Discovery Museum in
downtown Reno with Jeff, Kim and the kids. They all had a lot
of fun playing
there.
It is a big place with lots of fun things to do. They all loved
the "cloud climber"! Dalton really loved playing in the replica
of the truckee river and building a track from magnetic pipe
cleaners
for the
balls to fall down. Brooks loved the little toddler room and also exploring other areas with the big kids. He is so busy it was hard keeping up with this little guy!!
Ashby loved exploring everything at the museum and could have stayed there all day if we would have let her I think.
Ashby and Dalton both finished their soccer seasons. They both had a lot of fun and did really well. Both their teams went undefeated (I know your not supposed to keep score but we can't help it ha ha!) Dalton was thrilled to receive his first trophy at his award banquet. Ashby had a break out year in her skills on the field and is looking forward to next year already! You go girl. I thought their pictures turned out so cute! B
My sister Kristi and I are very excited to announce that we have started a Custom Digital Photo Card Business. We have some great custom cards for all occasions, Holidays, or invitations. customphotocards.blogspot.com Our Christmas Card Collection is here!! Check out our great new designs!!
Ashby is always amazing me with her conscientious attitude and desire to do good. She makes sure she reads everyday and does her homework right away. She loves doing writing, crafts or drawing. My favorite thing she does every month is make new pictures or crafts for her cork board on her desk. It always has a theme for the month. This month it was all Halloween with pictures she drew of bats, Frankenstein, etc. She is so creative. Here is another example of her creativity: For Nevada Day Ashby arranged an entire performance for the whole family to watch. She included all the facts she had learned about our state. She even made a special worksheet book for Dalton afterwards to do that included a Nevada word search, help the wagon through the maze, color NV by numbers worksheet, and a word scramble. All that she made by herself!! She is so funny. Ashby
loves when we do Family Home Evenings each Monday. She
especially likes to give the lesson when it is her turn. She loves doing dance still with her friends and favorite teacher at school. She is looking forward to possibly taking piano lessons, and basketball in the Winter. She is a great big sister and loves playing with Dalton and helps watch Brooks a lot. She adores little Ryder and loves holding him. She loves watching Wheel of Fortune with us at night. She is pretty darn good too! One of her favorite things to do is still writing cards to family and friends. She loves drawing, playing games, and swimming! She loves to read new books with her Daddy about presidents of the United States and Politics. She is very creative and is always finding fun things to do.She never gets bored or runs out of ideas. We have noticed she is a very talented writer. She loves to write detailed stories & poems. We are so grateful for a bright, sweet child. Ashby loves to read and is an exceptional reader. She has already passed all the comprehension tests that put her past a 6th grade reading level. We enjoy watching Ashby's spirituality grow. She is very intuitive and sensitive to the Spirit. It is neat to watch this quality in her continue to grow. She loves reading the scriptures with us as a family and loves going to church and learning the Gospel with her friends. She loves singing and was asked to do a solo in church next month. She is really looking forward to it. She loves to perform!
He started preschool with Miss Susan again this year. He loves going 2 times a week with all his friends. He is a great little reader already and loves to play the Wii. His writing has really improved and now he is writing a lot of words and he also likes doing his kindergarten workbooks. He has been into Math lately. He loves to add numbers in his head, and count and measure things. Dalton LOVES friends and cousins. He makes new friends quickly wherever we go. It is really cute.He is still obsessed with anything Star Wars. Dalton continues to love his CTR 4 class at church and is learning a lot. He loves to read the scriptures with us as a family and is really interested in all the stories. He is quick to remember things we have read together. He misses Ashby at school but is enjoying time with me Brooks and Ryder. Dalton is a great big brother. He will get me a diaper when I need one, hold Brooks, and is very gentle and loving towards him. It is really cute to watch him. He loves playing games on Daddy's iphone. He has a great sense of humor and always has us laughing at his antics. He loves playing outside(especially swinging or having light saber battles) and riding his bike. B He loves going to nursery at church now and is going all by himself! Hooray for that! Brooks loves to talk and say anything he can. He loves counting, "1, 2, 3, 4, 5!" He cracks us up at the funny phrases he says now like, "No!", Uh oh, I don't know, Oh Yeah or I did it! Brooks loves and is obsessed with wearing and putting on shoes! Especially if it is Ashby or Dalton's shoe. He climbs on everything all day long including the chairs, then onto the kitchen table or countertops. He loves wearing rings and bracelets. He will keep them on all day if we let him. It is funny. He is obsessed with taking the backs off all our remote controls and then giving them to us saying, "Uh oh". Then he wants us to fix them just so he can do it again! He loves music and dancing. He moves his shoulders from side to side that is one of his favorite moves. He loves to jump with both feet off the ground and run all over the house. He has discovered the power of a high-pitched scream! He loves giving Ashby and Dalton hugs then tackling them to the ground and playing around rough-housing with them. Brooks loves to write and scribble with pens or crayons. When he wants to color he says, "Color!" over and over until we let him.He loves to be held. He loves to vacuum with his little toy vacuum and is obsessed with the real vacuum. If someone is vacuuming he has to be in their arms the whole time watching intently. He is such a joy to have in our family. He smiles and goes to just about anyone. He is such a happy baby. He loves interacting with people. He is very friendly and smiley to everyone when we are out and about. He will wave and smile at strangers when I am waiting in line. It is the cutest thing.
He is a great napper. As soon as he gets a little fussy we put him in his bed awake with his blanket and nuk and he falls right asleep in a couple of minutes sometimes even seconds. It is awesome! He does not like to be rocked or held when he sleeps. He just wants to be put in his bed! Ryder is such a low maintenance baby! We can go anywhere with him. He usually just sleeps or is content in the carrier. It is heaven! He is a great nurser and does it with ease. Ryder loves the bouncer or bumbo. He will sit in those and watch everyone around him or grab at the toys on the toy bar. He is so happy and I will often catch him just smiling at himself or his hands while in the bouncer.
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Happy 3 months Ryder!! |
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October turned
out to be a great month thanks to the especially nice weather
we had! October is always a lot of fun with all the Fall activities,
holidays, etc. We had our annual Primary Program for
church that I was able to write again this year. Ashby and
Dalton did a great job
singing all the songs and saying their parts from memory. We
were so proud of them. It turned out really well and the Spirit
we felt was beautiful. 
different
Fall games in each one. It turned out really fun. The teachers
had some really creative learning games. I was glad I was able
to go in and volunteer. Thanks Mom for watching the boys for
me!
We
made
my famous pumpkin chocolate chip cookies for each of the parties.
We loved eating those this month!!
We
went a little overboard this year with Halloween activities. First
we had Ashby's school's 1st ever trick
or treat in the halls we went to. It was fun but a
little too crowded and hard to enjoy with so many people in
such a small space. I think
the kids had fun though. Next we did Reed High School's
Safe Harbor. They had some really fun games and we
had such a great time there like always. Then our ward
had a dinner and trick or treat in the Church. It
was really fun to be with all our friends and enjoy fun games
and trick or treating. The kids
were excited to both win at the cupcake walk. Lastly on actual
Halloween we enjoyed dinner and trick or treating at
Aunt Kim and Un
cle
Jeff's house.
Their neighborhood is always fun and the cousins love being
together. We were definitely Halloween ed
out by the end of the month this year!! Next year we will not
do as many activities!
o
h
Ryan
is still enjoying his new job at NV
Energy. He has
been there 1 year now! He
received a promotion and is now a Director.
He
is
still doing
all
his
legal
work too. Way
to go Ryan. We are all really proud of
him. He has been
traveling to Las Vegas a
lot (probably every other week) this
past month. Ryan is
still enjoying his new calling in
our ward as a High
Counselor.
Ryan's assignment is still over the
spanish branch in Sun Valley. He
is enjoying using his spanish from
his mission he served in Chile Ryan
is still very much enjoying his Judgeship. It
continues to be a welcome change from
the same old and even very
rewarding. 
I
keeping busy with things at home. 4 kids keep me hopping!
It is an adjustment for me to not be able to get as much done during
the
day as I am used to. But I am trying to not let it bother me. I
am back working out everyday and I love it!! I am planning
on running a 10K with my sister on Thanksgiving day. I
have started training for that running 3 times a week and cross-training
on the other days. We will see how it goes! Every day is busy but
such a joy and I wouldn't have it any other way! I am still
serving as 1st
counselor
in
the Primary Presidency. I love teaching the children
in our ward. I recently started getting into making homemade
decor for our house. Here was one of last month's projects. So fun!
Check out my blog for more!
Ashby is 7
years old now! She just loves 2nd grade and
anything to do with school. She tracked off this month
so she has the whole month of November off. We are really
excited to have her home. She got her report
card and
received nothing but A+ across the board! She is an awesome
student. She has never missed a word on any spelling
tests her whole school career!
Oftentimes
she cons
us into letting her do it every week she likes it so much. I am
always impressed how much she really knows when she gives
the lessons! They are really good. This month
she taught us about keeping the Sabbath Day Holy and Moses, Aaron,
and the 10 commandments. That kids is something else!
Dalton
is 5 years old now! He
is loving being at home with
Mom and his
brothers. He
is a great
helper and likes to play and "watch" Brooks.
rooks
is
20 months now! He has
adjusted to little brother Ryder
quicker
and better than
we thought. So that has been good. Brooks
is now a Daddy's boy more than
ever!! We are
sure enjoying this little guy.
He is learning and growing so much
each day.
Ryder
is 15 weeks old. He is a very happy
baby. When he is awake he just smiles and laughs
(!) at us all the time.
He is such a joy! He is a great sleeper already(he sleeps
9-10 hours straight at night). We are so grateful for
that!
He still has a head full of dark hair and blue, blue eyes.
He likes the car seat
and riding in the car. 
