This weekend I packed the kids up in the car and we headed to Hagerman Idaho to visit Grandma Melody at the Ranch. It's only a 2 1/2 hour drive for us, and the kids had a blast exploring.

There are ponds and rivers to fish in, alligator farms and fish hatcheries all within a few miles. The kids love driving in Grandma's Ranch truck

We woke up Saturday morning and decided to go fishing. The ponds were too mossy so we decided to try out the river. Not one little bite. The water was calmer than we've ever seen it and not one fish was jumping around!

So then we went back to the house and got the canoe instead. Calm water is perfect for canoe rides.

Scott just kept saying how beautiful the water was

We thought we saw life and tried to sneak up on a duck, but it was just a fake concrete one! Should have known that no real duck would stay put with squealing kids coming towards it!

After our canoe ride we went to a festival they had at 1000 springs. First you park your car and ride a school bus down to the river (which the kids LOVED by the way) where they had lots of vendors and tents set up with awesome crafts, food and things to look at.

Scott got to paint a little pumpkin and the kids got to see baby cows. They even got to take a ride on this wagon.

I had to show this picture so you can see why it's called 1000 springs. In the summer and springtime this is where we canoe and kayak because there are tons of waterfalls all along the river. It's beautiful.

Scott said that the wagon ride got longer and longer, and of course like any ride- Hailey fell asleep

We came back to the Ranch and tried to have Hailey take a real nap. I put her in a dark room in the playpen and was watching my mom make raspberry jam. Scott was playing outside when I thought I heard the door open. Sure enough, here comes Hailey down the hall, gave grandma and me a smirk look and let herself outside to play. Hailey has never climbed out of a playpen or crib, so I was pretty surprised. I said, "Hailey! How did you get out of your playpen?" And she said, "fell"

Since Hailey didn't nap we decided to go to the hot springs and swim. They had this fun slide there and I asked Scott if he wanted to go on it but he said he didn't. 10 minutes later we were just swimming and Scott gets out of the pool, walks up the stairs and goes down! Even without the warning we were able to catch him, so that was good. He was having a blast going down the slide, even if technically he was 2 inches shy of the regulations. I got a video of him going down once, but he never would tell us so I barely made it to the camera.

It was a fun weekend for the kids and so fun to get to talk and spend time with my mom. Originally Kevin was going out of town this past weekend, but when his plans changed he decided to stay behind anyways and get a few things done. He went up to Idaho and brought back a trailer load of rocks for our front yard retaining wall. It looks great!

I thought this picture of Hailey was cute. We were playing with stickers the other day and she decided to pile them all on her face. She is so cute and getting so big! There are so many things I love about her that I don't want to change, like I hope she never outgrows her gallop run because I love it! She's been sleeping in a twin bed now for a week and finally yesterday has been adjusted to taking naps there too. She loves her big girl room. She is going to be 2 in a little more than 2 months! I just can't believe it! She's still our little baby girl! Scott got to come with me yesterday to my 19 week appointment and listen to the baby's heartbeat. He was pretty shy but once the doctor left he was pretty excited about it. He told me it sounded a lot like thunder and was really fast. Next week we get to have our 3D ultrasound! Yea!

So every day after preschool I ask Scott if he met any new friends and he always says no. Last Monday when I asked him he said, "Yes! I met Sarah!" I said, "Oh, did you tell her what your name was too?" and he said, "No, I'm still waiting for the right time to tell her." I thought that was sweet.

Kevin and I trade off putting the kids to bed and we usually read them stories and sing them one song. Last week I asked Scott what song he wanted me to sing to him (usual picks are "Twinkle Twinkle" "Child's Prayer" "I Love You" "Mary's Lullaby" etc.) he looks up at me and says, "How Firm a Foundation" ...I about died laughing! I said, "You mean the Wise Man song?" and he said, "No- How Firm a Foundation!" I tried my best but I only made it through the first line, then I had to hum the rest. Oh funny kid!

We signed Scott up for soccer this fall! In our town they play indoor girl/boy soccer as 3-4 year olds and then they can start league soccer once they are 5 turning 6. We've been practicing in the backyard, but Scott was really shy and not too enthusiastic on game day. Once he played for 2 minutes he was super excited and grinning ear to ear.

My favorite part about these running pictures is how Scott runs with his arms behind his back. It makes Kevin and I laugh because he's done it since the day he started to trot down the halls in our house.So there are 8 kids on each team (Scott is grey), so basically you have 16 small kids all chasing after 1 ball. No practices either...just show up for games every Tuesday and Thursday. It was pretty funny to watch. Add a gym floor to that and you've got kids falling all over the place. I just couldn't resist, so here are 4 video clips to watch!

Scott ran and ran for the full 45 minutes. No really, if the ball changed directions instead of stopping and turning around, he would loop all the way around the gym. I told Kevin maybe he is so courteous that he doesn't want to run into anyone so he just runs around them. Yeah, I'm sticking to that story. It was so cute though. (He's the one in the grey shirt and blue pants that runs to the right of the screen)

Here he is running, falling, running around the room and then shooting for a goal! (Too bad it was in the wrong net) :)

He started getting the hang of things. After the other team scored, Scott got to be the one to kick the ball into play again. He does great kicking, but watch where he goes when he's done.

Best move of the day! Go Scott! (Oh I was talking about him dribbling down the sideline, not pushing the kid in the way)

I snapped this picture of Scott during his "quiet time" which he usually spends reading his story reader books. Bragging about your kids is one perk of being a mom, so I'll just say it out right- I think he is the cutest 3 turning 4 year old out there! :)

Since we moved Scott to the basement a few months ago (while it was still warm and not freezing!) we have been working on turning Scott's old room into Hailey's new room. It's still a work in progress, but Hailey asked her daddy if she could sleep in her new room on Monday night and he said sure. I said, "Go climb into your bed" and this is what she did. She slept great and called for me the next morning to come get her out. That was only the first night, this morning she climbed right out of bed when she woke up and started playing with her toys. We are still refinishing a headboard, bookshelf and dresser and then I'll post pics of her big girl room.

Kevin and Scott have been wanting to go camping all summer. They went on a father-son camp out a few months ago and slept in a tent in my grandma's back yard a month ago, but Scott literally asks us to go camping once a week. Can you blame me being pregnant and not wanting to have to use the bathroom in the dark woods 6 times a night? So I compromised and we decided to go to Green Canyon for roasting hot dogs, dinner and marshmallows and then we came home to sleep in our own beds.

Scott and Hailey with their walking sticks on our hike

There is no happier kid in the world then this boy right here when he's out in the woods

Hailey is a lot more cautious of campfire then Scott is, but once she warmed up to it this is her trying to blow it out.

and marshmallows of course...
I can't even tell you how much fun we had. It's just great to get out of the normal routine and go do something fun as a family. Because we've had such a hard time finding babysitters, we end up doing a lot of family dates on the weekends. It's great to have one on one time with your spouse for sure (and ours are usually spent just talking outside when the kids have gone to bed), but I was telling Kevin that a lot of couples miss out on all these fun family moments with their kids because they just want to be by themselves all the time. The weather is getting colder, but we are for sure doing it once a week until it gets too cold to bear!

Scott is so excited about having another baby, and he has been telling everyone he meets even if they are complete strangers. A few days ago he told me he wanted to draw a picture of the baby, so I gave him a marker. I love how he narrates as he draws. He says, "Oh and I can't forget its LONG legs" (They definitely are long!) After he finished he said, "That's pretty impressive mom, you should hang it on the fridge"

Then I asked him to draw Hailey and himself too. I think these "jellybean kids" are pretty cute, what do you think?

The other morning Hailey was walking around in her diaper and then I see her cutely wrapped up in a blanket form the couch. I asked Kevin if he wrapped her up and he said that Scott did. He walked up to her and said, "Here Sweetie-this is what I do when I'm cold"

It was a cute moment

This is Hailey having a conversation with her watermelon rind. No really, it went on for about 5 minutes or so. Too funny!

It's that time of year again!

We opened up a new bottle of jam out of the freezer last Sunday for dinner and that's when I realized that it was September last year when I made jam and canned. I got on the phone and called over to my favorite fruit stand in Brigham City and they said their Early Alberta Peaches were in- Yeah!

I made 24 jars of raspberry jam and still had enough left over raspberries to freeze for raspberry sorbet for Scott. We LOVE raspberry jam, and 24 jars is usually how much we need to make it through the year. If you ever get the chance to make some, try strawberry-raspberry jam. It really is AMAZING! Too bad strawberries were way over priced this year or I would have done it. I was a little apprehensive to can this year without my canning buddy Mel (she moved to Wisconsin! Boo!), but I decided to try it anyway. Early Alberta Peaches really are the only peaches my family will eat now because we have been way spoiled. My kids will still eat peaches from the store, but not me- has to be Early Alberta! And thanks to eating like 3 a day when I was pregnant with Hailey, she's now the same way!
I bought 3 bushels of peaches and 1 bushel of pears this year and after doing a canner full by myself, Kevin sweetly agreed to help me do the rest. I have a glass cooktop and you can't can on them, so we borrowed a camp stove and it worked out perfect! In fact I don't think I will ever do it any other way again. I just set the stove out on my patio from my kitchen- super easy! On Friday night we went down to my sister Brooke's house to spend the night and watch her soccer game Saturday. I can't believe she's a senior in college already! Crazy!

Scott starts soccer in a few weeks, so he was excited to get a few pointers from the pro! :) (In case you didn't know she has been the team captain of UVU's soccer team her entire 4 years) It was an exceptionally hot day! Here's Hailey holding up the umbrella for shade.

Brooke ended up hurting her calf the last 10 minutes of the game (stupid SUU player!) She's getting it checked out Monday, but she was sent home with crutches and in a lot of pain! Pray it's not a tear! Get better Brooke! We loved getting to see you this weekend, especially the kids!This last picture almost didn't happen, as these moments only last a few minutes and I had to run get the camera. (Side note: Scott isn't in his birthday suit- he has to hang out in his underwear all day long and not wear any clothes! Also we are so excited because Hailey woke up one day last week talking up a storm! I was wearing a shirt with a softball on it and she pointed to it and said, "Ball" (This coming from a girl who only knows about 3 words other than mom and dad) I was so excited and of course went way overboard with my reaction, and from then on she's been pointing to everything naming it like she knew how to say them all along- too funny! :)

Oh and Scott.... let me just tell you I'm already feeding a teenage boy! We took him off some of his allergy medication in July, and since then this boy has been eating up a storm. Here's one example: for breakfast one day last week he ate 2 adult size bowls of cereal with soy milk, a scrambled egg, a whole banana and a piece of toast with jam. Some days he will eat up to 3 eggs along with cereal and fruit. It doesn't stop at breakfast either. For lunch he will always say, "After I finish my peanut butter sandwich can I have a lunch meat one?" and that is also along with fruit and usually crackers or pretzels. So funny! Most kids his age still only eat a half a sandwich and he's eating 2 whole ones! He was on that medicine for 2 years and one of the side effects was a loss of appetite- I guess he's making up for it all now! :)

We finally have grass in our backyard!
But first lets see some before pictures

We figured out that we brought in about 25 truckloads of dirt

This was our yard last June when all Kevin's brothers came to visit

right after we trenched for sprinklers

and now!

Scott goes to bed at 8 pm, but he was way too excited to sleep when our shipment of sod arrived last night! They ended up being a lot heavier than we thought and so I wasn't able to help at all. Kevin laid all 2500 square feet himself!
We have 4 trees: 2 peach, 1 apple and 1 pear. We put mulch over in that area last weekend, and we are hoping to add some raspberry bushes next year.
Our garden is on the left and right next to that will be a shed (but that is a much future project)
The only thing that's not finished is our patio. Kevin laid this entire rock wall and has a water fountain in the works. It looks so awesome! We are also going to put pavers down and have stairs and rocks up to the concrete pad. The area on the right with the wood and Scott's tractors will be a little flower bed for me and the kids to fill in the springtime.

This is where the water fountain is going, and the barrel will be covered with more rocks once we get the pump put in

The kids play area still looks a little bare, but we'll get it filled up with things in no time! On the right of the picture we have about another 15 by 30 feet of side yard, but it's kind of dead space- a dog run for later on maybe, who knows :)

Oh don't worry...we just finished our backyard and people are already asking today when the front yard is going to be done! Our backyard was number one priority because that's where we spend 95% of our time. We might throw some seed down in the front and hope for grass in the springtime, we'll see... but for now we are going to be enjoying all this new grass!

We are getting sod tonight! I wonder if the kids will miss the dirt. Last night we told them to stay off the top soil pile, and when I told Kevin I was prying them off of it every 2 minutes he said, "well I guess if they won't get off, then go get the video camera"

Hailey's dirt mustache

Scott doing a roll (I actually had to get out the cutips in the bath and clean out their ears! They were FULL of dirt!) Hailey loves playing with blocks. Look at that proud face!
I usually bring Hailey inside while I make dinner so that she's out of Kevin's way outside. She usually gets mad because she wants to be with dad from the second he gets home from work until she goes to bed at night. To keep her entertained while I made dinner we made this train out of little boxes. She loved it!On Tuesday I will be 16 weeks- and I am definitely showing already (and getting rude comments about how fast I show, etc.). Everyone says you show faster with each pregnancy, but I think I showed just as fast with the other two as well.

I had a doctor's appointment this last week and afterwards Scott said, "Did the doctor say the baby is big enough to come out yet?" I told him he will have to wait until after Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas...possibly even Valentine's Day. Hopefully all of the holidays will help it go faster too!