Halloween 2011

Our Halloween festivities started the week before when we decorated sugar cookies for FHE. As you can see, the kids had more fun eating the cookies than decorating, but they were yummy and it was fun.

I forgot to take pictures before the plastic wrap was on for some deliveries, but here is a plate of Halloween cookie goodness!

The next activity was carving pumpkins which we did Saturday evening. We almost didn't get pumpkins because we waited so long to buy them and 2 stores were out of good ones, but thank goodness Lins had plenty!

Bryan carved this pumpkin for the kids and they loved it!

Lexie asked every morning for about 2 weeks if it was Halloween. The day it finally arrived she asked to "Go to Halloween" a.k.a. trick-or-treating. She couldn't wait to put on her costume and go get some candy! I thought for sure Lexie would want to be a princess this year since she is really into that right now. I was looking at a costume store online that was having a big clearance and saw an ice skating costume and she said that's what she wanted to be. So I also found this future Olympic champion costume for Hoyt and thought it would be super cute to have them both be future Olympians. I was actually watching the 2008 summer olympics in the hospital while in labor with Lexie and watched the 2010 winter olympics while about 7 months pregnant with Hoyt so I guess that is just in their blood.

In the afternoon we went to SUU and visited some of my friends and let the kids trick-or-treat there. We then went trick-or-treating to some of our ward, but Hoyt had been sick for a few days and still wasn't 100% so after about 20 minutes we figured he was done. I stayed with Hoyt and handed out candy while making dinner and Bryan took Lexie trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. She LOVED it this year and her pumpkin got full after only going for about 45 minutes total. Once she got home she enjoyed handing out candy to the other kids who came to our house.

Future Michelle Kwan and Michael Phelps?

For dinner I thought about getting a Jack-O-Lantern pizza from Papa Murphy's but it was more than I wanted to pay so we just made our own pumpkin pizzas that were super yummy!

The kids enjoyed their Halloween meal.

Hoyt in his other Halloween outfit.

After carving the kids pumpkin, Bryan carved his huge pumpkin and here they are all lit up. I kept my pumpkin to make dinner-in-a-pumpkin later in the week! Happy Halloween!

Catching Up: This & That

The past few months I have worked on and off to catch up my blog. My goal has been to be up-to-date so I can get back on schedule and blog every week so I won't forget as many details. Well, this is the last post that gets me there...hooray! It is kind of a random post of a few events I wanted to blog about, but didn't have enough pictures or info for them to each have their own post so here we go.

I am laughing just looking at this picture. This is our cute little "Super Hoyt". The kids found the shades they used in the hospital when he was on the bili lights and they would wear them, but it was a little dangerous having their eyes completely covered because they were running into walls etc. Bryan cut eye holes and this is what resulted. I think it's hilarious and cute.

Lexie always likes to be with me in the kitchen cooking. Here she is helping me make some pizza for dinner.

September 30, my brother Matt returned from his mission to Nebraska! This is my 4th RM brother; there is one more to go, but he still has about 5 years. Luckily for us, Matt flew into Cedar so we all headed over to see him fly in and come off the plane.

I didn't get any pictures of our little family with the missionary, but here are some with my parents and little sister. Lexie had just turned 1 when Matt left and I was about 5 weeks pregnant with Hoyt, so a lot has changed in 2 years!

I did get a picture of Hoyt and Bryan waiting at the airport.

After the airport, we had everyone over to our house for pizza and cake. It was my immediate family and my Mickelson Grandparents. We had a great time eating and visiting. I made him a cake with our high school colors which goes perfectly with the Halloween season. :)

The next day was Saturday General Conference, so we decided to head to my parent's house to visit. We also wanted to see the leaves on the mountain. We didn't know it then, but it was the last time for us to go up the canyon and over the mountain because of a massive landslide that will take many months to fix. And to top off the trip, Lexie got carsick because she was trying to see the pretty leaves. She gets the motion sickness from my family (you should see us at Lagoon all downing dramamine), but usually she closes her eyes and takes a nap so she won't get sick. We didn't have time to stop and take pictures but I did get a few out the window of the car. I love fall!

So far October has been somewhat uneventful. Bryan is still working hard at his job and we appreciate all he does for us. It's so nice to be back in our home, and I feel like the kids are so much happier and have settled into a nice routine. They are finally on an amazing sleep schedule from 8 or 8:30 p.m. to 8:30 or 9:00 a.m. The hard part for me is getting to bed at a decent hour because I get so much accomplished in the evening while they are sleeping. We still need to finish painting, unpacking, and fixing the backyard; but we are healthy, happy and loving life!

On to a few more random pictures. The kids were really into a DVD about shapes and it was so cute we had to take a picture. Also, the other day Bryan bought me yellow roses which was cute. When we were first dating, he bought me yellow roses and told me they meant friendship and it became a joke between us. When he brought them to me the other day I asked if he wanted to be my friend; luckily, he is my best friend!

And now I am caught up!!! I hope I can stick with it and keep the blog current so I can remember all of the small things that go on with our family. I'm sure my slacking off has cause less people to even read my blog, but my main objective is keeping a journal and history of our family. Until next week...

Bryan's Birthday!

We were in SLC for Bryan's Birthday this year. We played on Monday for Labor Day, he worked in his office on Tuesday, and Wednesday was his B-day and no one was working in his office that day so he decided to take the day off and make up the time that weekend so we could play some more and enjoy the day as a family. We wanted to take our kids to Temple Square. We had lunch at the Lion House and while walking there I saw one of my idols, Sherri Dew. I smiled and said "Hi" to her and she said it back. I have heard her speak in person before, read her books, and listened to her in conference--she is amazing. After our lunch we decided to go see the sites.

The kids in front of the Christus Statue.

Lexie took this picture of the statue.

Bryan was taking the above picture of me and the kids in front of the temple, then a nice lady took a picture of our family together. We are grateful for temples so we can be together forever!

Lexie loved all the flowers on Temple Square. She was smelling all of them, and ended up picking one to go in her hair.

The kids loved the fountains, but they wouldn't look at the camera.

On our way back to the car, we went and checked out the new Deseret Book across the street. Outside the store, there was another fountain that Lexie wanted to play in.

We did a little necessary shopping and then headed to Provo to meet up with Pete for Bryan's Birthday Dinner.

Here are the kiddos having fun in the car.

For dinner Bryan chose his favorite Los Hermanos. I forgot to get pictures inside with Pete because we were wrestling kids, but I got one of Bryan coming to the car. We had yummy food and it was a great way to end the trip and head home.

Lexie insisted we make Bryan a cake and sing to him, so the next day that's what we did. His favorite is white cake with chocolate frosting and we stuck a candle in there for fun. I didn't have 36 candles in the house. :) We love you Bryan and hope this is a fantastic year for you!

Labor Day: Down on the Farm

For Labor Day we decided to head north so Bryan could work in his office the next day and we could have some fun with the kids. We decided to take the kids to Wheeler Farm to see the animals. I'm sad I didn't even know about the farm when we lived 5 minutes away from it, but we're glad we checked it out this time around. The kids LOVED seeing the animals and playing on the playground. I'm sure this is just the first of many visits.

Hoyt really loved the ducks and geese and kept trying to make sounds like them...super cute!

Lexie had a blast feeding the ducks and geese!

We got to pet some sheep, see cows and many other animals.

And the huge playground was a hit with the kids.

Here are some videos of Lexie feeding the animals and Hoyt trying to sound like them. :)

After the farm I was so excited to go have dinner with my awesome friend Cindy and her new husband Matt. It was great to catch up with her, even with my kids being crazy and tired. We then headed over to say hi to Stan & Kristie's family before heading to our hotel.

The next day, Bryan worked in his office while the kids and I headed to my friend Amy's house for most of the day. Lexie was excited to play with Emily and I was happy to visit with Amy and catch up with her. We picked Bryan up from work, went to dinner at Olive Garden, did some shopping, then went back to our hotel where we went swimming. I didn't get pictures that day, but it was fun!

Well Check Stats

We took the kids in for their well-checks on September 1st. They are growing up so fast, checked out healthy, and are surpassing all the developmental milestones. Here are the stats...

Lexie at 3 years old:

35 lbs. (84%)

3 feet 2 3/4 inches tall (85%)

Silly Lexie likes to dress up, and she loves her baby kitty.

Hoyt at 15 months:

24 lbs 6 oz (44%)

32 3/4 inches (87%)

I really love my sweet, blue-eyed boy!