Pumpkin Patch

Joe's parents took a few of the grand kids to a pumpkin patch a couple weeks before Halloween. They had several activities for the kids such as a corn maze, animals, blow up toys, swing sets and more. I think Gabe Had a good time but he was very tired.Afterwards, we decided to go to another place to get pumpkins. Here are pictures of the festivities.

What I Have Been Doing

Well it certainly has been a while since I have been on here to update our blog. We have done several different things. I will give a short brief update of each month.
July
On July 24, I ran my first 10k ever. I had some family friends of mine come up from Tennessee and we ran it together. It was a lot of fun. I thought and went pretty well. Looking back I think I could have done a little better but overall I was pleased with my time.
At the end of July, Gabe and I went with my friend, Brittany, and her two little boys to the zoo. We were able to get free tickets and didn’t have to pay for the boys. I thought it went well. I think Gabe enjoyed it somewhat. I am sure he probably didn’t really know what was going on but he was happy and went along for the ride. I think we got to see all the animals and a really neat bird show which I would recommend.

August
Joe and I had our fifth wedding anniversary this year! Yea!! I can’t believe it has gone by so fast. It has been a great past five years. I am looking forward to many more to come. We were not able to do much as Joe was doing an internship so we just went to dinner.
My sister Toby and her family came out to visit. They were having a family reunion on her husband’s side. After they were done with the reunion, I was able to spend a couple days with her before she went back home. It was so fun to visit with her and her family. She is probably one if my siblings I get to see the least. Joe and I went with Toby and her husband Tyler to see the play Big River up at the Sundance outdoor theater. I thought it was a lot of fun. I have wanted to see that for a long time! I love it, especially the music.
The next day Gabe and I went with her family to 7 peaks. I was a little nervous to take Gabe but I shouldn’t have been. He loved every minute of it. They had several play areas for little kids. It was perfect for him. He eventually wore himself out as you can see.
I found him like this in the Wave Pool.

My sister-in-law, Laura, painted nails. (My sister, her daughter, mine, and Lauras) Bet you can't guess which ones are mine.

September
Let’s not forget College Football started!!! Yea!! I had been waiting forever for it to start. I love football season. Even though the Volunteers are having a building year I still like to watch. Go VOLS!!
Joe finished his internship. The company had sent a request to get him hired but it was denied due to the lack of work. So he got to spend the rest of the month hanging out with Gabe and I. Gabe loved every minute of having daddy home. Often times if Joe and he were doing something and I would come over and sit by them, Gabe would say, “Go away, Mama.” He loves the time he gets with his daddy and who wouldn’t because Joe is so good with him.
We also made a trip to Boise. I signed up to run a 10K called the “Dirty Dash.” For this race you had a team of 5 people, me and 4 in-laws, and you ran together and had to cross the finish together. Overall it was fun to run with family. The race itself was not my favorite. They ran out of water. There was only mud at the very end and not through the whole race like advertised. It also ended up not being a 10k which in the end I was grateful for because the first 2+ miles were all uphill. To give you an idea of what it was like let me just say there is a reason why you have ski lifts. Yes, we ran up a ski mountain. Running may be an overstatement. I think everyone was walking up it. The race also had different obstacles along the way which was kind of fun. Needless to say we did get some very good pictures out of it at the end.

Visiting Boise also gave Gabe a chance to play with his cousin Bailey. As you can see they had lots of fun together.
I cannot forget that I finally finished the Harry Pottery series. I had started a lot time ago and stopped in the middle of book 4 about 2-3 years ago. I finally told myself that I wanted to finish the books before the new movie came out. So I picked up book four and started all over. Those next 3 weeks I spent a lot of time reading the rest of the series. I loved the books. I don’t read much but out of all the books I have read those have, by far, been my favorite. I have now just started the Hunger Games. Interesting.

I forgot to mention you could dress up for the race... we chose to be nerds. How do we look?

My cute boy. I sure love when he cuddles.

October
At the beginning of October Gabe and I were able to go visit my parents in Tennessee for a week and a half. We had a good time. It was nice to be able to relax and visit with them. The only problem with being at my parent’s house was that Gabe had access to every single door and could open them. I had to put a 5 gallon water jug in front of the front door so he couldn’t go outside. That stopped him for maybe a day then he figured out how to move it. He is a smart kid. The problem with him going outside by himself that worried me was the creek behind my house and the street. I was so worried he would sneak outside and I not know it. We had to watch that little guy like a hawk. I was able to see a 2 of my brothers and 1 of my sisters which was fun. I love being around family.
We have been home for about two weeks. I will give a more detailed update of what is going on as of right now with us. We have a busy weekend which will give me plenty to blog about next week. Hopefully.
Constanlt asking Oma for marshmallows

Riding and wearin cousin Eli's bike and helmet.

Loved to sit in Opa's chair

Happiness

I just wanted to say how much I love this little guy! He brings me so much happiness and lots of laughs and smiles. I love to hear his sweet little voice. Especially when he says, " I love you more or I love you most." I love that he gets so excited to see his daddy when he gets home. I love his hugs and kisses. I love to hear the sound of his laugh. Its funny to see him laugh when he watches movies or when everyone else is laughing... he likes to start laughing so he feels involved. I love his smile. It's funny to watch him get into something that he is not supposed to be doing. He will look up to see if I am looking and when I do he smiles at me. (It's cute right now but i know it won't be in a little while). I love when he chases me around the room laughing or when I chase him. I love watching him try to read books. He will open them then just mumble something and shut it. It makes me laugh when we read scriptures with him he opens them and says, "It came to pass." He must hear that phrase a lot. I love that when he runs around his cheeks shake. It makes me smile. I could go on forever but I think you might get bored. I think you get what I am trying to say.

Gabe is talking like crazy. He reminds me of parrot repeating everything I say to him. I have to watch what I say or what is on the TV. If he hears a new word he loves to repeat it several times.

Gabe right now loves Toy Story. For the past 3 months we have watched Toy Story 1 or 2 at least once a day...two times if I am lucky. He loves Woody and Buzz. He also LOVES trucks, especially his "big" truck, and cars.
Gabe is starting to get somewhat of an imagination. He tries to feed Buzz or Woody (on his sippy cups or books) his food and will say,"mmm" or some other eating sound. The other day he was sitting with Grandma Dean and they were looking at his Toy Story sippy cup. Grandma asks Gabe where Buzz is and then Woody. He points it out. Then she says pointing to Woody, " Is this Woody." Gabe laughs and says, "No, it's Buzz." He did that several times. It was a game for him and very funny to watch. He surprises me more everyday with the things he knows.
Gabe does not like his hands dirty. If they get dirty he will say, "it's nasty." I know this next comment is random but I had to mention it because it makes me laugh every time. Gabe's swim diapers and one of his bibs has Winnie the Pooh on it. Every time he sees it hey says, "It's poop." I have no idea why he says that. I tell him its POOH and he still says poop. The word Pooh must sound like poop to him.

Sorry to be kind of ramble on but I just love this little guys so much and most of all that he is MINE:)

"BIG" truck

Watching Toy Story

Being like Woody

Tennesse Trip #2

Gabe and I were lucky enough to go to Tennessee for the second time this year at the beginning of July. We got to see all but three of my siblings. We were able to do a lot of fun things. We went to the aquarium, rode tractors, and played with cousins. Gabe did a lot better this time around and had a lot more fun. In April he was a little hesitant being around so many people and would cry if I left the room. This time he ran around like crazy opening and shutting doors. I think he probably drove my parents crazy (with the door knobs). He really enjoyed playing with his cousins. Thanks to everyone! We had a great time. We love and miss you. Here are a few pictures from our trip.

Tractors and More

Gabe got to play in the rain AGAIN... he was one happy camper. Oma even came out and played with him in the rain. I only have that on video. I never have luck loading those.

Went to Aunt Jenny's for a couple days. She gave him this back pack. He LOVES it. He still plays with it all the time and says "my back pack." Thank you Aunt Jenny!

I love this picture. Gabe was in the car and Eli wanted to join him!

Cousin Jake's Tractor! He loved to ride it

Gabe wanting to be like Eli. These two are buds!

Some friends of our let us come to their farm. We got to see animals and ride the tractor.

Tennessee Aquarium

The whole gang

These two buddies are exhausted.

How creepy is that crab!

With another cousin. This was in the butterfly exhibit. I think this was my favorite thing to see out of everything. The butterflies would fly and land on you. It was fun to watch especially when they landed on the kids.

Trying to pet the sting rays.

Gabe and another cousin. (He has more than 30 alone on my side) These two also had fun together at the aquarium.

Looking at "Nemo" aka all fish.