All Hallow's Eve

Halloween is more than just a night of trick-or-treating.  Chase and I added up all the Halloween-related activities we could have attended, and the list ran into the double-digits.  Of course, we couldn't do them all, but here are some of the fun things we have been able to do in celebration of All Hallow's Eve.

 We attended the University of Utah's Fright Fest.  This is a fun carnival-themed party perfect for students with young families like ours.  There was lots of games, treats, and activities.  Pirate Mckay's favorite activity was the pony ride.  This little boy of ours loves animals.  We may even have to get him a dog someday. . .

 My cute little monkey spent most of the time in the stroller.  I feel bad that he winds up spending so much time here, but he doesn't seem to mind too much.

 We were also able to attend the parade/trick-or-treat that CR England holds every Halloween.  Dorothy met us at the beginning of the parade.  She wins best hat award!

 Pirate Mckay loves the idea of trick-or-treating.  The only trouble he had was how to stuff his face full of candy and trick-or-treat at the same time.

 The actual night of Halloween we decided to trick-or-treat in the neighborhoods just to the south of the Village.  It's an old, very upscale neighborhood that was perfect for our little family to go to.

We had an awesome time.  Now, let the sugar-detox begin!

Family Photos Fall 2012

This last week Chase and I pulled together a last-minute photo shoot for our little family.  I had ordered a beautifully clear, cool fall day for this shoot, but instead, I got a cloudy, FREEZING day where the light started failing before 6:00 p.m.  Add that to the challenge of taking a good picture of a cranky 2-year-old boy, and I think that this may have been the hardest family photo shoot I have ever had.  

But.  In spite of all of that, I think our photographer managed to take some really great pictures. And though our noses are a little bit red from the cold, the background for our photos really is beautiful.

 We never did get a straight on shot of Mckay actually looking at the camera, but we captured some priceless moments.

 By far the easiest person in the family to get a good picture.

 Fun fall action shot.

Jackson Hole

Many of you who know us know that Chase loooovvvveesss Jackson Hole.  We were so excited when we found out his family was going there the weekend of the U's fall break.  This meant that Chase was actually available and we could all go as a family!
The drive up was one of our favorite parts.  Going through Star Valley, WY is always beautiful, and the closer we got to Jackson, the more beautiful it was.

 Our first day there, we spent the morning biking along the paths that run from Teton Village into the Park.  Biking with this scenery to look at is my idea of heaven.

 Grandma and Grandpa England came with us and helped pull Mckay and Logan in their little bike trailer.

 Later that day, we went to a bike jump course.  I'm pretty sure this is my brother-in-law Cody, but they al looked that cool going off the jumps.  Mckay loved watching them.  I am thinking that in a few years he will join them!

 We spent a few days on our own in Jackson after the rest of our family had to back to their lives.  One of our favorite things we did was hike around Jenny Lake.  We spent a lot of time here on this rocky beach.  Mckay loved throwing rocks into the lake, and Logan just loved putting them in his mouth.

 Mckay didn't want to pose for the camera at all.  The rocks were way too fun, but I forced him to take just one picture with me.

Some other activities we did included going to the touristy downtown part of Jackson Hole, taking drives, and playing at the playground at Teton Village.  It is a slow-paced vacation when half your family is under 3, but we enjoyed spending time together.

Our October so far

This October has flown by, and honestly, I have not had a lot of time to stop and reflect on one of my favorite months of the year.  It has been filled with really fun times and a good portion of heartache.  I feel like I want to document this month really well . . . but if I did it all one post, it would be the longest one in history.  So this one's all about the fun I had in Payson over conference weekend.

 The first weekend in October Chase went to Florida for a career fair/conference.  Since he was gone Thursday-Sunday, I thought I would make the visit down to Payson to enjoy a few days on "Grandpa's Farm" with my two boys.  The first day there I took the boys to the Red Barn in Santaquin with Anne and one of her cute friends.  While there, we took a hayride out to a pumpkin patch.  Along with pumpkins, there was a cute maze and these ginormous slides.  Mckay loved these slides, and never did pick out a pumpkin!

 Even Anne got a thrill the first time she went down!

 Later that same weekend, we went to Julie's apartment to make yummy caramel apples.  I have to confess, my apples are the ugly ones.  Rachel and Julie did a much better job of making them pretty.  I feel like they could stand up to apples at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Shoppe.

 General Conference is always great.  There was a lot of excitement in the Sainsbury home when the new age limits for missionaries was announced, but eventually things quieted down enough to where my parents could "listen" with their eyes closed.

That night the girls did a craft while the boys went to priesthood.  Sorry for this horrible yellow lighting in this picture, but I wanted to show a good picture of the "Boo" blocks we made.

I thoroughly enjoyed a weekend at home, but did miss Chase a lot.  I was excited to be able to pick him up the next morning and from the airport drive straight to Jackson Hole to spend a fun couple of days with our England side of our family.  I am hoping to have that post out in the next couple of days.

Love at Home

Sometimes I feel like I am in a scary game of ping-pong.  Both children are crying, so I go take care of Mckay's needs.  Now Mckay is calm, I go to Logan and take care of him.  By the time I finish helping him, child #1 is crying again, and on it goes.

I love having two kids, and I love being a mom, but sometimes I get really discouraged, and feel like I am so over-extended and under-appreciated.  That's why I thought I needed to post these pictures.  It's a good reminder to me that there is, occasionally, moments of peace and harmony here, and even when there is crying and sadness, ours is a home of love.

Farewell to Summer

School has started, the mountain leaves are turning.  Football is in full swing.  Somehow, fall has crept in and stolen the last days of summer.  This realization always brings with it mixed emotions for me.  I LOVE fall, with it's energy, beautiful weather, holidays, sweaters, and all other aspects of the season, but at the same time, I miss the beautiful, carefree days of summer.  I am especially nostalgic at the close of this summer, because this was the last summer Chase was a student.  After this year, summer will no longer mark a break from school, a chance to do something different for a few months. A big chapter in our life will be over.
In tribute to this summer, I wanted to blog a "Favorite Memories of Summer" post.  So here it goes:
(P.s., this is not all-inclusive, nor are they ranked in order of importance.  These are posted as they come to my mind.)

1. Our weekly courtyard barbecues.  As many of you may know, we live in the married student housing up at the University of Utah.  We live in a court (three buildings facing each other with a small playground/grass area in the middle).  Every Tuesday this summer, we got together as a court to barbecue and socialize.  We made so many wonderful friends through this activity, and lots of fun memories.

Here is Mckay playing with his friends Titus and Charlotte during one of our bbq's.

2. Going 4-wheeling and ATV-ing in the Uintahs.  The best way I know of to cool down in the hot days of summer.

3. Family vacations!  There were many vacations with both sides of our families that we just loved.  My favorites were probably when we went to California with the Englands, visited Manassa, and went to Kamas with the Sainsbury's.

 Cole and I on the teacups at Disneyland!

Grandma England, Talia, Logan, and Avenlea enjoying Mirror Lake in the Uintahs near Kamas.

4. Swimming

5. Riding the Choo-Choo train while in Manassa for the Anderson family reunion.  This may have been the single most wonderful day of Mckay's life!

6. Going to the Zoo.  

7. Visiting the Thanksgiving Gardens in August.

8. Taking family portraits by the pool . . . and what followed after:)

9.  And finally, spending the first summer in THREE years not pregnant and not in baby-recovery mode!  Yea!  We had a wonderful summer, and are now ready to love the fall.

8. 

The Day I Kicked a Door Down

One day the King and Queen of the Cinderblock Palace decided to take their two young princes on a much-needed journey to Pepperwood.  Pepperwood is where the King's parents live, and they have many strange and wonderful things there, like washers and dryers inside their house!  The King and Queen journeyed to Pepperwood and had many adventures, like doing laundry, doing homework, watching TV, and playing with Grandma's toys.
One of the young princes decided to venture into the most interesting place of all:  Grandma & Grandpa's bathroom.  There were lots of fun, interesting, and potentially dangerous things inside the bathroom, and he knew he shouldn't be in there, but he couldn't resist the temptation.  He went inside and the first thing he did was play with the little button on the inside of the bathroom's door.  He then shut the door and promptly forgot about the little button while he started playing with other fun things inside.
Shortly after this, the queen realized her oldest prince was missing, and she went through the house, calling his name.  She soon came to "the bathroom", and when she called for the young prince, he answered on the other side of the door.  The problem only came when the queen tried to open the door and discovered it had been locked from the inside.
The queen called and called to her young prince, asking him to unlock the door.  Ten minutes went by, and the young prince happily ignored her.
Door = 1  Queen = 0
The queen realized she was out of her depth, so she called for the king.  Together, they tried a myriad of ideas to open the door.
First, they tried opening the door with a straightened end of a hanger.
Door = 2 King and Queen = 0
Next, they tried to use a credit card to open the door.
Door = 3, King and Queen = 0
Next, they tried to unscrew the door knob.
Door = 4, King and Queen = 0
They then got a slim jim.
Door = 5, King and Queen = 0

By now, the King & Queen were starting to panic, and the young prince was crying to be let out on the other side.  An hour had gone by, and nothing had worked!  So the king made a phone call to "The Oracle" (Grandpa England).  The oracle said that violence may be necessary, and that the King and Queen had permission to use some if they had to.
The King and Queen then got a sledge hammer out in an effort to bust off the door knob.  Well, the door knob did bust off, but still, the door did not open.
Door = 6, King and Queen = 0

The queen got mad.  Really mad and really frustrated.  So she kicked the door hard.  BOOM!  Did the door just make a splintering sound?  Using perfect kickboxing form, she kicked it again and again.  BOOM, BOOM!  The door busted open, and the prince was saved.

After that, the King and Queen took the two young princes home.
The moral of the story is this:
1) Don't let your young children wander into their grandparents' bathroom.
2) Teach your kid how to unlock a dang door!
3) Don't make me mad. I am, apparently, VERY strong:)

Door = broken,  King and Queen = Victorious!