Happy Halloween!

Halloween morning breakfast!

Carter's fav! Cross bone fruit plate!

Witches brew!

Fun way to do breadsticks!

Our whole gang!

Had so much fun with Grandma and cousins to
trick or treat with! Thanks guys!!!

Spooky hot cocoa looking at us after trick or treats!

A few of our pumpkins!

Let the candy smuggling begin!

I remember fondly being a kid smuggling my Halloween candy up to my room and into various places (other than the shoebox full on top of the fridge that my parents would have control over and give us our daily allotment) And who is to say I still don't smuggle candy?! :) Well, last night the kids had a little Halloween carnival and of course came back with their own bags of candy. I let them have some and then snagged their bags and sent them off to brush teeth and head to bed. Ry went up after they were all asleep and called to me to get the camera! Whenever HE says that -- I know I'm in for something good! So this is what we found -- 2 nights before the big night and here she is -- already taking it in -- even in her dreams!

Happy Halloween everyone!!!

It's really here!

Well, it's official-- Fall is over and Winter is on the way! Today we had our first little snow of the season -- and I must say, although I LOVE Fall (it's my favorite season!) it was fun to see the change and welcome in a new Season! I love the 4 different Seasons and how change happens in such beautiful ways! I think Utah is so beautiful and love how each season is so amazing! So good to be back and so fun to see the beauty in each season . I think life is the same -- each season has it's own beauty and I hope to live every day ready to find the beauty in each opportunity and experience and enjoy the "season" that I'm in! Here's to the Seasons!!!

First smiles

"Smiles are the language of love"
-J.C. Hare

The Pumkin patch!

This afternoon was so beautiful and so warm -- I was dying to get out and so we did! we packed everyone up and went to the pumpkin patch! The baby stayed in her carrier all snuggled up and covered the whole time and slept through it all! The kids each picked their own pumpkins and they are looking forward to carving them this coming week! It was a fun fall day -- perfect for pickin pumpkins with my pumpkins!

For my Mom

As some of you know, My mom was the biggest lady bug freak ever! She loved anything lady bug and started collecting things way back. As my brothers and I started having kids, we had a whole bunch of girls and no boys for quite a while! She made her grandma sleep over visits into what she called, "Lady Bug Club!" The sent cute little invitations, and when the girls got to Grandma's it was everything lady bug! Dinner with a lady bug theme, watching movies like Bugs Life, doing cute crafts, and for breakfast the next morning-- Lady bug pancakes (pancake batter with red food coloring and chocolate chips!) As the boys came, she made a bumblebee club for them! Always a treat and something we miss so much -- Our lady bug grandma! So when my friend Trish made me a lady bug hat for Gracie, I had to put it to good use and take advantage of the time that she'll let me mold and play with her through a few more newborn shoots. So for you Mom, here is you littlest lady bug club member!

H1N1 vaccine = One happy Mommy!

Today my only priority was getting to the Bountiful Regional center to get the kids and myself our vaccinations for the swine flu! And WE DID IT!!! Ry stayed home with the baby and the kids and I left early to try and beat the crowds. We pulled through McDonalds and then headed over. HOLY COW! Or should I should say HOLY SWINE there were a TON of people there! It ended up taking us 2 hours in line but we did it and the kids did so well. The line actually wrapped around the Regional center twice and I heard that later it even wrapped 3 times! We were really debating on whether we should do it or not, but with a newborn at home -- I had to do it- It was a beautiful Fall day and the weather was so nice! Feels good to check that one off my list!

Fall time fun!

The kids found a huge dead sunflower out in the filed on Friday and brought it over to the swing set to disect. They were out there for forever and had so much fun collecting the seeds with their friends. We thought it would be fun to roast a few and then all the rest we're planning on throwing into the filed in between all our houses. It's wetland property and should be a great place for sunflowers to grow -- we hope -- I guess we'll have to wait til next Summer to see if anything happens. If not, it was something fun to do on a Fall afternoon!

Gracie's First photo shoot!

Okay, Can I help it??? Of course before she was even born I've been thinking and dreaming about taking her pictures! Every prop I've found over the past couple years, every new pose I discover, I think of doing that with our own baby--and this weekend I was finally able to! It was so much fun and she was the best little sport! I think I went a little too crazy, but hey! It ended up being a prolonged photo shoot with many feeding, nap breaks in between and lots of help from Daddy! Now, it's just deciding on what to use for her announcement! I can't believe she is already over a week old! She is so good and even giving us good stretches at night! We love having little Gracie in our family! Here are a few of our favorites!

Happy 10 years!

We celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary on Oct. 7th and brought home our new baby -- We couldn't think of a better gift for 10 great years than to bring home a new baby! Our wedding day is a day I will truly never forget and remember feeling how blessed I was to be marrying such an amazing man and the past 10 years he has only shown me more and more how amazing he is. I am so grateful to have him as my best friend, the best daddy ever to our kids, a wonderful provider, and a truly humble, talented, smart, service oriented, funny, musical guy! I love you RY and can't wait for all the years ahead! Happy Anniversary!
We'll go out to dinner in a month or so! :)

She's here!

Well, she is here and we are in heaven! She arrive on the 5th of October -- the same day as my oldest brother's B-Day and also on the same day that Ryan's cousin had a baby too! Special day! All went really well and we are so grateful! The only hard part was not being able to have the kids come see us in the hospital. They had a rule start that week that no one under the age of 12 could come visit because of the swine flu precautions. The kids were really good sports and we felt good about the hospital being so careful --better safe than sorry! They LOVED seeing her the day we brought her home and have been loving her ever since! The girls went to school that morning and Ry dropped Carter off at preschool and then came to pick us up. We left the hospital and picked Carter back up at school. He came out to the car and saw his little sis for the first time and it was so cute! The girls were of course in heaven too when they came home that day from school. She is such a good baby and we are so glad she's part of the family! Here are her stats and more pics to come!

GRACE MARIE PATTERSON
8 pounds 8 ounces
21 inches
2:19 p.m.