Our Family Pumpkin Patch!

We carved our pumpkins tonight and boy did we have a blast! Kaleb had a lot of fun carving his. I bought a pumpkin carving kit that had all the tools and also included a few patterns. Kaleb's pumpkin was a free-hand one that I drew and then Mark and I used some of the patterns out of the kit. I think our pumpkins turned out really well! I will let you all be the judge! Here are our 2008 Halloween pumpkin patch:

Our family of pumpkins!

Ashlee's Black Cat!

Mark's Skull and Crossbones!

Kaleb's Traditional Pumpkin!

** We Hope Everyone has a Happy Halloween!!**

Whatcha got cooking?

This past week, I have been very ambitious and have tried two different recipes! On Sunday, my Aunt Linda called and invited us over for dinner and pie at her house in Kaysville! We had a really nice time visiting with her, my Uncle Jim and their kids, Emma and Andrew! My Aunt gave me her All- American Apple pie recipe that she served that night, as well as her Chunky Chili recipe to try for our ward party! Both recipes are amazing! I made the chunky chili recipe on Tuesday because we were having our ward party on Wednesday and the chili is better if made the day before you eat it. The Chili was a hit with not only my family but we only had a little left that we brought home from our ward party! Today, I got ambitious and made the apple pie! It is too die for! It has a butter sauce that you pour over it! We are going to carve pumpkins tonight and enjoy it and probably gain 10 lbs!! I was very proud of how my pie turned out so I just had to post a picture!

Is it a bird, a plane? No, it's Karmindy in her Exersaucer!

I finally pulled out Kaleb's old exer-saucer from the garage and got it all cleaned up for his little sister to play with. We have had it sitting in our kitchen for awhile now. Kaleb has been bugging me everyday to get it all cleaned. I was wondering who was more excited to use it, him or his little sister. Well, I finally found the time today while Kaleb was off playing at a friends house. After getting it all cleaned up, I placed Karmindy in it and she went to town playing with all the toys!! She could even turn herself around in it! I was blown away by how mobile she was, because it took Kaleb a long time to realize how to work it. What a smart girl! She really enjoyed herself as you can see by her cute pictures!

Hay Rides at the Pumpkin Patch!

On Saturday evening, our little family ventured out with Grandpa and Grandma Rizbey to go to the nearest pumpkin patch so Grandma could take home some pumpkins. While we were there, the farmer that grows all the pumpkins, was giving hay rides which were being pulled by his huge tractor! Kaleb was in seventh heaven and enjoyed every moment as we rode around the pumpkin patch! He was grinning from ear to ear and didn't stop smiling throughout the whole ride! We had a lot of fun with Marks parents and we were glad that they could make the trip up to see us!

Boo @ the Hogle Zoo!

On Saturday Morning, Mark and I got the kids up and dressed them up in their Halloween costumes and headed off to the Zoo for their Annual "Boo at the Zoo" event. We met Grandpa and Grandma Rizbey there. The six of us had a lot of fun taking Kaleb around to trick or treat at the different areas set up around the zoo. We also had a blast checking out the animals, riding the new carousel and the train! Here are a few pictures from our family outing:

Kaleb getting ready to "rustle up" some lions, tigers, and bears! Oh my!

Karmindy- Our little Cotton Tail!

Howdy Partner!

Kaleb and The Red Robin!


Karmindy our little bunny rabbit!

Kaleb getting so excited to ride the Train!

My cute husband and me in line to ride the train!

Kaleb riding the elephant!

Kaleb and Mom riding the Carousel!

Our little family posing with the huge elephant!

Kaleb loves looking at the elephants! Elephants are his favorite animals at the zoo!

Mark and Karmindy!

Wtiches Night Out @ Gardner Village!

On Friday Afternoon, Marks parents came up for a visit! It was really nice to see and visit with them over the weekend!! Kaleb was also very excited to see them as well and kept asking me what time it was and if it was time for Grandpa and Grandma Rizbey to be at his house yet. What a cute boy we have. On Friday night, we headed over to Gardner Village hoping to take a wagon ride with a witch but it ended up being their annual Witches Night Out event so they didn't have them that evening. The night wasn't marred by not getting to go on the wagon ride though. They had plenty of things for us to see and do. It was really fun to see all of the elaborate witch costumes that people had dressed up in and to see all of the Halloween decorations. We had a great time going through the shops, visiting Afton's Candy shoppe, and watching Kaleb go on a miniature horse ride at the petting zoo. It was a really fun evening!

Kaleb posing with the pumpkins!

We will do anything for Chocolate! Even Cast Spells!

Kaleb and Grandpa Rizbey picking out some Jelly Belly's! (One of Grandpas Favorite Treats!)

This goblin was walking around on stilts! It freaked us all out! Kaleb was really afraid of him!

Mark getting cosy!

Our little family "Sitting for a Spell!"

Kaleb and his Grandpa & Grandma Rizbey!

Kaleb riding a miniature Horse at the Petting Zoo!

Kaleb was in Heaven and right at home, I might add, on his horse!

Our Little Lady!

Can you believe it? Karmindy is Five Months Old! Where is the time going? Who would have thunk she would have made it this far? She is really such a healthy little one now and just started rolling over! I know she is a tad behind others her age but we have been working with her and she is really catching on quick to things! We are so happy she is in our lives. Here are a few pictures of our precious little lady!

Deal or No Deal? We had a Deal!

This last Friday, I took Kaleb to Wal- Mart to pick out his potty prize from us. Mark and I have told Kaleb that we would buy him a prize if he would continue to go in the big boy potty. So far he has kept his word!! Here he is with his new diesel truck and race car. You shake the car and then place it on the back of the diesel and it races off! Pretty cool if you ask me! Mark has also been getting a kick out of it. I don't know who is having more fun with it- Mark or Kaleb? Silly boys but I love them!

Kaleb showing off his big truck!

Kaleb playing with his new prize!

Potty Prizes!

Today Kaleb received a big envelope in the mail! It was from Grandma and Grandpa DeMille. Kalebs's Grandma and Grandpa have been telling him that if he continues to be a big boy and go in the potty then they would send him a package in the mail with potty prizes inside. Kaleb was so excited to get his very first package via mail. He carried his mail back to the house proudly and wanted to open it right away!! He loved the fishy crackers, pumpkin sucker and fun little bus chalk board! Thanks Mom & Dad for thinking of him and giving him encouragement on his quest to be a big boy!!

I love you Grandma & Grandpa DeMille!!

Kaleb enjoying his pumpkin Sucker!

Potty Talk!

*Caution: There maybe be some dirty words mentioned in his post like "pee", "poo" and "Oh crap!" So I am forewarning you about reading this specific posting. It is especially not for the faint of heart with what I am going to blog about. So turn back now if you want to!!!

We finally did it! Kaleb has learned to pee and poo in the big boy potty! Everyone cheer for Kaleb, "Hip Hip Hooray!" (I am doing a little victory dance myself right now!) We have been working on it diligently for a while now. I was really to the point where I was going to give up and just pack a backpack for myself and head to kindergarten with my son to assist him in this discrete action. Everyone I have talked to, that has boys, has forewarned me that most boys take awhile to potty train. Boy, were they right! At least according to my son! That is okay. We have finally made it though. Kaleb has done a pretty good job, minus a few accidents on our floors, puddles around the toilet and streams up our bathroom walls. My favorite story was when Kaleb peed on the wall across from the toilet and said, "Mom I didn't do it!" "It was my pee pee!" I can laugh now! I think that part was inevitable! Believe me, when I saw the residue left behind (most of you know that I am a clean freak- so this was really painful for me to see and clean up!) there were a few naughty words that I said silently like, "Oh, crap!" Okay, I confess I did say a few other naughty words out loud! However, we are really glad that Kaleb has caught on and is making progress everyday. He has never wet the bed and is really good about yelling at me when he has to pee or poo. The yelling usually takes place when I am cooking/making some form of food for breakfast, lunch and dinner or when we just sit down to eat. I think I might market a new weight loss program!! I will call it the- "Potty Training Diet." All you need to do is, when you feel like you want to shove your face with anything, just take your Toddler to the bathroom and the aromas will cure you quick. You will not want to eat a thing! I guarantee you will lose 3 dress sizes!

Kaleb, we are so glad that you have made it past this huge milestone! We are really proud of you!

We love you son!

Kaleb showing off his cars underwear! He loves Cars!

Hair Bows, Bracelets and Our Cute Little Lady!

This last week, I got together with a gal from my ward for a little playdate for our girls and us! She has a little girl that is two months older than Karmindy. My friend makes hair bows for a local company called Kaitlyn & Co. and since I make bracelets, we decided to exchange our talents! We had a lot of fun visiting and making accessories for our little girls. I captured some new pictures of Karmindy in one of her new hair bows and thought I would share them with you all. The bows turned out so cute as well as the pictures of Karmindy!
Thanks again Sarah for a wonderful afternoon!

Karmindy posing while lovin' on her Elephant!

Our cute little lady!

Karmindy has this modeling thing down!

Strike a pose there is nothing to it!

It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown!

On Saturday, we celebrated our 5th year anniversary! To celebrate, we took the kids and went to eat a late lunch at Texas Roadhouse. It was very yummy! Afterwards, we took the kids to the nearest pumpkin patch. We had a lot of fun going up and down the rows of pumpkins looking for the perfect jack o' lantern! Kaleb had a lot of fun and was very excited to pick out his very own pumpkin. He also had a lot of fun sitting on all of the old tractors that were on display. We had to sit on each tractor and take a picture of him before we could leave! There were some tears shed when we had to leave! Karmindy slept through the whole thing. We felt bad that we didn't get any pictures with her but we took some of her when we got home in her winter wear. So cute! We had so much fun on this little Autumn Outing!

Kaleb and his "great pumpkin" find!

Kaleb showing his enthusiasm for the pumpkin patch display!

Kaleb posing with the baby pumpkins!








Our "great pumpkin" picks!!
(A.K.A. Daddy, Mommy and Kaleb pumpkins)