Pumpkin Picking

Since this was the first year in a long time that our family was actually living in the suburbs and had plenty of farms around to choose from to go get pumpkins for Halloween, we took a Saturday and had fun! 

It was a little chilly, and so we dressed up Preston in his cute outfit from Grandma…and Spencer photobombed the picture.

We found a place about 30-45 minutes away, and it was great!!! Excuse all the pictures, but Preston had a little bit of a photo shoot while we were there. 

And here are the results.

One of Spencer's requirements for the place we were going to, it had to have a corn maze!! This one did! So we broke off into teams of Spencer and I, whereas I was too slow, because I didn't run in the mud to beat Dad and Preston. 

It wasn't a great maze, because it was pretty much a circle with cut-throughs throughout. Spencer is confused.

It had other activity stuff for kids to do, like the giant spiderweb.

And a huge jumping/bouncing thing that was in the ground!!! It was crazy big and Spencer loved it!

It also had a little ride for the kids. We didn't want Preston to not have fun, so Tyler got in and held him. 

Then came the COOL stuff. HUGE guns to shoot pumpkins out of it so you could hit targets, hay bales, and a truck out in the field!!!!!

Finally came the pumpkin picking! We went on one hayride where we got to pick baby pumpkins. Perfect size for baby hands. 

Then we got to pick out the big ones! 

Such a cutie!!

We got our pumpkins and headed home. 

It was fun to go off and do this as a family, we'll definitely be doing it again next year!  

Birthday and Baby

September we celebrated Tyler's birthday!!! We were still trying to move in, so his cake came from Cold Stone! YUM! He's happy about it I think.

September was also filled with exploring!!!! Preston was walking now and so he was everywhere, and playing with all kinds of things. 

I love this picture because of the little curl of hair. Too cute!

We found an umbrella hat (that I did not know we owned), so he liked putting that on his head.

Playing in the kitchen while mom unpacked was done a bit too. 

When we were watching the LDS General Conference on TV, every time the Mormon Tabernacle Choir came on, Preston started dancing to whatever they sang! He was enthralled with them.

Climbing in the toys. He was quite excited with himself that he figured this out.

Some quiet moments were had too. 

Hey there good looking….who also looks very tired. 

Sitting inside some broken luggage! What fun!

The beginning of Virginia

Starting life in Virginia was busy immediately. 

Spencer started playing baseball, and has enjoyed it the whole time. We think he'll want to do it again in Spring. Here he is showing off his cool sunglasses for baseball. 

Preston pretty much just was tired for a little while after getting here. It was hard to sleep in hotels and then in a new room. So during the day he would sometimes zonk out.

First day of fourth grade!!! He loves his school here too!!! His teacher is awesome, and he has been able to do very well while here so far. They do things a little different here than they did in NYC, but Spencer is catching on and up on things.

Since we live somewhat close to the school, Spencer is a walker. So Preston and I have this walk to do twice a day...which comes to 2 miles every day we are walking to take Spencer to and from school. Some days it's awesome to be surrounded by such beauty, some days it's a long way home. 

Preston loves to play with Spencer's backpack, and misses him lots during the day. 

Preston has also started to love being outside all the time. One day he got his play keys out to figure out how to unlock the door to get outside.

Spencer all decked out in his baseball uniform! Go Twins!!! They did REALLY well this year, even though a lot of the players on his team had never played before. It was fun to see how much he learned in just two months. 

Moving...

We had VERY mixed feelings about moving this time. It wasn't a move to a new exotic place, nor a move back to the States close to family that we hadn't seen very much. It was a move within the States, where we had to find our own home that we bought, and figure a lot more out. It was a bit stressful, and I don't really want to ever buy a house again, but most likely we'll have to. 

Pictures I took while we were taking our last taxi ride out of the city. I will miss this crazy busy city!

Always amazed by how close all the buildings were here.

Our One World Trade Tower!

Unique doesn't even begin to describe NYC.

Our last ride, it was sad. 

Anyway, it was hard also because we came to love the city and have fun there. We were looking forward though to have cars to be able to drive to at least one grandparents house. So the time for moving came, and things were hectic but everything got done, like always. 

Preston's ready to go!

We had to get Spencer's old bike out of our buildings storage so we could have it move with us. Preston LOVED riding on it.

When they say they are ready to pack things up...they literally mean UP!

Took our movers one day to pack, and one day to get everything down to the truck (the couch was a HUGE struggle, and I almost had to be prepared to leave without it, but luckily we got it out). 

We were not even sure if we were going to be able to close on the house the day we were suppose to, but thankfully we were able to, and things worked out fine. It was really crazy, because also the night we were closing we had Spencer's first baseball practice for here, and we didn't actually get into our home until after the weekend. A little busy, and I probably went a little mad the first month here, but things are dying down now with the craziness. We are starting to enjoy living here and getting to know people. Spencer is loving school and has already finished up his baseball games! 

It's now official we live in Virginia! (or have been for almost 2 months)

Spencer's Birthday Celebration!

Spencer turned NINE this year!?!? Where does the time go? Anyway, here is the fun he had on his special day.

I made him a Happy Birthday banner out of Adventure Time stuff!!!! Adventure Time was his theme this year, so I thought he would appreciate it, and he did.

Opening some presents in the morning, which of course was an Adventure Time game!

Getting some good loot from the grandparents too, gifts cards to all the places he loves...Gamestop and Amazon.

This was a Professor Layton game for his DS that his aunt gave to him, he was really excited about it.

The birthday cake!!! As you know I like to make the boys' cakes for them each year into whatever they want. This year was an Adventure Time cake...so here it is! Spencer helped to put the little figures on it.

The only people Spencer wanted over for his birthday dinner was our next door neighbors! Their son became Spencer's best friend while we were there. It was fun to have them over to eat pizza, have cake and ice cream and play. Getting ready to blow out the candles. 

Preston enjoyed this cake also.

Spencer and his best friend. They miss each other a lot since we've moved away. 

I believe they gave him the best gift, the pack of sidekicks for Infinity!

Spencer had a pretty awesome birthday, he also got a Marker Maker (which the kids busted out that night and made like 20 markers!), some headphones so he can watch stuff while sitting in the same room as us, and then an Adventure Time alarm clock. He was a very happy boy!