First snow day!

Barnyard Boo

Jen and Loni's Halloween Bash

Jen and Loni always throw a great party! The house was decked out, the food was delicious, the kids crafts were a hit, and Afton LOVED the theater room and pinata!
Not sure why I'm the only one smiling here...

Always glad to have Melis, Tally, and Holdy with us! Everything
is more fun!

The boys loved the doughnut eating contest and I couldn't get enough of Melissa's
homemade shoes.

Keetch Halloween Party

The Keetch Halloween party is always fun. Steve and Monique did a great job hosting this year. Their house was festive and we had yummy food, fun games with prizes, loud music, and lots of entertainment.

Afton started out in this cute little outfit. She loved her wings, she loved her necklace, she loved her headband, and she loved her wand.

But outfits like this don't last long...

Pretty soon her wings were bent, her necklace was missing and she was up way past bedtime.

We changed her into her favorite panda p.j.'s, gave her part of my costume and managed to squeeze in another hour of Halloween fun!

The craziness...

Afton's blessing

Afton was blessed in our home today. My dad gave the blessing and Afton sat quietly the entire time. Grandma W. brought some little tiny birds for her to hold.

Everyone was kind enough to come out on a weeknight to participate and we are appreciative.

We were missing Uncle Dan and Uncle Matt, both of who live out of Salt Lake. We missed them both but were able to have Uncle Tim attend while in town from Phoenix.

Keeley, Tally and Holdy played quietly upstairs during the blessing and came down after for dessert.

It was a wonderful experience and I am thankful for all who attended and participated!

Content

Afton and I woke up early today. We walked downstairs in the dark, in our pj's and snuggled up on the couch. After a while I got up and made Afton a bottle. I walked through my clean house opening blinds, looking at the frost on the lawn. The heater kicked on with a familiar smell and I couldn't help but feel grateful to be home.

I love Brett for working hard so I can stay home and raise Afton. We knew it would be hard but I wouldn't trade a minute of my time with her for any amount of money or any other experience.

Days like today help me realize how lucky I am and it feels good to be grateful!

Thanks honey!

A Sunday hike in Dry Canyon

Afton loves getting out. She is so adventurous and athletic. We went to Dry Canyon which starts out a little steep for someone so small but she didn't seem to mind. The sky was overcast and the air was just warm enough. We hiked and played and stopped to sit on rocks and throw dirt.
As soon as we got in our car and down the canyon it started pouring rain! Whew!

Pink Marathon

During one of our recent girls nights we (Nancy and Jen) decided we should all sign up for a half marathon. The Pink Marathon was taking place in Park City. This was an all female marathon supporting breast cancer awareness. What better way to spend quality girl time right?
We all signed up (except for cute Loni and her pregnant belly) and that was only the beginning.

I woke up today at 6:15, took a shower, got dressed and headed out the door. I met Melis at my mom's and off we went.
Once we arrived at the check in point we got our goody bags full of deodorant, a spoon, headphones, chapstick, and coupons and then found our friends. Everyone was excited and ready to go.

We left the check in and drove to the starting point. Melis and I pinned our numbers on and watched all the girls getting ready. So many girls were wearing skirts and looked super fit and were stretching and oh my gosh....what have I done.

Our plan was to walk it together but then a couple of girls starting to train (not me) and we ended up pretty spread out. I stayed with Nancy and Sarah, Melis took the lead (and kicked everyone's butt), Jen was right behind her and Anna was right with Jen.

The entire race was beautiful. It wound through the hills, past streams, by the big white barn everybody loves, and the fall colors were rich. We enjoyed the scenery and even snapped a few pictures (to come) along the way.

We all eventually finished, received our pink (run)necklace, pink water bottle and got a gleaming white smile from the guys in suits, sunglasses, and pink ties. Hi...

Children's Discovery Park

Afton is so much fun! I can't believe I get to spend every day running around with this kid. She is so excited about everything and so full of energy and enthusiasm.

Afton's birthday at the Zoo!

Today is Afton's birthday! To celebrate we went to the zoo. It was overcast and rainy (just the way I like it) and it wasn't crowded at all.

Afton was so excited to run and run and run and only stopped occasionally to look at some animals or ride the carousel or train.

She also loved the playground and went down the snake slide over and over.

I loved being able to leisurely walk around, talk to my honey and just enjoy being out with no agenda.

Afton only cried once when a little alligator snapped at her from inside the glass. They were face to face and it really startled her. Poor kiddo.

Afton and Harvey

Tiff and Harvey came over this morning. We had originally planned on going to a pumpkin patch across the street to take photos (with Tiff's new camera) but it had been rainy so we decided to stay home and hit the trail instead.

It didn't take long for these two cuties to find a nice little puddle. It must have been calling their names because once they found it, we didn't go anywhere else.

I love watching these two play. For them everything is new, everything is fun, everything is worth investigating.

I'm sure Tiff and I looked like new mom's as we huddled around this puddle snapping photos. Twisting and turning our bodies and our camera's, we were determined to get a good shot.
I think it worked...