Charlie Visits Chicago

I am currently not a very exciting person with anything interesting to report about in my life right now. So, all I can say is thank goodness I have friends to vicariously live through like Hailey and Steve, a dancer/teacher and scientist respectively, who are living it up in Chicagoland. I am proud to call these wonderful people my friends and grateful I could spend some quality time visiting their family and seeing their new life. My first trip to the Windy City was also my first time taking Charlie on a plane (which he did fantastic on) and first time leaving Emerson at home. He was able to spend some quality time with daddy, and despite letting him come "work" in the wood shop, dressing him in Santa Clause socks in October, and letting him stay up to watch movies, I think JR did a great job running the household and keeping our son in one peace while I was away.

What a beautiful city. I'm upset that I didn't bring a camera to photograph such a photogenic place, but the baby was enough to cart around without having to also lug the camera.

I felt pretty privileged when Steve got us into the museum and aquarium for FREE. It always pays to have a good scientist as a friend. Their four-year-old son Jack took me on a very thorough tour of the Mummy exhibit. It was awesome.

I took this to send to little Emers, who currently has a dinosaur obsession.

Come visit me soon, Hailey! I want you to make me Navajo tacos and yummy cookies while we stay up late talking until we pass out. Remember, "GET YOUR CAMERAS READY!"

I loved the Leavitts. I loved the view. I loved the architecture. I loved the food. I loved Chicago.

A New Season

The boys had to celebrate the first big snowfall of the season at the beginning of last week. They said they were going out to build a snowman. They built a "Snow Manny."

His dad took the whole front yard of snow to make him the mammoth he requested, but he cried in the picture because of a cold derrière.

Halloween

How many more years do I have left to force my kids to wear the costumes I pick out and make for them? This year I had to work around my desire to draw a little Charlie Brown curl on Charlie's bald head. I was afraid that Emerson would realize his little homemade Snoopy costume wasn't as cool as he originally thought when he saw another child dressed as Buzz Lightyear. He loved seeing several Buzz costumes, but luckily never said anything about wanting to be Buzz. What a good little sport he is.

We went to a neighborhood party for little tikes Friday morning. Emerson was Snoopy and I went as Charlie's little sister, Sally Brown. I wasn't too convincing apparently, as I was asked if I was an 80's rocker and Madonna. When I told Emerson that I was Sally Brown he even said, "No, mommy's pink."

Charlie and his chums:

I LOVE looking at babies helplessly dressed in silly costumes!
Kids on candy:

Emerson was ecstatic when I told him that we were actually planning on walking around the neighborhood to knock on doors and collect candy from the neighbors. He couldn't get enough of it, even in the rain. We all ate more candy than we should have and watched It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. I had to show Emerson the 1960's cartoon characters we dressed as.

Summer Through My Cellphone

Pretty cheap way to catch up and post the entire summer, right? Oddly, we didn't take many pictures with the actual camera this year. Always having my cell phone with me allowed me to capture a few shots of summer.
We introduced2-week-old Charlie to the beautiful mountains with a family picnic.

Cousin Time:APioneer Day Children's Parade with cousins Chanel and Rori. This picture was taken moments after Emerson was run over by the same vehicle. He didn't press any charges.
Checking out the big trucks at the copper mine with cousin Oli.

Boys hula hooping in Sun Valley, Idaho: my son, my brother, my dad, and my husband. Yes, we did exciting things like hiking, biking, shooting, swimming, and golfing, . . . but I got pictures of hula hooping.


Boys playing checkers.
This is just one of many self-made costumes and props he gives himself. Cousin Charlotte came to town.-

First swim for Mr. Charles

Charlie made some friends.

First camping trip with kids. We all slept in a teepee on the beach.

Can you see how much Emerson loves his younger brother and how

much his younger brother loves him?

Three boys sleeping on the dock at Lake Powell.

JR was proud of himself for doing this.
Charlie at around 2 months. He still loves grabbing those cute toes.

I should've dug these up sooner. I had a whole row of monster carrots like these. Despite the scary metamorphosing appearance these have, we grew 17 different types of fruits and veggies in our garden this year. However, our corn was super tiny and the brussels sprouts didn't really work out. I'm still learning.

We like this guy. I had to take a picture of him feeding the doll, as it was a break from the usual roaring of dinosaurs and fighting of "guys."

I guess I did take a few in Sun Valley:

After seeing his uncle

and daddy-

Emerson found himself here:

then here:

In his words, "I did it!"

Summer, I miss you already.