BOO!

How fun is Halloween?! ? My kids had so much fun this year trying to decide what was the perfect costume for them. I seriously think looking through our costume box, that stays in the garage all year, is almost as fun as the trick-or-treating itself! They pull everything out all over the floor and remember each costume they wore in the past. I try to get them to be something from the box, and sometimes it works and sometimes we just have to go on the hunt for the one we don't have. So here they are!

Steele was actually Spider Man, but these pics were so much cuter! He LOVED these teeth!

I have honestly tried to talk Ty into being a Kissing Booth for the passed 3 years! I guess this year he was finally interested in actually getting some kisses!

Bren-angel (not far from the truth!), Steele-Spiderman, Crew-dracula (only because he wanted the teeth and the fake blood!), Gunner-pirate, Bree-princess, Jayanna-angel/devil, and Kinlee-dancing girl.

Crew's preschool class

Sun, sand, and lots of water!

I grew up going down to Mexico with my family and staying in my Uncle Steve's beach house. From those trips come some of my fondest memories, so when we had kids I knew I wanted to carry on that tradition. Joe and I went for the first time just months after we were married and and since then we've tried to go at least twice each year. Because of crazy schedules we hadn't made it down this year yet, so fall break seemed to be our last chance before the holidays. So we called up Nate and Maya and loaded up the cars and headed on down! We got to stay at Las Palomas, a resort that we've never previously stayed in which had heated pools, a lazy river, slide, and was right on the beach. We could go right from the sand to the pool! It was a GREAT trip!

Gunner & Taya

Carter, Crew, and Steele

Colten soakin up some rays and pretending to be asleep!

Ty, Kylee, Jade, and Brenlyn

I'm pretty sure Steele was pooping sand for like a week!

The hotel grounds from our room

Dive on in, Colt! The water's great!

Colten tried out diving for the first time last year, as a Freshman, and loved it! He doesn't have any fear of smacking the water, so he improved really quickly, go figure! This year has been great as well, except for a minor accident he had while doing back flips off of a chair during mutual! Of course, it didn't dawn on him that it might not be the brightest thing to do during the middle of a sport season, but nevertheless, he under rotated one and hit his knee. It swelled to three times it's normal size and he couldn't walk on it for several days! This put him out of dive for 3 meets and about 2 1/2 weeks. Just one week before regionals he was able to get on the board again! He went to regionals and took 4th place, just missing state by 4 points! What a heart breaker! He had a great season though, and were already looking forward to next year!

Uncle Nate checking out the knee and subjecting Colten to a little pain! Ouch!

Check out that pike position! Getting limber enough to do that required some yoga with mom!

FOOTBALL!

Football has been running our life for the last 3 months! It has been super fun, but so crazy and time consuming! Ty plays for the Hornets in the Queen Creek Pop Warner League. They have had a great season winning 8 straight games before getting beat in the semi-finals. More importantly, Ty has had a great experience!

Pep talk after our only loss!

Happy Birthday, STEELE!

How is it possible that it's already been a year since our sweet, crazy little Steele was born? I remember it was so hot and I was miserable and could think of nothing more than having him out of me and in my arms! I was done being pregnant! He was born on Tuesday, September 23, just 1 day before his due date. He was perfect! That brand new baby phase came and went so quickly and I can honestly say I have enjoyed every minute of his first year. Now he is walking, climbing, running, screaming, and laughing! I can't count how many times in the past year I have wished I could freeze time and just have him the way he is a little longer. I guess I'm just feeling the sadness of this being my last baby! He has brought so much laughter and joy to our family. Happy 1st Birthday, Steele! We love you!