December 2014

Imagine my surprise when I picked Carson up from school one day to find this! One of his classmates had a birthday and brought in these sticky mustaches for the whole class. Too cute.

Rachel was giving her barbie dolls a day at the bath/spa one day and she used a straw to create bubbles in barbie's bath. It got more fun as the bubbles expanded and soon Carson was in on it too.

Merry Christmas! It was fun to have lots of family visiting for the holidays. Grandad, Deb & Shivani and Pete & Jen were all here. Here the kids are trying on their light-up Rudolph noses.

Only Grandad can fall asleep while sitting up at a table.

Grandad gets his very own hedgehog!

Rachel and Shivani had fun playing dress-up. Rachel is wearing her 'fashion' glasses.

We had a huge snowstorm on Christmas day so there was plenty of snow for playing and sledding.

November 2014

The kids got their first in-state Grandma in November! Grandma decided to make the move from CA and is staying with us while she fixes up her new town home nearby. Rachel and Carson love having Grandma around, here they are playing Candyland with her. 

We had to take Grandma to our favorite Chinese restaurant.

We had an early snow before Thanksgiving. Isn't the first snow fall of the year the most fun to play in?

Rachel threw snow up in the air for this shot!

The snow mound created by the snow-blower, dubbed "Fort McHenry" by the kids.

For Thanksgiving we headed to Pete and Jen's house this year, along with Jen's family. Rachel and Carson played the piano while Jen's Mom sang along.

Thanks Aunt Jen for the gingerbread house kit!

That night we walked to the nearby botanical gardens which were lit up for the Christmas season. Beautiful gardens and a nice night for a walk.

The next day we hiked up a nearby peak. It was a perfect day for a hike and surprisingly warm for late November. Despite the whining and complaining the kids did actually make it to the top!

This is Carson's favorite way to hike!

October 2014

October was a busy month. Our two big events this month were Carson getting braces put on his top teeth and Rachel turning 9 years old!

Carson was very brave at the orthodontist when they put his braces on. The plan is to make more room for one of his front teeth so it will come down (its been hiding in the gums for well over a year). He definitely earned his pack of Pokemon cards after that experience. 

More trips to parks and playgrounds on sunny days!

Its hard to believe Rachel is 9 already! We had a cupcake party at home and a few days later she had a party with friends at Kangaroo Zoo. Its a large facility filled with inflatable bounce-houses that the kids can run around and jump on for hours. She loves that place and had a great time at her birthday party.

What to do with the leftovers of a Costco-sized birthday cake? Instead of ingesting all that sugar we decided to actually let the kids play with it like playdough! Yes, it was messy but the kids had lots of fun building things out of cake and when they were done we felt less guilty about throwing it away, at least it had been put to some use.

We decided to join the Red Butte Botanical Gardens in Salt Lake City in October. As we took our first walk through it the kids were thrilled to discover a koi pond, complete with a dispenser for fish food! They loved feeding the fish and we had fun exploring the area. 

At the end of October we were busy sanding and staining our deck. Carson had fun trying out the sander and Rachel enjoyed helping to apply the stain.

Halloween costumes this year were scary instead of cute. Next year they want to be even scarier!