Fall is Here!

Nothing says Fall more than the beautiful leaves. On Saturday we drove up to the Oaks in Ogden Canyon to have dinner and enjoy the colorful mountainside. Who would have guessed it would be warm enough the end of September to eat outside? We were quite chilly by the time we finished eating though and Emily actually finished her meal in the van.

Nothing says Fall more in our house also than Tyler, Megan, and Emily decorating with our spooky Halloween decorations. That also includes trying on all past costumes whether they fit or not. Emily somehow squished into her Eeyore outfit she donned when she was 1. Megan and Tyler also wrangled into their old costumes and Wendell's famous jaibird costume. Now that is definitely the scariest thing in our house.

Who needs a Waterpark?

Gracie and David spent the afternoon with Emily this past Friday. We started playing in the park and then David saw a "big" ball and had to go see it. Well it took all of 3 seconds for the pennies to get thrown in and Emily to climb right in the fountain with her 2 cohorts were right behind. Needless to say, they came out soaked, but had a great time and entertained many.

"Star of the Week"

Here is Tyler the big Cub Scout ready for his first pack meeting. This is the first time he has put on the uniform. He did have his famous stunt man shirt, that he wears everyday, under the uniform. He is pretty excited to get through his book and get something on his shirt. It does look pretty plain.

It was "Buddy" night at pack meeting last night. Tyler and the one other scout in our ward were partners and had to do various relays. Tyler and his partner were actually quite good at the running part.

Tyler playing Tug of War at Pack Meeting. Notice that he is actually smiling and holding the rope. Major progress.

As the "Star of the Week" in his class, Tyler had to share a talent and a special item. This is him playing the Stars Wars theme on our keyboard. The kids in his class were pretty impressed. He then showed his "genuine gold" from Virginia City. The teacher had to lock it up until the end of the day because the class was so amazed that it was "genuine." We are just so happy Tyler is talking in class and participating without too much stress. Hurray!

A "Peachy" Soccer Weekend

What says Fall more than soccer and peaches? This weekend we canned 19 quarts of peaches compliments of Diane. Who would have guessed that Megan loves to peel and get the pits out of peaches? She spent a good 2 hours helping on Friday night. She really enjoyed the whole canning process. Let's just hope she likes it again next year. Her help was invaluable--especially when the 11:00 pm mark hit and we were still at it. Tyler and Emily sure did enjoy the fruits of our labors. They are really good at eating the finished product.

Tyler and Emily officially started soccer this past Saturday. Tyler even admitted that he had fun on Saturday. We're just grateful there was room on Cade's team for him. Tyler informed us this summer that he would play only if he could be with Cade.

Emily was bouncing off the walls on Saturday waiting for her game. It was so funny hear the pep talk Tyler gave her before the game. His main advice was to "not get scared of the ball." I wish he took his own advice a little more to his own game.

Emily is really quite aggressive. She went right after the ball, as much as possible given the herd around it. She was thrilled to actually even get a goal. She tried not to look too excited, but the smile and energy finally broke through.

My favorite comment from Emily was at the end of the game. Wendell asked her what the name of her team was and she replied, "I guess it is the Tigers. I thought we were the blueberries, but at the end of the game we said 'Yeah, Tigers!'" She didn't understand that you cheer for the other team and not give yourself a pat on your own back. I guess we need to work on humility and good sportsmanship.

Pre-School is finally here!

Emily has been counting down the days until she could actually go to preschool. I hope she is just as excited when she gets to go all day. She didn't want me to even take her. She posed for a picture and then climbed in her carpool and said "wish me luck." And just like that I have 5 whole hours a week alone. Where has the time gone? I'm sure it wasn't that long ago that Megan was going off to pre-school.

Smiles Again!

Of course after the loss of Oreo, Megan and Emily had to replace him--within hours in fact. We went to the Petco by Mammy's house with 2 girls still crying uncontrollably. And much to the store clerks dismay, they only had white guinea pigs with red eyes. That brought a whole new round of wailing in the store. The store clerk quickly called another store and found that there were guinea pigs that had black eyes, just like Oreo. And so Mammy carefully got a shoe box for Oreo and we loaded the cage in the van to fill it once more. Luckily the store in Riverdale had been forewarned that we were coming and had all the "black-eyed" guinea pigs ready for viewing. Megan and Emily found a baby pig that is completely black. And now once again they are the proud owners of a pet by the name of Shadow.

Here is Shadow's debut picture. According to Emily the best days of her life have been going to pre-school and getting a new guinea pig. Pretty easy to please.

Tyler and Wendell could not handle another break down by the girls. They spent Saturday building a pen for Shadow so that if the girls want to play with him outside they have to sit in the pen. As Tyler says, "this is the last chance you get for a pet."

Rest in Peace in Oreo

After a week of loving Oreo, we decided to take him to visit Mammy. Megan and Emily were playing with him on Mammy's back lawn and somehow he got away. Unfortunately, he ran right for the fence where Hemmy, the neighbor's dog, was waiting. Megan and Emily were devastated (probably too mild of a word). We now know the true meaning of weeping and wailing. Oreo is now buried in Mammy's backyard next to all of Danny's menagerie. The funeral took place last Saturday complete with more crying from the girls. Tyler did ask why we had to bring Megan and Emily to the funeral. He was fed up with the weeping. As the gravestone says, "Oreo, the best guinea pig ever." Definitely not to be forgotten.

The Most Wonderful Day of the Year (at least for Moms)

We weren't sure, but here is proof that Megan and Tyler made it to the "academy". They even went in willingly

Tyler is trying to act happy about the first day of school. I think he is more embarrassed that I am in his class taking pictures.

Megan was actually excited for the first day of school. She already knew many of the girls from tumbling. Apparently if you are in tumbling you also attend charter schools. She even managed to put on a smile while wearing a uniform.

And so the allergies begin for Wendell.....

The proud owners of Oreo.

Tyler is trying to act excited about Oreo, while Megan and Emily dote on him.

The "Quest" for a guinea pig

Megan and Tyler were not thrilled to be attending a new charter school this fall and so we were not above bribing them to go. Tyler asked for help in completing his Lego Millenium Falcon. Three days later and after much frustration, his Lego creation was complete and he was on board for the new school.
Megan on the other hand wanted a pet. After much debate, she and Emily decided they wanted a guinea pig. Four days before school started we went into Petco (for the hundredth time this summer) to start buying the supplies needed for a pet. Well of course the clerk asked us how many guinea pigs we had given the amount of supplies we were buying. I replied that we were just preparing and didn't actually have one yet. Well it was our lucky day. There just happened to be a guinea pig in the back that needed adopting and was free.
The pig was brought out for Megan and Emily to hold. Of course we couldn't just give it back after that. And so we left Petco with supplies and a guinea pig in a box. I wasn't about to spend $60 in the store for a cage.
The guinea pig was named Oreo and was taken to surprise Daddy at work. Wendell wasn't exactly thrilled and even started sniffling while Oreo was in his office. Good thing we have a toy room Wendell rarely enters.
We got Oreo home and then I set to work trying to find a cage on KSL.com. Thankfully someone in Clearfield was home and had a cage sitting in their drive-way. And so our pet adventure began.

Our First Official Post

We are officially up and blogging. We even have our pictures uploaded which by itself is an amazing accomplishment for us. The address was created by Megan. When she was about 2 she always would say "guess know what" when she wanted us to look or listen. She said that for about a year until someone a little older told her she didn't need to say all 3 words. And so, sadly she started just saying "guess what" after that.
Tyler came up with the title. I was suggested the "fab five" but Tyler thought I was saying the "fat five" and wondered why I thought he and the rest of us were fat. As a result, he thought we should stay clear of that title and go with the "fantastic five" like the movie. I think the movie is actually the "Fantastic Four", but close enough.