November 2024

 November made us think about all of our blessings, starting with our miracle adoption 10 years ago. Can't believe Jefferson has been in our life for 10 years. He was the sweetest baby, cutest toddler, and now such a fun smart boy. The night before his b-day Jefferson wanted to read his adoption book. So grateful we have pictures of him with his birth mom and have all the details for him. One picture showed his umbilical cord and Carter asked what it was so we explained how it works and that it is cut off when the baby is born. Carter was mortified and so upset that Brad cut off his cord- he burst into tears and was inconsolable for nearly an hour. Jefferson had a rockstar party at Nickelmania this year. We adore our 10 year old rocker who is the happiest kid just to hear a song he likes. The rest of November flew by with basketball for Jefferson and rock climbing for Carter. Jefferson's 4th grade teacher came to one of his games- so sweet. And Carter rang the bell when he got to the top of his climbs at least 8 times this month. We love that our boys love reading so much. Carter is improving every day and Jefferson zooms through books and is rating them at the end. The library is one of our weekly outings and once again we have started the beehive book challenge. Carter keeps us smiling with his many creative costume creations and imaginative play. We got to visit with Stacie & Jody and Lindsey around Thanksgiving time and lunched at our favorite Ogden Beer Company and checked out the Ogden Christmas Village. Thanksgiving we had our annual Dennis family bowl game- getting more exciting each year the boys get bigger. We celebrated with the Hebdon family- nearly 90 people in a church building. And we ended the month "preparing for Christmas" as Carter called it and kept telling us of all his friends who were prepared before us. When we decorated our Christmas tree the boys loved finding their ornaments and remembering past family vacations and Carter was insistent that the star go on the very last. We wrote our letters and put them in Santa's mailbox- all ready for the Christmas season! 

October 2024

October was the perfect autumn month. We started the season with picking our pumpkins at our neighborhood pumpkin patch- the rule being you have to be able to carry your pumpkin on your own. We checked out the Herriman Howl this year, it was like walking around in Halloweentown, Carter was insistent on wearing his costume, so thank goodness we had costumes prepared in September. When did Halloween become a month long event! Mom and I got to have an opera date, first time for me seeing Sweeney Todd- so fun. We took a day trip up to Silver Lake and enjoyed the colorful fall canyon drive. We checked out the pumpkin regatta, and the boys raced in hamster wheels. We danced and debuted our family costumes- the Harry Potter family (Brad-Voldemort, Mary- Prof McGonagall, Jefferson- Harry Potter, and Carter- Malfoy) at our friend party, Carter was quite the break dancer. We had an amazing fall break staycation- starting with a daytrip to Park City to check out the scarecrows complete with pizza and a trolley ride, getting a caramel apple and Harry Potter treats while we checked out the witches at Gardner Village, a beautiful hike to Stuart Falls, lunch with grandparents, and then Lowes Extreme fun, and corn maze fun with friends. We celebrated our Bella's 1st birthday with neighborhood pups to play her favorite game- Bella ball. She has been such a perfect addition to our family. We checked out Halloween houses and took our picture in front of the Harry Potter house and enjoyed the pumpkin walk. We Halloween partied with our Jefferson family and the boys were introduced to Halloweentown- as Angie says the one with Debbie Reynolds- ha ha. We decorated pumpkins and saw Carter in his first Halloween parade, he "Harry Potter" hexed all the parade watchers. Carter decided he wants to be a world traveler and has started making plans and packing. Jefferson is amazing with taking care of Bella and has become my puzzle buddy. He humbly told us one day at dinner he got the "Eager to Learn" award in a school wide assembly, which fits his easy going nature. Bella is loving her sunny morning spot on the swing, her many daily walks, and playing with the boys as much as she can. What a fun October we have had!