Bill and Susi Come to Play

Bill and Susi came out to Colorado Springs over the Halloween weekend. It was Bill's first time meeting Grace. She sure gave him lots of pretty smiles!! She loves to be on her changing table, especially when there are friendly faces adoring her from above. (DON'T FORGET TO CLICK ON EACH PICTURE TO SEE THEM LARGER!)



We all decided to take a drive through the mountains to enjoy the beauty of Colorado and look for animals. Grace slept through most of it, of course, but the rest of us came across quite a bit to look at!



Eventually we stopped for a picnic lunch. There was some pretty neat old mining equipment there to look at...and climb on.






Conner was very intrigued by this "broken house." When we asked him later that what he saw on our drive he remembered the "broken house." Then again when he and I were playing yesterday, and I asked what he wanted me to draw with the chalk outside, he said the "broken house." Isn't it interesting what sticks in their little minds?

Before leaving we had to take couple group shots. Conner was also fascinated by the blinking light of the timer on the camera. Here he is checking it out as Bill sets it up. Such a cutie.



On the road again...

We were mostly looking for long horned sheep, and check it out!

Yes, these were actually that close. They were right on the side of the road.





Bill was being so nice to sit in the back for part of the drive. Unfortunately for him it was the most exciting part, and when we all jumped out to get a better view of animals, he was sort of left behind. What a good sport. :)

We did let Bill out eventually. :)

These next picures were taken at a park near our home. It's a beautiful time of year to be outside.

Nobody told me it was black shirt day. :)

Halloween Fun

I'm pretty sure that Little Bo Peep and Yoda were the cutest things on the block on Halloween night.


He was the perfect height to be Yoda this year. The costume was a hit.




We made the whole weekend a holiday. I made pumpkin cupcakes, which we decorated like pumpkins and cats, and Conner and I made placemats with his handprints. I inked certain parts of his palms to create Halloween scenes. I then had them laminated so we could eat off them. His favorite was the owl.


Susi came with lots of fun ideas and of course Conner loved it all. They read Halloween books, made cookies, and made these fun spider hats!

A Day in the Life of Conner

Conner's favorite thing these days is to play outside. He wanted to go outside so badly that he got himself dressed all by himself for the very first time. He put on his shoes first without asking for any help. Then his pants, which he managed to get over his shoes. :) Of course I then had to go otside to play. How could I not?

I love to watch him be creative with cups, bowls, water, paintbrushes, chalk, his cars, and any oher toy we bring outside.


Grace generally enjoys just watching. :)

Conner and his friend Hannah decided it would be fun to jump from the deck to the grass...and boy were they right. They did it over and over and over. I think he's practicing for skydiving.
Like I said, these are a RANDOM assortment of photos from the month...so here are a few more. First, another typical day in the life of Conner - spending the evening in a moving truck. We helped a friend move this time. Military life is fun if you ask Conner. :)

Here is a picture that takes me back to the days of Conner being a newborn. I just love having a tiny baby in a boppy.

And again, random. I just wanted to show a picture from the very sweet baby shower our church threw for Lisa, Ashley and me. It's been such a blessing to get to know the women in the church.

OK, so here we have a few typical shots of how Conner loves to be involved around the house. He loves to help make food...especially if it's messy or if he can sneak a bite now and then. This tater tot casserole dinner was more of a tater tot mound after he was done, but it tested better than ever.

I made apple pie with Conner the other week. He used the measuring cups and...well...yes, took bites of the apples. I tried my best not to let the bitten ones into the pie. Thankfully our guests that night didn't complain. :)

Although this picture is somewhat blurry, I had to add it because the moment was hilarious. As a reward one day, I let Conner help make cookies for Daddy. Notice the shape of the cookies? It's a hand squished ball of cookie dough, which made for super cute cookies. As I went to take a picture of him, he picked up a cookie and ate it. I asked him not to touch any more until we were done. I could see him thinking, "Hmm. How am I going to eat that without touching it?" Well, my genius child did this...

One more cooking activity Conner loves is in the backyard with Jake. He can hardly wait to go outide to help Jake BBQ chicken. It's great father-son time, especially when they dress themselves (gotta love it) and play football as they BBQ!

And after all that fun...the best part is that at the end of the day he is still amazed by everything around him. He is such a joy to be around.

In this last photo, he called us into his room after he had gone to bed because he was so excited to discover that he could see the moon through his window. He kept saying, "It's the moon! Wow! That's so cool!"