Fall Pictures--Take Two

Here's my worthless plot to hold onto fall just a little bit longer. (Yeah right, it's been bitter cold out, especially this past weekend!) Here's take two of our family pictures, taken by my dear friend and photographer, Carrie Ray.

We struggled to get both Kennedy and Corbin to cooperate, but oh well!

I love kids in piles of leaves----and we have plenty of leaves!

Fall Pictures--Take One

My good friend, Carrie Ray, once again came out to our house one evening this fall and took pictures of our family. She has so much patience...and I try not to have (any) expectations of getting a perfect photo. It's a good thing, since my kids were exceptionally ornery that night. I was most worried about Chase as it was a little chilly and breezy and was his normal nap time. But he did awesome....it was Kennedy and Corbin that had ants in their pants! Here's some bloopers from the photo shoot.Hiding from the camera...

Running from the camera...

Silly eyes (Kennedy)Funny faces!Corbin is a hoot in this one!

2nd Grade Volleyball

Another Youth Sports season is in the books! Volleyball is Kyndal's favorite these days and I enjoyed co-coaching her team this fall. The only downfall to coaching...I wasn't able to take pictures of her playing :o) I managed to get a few team pictures (minus one girl) right before the last game.

The girls improved a lot over the six weeks but most importantly seemed to have a good time; they all knew each other already from school and got along well. I'm not sure if Kyndal will choose to play volleyball all the way through high school, but I look forward to supporting her as long as she does!

Next up is basketball. So far there are no volunteers to coach so yours truly will likely be it again.

I made these little baskets of goodies to celebrate their season.

Go Cosmos!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

"Gobble Gobble"

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and remember all that you are blessed with. Here's my top ten for 2010:

1. A healthy baby boy!
2. Three *energetic* children!
3. A generous husband!
4. My God that's full of grace!
5. A flexible job!
6. A warm home (it's 16 degrees outside!)
7. Being debt free (except the mortgage!)
8. Supportive extended family and friends!
9. A healthy body!
10. Amazing caregivers for my babes!

Three Months

Time is flying, in my eyes. This little guy has brought a lot of joy to our home, he is so sweet! Things can get pretty crazy around our house, but he takes it all in stride. I can't imagine our family without little Chase!

He is now 3 1/2 months old. He began rolling over right before he turned 2 months and weiged 13 lbs 13 oz at his 2 month appointment. He is starting to laugh and has an amazing smile with big dimples. His eyes have turned from a dark gray to bright blue. Nursing is going very well, (note weight gain!) Nights....typically sleeps 4 hours then is up every 2 hours after that.

I have to share some of my favorite most recent shots of him....it was so hard to pick! I'm not sure who said that you take fewer pictures the more kids you have; I truly think I'm opposite!

It's game day....Go Big Red! Already trying out the Bumbo, so big!

The more serious side of our little guy.

"Daddy's happy, I'm a Boy" (Mommy is too!)

This little girl has recently stepped up in her big sister role. She wants to do everything for him and has been sooooo helpful! It's just been in the last couple weeks but it's been a huge blessing! Sporting his new "C" outfit from the Leaders! He can still wear some 3 month clothing, but he fills out this 9 month shirt very nicely :o) We love it!!

Chase joined me at Camp Kitaki for a weekend get-away. We were with 9 other ladies and 2 babies. We had beautiful hiking weather and I got some scrapbooking done for the 1st time in months!Such sweet smiles!I love this guy!

Happy (Belated) Halloween!

It's become tradition to head over to Grandma's house for chili and cinnamon rolls before hitting the streets to get a bag full of candy. Unfortunately, Grandma Hudson wasn't feeling very well so we met up at Erika and Jimmy's house to chow down and take some family pictures late Sunday afternoon.

I was exhausted by this point...I was at the Y at 6:30 am to kick off our annual Cycle-A-Thon. It's a special event that I'm partly responsible for running for our Strong Kids Campaign. We met our $10,000 goal thanks to the volunteers, instructors, sponsors and many participants.

I put on a "happy face" for the evening, but it didn't take long for my true colors to show through. This girl was tired and cranky. It didn't take long to get the bags filled up, but it was long enough for me!We got a picture of Chase finally awake in his costume. Good thing we took it here since he was out soon after he was placed in his carseat! I was jealous!!!

Can you tell we are excited? Kennedy refused to look up from her shoes!

The sad looking quarterback.

Our 2nd stop at a good friend's house. The race to the door!

Obviously we aren't hurting for sugar in our house!

Vala's

Another fall tradition of ours is a visit to Vala's Pumpkin Patch. There is so much to do there, totally family friendly...it's for all ages. We have always gone with at least one other family and this year was no exception. We went on the Wednesday during fall break....braving the super breezy day. At least it wasn't quite as cold as our visit last year!

We always take some pictures by the pumpkins by the entrance when we first arrive.

This is my favorite part, I got my workout in that day not only with all the walking we did, but by taking several trips around the track on these adult sized carts. Kyndal and Corbin racing...

Casey and our nephew, Daniel.

These are the coolest "jumping pillows"! Kind of like a trampoline, the kids love them! I caught Kennedy in mid-jump; Kyndal is playing with cousin, Ryder, to the left.

We brought Kyndal's friend, Kaysia, with us, and Skylar is another family friend that came. The girls had a blast together.

The corn pit! We found so much corn in our laundry room that weekend, mainly from Casey's clothes!

Corbin! See the lone piece of corn on his chin, ha!

The kids couldn't resist a train ride!

Like I said, we had a big group....we left two babies and two Grandma's at home due to the high winds; but still had a huge crew (14 in all!) It was constant head counting with all those kids (9 of 'em!) It was the Hudson's, my SIL/BIL and their boys, and our friends from Denver, Kelly, Skylar and Dane.

Waiting for a ride in the carts.

Me & my sweetheart!

Taken post-patch at Grandma's house! Had to get in a shot of Chase :o) I got a phone call from the Grandma's saying chili was on the stove and babies were doing great. What a perfect end to such an exhilarating day.