Kayla Turns 4!!

Enjoying the Great Outdoors

We have been having really nice weather here, which it seems is unusal for this time of year.  So we have had a few opportunities to get out and take advantage of that nice weather.  We had Stake Conference on the 19th of September, but we weren't up for the two hour fight of keeping 3 kids entertained and quiet.  So, instead we went for a drive up to the mountains to see the leaves changing colors. They were just starting to change, so they were still mostly green with some yellow here and there. 

We stopped at a few places and went and let the kids check out the river. Our kids love spending time throwing rocks in the water. They could stay busy for hours!!

Then that next Saturday, we went with Melody and Tyler and their kids on a hike. The plan was to go up to Zapata Falls, but we got up there and it was closed for construction. So, we drove over to Crestone and hiked on the hiking trail that leads up to a lake. But the hike up to the lake was like 5 miles, so we just hiked up a mile (which took about an hour) because the kids had to stop several times and check out the water and cross this little bridge that leads to where someone is building a cabin. 

and on the other side they found a big rock to play on

Then during our hike, Hayden had to stop lots of times and take pictures of the water.....

and this patch of cacti....

and this airplane... and lots more too!!!

I forgot to mention that before our hike, we stopped and showed Melody, Tyler, and their kids the cave that we had found this summer when we were camping there this summer.  I stayed behind with Katie, so I THANKFULLY missed out on the encounter with bats that were in the cave.

Back to after our hike ----So, after hiking for awhile, we stopped by Uncle Terry's (Waylen's uncle) cabin before heading home, and let the kids play by the stream that runs through his property.  We had camped up there in July, but the mosquitos were so bad that we couldn't even get down by the water. Of course, like always the kids had lots of playing, and even got in the water instead of just throwing rocks in the water.

and Uncle Tyler even helped Katie join in on the fun of playing in the water....

It was a fun day, and was a great way to spend a Saturday!!!

Hayden is now a 1st Grader (Another one that is a little late!!)

Hayden started 1st grade a few weeks ago, and is doing good. I think his favorite thing about going to school is getting to play on the new playground.  But he did make the comment the other day that 1st grade is more fun than Kindergarten. Then, when asked why, he said "It just is."

Katie's 10 month update (A little late!!)

Katie now only has about a month and half before we celebrate her 1st birthday. Crazy, huh?

She still loves to eat!! And loves to eat almost anything and everything.

Here she is enjoying a blueberry muffin:

Can you guess what she had to eat this time?

Ravioli!!!

She loves playing with the kids, and they love playing with her. Although, I don't think Katie liked this game of putting each other in "a cage" as much as she does wrestling with them.  

She was really happy when mommy helped her escape from the cage:

Our little girl is starting to talk. She tends to pick a word for the day. One day it was "dada". I would tell her "No, say mama." and she would just say "dada" every time. Then, the next day it would be "mama" over and over again. Another day, very surprisingly, it was "thank you."  She was like a little parrot that day, we'd tell her to say thank you, and she would say it every time. But then the next day, nothing!!!  Yesterday, when Hayden got home from school, she kept saying "bubba".  Hayden loved it and kept saying "Mom, did you hear her say bubba!" So, yesterday afternoon, it was Bubba.  Today she has been pretty quiet, other than screaming at Kayla about the toys!! I'm sure it won't me long until her word of the day will be "MINE!!"

Busy "reading" one of Bubba's books:

She is such a sweetheart.  Although, she is so spoiled, she's rotten!!  We just love everything about her, and enjoy watching her grow and learn new things. She is still trying to learn to walk.  She cruises along from here to there really fast. But, when we try to get her to walk from one person to another, she'll take one step then reach out her arms and fall forward.  But this morning, I went to sit her down on the floor and she wanted to stand up, and then she took 5 steps before falling.  So, I'm sure she'll be running all over the place before long, and she is already trying to climb on everything!!

Just being her cute little self:

And she still only has two teeth!!!

9 (and a half) months old.....

    I know I have said it before and have said it often, but I just can't believe how fast time is going by. Our little baby is just growing up so fast and is almost a year old, summer is over and Hayden will be a first grader, and Kayla is almost 4!!! And the month of July went by so fast, I'm not sure it ever happened - must have been because we were so busy getting ready for the Celebration, having fun at the Celebration, then fun at the Stampede, then a trip over to Colorado Springs and Castle Rock a couple of weekends ago.  I guess time really does fly when you are having fun!!

    Katie is now 9 (close to 10) months old and continues to brighten our days with her cute little personality.  She is so spoiled though, we don't know what to do with her!! She finally learned how to really crawl instead of doing an "army crawl" - although when she wants to get somewhere really fast, she does the army crawl.  But she has been spending most of her time the last few days cruising along the furniture. Also, she gets better every day at standing alone for a few seconds without anyone holding onto her.  It's exciting to see her reach all of these milestones, but I'm still not sure I want my baby to grow up!!

She still loves to eat, BUT loves to feed herself, and  REALLY loves Oreos

and she liked the hamburgers during the Celebration!!

Just keeping cool in the pool!!

Catching some ZZZZ's....

She was able to have her first piggy the other day and it was so cute.....

But it didn't last all day, so she ended up with a Mohawk!!!

That's pretty much it for our update on little miss Katie Sue.