On the first day in October we were at Sand hollow resort near St. George Ut. The water temperature was ok, a little cold, but Ashlyn LOVED it! 
She kept crawling out farther and farther and would have probably kept going until her head were under if we hadn't stopped her.
The background was so pretty I had to put this in, even though it doesn't do justice...
As we were finishing up our beach time Jeremy's parents and sister stopped by on their way to Vegas. Ellia had a ton of fun playing in the sand with Addie.
By then Ashlyn was worn out.
If only this picture told how sandy Ellia was, it took a jump in the pool, and two baths to even get her partly cleaned up....I won't even begin the tale of how long it took to get the sand out of her suit.
Once we were cleaned up, we met my parents in Hurricane and they took us out to JB's for my birthday dinner. Then they kept Ashlyn at the hotel and we camped at Sand Hollow. In the morning we all went into St. George to see Jed finish the St. George marathon, then went to Pizza Factory for more food and birthday treats. The next day we stopped in Vegas to watch Addie and of course to eat out even more...
Ellia's self portrait.
Ash helping dad fix the kitchen sink.
Ash helping dad fix the kitchen sink.
I have a picture of Ellia in these same jammies and I just couldn't believe how alike they are started to look
I finally made it to the local children's museum with some friends. Most of the time we were busy chatting, and every once in a while we check up on the kids, well I found these two all decked out in the fire engine and I asked this little boy's mom if she had helped him...nope, all them!
Ellia helping me with a scentsy order...she makes such a good sales lady!
I had to catch this on film because it looked so familiar.
In mid-October a few friends and I went to a really fun pumpkin patch just outside of town to take some fun pictures and pick out our pumpkins.
Here are all the kiddos, I thought Jacque was pretty brave to have Ellia holding her baby, but look what a good job Ellia is doing!
There were cute wagons filled with pumpkins and gourds everywhere so people were just chucking their kids up there...I must admit it makes for a good picture!
Ellia and Sadie held hands for a lot of the time, but wouldn't get as close with Andy...poor guy.
Another picture reminiscent of the past...
I finally made it to the local children's museum with some friends. Most of the time we were busy chatting, and every once in a while we check up on the kids, well I found these two all decked out in the fire engine and I asked this little boy's mom if she had helped him...nope, all them!
Ellia helping me with a scentsy order...she makes such a good sales lady!
I had to catch this on film because it looked so familiar.
In mid-October a few friends and I went to a really fun pumpkin patch just outside of town to take some fun pictures and pick out our pumpkins.
Here are all the kiddos, I thought Jacque was pretty brave to have Ellia holding her baby, but look what a good job Ellia is doing!
There were cute wagons filled with pumpkins and gourds everywhere so people were just chucking their kids up there...I must admit it makes for a good picture!
Ellia and Sadie held hands for a lot of the time, but wouldn't get as close with Andy...poor guy.
Another picture reminiscent of the past...
At last it was time for the girls to paint their pumpkins, it was so fun for Ellia this year, and Ash even got pretty into it with her finger paints...
and her mouth
A little project i have been working on for Ash's room, a friend gave me this idea and I thought they were turning out so perfect I had to take a picture of each stage of the process.
Ellia painted a lot that day too. (this is actually the day Ellia got her cast on)
This picture is near our house...for those of you who have visited, this is proof that you CAN see mountains in Bakersfield, it just only happens about twice a year! JK ;)
Ah, the real carving! Put Ash to bed and get out the knives! Ellia still isn't walking but will stand and try a step or two.
By trunk or treat night Ellia is walking pretty good but is obviously pretty slow so she gets a lot of help from us and likes to rest in the stroller.
Ellia chose to be a butterfly so Ash got to be a flower - of course the wings and antennae don't last long.
She really hasn't let the cast slow her down any more than it physically has too. I am amazed at how resliant she is (and probably most kids) she just accepts it and does what she can to continue her little life as usual. She scoots and crawls when she want to go somewhere fast, and even rode her bike one legged. I think I am just more nervous for her, I tried desperately to keep her from climbing the ladders at the park the other day. She hasn't complained once, but did ask yesterday (nov 2) "can I take this off?" I knew it would come, fortunatley only a week left.
The cake walk. I was worried how long she'd last and was so relieved when her number was the first they called out! However, there were so many people some of the numbers were being shared and the little boy behind us said he was standing on it. At least Ellia still wanted to play and we eventually won her a cupcake (she held up the procession a few times though)
and her mouth
A little project i have been working on for Ash's room, a friend gave me this idea and I thought they were turning out so perfect I had to take a picture of each stage of the process.
Ellia painted a lot that day too. (this is actually the day Ellia got her cast on)This picture is near our house...for those of you who have visited, this is proof that you CAN see mountains in Bakersfield, it just only happens about twice a year! JK ;)
Ah, the real carving! Put Ash to bed and get out the knives! Ellia still isn't walking but will stand and try a step or two.
By trunk or treat night Ellia is walking pretty good but is obviously pretty slow so she gets a lot of help from us and likes to rest in the stroller.
Ellia chose to be a butterfly so Ash got to be a flower - of course the wings and antennae don't last long.She really hasn't let the cast slow her down any more than it physically has too. I am amazed at how resliant she is (and probably most kids) she just accepts it and does what she can to continue her little life as usual. She scoots and crawls when she want to go somewhere fast, and even rode her bike one legged. I think I am just more nervous for her, I tried desperately to keep her from climbing the ladders at the park the other day. She hasn't complained once, but did ask yesterday (nov 2) "can I take this off?" I knew it would come, fortunatley only a week left.
The cake walk. I was worried how long she'd last and was so relieved when her number was the first they called out! However, there were so many people some of the numbers were being shared and the little boy behind us said he was standing on it. At least Ellia still wanted to play and we eventually won her a cupcake (she held up the procession a few times though)
The night after trunk or treat it was time for Jeremy to don these bad boys - hand made moon boots!
Ta Da! Who ever said I'd never wear this Brides Maid dress again?!
Some friends at the costume party...hopefully I'll be getting some more pictures of the evenings events soon, it was such a blast, the perfect adult halloween party, with good food, treats and games. Jer and I actually took 3rd in the minute to win it games....stupid get a gummy worm to stick to a pretzel game.
And finally, halloween night, complete with themed goodies!
Ok, so these are supposed to be mummies but I think some came out looking like babies, men with turbans, and one even looks like a chinamen.
Trick or treating, bu now Ellia is walking like a champ, and even tries to run a little.
Dad still like to carry his little girl though.
The spread.
It was so nice to let the kids play on their own while the adults visited. We tried to keep the food and candy in the kitchen but Stephanie let Brayden take some M&M's back into the bedroom and said, "he can't open them." Well those weren't opened but when we checked the kids had ransacked the candy we were handing out and having a tea party with it.
Not to mention that Ashlyn has a myriad of skittle slobber on her costume from the tea party - her one year old cake will definatley NOT be her first sugar.
Checking on the kids a bit later we find this
Yes, a binky in Ellia's mouth, and what you can't see is that every stuffed animal in the house is also in the crib.
So it seems that every time Jer and I try to throw a halloween party something goes awry. Most of the time it is at the cabin, like the time we had watched a scary movie, had the tv and were just sitting around when it just came back on again for no reason. Or when the shower head broke right off, well this year was no different.
Ta Da! Who ever said I'd never wear this Brides Maid dress again?!
Some friends at the costume party...hopefully I'll be getting some more pictures of the evenings events soon, it was such a blast, the perfect adult halloween party, with good food, treats and games. Jer and I actually took 3rd in the minute to win it games....stupid get a gummy worm to stick to a pretzel game.
And finally, halloween night, complete with themed goodies!
Ok, so these are supposed to be mummies but I think some came out looking like babies, men with turbans, and one even looks like a chinamen.
Trick or treating, bu now Ellia is walking like a champ, and even tries to run a little.
Dad still like to carry his little girl though.
The spread.
It was so nice to let the kids play on their own while the adults visited. We tried to keep the food and candy in the kitchen but Stephanie let Brayden take some M&M's back into the bedroom and said, "he can't open them." Well those weren't opened but when we checked the kids had ransacked the candy we were handing out and having a tea party with it.
Not to mention that Ashlyn has a myriad of skittle slobber on her costume from the tea party - her one year old cake will definatley NOT be her first sugar.Checking on the kids a bit later we find this
Yes, a binky in Ellia's mouth, and what you can't see is that every stuffed animal in the house is also in the crib.
So it seems that every time Jer and I try to throw a halloween party something goes awry. Most of the time it is at the cabin, like the time we had watched a scary movie, had the tv and were just sitting around when it just came back on again for no reason. Or when the shower head broke right off, well this year was no different.
I was dutifully answering the door for trick or treaters when all of a sudden it wouldn't open. I thought one of our neighbor friends was playing a trick on us by holding it shut so I just kept pulling and shouting out the door, who it is? I can't open the door, let go! Mia comes over and says we just need to pull real hard, she grabs the handle and says i should grab her, No way - we'll go right through the wall. So Jeremy tells me to go through the garage and check to see who's there. No one. I check the door and it still won't open even from the outside. In the two seconds it takes me to go back in through the garage David has the door pulled all the way off. Well at this point in the night we have only three pieces of candy left to give out and we can't really just turn off the light because the door is WIDE OPEN. We had to ransack the kids bags and rid them of the things that weren't as good so we had something to hand out.
Ellia got this HUGE marshmellow from our awesome neighbors, I don't know how they knew she LOVES marshmellows, but then again, like her mom, she never met a sugar she didn't like!
