Riley's Farm

October 2008

Even though Carter and I had already gone to a Pumpkin Patch this year, we wanted to go again here in PA with Dad and some friends. This farm was HUGE and really fun. They had so many activities you had to pick and choose because there was too much to do it all.

On the tractor ride to go up to the pumpkin patch.

Ooh, I like these ones Mommy.

I absolutely love the relationship between these two.

One of the tractors coming up to the pumpkin patch.

Double Trouble (C & Ol)

Buddies running away from getting their picture taken.
(Linus, Oliver, and Carter)

Gotcha!

You always have to try to get the family photo op while at a pumpkin patch.

Linus gets very embarrassed getting his picture taken as you can see.

Best Buddies!

Back on the tractor ride having a good time as we head to the activity section.

But first we have to weigh our pumpkins. Matt took a guess to how much they would weigh and he got it dead on. What a talented guy.

This farm had the biggest, craziest petting zoo I have ever been to. These animals were crazy and kept jumping up on me trying to eat my camera or parts of my bag. Carter enjoyed running around with the animals, but I thought the picture above was pretty humorous.

"Back it up Sheep!"

The boys even got to milk a "cow."

Carter

Dad

Mom

Biker Dude

October 27, 2008

This particular October day Carter and I were really antsy to get outside so we decided to bundle up, move the Pathfinder off the drive strip, and put Carter on his bike. Up to this point Carter hadn't had a lot of time on his bike. So it was really fun to see him go "wild" on it. My favorite part of the videos is watching his little feet. He just cracks me up!

Finally My Halloween Post

Better late than never...right?

I have a whole bunch of catch up to be doing on my blogging for pretty much all of October, but first I must get this Halloween post done. I couldn't get any great shots of Carter in his costume. He is just at that age where sitting still is not possible.

Dad had to work on Halloween night, so Carter and I headed out to go pick up our buddy Oliver.



I couldn't believe how long the boys went trick or treating. We stayed on our street the whole time but I think we were gone a little over an hour. A man at the top of our block put some HUGE speakers out on his porch and pumped Halloween music. It made trick or treating that much more fun and the boys LOVED it!!!!

This video is hard to see because it was dark but it gives you the idea...

Once we got home, Daddy was able to steal away from the hospital and came to check out Carter's stash and to see how the night went.

A Super-Duper Saturday!

November 8, 2008

Saturday's seem to be just a magical day (that's what the goal is anyway) and this Saturday certainly fell into that category. It started with Carter finding mine and Matt's ice cream bowls from the night before that had just enough sticky stuff still in it that when Carter decided to wear them as hats they actually stayed on his head. Then it was time to bake Matt's new favorite thing Black Bottom Banana Bars/ Muffins so that they would be ready to go as soon as Matt woke up. And as always, Carter LOVES to help with the clean up. He does such a good job it usually ends up that Mom gets the floor beneath him all wet and clean too!

As you can see, Carter enjoyed the Black Bottom part of our muffins.

Then of course it's off to every little kids favorite Saturday morning activity: Cartoons! Carter loves to sing especially to some of his favorite shows.

And then there is the important job of helping with the mission:



Next it's off to helping Dad out in the backyard cleaning up leaves and planting bulbs for the Spring.

This is hard work!!

When it got a little chilly outside, Carter came in to help me with some Oatmeal Chocolate Cookies I was making for a Lantern Walk we were doing with some neighbors at their family farm to symbolize the changing of the seasons.

Par for the course, I forgot to take the "after" pictures, but let me tell you they were DELICIOUS!! Thanks Heather for the great recipe.

Once nap and a BYU victory was accomplished we were off to the Lantern Walk full of buddies and dogs.

Carter enjoyed carrying around his own Thomas Lantern (eat your heart out Tyler T) and true to himself couldn't handle following in a nice neat row and was constantly challenging Celeste for the leader roll. Overall, it was a totally new and different experience and a great ending to a fabulous day.

P.S. To those who have patiently waited to see pictures of Carter in his Halloween costume (Aunt Whit) I promise they will be in the next post. Also, I tried doing the videos using blogger so you could see them Whitney but it just wasn't working out so I reverted back to my default, sorry.

Howell's Pumpkin Patch

I am very excited for this post because it brings the long awaited debut of the Nelson family. The Nelson Family consists of parents Tom and Kim and their twins Taylor and Michael. They were our "family" while we lived in Des Moines, IA. I met Tom while working at Iowa State Bank. He invited Matt and I over to their house for an evening of food and games. We had a Blast and it was the beginning of a wonderful friendship. Everytime Matt and I would leave their house we always felt so happy and uplifted. This family has a great outlook on life and are such strong, faithful people. Thank you for sharing yourselves with us and helping us grow into better people!!

So since I was so close to Iowa while out there in KC, I really wanted to meet up with the Nelsons so why not go to the coolest pumpkin patch I have ever been to. Maybe I love it so much because it is in a place that is magical to me (Iowa) but really I think it is so adorable. It is called Howell's Pumpkin Patch and they have a whole slew of things to do...so much that we didn't even get the chance to do it all.

Here we are in our group picture. Tom and Kim are the back right. Taylor is on mine and Carter's left and Michael is on our right. Then there is my mother-in-law Bonnie next to Taylor. There is also someone else making his debut on my blog. The guy on the back left is Ryan. He is Whitney's (my sister-in-law) boyfriend. This was my first time I got to meet him and he passed with flying colors.
The Nelsons spoiled Carter all day starting with a gift that he has hardly left alone since, a Thomas train engine.


There was an adorable horse tire swing there that we all took turns pushing Carter on it.



They had these great pushing bikes that Carter had a blast on.
Then of course the Tractors. These things were so heavy Carter needed the men with muscles to come help him out. And of course Tom put Carter on the red one. Tom is a HUGE Iowa State Fan and converted Matt and I while we were in Iowa.
Ryan taking his turn.


Carter wondering, "Hmm, what do I have here?"
Michael taking advantage of a great photo opportunity.
While in the area we also went to the Covered Bridges of Madison County festival.
Here is our last photo op by the bridge. In my hand I have a gift that Tom got for Matt. It is Cale Sanderson's signature who was an Olympic Medalist, a Mormon, and most importantly :) an Iowa State Cyclone.
It's so sad to say goodbye.
Michael is one of the sweetest boys I know. He loves to give hugs and hold hands. I think this is why Michael got one of the best hugs I have ever seen Carter give. P.S. I need to mention that not all these pictures were mine. The same with the below post. With so many great people taking pictures it's so fun to share them. So thanks to all those who donated their pictures to my blog.

And Thank You to the Nelsons for meeting up with us and sharing your wonderful selves with my family again. Hopefully, we will have plenty more opportunities to do more of this.