Cousin Party

On Thursday Nana threw a Halloween party for the boys at her house. They ate mummy hot dogs, string cheese fingers, and fruit in an orange that was carved out as a pumpkin.

They played the doughnut on a string game, Halloween bingo, Who's got the pumpkin, and delivered pumpkin bread to some neighbors around the block in their car. 

Five cute cousins-Ethan the train conductor, Tanner the puppy, Luigi Jack, Mario Clayton, and Evan the pirate.

I felt bad for Tanner in his little puppy costume. It's hot and zips all the way up to his head but he didn't seem to mind for a bit. Cutest puppy I've ever seen.

All aboard! The cousins had fun taking turns driving the car to deliver the bread. Mom did a great job at making the house look festive with Halloween balloons for the boys. Throughout the week we have been making yummy carmeled apples with almonds and heath topping. We have parties all weekend long, bring on the fun! 

Tanner at 6 months

Tanner is half-a-year old today! Where did the time go? We are so grateful for him and love his cute little personality. He has only slept through the night a few times but is becoming a better sleeper. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that he is still in our room because there is no place to put him. Today we have decided we are going to have him sleep in the playroom until we feel he is ready to move in with Ethan. Tanner is such a light sleeper! I go to put a blanket on him and he wakes up. He is getting his front two bottom teeth in; you can see the little white buds coming up. He can roll over, which is making him more mobile. He likes the jumper and saucer, enjoys being out and about, and is a happy-natured baby. I love when babys turn six months old. They start to come into their own a little bit more as they learn to sit up, get teeth, and start to scoot and crawl.

Fall is here!

I love the cool, rainy weather we're having. I wasn't going to decorate for the holidays this year because I thought it would be too much of a hassle and felt it wouldn't add to the mismatched cabin decor that is already going on. Well, last night I saw a few of my decorations and decided I must decorate. I'm so glad I did and love how the house feels. While decorating I had my new candle burning sending a lovely aroma through the house. Now I'm excited to decorate for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Bring on the holidays! (Since Christmas is just around the corner, I won't be out of place singing Christmas music now. I love Christmas music and it's not uncommon to hear me singing Christmas music in the middle of April.)  

We were down in Tustin for the weekend for Brett's "homecoming" talk. I know they don't really do homecoming programs like they use to, but he spoke and did a great job. It was neat hearing some of the spiritual experiences he had on his mission. Unfortunately, Jared had to work but was able to come down Sunday afternoon to stay with us for one last day in Tustin. Jared has been working really long hours and is dead tired when he gets home. He has been working 15-20 hour days everyday this week and will for the next several weeks. His days start at 4am and go until 7-8pm on an average day. Tonight he is on call, so he is pushing 18 hours right now, and I'm actually awaiting his arrival hopefully within the next hour. He feels way more confident in his abilitys as a doctor, which of course is rewarding. He enjoys what he is doing, which is good since he is definitely putting in his time.

On Monday we took Ethan to his first movie in the theater, Toy Story 3. He liked it but talked throughout it a bit and wasn't totally intrigued. He's not a big TV watcher but was able to make it through the movie just fine. He is opposite of most children his age in that he has always wanted to play instead of watching TV. This is a blessing in many ways but up until recently we pretty much had to bribe him to watch a show so we could have a small break from playing. Now he will watch 30 minutes at most and is ready to play again or wants to be doing something while watching. What child turns off the TV after just a few minutes (having not seen any TV all day) and says, "Mommy, I'm done watching TV! Let's play!"? He's a mover and a shaker!

My Boys

Ethan, I love how you

...randomly give me hugs and kisses throughout the day.

...sweetly come up to me and say, "I love you."

...say, "Mommy, you want to play?" in such a cute way all day long.

...love to love Tanner.

...love to sit right up to me while on the coach.

...are concerned when someone gets hurt and say sorry even if it's not your fault.

...are so happy and full of energy just like your mommy.

Tanner I love the way you
...smell with your soft baby skin.
...are so cute and cuddly.
...smile at me and know I'm your mama.
...reach your arms around me and hold tightly to my face.
...are so small and still such a little baby.
...look when you are sleeping tight.

I love my two little boys!

Brett is home and church talks

Last night Brett came home from his two year mission in Nashville, Tennessee. We are excited to have him home and hope to hang out with him a lot before he goes back to BYU in the winter.We only got to see him for a little bit since we had to leave early Sunday morning to get back to our ward to give our sacrament meeting talks. Brett did get to meet Tanner on Sunday morning before we left and get reacquainted with Ethan. Ethan was one year old when Brett left so needless to say Ethan has changed a lot.

Jared and I spoke on the scriptures and felt good about it but are glad to be done. Jared came up with "The Seven P's to Highly Effective Scripture Study": Prioritize, Plan, Pray, Ponder, Personalize, Pen and Paper, Put it into Practice. It was a great talk as he broke down all the points. I talked about coming unto Christ through scripture study.

Irvine Park & Fire Department Open House

On Friday we went to the duck park with the Bedke's before naps. The kids loved playing together and always play so well. It's as if we never left, we just jump right back to where we left off. Ethan loved being Blake's shadow and running around with him. In the afternoon we went to Irvine Park with Laurie, Jack and Evan for their Halloween festivites. We rode the train, went through their maze, and haunted house. The train is always the highlight of the trip. Afterwards Jared and Ethan went in the spa at Nana's and Papa's and we all enjoyed Cafe Rio. We ate well this week! It was nice having so many activities each day.

Today we went to the annual Orange County Fire Department open house that we have gone to the last few years. Ethan loved sitting in the fire trucks, spraying the fire hose to put out the fake fire, and of course the free lunch of hot dogs and chips. In the evening we went to Anna Lawerence's wedding reception in her family's old backyard. They moved to Utah several years ago but their daughter still lives in their California home. I haven't been in the home for years so it was neat to see what upgrades they have done with the house. The reception had a fun fall feel to it. They had a candy and dessert bar with white lights throughout the backward. It was very low key but nice. We just made a quick appearance since we had to get to the airport to pick up Brett. More to come on that...

Irvine Spectrum and Tanaka Farms

We love having Daddy home this week! Jared gets four weeks of vacation each year and this is one of them. He can only take off during an elective rotation. The last several weeks he has been on an outpatient rotation in clinics so we see him a lot more. We are taking advantage of him being home and celebrating this week. Next week will be back to early hours, on call, and late nights!

Yesterday we went to the Irvine Spectrum to ride the carousel and then had Ruby's for dinner. It rained most of the morning but cleared up in the afternoon. Ethan was the only one on the carousel and Ruby's was pretty empty. Ethan and I shared our favorite guacamole burger with an Oreo shake. Jared got a BBQ chicken salad which was refreshing and a nice change from a hamburger. After our outing, mom watched the boys and Joy so we could go to a movie. We saw Salt at the dollar theater. The movie was really good and it was a nice treat to get out since it doesn't really happen that much anymore.

Today we went to Tanaka Farms to see the pumpkins, go through the corn maze, and end a fun day with In-n-out for dinner. At Tanaka Farms they have hundreds of pumpkins, all shapes and sizes you can pick off the vine and purchase. We go every year to just look around (never to buy a pumpking since it's so expensive) but it's always a fun family outing running through the fields. In the evenings we have been playing outside on the swing, drawing with sidewalk chalk, playing frisbee and running around with Joy.

It's chocolate time!

This morning I enjoyed my first cup of hot chocolate for the season. Last year when the weather changed we had hot chocolate often and every time we got out the mugs you could hear Ethan chant, "It's chocolate time!" This week we have had cold and rainy weather. I've enjoyed being able to wear jeans and jackets but I don't think this weather is here to stay quite yet.

We were in Tustin for Conference weekend watching Joy and came back yesterday for a few more days while the Goodmans go to Nashville to pick up Brett from his mission. Over the weekend we played several times with the Brooks brothers at Nana's and at the park. They all played very well which is always nice to see. We went to Citrus Park and rode bikes to expend some energy before bed while the men were at the Priesthood session. Conference as always was very nice. Ethan is at an age where he is able to play quietly from time to time so we were able to get more out of it. Jared has this week off work so we have some fun activities planned but the rain is preventing us from doing all of them right now. Hopefully tomorrow it will be a little more dry.

Last night I went with Laurie to Bath and Body Works, Carters, Old Navy, Target, and Off Broadway Shoes. We went after our boys were down for bed and got lots done. It's amazing how we can do so much in such a short time without having to tote kids in and out of stores. I got Ethan some winter clothes and a thing or two for me. I had a gift card to Bath and Body so I got a candle called "Leaves" that Heather has been raving about. I am excited for Fall and the holiday season. I got Tanner's Halloween costume in the mail yesterday - super cute!

Really good chewy chocolate chip bars

I really like these cookie bars especially over having chocolate chip cookies. It's the same taste, just better. They are moist and a chewy treat. For conference weekend Ethan and I are going to make some. I don't make treats often because we can't and don't want to finish all of them so having family around we will have no problem. Enjoy!

*Makes a 9X13-inch pan of bars

2 1/8 cups (10 1/2 ounces) all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
12 tablespoons butter (1 1/2 sticks), melted and cooled slightly
1 cup (7 ounces) light brown sugar
1/2 (3 1/2 ounces) cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups chocolate chips (use your preference of semisweet, bittersweet, milk, white, peanut butter…the options are endless!)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Adjust the oven rack to lower-middle position. Line a 9X13-inch baking pan with foil, letting the excess hang over the edges of the pan by about 1 inch so you can grab those edges and pull the brownies from the pan after they have baked. Spray the foil-lined pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Mix the flour, salt, and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside. Whisk the melted butter and sugars in a large bowl until combined. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and mix well. Using a rubber spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the egg mixture until just combined; do not overmix. Fold in the chocolate chips and turn the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with the spatula.

Bake until the top of the bars is light golden brown, slightly firm to the touch, and edges start pulling away from sides of pan, 24-28 minutes. Cool on a wire rack to room temperature. Remove the bars from the pan by lifting the foil overhang and transfer them to a cutting board. Cut into 2-inch squares and serve.