Our Thankful Tree

This was our activity for Family Home Evening this week. McKay did a great job putting all the leaves on the tree. Some gratitude favorites include the garbage man/can, who he prays for daily; BYU; disposable diapers per Burke's request; and tools, because how could we not include tools?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Anson's blessing

We had a quick whirlwind trip to Utah in October to see both sides of the family, bless Anson, and see my brother open his mission call. It was fun but much too quick and not fun trying to share so little time with both families. (Although the time we do get with family never seems like enough.)

Here is my brother opening his call. He is going to be a great missionary! There was not a dry eye when he announced he would be serving Chinese-speaking. It was a very proud moment for my grand-dad and my mom's family.

Here are some pictures from the blessing. It was nice to have so much family together for Anson's blessing. It was the first time for a lot of the family to meet Little Red.

 

With Burke's parents:

With my parents:

A big thank you to all the family who was able to make it to the blessing. It was so good to see family members we haven't seen in over a year (or two!). And a big thank you to Trevor and Sheri for providing their house for the occasion. We love and miss you guys!

Anson at 3 months

Here are some pictures of Anson at three months. I can't believe how much he is growing up and getting so big already (not to mention he started out huge. . . .).

He is a fun and happy baby. He quite enjoys tummy time, especially when he's watching McKay play and be silly. And, boy, is he a snuggler! I am loving it! We are proud to report his hair is still very red, and he's only getting more of it. With his red hair, green is stellar on him! His eyes are still as blue as can be. And he's a drool monster.

He is a big time smiler. He loves to giggle and laugh, especially at McKay. Sometimes McKay will just walk past, and Anson will start full-on laughing. He is definitely going to be M's little shadow as they grow up.

 He loves to be swaddled still every time he goes to sleep, and he is very particular about how he's swaddled. He often has a look of concern on his face because he furrows his brows all the time.

He is dying to be a thumb sucker, but I am really trying to dis-sway him. He sucks on his fingers or thumb any chance he gets.

M's latest hobby

M has recently figured out how to work my camera. However, he often holds it backwards, thus taking self-portraits rather than pictures of the things he intends to take pictures of. Here are a few from his recent photo sessions.

Halloween

We had a lot of fun with this year at Halloween. McKay was just old enough to understand it a little bit. We got some Halloween books from the library, and McKay is still asking to read them every day. We got a really cute book called Boo by Joe Fenton about a little ghost. We recommend it.

McKay was his favorite thing in the world: a construction worker. He was delighted to carry his tools around!

Anson wore a pumpkin shirt that I found in my box of McKay's baby clothes. It worked nicely for keeping him warm since it was a cold night.

It was fun to watch McKay this year. He got Halloween, and carried his pumpkin bucket around the whole day until it was time to trick or treat. He even broke it, so I duct taped it back together because I wasn't going to go back to the store to get another one. Oh, well. (notice the hammer he carried around in his pumpkin.)

We thought this was a pretty funny costume. The guy dressed as a homeless person and his sign says, "Will work for candy." We saw him bumming candy off some of the older trick-or-treaters. It was pretty funny.

Anson eying McKay's loot. . . .

Family Home Evening

This was our first official Family Home Evening as a family of four. It still seems a little crazy sometimes that we have two kids now! We had a lesson on the Iron Rod. McKay was a good helper and helped me make rice krispie treats for our FHE treat. McKay thought the best part was eating the treat, of course.

Some Pictures of Anson and McKay

Here are some random pictures of Anson and McKay from August, mostly for Grandma to enjoy.