Bishops Castle

 We wanted to do something fun as a family this weekend.  Jeff found this Castle in Rye, CO.  This guy had always had a dream of owning his own castle.  At age 15 he bought the land and has been slowly building it himself little by little.  It was amazing to see, although a bit scary at times.

 This is inside in the bottom, he has all sorts of little crannies and caves made out of the stone and cement.

 The amazing thing was all the STAIRS.  There were stairs everywhere, multiple staircases that all went up, up, up.  Dallin and I made it about half way up and decided to head down, we both got a bit scared on those steel stairs that circled up.  We headed down to the gift shop with Alyssa while Jeff took Jackie and Brea up to the very top.

 This is the view from the top, it was way up there.  I am glad I came down when I did, it kind of scares me just looking at the picture.

It was inspiring to see what he had accomplished.  He is now in his 60's and he has a beautiful castle.  Just proves what is possible.  Afterwards we took the family out to eat at 3 Margaritas.  It was  fun to eat out, a real treat for us because it is very rare.  When Jeff asked the kids when was the last time we ate out they remember a time a year ago when we went to Denver for the weekend.  The kids were pretty well behaved, it helps that they are a bit older.  The only problem we encountered was Alyssa throwing food over the seat bench into the adjacent booth.  We didn't even realize she was doing it...until the man in the booth next to ours leaned over and kindly mentioned that our daughter was throwing her food over the seat, a bit embarrassing.  The joy of life with a two year old.  She keeps things exciting.

Pumpkins

 Oh yes, the fun tradition of pulling ooey gooey's out of a pumpkin and carving a face on the outside of it.  Dallin picked out his pumpkin a few weeks back, he was too excited.  We tried to explain that it wouldn't last, but he did not care.  So when he opened his, he not only had the regular ooey gooey, but he also had some green ooey gooey fuzzy inside (notice the face).  He did not want to touch that, which I can't blame him.  He got some gloves on to keep it off his hands.

 This is the first time we have used those cute little carving knives that come in a set . I always thought they wouldn't work very well, they looked so flimsy.  But I was wrong, they worked amazingly well and were just the right size for little hands.

 They all made their own unique face this year.  Dallin and Jackie completely on their own.  It is nice when they are able to do things themselves.

 Brea tried her best to do hers, but needed a bit of help.  She did not like taking the oeey gooey out and needed a lot of help with that part.

 Alyssa enjoyed watching everyone and walking around.  She didn't understand what we were doing but she smiled by her pumpkin and looked cute.

 I think Jackie did a great job.  She added some yarn for hair.

 Brea is trying to imitate the scary face she made on her pumpkin - pretty close!

 The four pumpkins add a great decoration to our front porch.  Good job kids.

Fall Fun

Yea its Fall, that means leaves to play in.  I remember as kid how much fun it was to play in the fallen leaves.  I think it might be even funner to watch the excitement on my kids faces as they jump into a pile of leaves and throw leaves over their heads.  This was a Friday, which is early release from school.  Dallin decided to rake the leaves in the front yard and got all the girls involved in the work.  How?  Because after they raked them all up they could all jump into the leaves.  That was worth it to them.  

 The other endeavor my kids have enjoyed is a Lemonade Stand . This is the 2nd one they have done and they really enjoy it.  They are are very well mannered and courteous to their customers (that makes a Momma proud).  We live on a corner, which is a good location for a lemonade stand, they did quite well for the few hours they were out.  I had to make them come in because we were going out that night.

 Brea was the "lookout".  She would spot a person walking and yell "Customer, Customer" to give Dallin and Jackie a heads up.  Oh to be a kid again.  I love seeing them play and have fun together without the use of any electronics.

Alyssa as a Toddler

 Our little Alyssa is getting quite the personality.  I wanted to document it before she grows up and I forget how cute and funny she is.

 She still LOVES books and will sit really good while a book is read to her.  Dallin always begs to read her a book at night rather than his reading book from school.  This is one of my 'favorite things' watching one of my children read to another child.  I am glad that all of my kids like books.  If the day is getting wild and I am filling like things are out of control I know that I can gather all of my kids around me and read a book to them and that they will calm down and sit still for a minute.  Alyssa is a busy two year old and Dallin a busy 7 year old, so books are a rare peaceful moment for both of them.

 Smiling with gum in her mouth.  Jeff has candy in the garage because he has a candy machine route that he services.  Alyssa has discovered the Gumballs and she really likes them.  She is fast too. As soon as she finds it she stuffs it in her mouth.  She understands that she is supposed to chew it and then throw it in the garbage when she is done.  I will find her an hour later with gum still in her mouth, so that is good.  I am not sure if it always gets to the garbage though, that is not good.  She definitely has a sweet tooth.

 This girl changes outfits more times that I can even count.  She also strips down to nothing more times than I can count.  She is in the process of potty training.  When she decides she needs to go, she takes EVERYTHING off and gets on the potty herself.  Yes, she is quite independent.  Then she runs downstairs, still completely naked and jumps up and down yelling "PEE PEE, POTTY!"

 This outfit was her getting herself dressed, after I had already dressed her in a completely different outfit that morning.  It was so hilarious to see the shirt around her waist and the inside out & backward shirt on only one arm.  I had to capture it.  Her facial expressions were just right for the outfit.  There was one day when I was cleaning up the house because Jeff was about to come home with someone.   Right when Jeff & the contractor walked in, Alyssa comes sliding down the stairs with about 9 shirts (no exaggeration) around her waist.  No pants, no shirt, except the 9 around her waist.  I grabbed her and took her up to undress her.  I kept take layer after layer off.  Silly girl, but I am glad that she is willing to dress herself.

These two are just right for each other. They have a lot of fun and a few battles daily.  I am always amazed at the love and forgiveness children emulate.  They are a great example to me.  Alyssa can say just about anything she wants and is pretty good about letting us know what she wants or does not, sometimes a little louder than we like.  She loves playing with babies and is very sweet with them.  She came up to me today with a baby and a sad look on her face.  She told me her baby got hurt and wanted me to hold her.  She is a big bed now (versus the playpen she spent the first two years of her life in).  She can fall asleep on her own, but likes to push the limits.  We have realized not to put her in our bed after losing papers off our desk and having computer keys popped off.  She keeps things hopping at our house and we all enjoy her cute personality.

Last Zucchini

 Look what Dallin found in our garden!  We thought our garden was done for the season, but those zucchini are strong.  Dallin was amazed at how BIG it was.  The kids all had fun taking pictures with it.

 These pictures make me laugh because my kids will not come close to eating zucchini UNLESS it is in Zucchini Bread.  But here they are eating away supposedly....

We enjoy having a garden every year and the kids like to be involved in planting and harvesting, not so much the weeding.  We got a few ears of corn this year which is a first for us.  We also had tomatoes, peas, beans, a few carrots, zucchini, and strawberries.  This was our first year for strawberries so I wasn't expecting much, but we actually got more than I thought we would.  They were so sweet and juicy.  Even though they were small  the tasted wonderful.

Finished Garage

So after living in our house for over 5 years, we finally decided to "finish" the drywall in the garage.  We moved in with it started, and finally were able to complete it.  Of course we had lots of helpers.  They were actually pretty good help with the putty.  They would get it on and then we would smooth it over.  It is so nice to have it done and the garage cleaned out (almost) so that we can park our van inside for the winter.  Jeff also made shelves on both sides, which is wonderful storage for all our "stuff".  We also found a nice locker on Craigslist.  Now each child, and adult, has their own locker to hold their backpack, coat/jackets, boots, and all their winter clothing.  It has made our entry closet space so nice and clutter free.

Yea to organization!