October 2015 - Family Time and Halloween

We had a last minute get together with the Riverton Grubers. It was a Friday evening and we headed to Highland Glen Park. Jason had taken us there one time and we loved it. Max hadn’t been there since high school. They have really improved the park and it is a fun place to visit. April and the kids also really liked it. It was unfortunate that we went there so late in the year, otherwise we would have liked to visit again that month. I guess we will have to wait until the spring. We all picked up subs and ate them at a picnic table, then we walked around the park as it quickly got dark.

We had another game night with some of our PG friends: Gibbs and Bairds. We had dinner at Kohrinoors (Indian food) and then headed to the Bairds for games. We played Utter Nonsense (the Gibbs censored version...it was a hoot) and Cover Your Assets (our contribution).

Grandma Gruber turned 95! We celebrated with a big party at her house and several family members came into town, including Alli. Alli brought with her some huge news that she was leaving Rick. This came as a complete shock, but come to find out that he is a complete narcissist. Poor Alli had been dealing with that for the past year and we had no idea. We are so glad that she and the kids were able to get out and are happier now for it. George and Nancy traveled back to California with Alli that next week and helped her move all of her stuff out. So grateful for families! My heart breaks for Alli. She is one of the strongest and most thoughtful people that I know. I look up to her so much and love her with all of my heart!

an adorable early birthday present for Colson from Alli, Capri, and Duke:

We checked out the pumpkin walk at the Riverwoods. We misunderstood the idea of it so we were slightly disappointed that none of the pumpkins were carved and that we hadn’t dressed up, but we still had a pretty good time and ate some good churros.

Halloween finally came! It was especially fun this year as we were excited about our costumes and Charlie understood a little bit more about dressing up and Trick or Treating. I started off the day with a breakfast with some of my girlfriends. I met up with Stacee, Kylie, and Kara from PG at Magleby’s to celebrate Stacee’s soon to be born baby girl. Next on the list was a visit to Grandma and Grandpa Arbon to show them our costumes. Thanks to Jason’s brilliant idea, we were Star Wars characters to pay our respects to the new upcoming movie. We were Han Solo, Princess Leia, Yoda, and an ewok. It was hilarious! I found an old pageant dress that my mom had used in college and it was perfect! I don’t think I could have found a better dress if I had been searching to buy one. Next we headed to our friend’s house, the Coburns, for a soup and breadstick party. On our way home, Grandma and Grandpa Gruber came for a short visit. they had just barely flown in that afternoon from helping Alli move in California, bless their hearts. We hit up a few houses for Trick or Treating while Grandma and Grandpa manned the candy at our house. Charlie was stoked about all of the candy he collected and even organized it the next day. Fun memories!

Other fun Halloween pics:

Jason won KSL's Snapshot of the Week! We were stoked. He won for this picture from his fishing trip to Canada. His prize was a new Camp Chef Backpacking Stove. Here is the winning picture:

Click HERE for the link

And here was his prize:

Here are some other pictures from the month:

Meeting Desi's new baby, Kingston Messam

An unbelievable stop at the Curiosity Museum. I have never seen it so empty!

One last look at the flowers before planting pansies and tulips for Spring:

Colson’s Eleventh Month

(September 6 - October 5)

Colson is standing and walking along the couch a lot more. He is really on the move! He can climb up the small indoor slide that we have from the ladder side and up the slide part. He loves trying to climb everything. He can climb out of his high chair or other seats with straps. He can pretty much weasel his way out of anything if he wants to. He will wiggle out of the grocery cart straps and then stand in the seat. He will cry if I make him sit down and will fight it. I resort to letting him stand facing backwards and holding onto his pants. He can turn around and slide down on his stomach when going down the stairs. Overall, he is very daring and it is fun/stressful to see.

I have been trying to push his sleeping in the morning to 7:00 am. Sometimes it happens, but it is not consistent.

He constantly wants to eat anything! He loves those little puff things. That could be due to teething, as another top tooth cut through.

Colson can wave and say “hi” and “bye”, well it sounds more like “ha” and “ba”. He can repeat “wow” and can clap. He can push a toy car and make a buzzing sound for the engine. We are seeing more personality and noises/squeals. He will look at me and smile when I say “no”. He will turn when he hears his name.

He loves to point at things and he loves to interact with others. He is starting to get separation anxiety. It is plain to see when I leave him at the daycare at the gym. Charlie and Colson both really enjoy it, but Colson never wants to let me leave. Luckily the head girl there is like his substitute mom. She really loves Colson and gives him special attention. He follows her around like her little chick.

Here are some more pictures of Colson from his eleventh month:

October 2015 - General Conference Weekend and Time with Friends

In October, we were back at The Gardens at Thanksgiving Point. This time we were with Nancy, April, Elsa, and Greta. The kids had a great time running around, and I especially loved seeing Charlie becoming more familiar with the place, knowing where to go and leading the way. It was really cute. The little girls enjoyed being models in our pictures and really “worked it”. It was hilarious!

We had another fun outing with the Gruber cousins. We went to Gardner Village to see all of the fun Halloween witches. We even got to see a baby alpaca! It was a great time!

Jason and I had a date night. We put the kids to bed and then had Emma, a young woman in the neighborhood, come babysit. We went and saw The Martian. It was a great movie. Jason had recently finished the book, so he especially enjoyed it.

October means General Conference. Hooray! That weekend we listened to the Saturday sessions from home, and then headed to Draper for Priesthood Session. Just before Priesthood Session we had enough time to go to a pumpkin patch to pick out some pumpkins. Then we picked up some Cafe Rio for the boys to eat while watching Priesthood from home and the girls, Charlie, and Colson went to HuHot for dinner (a Mongolian buffet that is pretty good and one of Bryan’s favorites). After Priesthood, we had some treats and watched Star Wars V. On Sunday, we celebrated my dad’s birthday. We watched Conference, played Settlers of Catan, watched the afternoon session of Conference, had dinner, went for a walk, opened presents, ate cake, and then once my other siblings left we played Cover Your Assets. It was a very fun and uplifting weekend!

I had a Girls Night with a couple of my high school friends, Kerstin and Alisha. We went and saw The Intern. I actually loved that movie and thought it was so cute. It is always so fun getting together with those girls. Always lots to catch up on.

Now that's how you do movie candy! Thanks Kerstin!

The boys and I got together with our PG friends and had a play date and Halloween craft. Very fun!

The Relief Society was in charge of the Ward Harvest Festival, so we were busy with that. We had a good time square dancing and eating good food.

On a very personal level, I started my first menstrual cycle since being pregnant with Colson. I only mention that because it was very hard on my body. I was sick for several days and could hardly eat anything. One day in particular I got insane cramps like I have never gotten before. It was such a blessing that Jason came home early that day from work; it was right in the knick of time. I was writhing in pain, so he gave me a blessing and I was finally able to relax, rest, and feel better. It was an insane experience, but I truly felt the love of the Lord as he was aware of me and brought me peace, comfort, and healing.

Here are some pictures from a family drive up the canyon:

Our canvas wrap from China finally arrived. Jason got right to work building a frame and wrapping it. I love how it turned out!

Here are some more home updates before all of the Halloween decor went up:

Check out this giant pumpkin from our garden!:

And here are some more Halloween decorations:

I LOVED using our corn stalks this year!