October!!

 

October is in full swing and we have been able to do some extremely fun October actives!!  Matthew and Lilly seem to develop a better brother sister relationship everyday!

 

Lilly got to spend a whole afternoon just her and Grandma, and she was so excited!! They baked Grandpa's birthday cake together and Grandma let her lick the pan!

 

We spent an afternoon making Halloween cut out cookies at Grandma's house!!  Matthew was a really good helper, Lilly had to be closely watched because she ruined a batch of already cut out dough waiting to go into the oven! (she cut the already cut cookies into unrecognizable shapes.)

 

This was the first year Lilly picked what she wanted to be for Halloween!  After sitting and going through pictures of all the princesses, Minny Mouse and other costumes every time she picked Rapunzel!  She was iffy about the wig until we stood her in front of a mirror, after that all was peachy!!  She told everyone, "I princess"! 

 

Matthew wanted to be a Jedi this year, so Grandma volunteered to make his costume since we couldn't find any quality store bought ones. She spent many countless hours and it turned out great!! (Thanks Mom!!!!)

 

We went to Mickey's Halloween party at Disneyland this year and it was a blast!!  We have all agreed that this will be a yearly tradition from this year on!!

 

The lines were nice and short and we got to ride all of our favorite rides!!  Lilly was old enough to actually enjoy being at Disneyland this year, so fun was had by all of us!

 

Matthew and Lilly got to trick-or-treat all throughout Disneyland, and they scored a ton of candy!!!

 

Matthew rode some big kid rides for the first time this trip!!!  One of the first rides Matthew asked to ride was a roller coaster so Rick took him on thunder mountain.  Then later on in the evening Matthew rode star tours with Grandma and Daddy!!!  He had a blast!!!

 

We were able to find awesome seats for the Halloween parade and ok seats for the firework show both of which the kids loved! 

 

Everyone was absolutely exhausted upon arriving home (at 1am)!  The next day both Matthew and Lilly asked if we could go back today, proof that they had a great time!

 

A few days after our Disney trip we had our ward Halloween party, and a play date with Matthew's best bud Jonas and his mom and sister!

 

I didn't get any pictures from the Halloween party, there was way too much going on!  But the party was fun and the kids scored even more candy!

 

Today we carved our pumpkins so that they would be ready for Halloween.  Both kids refused to clean their pumpkins.  They did however draw their own faces on the pumpkins then we tried to cut out the faces that they drew.  Now with all our activities and parties out of the way we are ready for Halloween, just a few more days!

Fall Time Fun!!

 

This past week we went on some fall adventures!!! First we traveled to Tehachapi  with grandma to pick fresh apples!!  This was a first for both Matthew and Lilly!!  They had so much fun!!  As you can see Lilly had to taste the apples!!

Matthew was pretty good about only picking ripe apples, Lilly on the other had was constantly tyring to pick up rotten apples off the ground to put in our bag. (yucky!!)  One of Matthew's favorite parts of our trip was watching the trains go through the mountain tunnels on the way up to Tehachapi ! We plan on making another trip up before the season is over!! 

 

A few days after our trip to the apple farm we got to go to the Kern County Fair with our Mom and Tots group from church!  Matthew had been looking forward to the fair for weeks!!

 

 

We got to see all of the farm animals, which was a big deal for Lilly this year!!

 

We also got a yummy snow cone!!

 

We had fun with our church friends!

 

I even got them to leave the fair with out riding any rides!! (they know we had a more exciting trip planned in a few weeks!!  So they both could hold out on the rides!)  So far we have had an exciting start to fall with a lot more fun fall adventures planned!!

Princess Lilly Turned Two!!

 

Lilly had a fabulous birthday this year!  Lately she has been very in to all things princess (especially Disney Princess!)  So she had to have a princess party!!  Her birthday fell on a Wednesday this year so we started celebrating early.  On the Sunday before her birthday I took cookies to church for her nursery class, they sang to her and made her a princess crown (which she wore everyday during the next week leading up to her birthday party!)  On her actual birthday my mom came and took us to breakfast!  After Ihop we headed over to Barns and Noble for a birthday book and a free birthday cup cake!  Then on to See's Candy for a piece of Chocolate!

 

By the time we got home Lilly was deep in a sugar coma!!

 

Saturday we had Lilly's princess party!  Complete with this adorable princess cake that my wonderful mother made!

 

Lilly enjoyed the presents part of her birthday a lot more this year!

 

Matthew tolerated the opening of Lilly's presents a lot better this year!

 

(Love the look on her face in this one!)

Lilly basking in the aftermath of her party!!

 

Lilly had a wonderful birthday!!  Thank you to everyone who was able to celebrate with us!!

Wedding Bells

This past weekend we traveled up north to take part in the joyful marriage of Rick's mom!!  The wedding was absolutely beautiful!!  It took place at the Lake Almanor Country Club.  We had never been to Lake Almanor before, it is truly a beautiful place!!  We absolutely loved it there!! 

 

The car ride was slightly crazy!  Rick worked the night before we left, his shift was scheduled to end at 6:30 but ran late so he was over an hour late getting home.  We loaded up and left as soon as he got home.  Even though he worked all night he drove all the way to Sacramento.  I took over and drove the last leg of the journey. 

 

The day of the big event was quite busy all the girls met up to decorate and prepare for the wedding.  Shortly after putting the finishing touches on the decorations Rick and the kids needed to attend the rehearsal.  After the rehearsal it was time to get ready.  My kids were less than thrilled to get dressed in there special clothes!  Both Matthew and Lilly woke up the morning of the wedding with respiratory problems due to a fire that was burning across the lake.  Matthew was also dealing with altitude sickness.  Needless to say they were less than cooperative!

 

Matthew really just wanted to sit down throughout the whole wedding, Rick had to give him a few pep talks just to get him to walk in with the other little boys.

 

(Matthew's adorable ring bearer's pillow.)

 

(Matthew begging me to let him go sit down, poor kid really didn't feel well!)

 

Matthew and his cousins looking absolutely adorable!

 

During the rehearsal it became apparent that Lilly would not walk in by herself, so both of the little girls ended up joining the bridesmaids on their walks in.

 

Rick had the privilege of giving his mom away, which was a very sweet moment for them to share!

 

(All the little ring bearers waiting for their turn to present their rings.) 

 

Lilly ended up falling asleep on Rick during the ceremony, which was probably the best case scenario!  Matthew seemed to spunk up after the ceremony was over,  he desperately wanted to dance!  He was asking everyone to dance with him!  He danced with both of his cousins, his Grandma, his Aunts, and of course I danced with him!  He was so cute to watch! (Lilly loved dancing too I have several videos of her twirling on the dance floor!)

 

We took this super cute family picture after the wedding, all the guests had their picture taken as they were leaving!  (super cute idea!!)

 

After the wedding we took a drive down to the lake!

 

 

Matthew and Lilly loved the lake!  (You can see in on the other side of the lake all the smoke from the fire!)

 

Before leaving we spent a whole day down at the lake!  They have an amazing swimming area that is perfect for little kids, there were two life guards on duty and tons of toys for kids to play with!

 

 

Rick and I also took Matthew out on the jet skis!  Matthew had mixed reactions, he was really excited but says that next time he wants to go on a big boat.

 

We had a wonderful time celebrating with Rick's mom and we are so happy for her and her husband John!!