It's Halloween!!...I mean it was Halloween...

We had so much fun this Halloween. Carter was a monkey and Mason was a chicken. Carter was so excited for Halloween this year. He talked for weeks about how he was going to be a monkey. He
had a great time trick or treating and was very cute and polite. I was so proud of Mason. I thought for sure he would try and get out of his costume and cry and be miserable, but he didn't and he wasn't. He was happy as a clam...or chicken. We went to our friends, the Schrum's, house for the evening (so we could combine candy and make it last longer...though we didn't get nearly

as many trick or treaters as we were told we would). Hallie is their daughter and she and Carter are friends. Hallie was the cutest little pink octopus! After trick or treating we enjoyed some donuts and hot chocolate or cider...a tradition that started back in Aberdeen...our neighbor's, Candy and Andy, would have us over after trick or treating and Candy would have donuts and cider for us, it was such a nice memory and I have tried to keep it up. I also forgot to write about Joel's parents coming to visit us in September. It was such a wonderful visit and we do love to be with them. They brought us their old piano and we love having one here at the house. Carter was so cute when they first brought it in, he stood at the keys and looked up at Nini and said, "Would you like me to play you I'm a Child of God?" We thought that was too cute. We loved having them here and look forward to their next visit!

Before I forget...

I have to write this down before I forget...Carter seriously cracks me up. He really is such a little ham. This all started Wednesday actually. I took Mason to the doctor for his 12 month check and while there Carter tells the doctor that he's not feeling very well and to please check him. After Carter's third time asking, the doctor checks Carter's ears and mouth and says there are no monkeys in there. Then Carter told him he needed to check his heart too, so the doctor did. Today before Carter's nap he tells me, "I'm not feeling very well Mommy." and then bends over half way and says, "Aaaachooo". He does this a number of times and then tells me that he needs to tell his cars that he doesn't feel good and then tells Dangles, his monkey...(I then heard Carter talking FOR the monkey responding, "Come here, I will hold you.") He's actually not sick, incase you were wondering. What a nut.
Here's the other thing he just did...I was holding Mason on my lap and Carter comes over to climb on too and half way up stops and gives me a sour face and says, "I smell something stink." I told him Mason was poopy. About five minutes later Carter comes in with a play camera and says, "Mommy...Mase...poopy diaper...smile." He takes a picture and then laughs at himself. I died laughing.

Carter is hilarious!

I wish you could all live with us all the time and hear the things that come out of Carter's mouth. He is seriously the funniest kid...though totally stubborn. He has started talking with his hands and it kills me. Here are some of Carter's usual phrases...please picture hand gestures with each phrase..."You guys, I've probably got an idea..." followed with "Is that a good idea?". He likes to tell me the entire plan for the day, which would go as follows according to him, "So, first I think we should go to the store, come home, eat lunch, play cars, take a nap, wake up, then play some more cars, and then go to two stores and look for cars and then come home and go to bed." When I put him down for a nap he usually tells me, "I'm probably going to wake up at 10:30, okay." For some reason 10:30 is the time for everything for him.
I should have written this for ever ago, but seriously, about a year ago he was saying prayers before bed and in the middle of his prayer he stops what he's saying, looks down at his wrist and says, "Oh man, it's 10" and then something about having to go to bed. We died laughing.
He also is very sensitive to us being mad. The other day I was mad about something and was talking to Joel in a heated sort of way and Carter says, "You guys, I don't think we should talk like this. We shouldn't talk mad to each other." So I apologized and said he was right and then (you have to picture this) he looks down at the floor and shakes his head and says, "Sorry, I just said that." Joel and I just cracked up.
Now for his little temper and stubbornness. When he gets in trouble, he yells back at me, "You can't say that to me!" or "Whatever mommy." or, picture this again, he looks at the floor shakes his head and says, "Just forget about it." This kid has always been one to punish himself...when he was just over a year old he would send himself to his room and shut the door. Not kidding. Now, when I tell him he is going to get spanked, he says, "No, I will spank me." and then he spanks himself. Is that funny, yet crazy?
You also probably know of his love for cars...well he now can point out and name so many cars as we are driving around. It amazes Joel and I. We will be driving down the road and he will say, "PT Cruiser" or "Volkswagen bug"...sometimes we will ask him about cars that pass by and sometimes he says, "Sorry I missed it." The cars he knows best, which we for some reason have tons of in this area, are PT Cruisers, Mini Coupes, Honda Elements, Scions, Volkswagen bugs, and Golfs. He also knows, "mommy's car", "Nini's car", "the missionary's car", and "the Monnier's car". He doesn't know the make or model, but he gets it right every time. The missionaries in our mission all drive Toyota Corollas and every time he sees a Toyota Corolla he says, there's the missionaries car. Nini and Poger have a Nissan Titan and Carter spots those everywhere and calls out, "I just saw a car like Nini's". It really is amazing to us. We even just saw a picture in the newspaper of a car that had crashed and was totalled and Carter looks at the picture and says, "There's a Honda Element." and sure enough the caption said it was a Honda Element. I love it when he gets really excited about it and says, "Did you see that Mom? I just saw a Mini Coupe!!!"
He messes up his pronouns at times, which is kind of funny. The other night he was whining to Joel and saying, "I want Mommy, I want Mommy." Joel asked him why he wanted me and he said, "Because I love she." Sweet. Well, I've dragged this on enough now. I just wanted to share some of the funny things that Carter says. He sure keeps us laughing and amazed.

My Boys...

I didn't do any posts for my kids on their birthdays and was sort of feeling bad, so I thought I'd do a little shout out for them today...an unbirthday for them both! I can't even believe how fast these kids are growing up. Carter is already 3 and my baby Mason is now 1! I really have such fabulous boys. They are both so easy and super fun to be with. Carter is the funniest kid and Mason is my little sweetie. They are good buddies...though Carter has a bit of a mean streak in him when Mason comes near his cars or playing area, but for the most part they like each other. Carter gets so excited and cheers
Mason on as he reaches new milestones and Mason loves Carter and even yells his name to find him throughout the house. I know, nice, his first word is "Carter" and not "Mom" or "I love Mom best...she rocks". Granted "Carter" doesn't come out totally clear, but it's totally what he's saying. They look so much alike in this picture in the wagon...they make the same faces. Anyway, I'm so glad that I get to be their mom. They are super fun...most of the time.

Uh...Mason...

Oh my little Mason. Anyone who has held Mason as he is falling asleep or is already asleep has been, how do I say this, touched by his sweetness...literally. This kid is so
funny. When he wants to be cuddled he always sticks his hand in your shirt...anyone's shirt. I was going to put a picture of him with all his different ladies, but he does it with his Dad too, so... I think it is sweet, but kind of weird and he may get too old and still do it and then...yikes. He loves the material of shirts and he grabs it and puts it in his eyes. I've tried to give him soft blankets to put in his face and he pushes them away and grabs for my shirt. He even does this in his sleep...if you pick him up when he is already asleep as soon as you have him he is grabbing and reaching for your shirt to shove in his eye. Don't you think that's funny? He is always doing that to me at church and I swear everyone at church has seen down my shirt, which, luckily there's not much to look at anymore after two kids, but still. After Mason woke up, Doug showed him what's up and to lay off his lady. Mean Uncle Doug...come on...he's just a baby...

All Aboard...

I am so behind with pictures. Now that we have this blog, I guess I feel like we have to post everything we ever do...and in the order they happen. My obsessive compulsiveness
continues to show itself in more areas than I thought possible. Anyway, when we went to Utah for graduation we took a trip on the Heber Creeper. It was a fun little ride and the boys
really loved it...even the big boys had some fun as you can see...I admit, due to my OCD tendencies, I was a little...hmmm, how do I say this...not wanting to touch anything for fear that it would fall off due to rust and then I would get rust all over me and not be able to touch my clothes or my kids or anything, not to mention the train falling apart and crashing off the track. I know, I have problems. It was really fun though. I do enjoy trains... the
rocky ride makes me want to go right to sleep, and I love to sleep. I love airplanes best...and the more turbulence, the better, just rock me to unconsciousness. One thing that was kind of ironic, if that's the right word...is that you weren't supposed
to bring any food on the train and yet it's kind of a kid thing to do and kids have to eat all the time and they will only eat certain things and never anything that you could buy on the train because that would just make things too easy.
Besides after seeing the delapidated state that they train was in, why would I want to eat any food that was kept on it. So we packed all these snacks for the kids and as soon as we got on the train they were bombarding Whit and I for their treats. So here are the kids with their mouths full of licorice and fishy crackers, none of which were sold on the train. Oh well. They did sell train shaped lollipops for like $20 a piece, which seemed reasonable...right. Even though I complain a bit now, it really was a great day and we all had a super time!

Aaahhh...Graduation

Here's to the true graduates! Way to go Ben and Doug!! I have the most awesome and smartest brothers ever. Ben just finished his Masters in Acoustics (a physics degree) and Doug just finished a Bachelors degree in Exercise Physiology and then is off to dental school. Oh how I love these guys!
Here is Ben's awesome family who has suffered with him through these last two years. It has been hard work and very time consuming, but they all pulled through fabulously! What troupers!
Here is Doug and his amazing wife Jackie. So cute together aren't they? Jackie has been Doug's sugar-mama...okay Doug works part-time, so I guess she's a half sugar-mama. Way to go with all your hard work too!
Ben and Doug were kind enough to let me tag along. I never walked when I graduated forever ago and so it was super fun to do it with them. I admit, I felt a little dumb, and still kind of do, but it really was so great to do that with them. It wouldn't have been nearly the same to have done it by myself. They are the best!
Here are mom and dad and their graduates. All of their kids have graduated with college degrees...and they even have a Master now!
I had to throw in a picture of my cute boys...Joel, Carter, and Mason! Do all those boys look alike or what?!
Joel's parents so kindly came down for graduation. That was so nice and it's always fun to get together with them. Joel has awesome parents!
And here is the whole brood. Seriously, what a group! It was a wonderful time together and I am seriously so proud of Ben and Doug and all their hard work and accomplishments. I really have the best brothers ever. They truly are amazing.