Just hanging out

Aiden is perfectly content when I put her up on the counter where she can see me. I can get tons done in the kitchen as long as I chat with her and entertain her with my dance moves. Don't worry, she is buckled in and pushed back in the counter. This won't be possible in a few more weeks as she gets more active.

Grandmas Halloween Party

my mom has a Halloween party every year for the grandkids with creepy food, costume parade, games and of course donut on a string.

 Charlote is spiderman, Brody as Hawkeye, Abbey the cat, Persayes the princess, Cloe is a baby and Aiden is a baby chick

 Charlotte dancing with an afro

the mummy game

TOFW

We Brown girls have a tradition of going to Time out For Woman in SLC and making a girls weekend out of it.  (Ryan calls it time in for Dads.  wah wah) I look forward to going every year, it is obviously fun to get together but it is also very inspiring because of the great speakers.  This year we spent the afternoon at City Creek center before it started on Friday and this year I also had to bring Aiden.  

 We spent a fair amount of time outside of where the speakers were.  Sometimes to nurse and sometimes to give her a change of scenery.  And my shoulders were pretty sore after holding her constantly for so long, but she is so cute and sweet so how can I really complain.  To be honest she was really good most of the time.

And don't you worry about those kids back at home, Dad took good care and made sure they were well fed.

 cotton candy at Golden Corral.  He texted me this picture and said they all need a shot of insulin after this meal.  The kids look happy!

tiny dancer

Charlotte always seems to be the cheerleader on the sidelines at all the other events for the older kids so I was pretty excited for her to have her own thing.  She has been telling me she wants to do dance class but I kind of think that now that she has tried it, it's kind of boring.  Gymnastics would suit her better or soccer.  But little ballerina's are so cute, so she will dance for a while longer.

Fall Break

YAY, 2 extra days of sleeping in!  Cloe and Brody had wed, th and friday off and Abbey had Th, fri and Monday off.  So on Wednesday we went to Abbey's school and surprised her and ate lunch with her.  

 Since her school is so far from our house, and I still had to pick her up from school, we headed up the canyon to Sundance.

 On Thursday of break, we went for a bike ride on the Provo trail.  It was gorgeous.

 hot, out of shape pulling a trailer and my pants are too tight!

 On Friday we went to the "red barn" to have fun at the pumpkin patch and get some apple donuts. 

 It was cold but so pretty.

 And to "be fair", we went and had lunch with Cloe and Brody on Monday.

whirlwind trip to California

My best friend was getting married in CA on October 6th, so Ryan and I planned on driving down with Aiden.  We planned to leave on a Thursday but didn't have a babysitter during the day for Charlotte.  I have to admit I was glad we didn't because I love taking my kids down to CA and this way I could take at least one of them that would enjoy it.  We also planned on taking my sisters car but 5 miles down the freeway, it started acting up.  We ended up taking Ryans which happen to have a broken AC.  fabulous.  

 first stop, Vegas for some Wahoo's!!!

 Aiden enjoyed getting out of her car seat and flailing around for a while before going back into the torture chair.  

 driving through the desert with no cool air got pretty miserable.  She may not have been the only one who got down to her underwear.  She fell asleep but apparently having one hand out the window cooled her down.

 mmmmmm, nothing compares to donuts bought at a donut shop in CA.  According to my brother, the vietnamese, learned from the French how to make donuts and thankfully, came to CA and opened up donut shops.  They have just the right crunch to them on the outside, fried to perfection.  

 My Dad has two dogs, Charlotte was in heaven.  She really wanted to take these oversized dogs that could drag her down the road for a walk.  This is Nitro, a full sized poodle.

 Aiden dipping her toes in the ocean for the first time!  I love Strands beach.  

 And this is Carver the lab.  She liked him much better because he was gentle and didn't get overly excited and knock her over.

 More Wahoo's!  While I did all the pre wedding fun, they went to eat lunch.

 Charlotte was the life of the party on the dance floor.  She danced all night.

 There is something about Grandpa's pool, my kids always start swimming like old pro's.  

 Charlie and Grandpa

 I was a bridesmaid and this is my bouquet.  Big deal, right?  Well, those white roses are actually cabbage!  Isn't that so cool!

 driving home.  Back down to her underwear with a delicious rainbow sprinkled donut, my favorite by the way.

 Ted the groom

 They did EVERYTHING themselves and they thought of every little detail.  The wedding was amazing but I especially love how the butterflies looked!

Charlotte wanted to lie in my bed with Aiden and watch her show but Aiden was a little fussy and Charlie couldn't hear.  So to quiet her up, she held the binkie in her mouth.  It worked and it was pretty cute.

 And then before I knew it, I had two sleeping beauties.  

can't get enough of the colors!

more fall hiking with the kids, this time up to the always popular Grotto.  Bridges and a small waterfall make it the perfect adventure.  And just the slightest up hill reminded me of how out of shape I am, holy crap.

FHE

Since Ryan was up painting in the canyon (as mentioned below), we met him half way for Family night.  The type of family night the kids and Ryan REALLY like, shooting guns. 

 I sat in the car with Aiden so Miss Abbey was the photographer. 

 shooting the 22

It cracks me up that there is this random "shooting range" up the canyon.  Nothing set up for safety, no signs, nothing.  Just a spot where people started setting up stuff and shooting at it.  COmputer monitors, pumpkins, empty bottles.  All kinds of treasures with a bunch of holes in it. 

Fall hike

At the end of September, we went for a Sunday hike to enjoy the mild weather and admire the colors but mostly because Ryan needed to scout out some good painting spots.

 This is a trail that I love to run, isn't it just so inviting!!?  Next year, I'm fine with having to wait until next year. 

 Slept like a dead weight the entire time.

 Cloe is lying on the log and Brody is getting his shoes and socks wet.  You can tell that boy not to do something because of a certain consequence but when he has his mind set on something, he will do it. 

The drive back down the canyon.  The colors were amazing, my camera phone does not do it justice.