Garrett is 2!!!

Today we celebrated Garrett's 2nd birthday! It is amazing how quickly the past two years have flown by. And it is so fun to see how much Garrett has grown and changed over those two years! He is now very curious about everything and will ask, "What doing?" or "Where you?" or "What's that?" He loves anything and everything with wheels! Garrett absolutely adores Tori and tries to do everything she does- for the most part, they are pretty good pals! Above all, he is a sweetheart and joy to have in our family!  

Grandma and Grandpa Allen sent Garrett a train table complete with new trains! It looked just like Christmas with all his presents waiting for him!

 Garrett loves his new trains!!!

 Thanks so much Grandma and Grandpa- once again a huge hit in the gift department!!!

 Yeah for some adorable new clothes!

 Garrett's birthday pancakes- yummy!

Garrett looked so handsome and grown up in his birthday outfit!!! (Thanks even more Grandma and Grandpa Allen!)

 Trying on his new bike helmet- I think it fits!

 Garrett and Tori played with the new trains all day long- what a blast!!!

A very two year old-ish dinner- Garrett was in heaven!

We are saving Garrett's cake until Saturday, but we had to sing and have him blow out candles tonight. Candles in ice cream worked just great!

 Garrett did a fantastic job blowing his candles out!!! (He beat Tori by a full 2 years!)

We love you oh so much Garrett- Happy Birthday, Little Man!!!

It's Conference Time!!!

In the days of King Benjamin, he asked his people to gather so he could speak with them. The people came in multitudes to hear the words of their prophet! They put up tents, faced them towards the temple, and gathered their family around them to listen to the words he would deliver (see Mosiah 2:5-6). This weekend, we had a similar experience, to gather our little family together and watch General Conference! It was so amazing to hear the inspired and loving words of our church leaders, and especially those of our dear prophet President Monson! It was most definitely a spiritual feast from beginning to end! (Watch Conference Here!!!)
Of course, we want Tori and Garrett to participate in as much of Conference as possible. So we came up with some fun things to do while watching this weekend!
We found fun Conference pictures for them to color. Tori really liked coloring the picture of each leader as they were speaking!

We also had lots of time to keep all warm and cozy!

During the Saturday afternoon session, we popped a bunch of popcorn- it was a huge hit! I love this picture of Garrett, with his popcorn, totally enthralled in Conference!

One of my most favorite quotes of the entire Conference- 

Such a great reminder that I need to remember where doubts come from. And that I can always place my trust in my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and rely on my faith!!!

Saturday evening, I asked Tori what her favorite part of Conference had been so far. She replied, "All the girls (in the choir) are my friends!" So, when the Sunday morning session started, Tori and Garrett were so excited to find their "friends!!!"

This quote was from Jared's favorite talk-

Conference was so wonderful! I loved feeling the spirit so strongly in our home. And I loved watching Tori and Garrett- they would both say "temple" whenever they saw the Salt Lake Temple! Garrett started saying, "Conference," today. We had our tent and our family facing the temple and the prophet this weekend- and we loved every moment!!!

Summing up September

September had been an interesting month for us. We have all been getting used to our new routine of Jared being at school a good portion of every day. Tori, Garrett, and I have said goodbye to most of our summer fun and are starting to embrace things that Fall brings along with it. And in all of our busyness, we just try and grasp as many moments together as possible! Here are a few of those moments!
One day, I went to get Garrett up from his nap and found this- all of his and Tori's clothing all over the floor. My favorite thing about this picture is how proud Garrett looks about his accomplishment!!!

Mommy and Daddy's bed is a fan favorite of Tori and Garrett!

Tori was so excited to discover how to make a new funny face!

At the first of the summer, Aunt Krista gave us a family video of trips we all took last summer. Out of the blue, Tori has been requesting this movie- she loves that she knows everyone in it! And Aunt Krista picked some awesome music- it makes for a great dance party!!!

It cracks me up that she can get herself all wrapped up like this!

A couple of Indians taking a bath!!!

We always check on our kids after they have fallen asleep- and now we have even more reason to do so! One night, we found Garrett asleep with his pillow, blankie, and friends off his bed in the closet! I really wish we could have seen how much help Tori gave in the process of his relocation!

We have a football fan on our hands!!!

I love it when they are happy kiddos!

Tori and her circle railroad track- she was so proud of herself for making it!!!

These two are getting to be pretty good at playing Mario Party!

One morning, Tori was busy doing something in the kid bedroom. Then she came out into the loft, took Garrett by the hand, and escorted him into their room. I sneaked a peak around the corner and saw this- Tori had set up a tea party just for Garrett and his friends!!!

Love this girl and all her accessories!!!

Chill even when sleeping!

That's one way to take a horsey ride!

Our kids can fly!!!

We have had so many new adventures this past month- kind of excited to see what October brings our way!

Little Miss Creativity

Over the past few weeks, Tori has hit a phase of really wanting to create things much more than she ever has. It has been so neat watching her come up with her ideas and then figuring out how to make them happen! The first big project was making her headbands that Uncle Jer, Aunt Kim, and London gave her for her birthday. When we started, I figured she would want lots of suggestions- nope. Not at all. With each headband, she would hand me the ribbon or accessories that she wanted on it and tell me how she wanted it to look. I just did the gluing.
And here they are- Tori did such and amazing job coming up with these designs all by herself!

Tori couldn't wait to share her headbands with her friends! (I love how they each have several on at one time!)

When I asked Tori to open her eyes for the picture, this is what I got back!!!

After the headbands, Tori turned to paper creations. She has discovered the joy of gluing things together and adding things to her drawings- especially buttons!

She has been feverishly making birthday cards for all of her (stuffed) friends! She was so excited to add some flowers and buttons to this one!

And here is the inside!

I have been so fascinated watching Tori draw her very first people- so fun!

Here are a few more of her people!

Buttons, buttons everywhere- Tori loves buttons!!!

Here is the inside of this card!

Lots of coloring and accessories- fantastic!

Bunches of flowers!

One this one she discovered the joy of adding bling and brads!

I love watching Tori create! It is so neat to see that talent in her- I hope it is something she never lets go!!!

Talk Like a Pirate Day

Tomorrow is National Talk Like a Pirate Day- argh!!! Since Jared doesn't get home on Thursdays until after the kids are in bed, we decided to have our pirate festivities today! I have been so excited about it and figured the kids would be, too. When I told Tori what we were doing she looked at me and said, "I'm a Tori girl and I don't like pirates." Well, at least Garrett seemed excited to be pirates for the evening!

We started out by making pirate hats and figuring out our pirate names! Let me introduce you to Dirty Harry Kidd!

And here is Captain Mary Bonney (aka Pirate Princess Tori- the name she gave herself!)!

I went by Dread Pirate Kidd for the evening! (I think we need to find a new website next year with a few more last name options!)

And Jared was our Captain James Rackham! (Definitely our most piratey looking pirate!!!)

I think we need a little help with our pirate hats for next year as well- the kids' hats were pretty sad!

For dinner we went all out and ate with our hands! I know, very pirate-esque!!! When we told Captain Mary Bonney (aka Pirate Princess Tori) our plans she boldly stated, "I like silverware!" And went to get herself a spoon. Maybe this idea will catch on a little more next year! However, she was super excited that she ate her toast with her hands- progress!!!

All-in-all, we had a very pirate-filled evening with tons of swashbuckling fun! And just remember, "a pirate says arghhhh!!!"

Playdoh Fun

Today, we finally did something I have been meaning to do for such a long time- make our own playdoh! And then playing with it, of course!

Tori was a pro playdoh stirrer! 

Tori gave a great demonstration on how to make a ghost!

 Garrett was very intent on his work!

Tori loved using the cookie cutters!

What a great silly face!!!

 Garrett was so proud of himself!

Yeah, Garrett's silly face!

 Garrett started out rolling his playdoh ball and ended up finding a bug!

I think this may have been Tori's best silly face! (I love that she is holding her tongue out!)

Tori, Garrett, and I had a fantastic time playing with our playdoh! But the very best thing about this afternoon was just hanging out and spending time together- priceless!!!