November fun in Kansas

Miles and I have been in Kansas for the last 3-1/2 weeks and will probably be here for another couple of weeks. We've been having lots of fun, but we also miss Dad and home VERY much. To fill the time we've kept busy with the things pictured below.

He won this bear out of one of those crane (claw) machine games at Red Robin

Dad came to see us last weekend!

Found this cute hat at Michaels

Winter Wednesday at the Sedgwick County Zoo ($2.50 admission)

This baby orangutang kept us very entertained!

This is the baby's momma - Miles liked talking to her thru the glass

Nothing like playing with Grandpa in the dirt!

4-year-old pics

I forgot to post these pictures with my post about Miles' birthday. I took Miles back to JCPenney's for his pictures this year. They did such a good job with him last spring (when I was REAL late for his 3-year-old pics) and figured they'd do a great job again, which they did. He refuses to cooperate with me for pictures so I'm glad they are able to get good ones. He has such a GREAT smile and such beautiful eyes. I love to capture him in photos!

His two favorite characters

Such a handsome boy!

I wanted a professional pic of these two together

October

October was a full and eventful month for us. I love the fall and all of the activities that go with it!

Every year I like to take Miles to a pumpkin patch to pick out our pumpkins for the front porch. I did some research on pumpkin patches in the Grand Junction/Fruita area and on October 13th we decided to try out one that wasn't too far from our house. They had miniature horses to ride, a HUGE trampoline-like thing, a hay-rack ride, slides, and the list goes on and on. They also had pumpkins out in the field. We were there for a few hours and Miles enjoyed every minute of it and, of course, didn't want to leave. I'd say his favorite activity was the trampoline-like thing. He had a blast bouncing around on it!

So excited to be riding a horse!

Perfect activity for an active little boy

Determination!

A really big slide

Dad even joined in on the fun!

Our pumpkins and a tired boy

Kids make Halloween fun! This year was especially fun because Miles was old enough to understand things more and even had an opinion as to what he wanted to be for Halloween. He told us sometime in September that he wanted to be a bat. At first I was resistant to it and kept asking him at random times what he wanted to be for Halloween hoping he'd change his mind, but he stuck to the bat idea the entire time. I turned to Pinterest and Google for ideas because all we could find in the stores were Batman costumes. Miles has no clue who Batman is and he just wanted to be a bat. I was also resistant to making his costume because I knew my time would be limited, but when I found the idea/pattern that I wanted to use, I figured it was doable and actually got excited about the end result. I think it turned out well and I know Miles loved it! He even got to use his costume three times. I think because I had put in the work to make it, I wanted him to get lots of use out of it.

I love how this picture turned out in the back alleys of downtown Newton, KS

Trick-Or-Treating in downtown Newton, KS - I love the idea of Trick-Or-Treating in the daylight at an activity like the Safe Walk that Newton puts on every year

Grandma came with us

The Newton Ward's Trunk-Or-Treat (that got rained out!) - the girls were beautiful butterflies!

On Halloween my grandpa and I took Miles around to a few houses in their neighborhood

Sooooo excited to get some candy!

Time got away from us and we didn't get our pumpkins carved that we purchased at the pumpkin patch in Grand Junction, but Grandma had some foam pumpkins that she wanted us to help her carve when we got to Kansas. I wasn't sure how I felt about foam pumpkins, but they weren't too bad to carve (and had less slimy stuff to deal with). Now she has three cute pumpkins to set out year after year after year. Hopefully she doesn't get sick of the designs we all chose!

Grandma carving her pumpkin

Miles helped by playing with the reject pieces

From left to right: Mine, Miles', & Grandma's

A fall full of travels

For reasons that will be disclosed later, we've had a lot of travels over the last few months. We've put a lot of miles on our new car, but every mile has been worth it! We've also enjoyed spending extra time with family in the process. Below are pictures from some of the highlights of our trips.

On one trip back to Kansas, Miles' tiger got a bloody nose and Miles had to help get it stopped. Miles has had a lot of bloody noses this summer/fall. I thought it was cute that he was pretending his tiger was struggling with one as well. He did such a good job of helping his tiger by plugging his nose off with a napkin!

Time with the Utah cousins - I thought it was cute how all three of them were playing with their lips

Flight simulation with Grandma at Exploration Place in Wichita, KS

He was in heaven playing in this helicopter!

And also in the cab of this "Frank" aka combine

Dale finds some of the coolest things at garage sales!

Uncle Andy & the girls even came over to play with the fun toy at Grandma's

*I'm almost all caught up on blog posts...just in time to make a BIG announcement. Stayed tuned!*

Miles' 4th Birthday

Miles got to celebrate his birthday twice this year! Before Miles and I left for Colorado we decided to have a little get-together with some of our Kansas family and friends. On Friday, September 6th we had a party at the park with cake and presents. It turned out to be a very hot and windy day so most of my plans for decorations and the cake didn't quite turn out like I wanted. Every year I say I'm never going to throw another party because it stresses me out so much because I want things to be perfect, but every year I go ahead and do it for Miles' sake. I think he has fun and appreciates the effort so that is all that matters, right? Miles got some new toys and a couple of new shirts. He was very excited, but kept asking me why people had brought him those things. I guess getting presents for your birthday isn't something he understands quite yet!

Miles and two of his favorite girls in the world (and the infamous Lightening McQueen balloon that ended up in the tree thanks to the girl on the left! Ha!)

His cake

He loves Cars and especially this scene in the movie

The gang

Opening presents

Aunt Johanna, Keaghan, & Miles' new toys!

On Miles' actual birthday (September 14th) we were together again as a family and just spent the entire day doing things Miles likes to do. The night before we set up his presents and threw some balloons around on the floor. When he came downstairs the morning of his birthday it was almost like Christmas morning for him!

A new bike!

Hiking on the Monument

Such a fun place to hike around

Family picture

He liked looking at the cacti

Lightening and Mater cupcakes!

*Ignore our lovely singing!*

Grand Junction High football game

Miles took this family picture!

I think Miles enjoyed his 4th birthday...I know I did! It's hard to believe that he's been apart of our lives for four years already! We love him so much and are so thankful he's ours! He's taught us so much about life and we'll forever be grateful for him. We love you little man!

Our Summer ~ Part 9

August was a LONG month for the three of us! Having Dave in Grand Junction and Miles and I in Halstead getting ready for the move was rough. Miles and I missed Dave so much that we had to break the month up and make a trip out to Grand Junction middle of the month. It felt sort of weird to visit Dave in our new house (that we had never seen before), but then return again to Halstead. Miles even mentioned to me several times that he wanted to go back to "Daddy's house." Dave also had no furniture with him; just a couple of air mattresses and a couple of camp chairs. We had talked about selling some of our furniture before the move so while we were in Grand Junction we decided to go ahead and buy a new couch so that at least Dave had that to sit on! So far we're very pleased with our couch purchase. It's our first time having leather so we'll see.

New couch - empty living room

Skyping with Grandma - telling her all about our new house

Labor Day weekend was the BIG weekend for us! We flew Dave in for the weekend, rented and loaded the moving truck, and then sent Dave on his way back to Colorado. I had an appointment that Miles and I needed to stay in Kansas for so we didn't get to leave for Colorado right away, but we joined Dad about a week later. Thankfully some of Dave's family made the trip from Utah to Grand Junction to help him unload the moving truck. He really appreciated the help!

Every inch was full

 

Accepted Offer!

I can't remember if I ever mentioned it on the blog, but my mom got her house sold during all of this as well. She was scheduled to close on it two days after we moved out in early September. Perfect timing! Because Miles and I stayed in town we were able to help clean the house and get it ready for the new owners. It's been such a relief to my mom to get that ol' house sold and I'm glad it all happened when we were moving out that way she didn't have to worry about it being empty and for sale, etc. What a blessing.

And that's it for our summer series! Coming up next: Miles' 4th birthday!