This family of mine in September

ATTENTION: My family is awesome. Seriously they are so great. They are funny and make me laugh and have a great sense of humor. They are kind and so good at sharing and thinking of others. And they make my life happy. So so very happy. Here are some great pictures (lots of pictures!) from September. 

So fun that this guy started eating food. He eats a lot and really loves food. 

Lydia and Austin get these big ideas in there head and it so fun when they make it happen. Lydia and Austin came to me one day and asked if they could use our blankets in our room. After watching them make quite a few shuttle runs from downstairs with all the pillows and blankets they could find, I headed upstairs to check it out. As a side note, Lydia was off to a new adventure when I took pictures. Look how happy this boy is about this great thing that they built.

To say that Lydia and Austin bury Caleb in love is no exaggeration, there is no brother loved more than Lydia and Austin love him.

I was working on a project for Shantel's birthday and realized that I had no pictures of Shantel and Caleb that were not from when he was just newborn and also wanted some new pictures of her with Lydia and Austin that were just her and them, not family pictures. So I tried to convince Shantel after church one day that we should do a few pictures, just because everyone looked so cute. The pictures turned out awesome.

I had my annual September trip to Phoenix and the kids made sure I felt so loved. They prepared A+ treats (dark chocolate, gummy treats, and delicious chewy sweet tarts). Lydia made me a note that had a picture on one side of me and her together. The note says, "Dear Dad. We miss you. We love you. Lyda."

Two parts: First, one thing that has been so fun this month is seeing our kids go down the slide together. It is so fun. There laughter is electric and non-stop. It is so cute to see how much fun they have together and love each other. Second, the yellow slide are pictures from my parents house. The kids absolutely love the treehouse and slide that my Dad built. The other photos are from Dry Creek park after we did our most recent family photos. The kids did great and after they wanted to play. Austin choose the slides and the playground. Lydia spent her time climbing in the tree and then joined Austin on the slide. Also, third picture down and the last couple on the blue slide, I love that you can see Austin is holding onto Lydia's dress on the way down the slide.

Austin and I spent one morning building some awesome towers. My favorite thing was after building the first tower (and using every block we had) he looked at it long enough for us to do a picture and then he pushed it over the edge of the table so we could build a new one. Such a fun boy. He knew just how he wanted to build the tower and would work at it until all of the pieces fit.

Tower 1

Tower 2

Look at these boys.

Lunch at pizza pie cafe for Austin's birthday. The original plan was for Austin to choose somewhere for me to take him, just the two of us. However, when we told him this, he immediately said that he wanted Lydia and Caleb and Mommy at his special lunch too. He would not want to go without them.

On Austin's birthday I got to take him to do something fun and special. We decided on Boondocks and it was so incredible. I got a card for about $5 worth of games and let him choose what to do. One of his favorites (and mine too) was the skeeball. He loved rolling the ball up the ramp. They also had a kids area and he spent most of the time making a loop, up to a slide, down that slide to the second slide that came to the botoom. He had so much fun. Happy Birthday Austin!

This is what it is like when I try to leave the house in the morning. Either the kids or Shantel try and barricade the door. Austin is pushing with all his might to keep me home. I am so lucky that they love me so much and want me to stay home. One of my favorite things right now is the kids begging me to stay home. When I do have to leave they will run to the front room and look at the window so they can wave goodbye. They'll also check and see if I am taking the train that day so they know if they should watch for the train. I am such a lucky Dad.

I am so fortunate to have a wife who supports me so much in going to work every day and takes care of me and our family. I was lucky enough to be recognized by the Utah Association of Certified Public Accountants as the 2017 "Rising Star." It was so great to have Shantel out for a nice dinner and I feel honored to have been given this award. I really do strive to make a difference in the things that I do as part of my professional career and am grateful for this honor.

Happy September!

Shantel's September Photo Dump

Just a quick recap of some things that I missed blogging about during the month of September. 

1.  Our beautiful new stair light fixture. We've been looking for the perfect new stair fixture for a long time because we wanted something to fill up the space a little better (better than the little mushroom fixture that came with the house). We found this beauty at Sam's Club for a super good deal and we loooove it! We'd never replaced a light fixture by ourselves before - but with some good ole' YouTubing we figured it out! (Although at one point we were both up at the very top of a super-tall ladder together, one trying to hold the super-heavy fixture up, the other trying to screw it together. It was quite a sight.) 

2. David and Lydia's "matching Jammies". 

3. Super Caleb and a big sister that already loves playing dress up with him.

 4. We had this picture taken at a wedding reception for one of David's co-workers (whose wedding announcements I designed/printed). I hung this picture on the dash of my car because I love the way it turned out and I looooove this boy. Call me a cheese, but I love him more now than I ever knew I could. I still feel like a school-girl when he calls me on the phone or tells me that he loves me. I'm lucky to have him, and glad to have this picture in my can to make me smile every time I see it.

5. Lydia's bed set up in my bedroom for the nights that David was gone on a work trip. Lydia and Austin took turns sleeping in my bed with me, and the other one slept on the toddler mattress in the corner. It was a win/win/win except for the fact that David wasn't there and that was less of a win.

6. Reading books with Grandpa Peaden. Cal is always so good to play, read, and otherwise shower these kids with attention whenever he's around. I'm so grateful for kind, loving grandparents. 

7. Austin helping me carry the library books to our car. 

8. Austin is in a huge "I can do it myself" phase. And I'm frequently surprised at how much he really CAN do. And sometimes we end up with ketchup all over everything. That's the way we roll. We're just enjoying the ride.

 9. We invited a bunch of neighborhood kids out in our front yard to help eat the rest of Austin's birthday cake, and the next day our sweet neighbors, the Warnocks, came over with a delicious treat and a stack of super darling letters saying thank you. We have great neighbors and this made my day. (Katie Warnock is the kind of mother I aspire to me, she's good and kind and teaches her kids so many good, thoughtful, and uplifting things.)

10. I hosted a Baby Shower for my sweetest friend, Ali Middleton. It was super simple, and each guest brought a freezer meal to stock her meal-supply up for after the baby comes. I just love her and I'm grateful for the good friend and example she is. I'm constantly amazed at what an incredible example of motherhood she is, and really an example of just genuine goodness.  So excited for that sweet baby to join the crew.

11. It's possible that the sweetest thing in all the land is when your five year old daughter who is just barely barely barely learning to read, memorizes her favorite book and then reads it to your baby whenever he feels sad or needs attention. This girl is such a great big sister.