I know I say this every month, but I can't believe September is gone and October is here. As always, it went fast. I think it also seemed to go by quickly since it was my last month on maternity leave. We had a lot of fun during the month though. Let me pick some highlights.
Cute baby Carter, always smiling. He's loving putting his hands in his mouth too!
I took Nyles and Carter to the Draper Park (one of our favorite places to go since it's so close and it's a big park to ride/walk around). Nyles enjoying the swing for a while, then back to the bike while Carter and I just "stroll" behind him.
And we always have to go look at the ducks of course while we're there :)
Nyles and Carter before church. Cute boys ;)
The grandkids of Dave and Joann McGrath at our monthly family dinner.
Front Row: Lynsie Hammett, Nyles McGrath, Conor Monson
Second Row: London Monson, Alexa McGrath, Olivia Lake, Chandler Lake holding Carter McGrath
Third Row: Noah Lake, Cameron McGrath, Isaac McGrath. Top: Ethan Lake.
Nyles "new" bed from his cousin Ethan.
Nyles helping me mow the lawn.
Nyles and Lucy (my VT companions's girl). Lucy came over to play while her mom went to her last Dr appt before the baby came.
Then after she had her baby girl I had Lucy over to play for an hour before bringing them dinner.
They had a lot of fun in the ball pit that Pauline gave us.
Nyles using his imagination and pretending to be a wheel/track down the driveway.
Nyles eating his "dinosaur leaves" aka spinach. Aunt Stacie called them that once, and now Nyles eats them. Good thinking Stacie!
Our one and only peach from our peach tree. Nyles ate the whole thing by himself! ;)
Nyles reading books w/ Grandma Hegerhorst. They came down for a quick trip to get some steel in SLC. They stayed w/ us the 2 nights. My mom didn't have to use her wheel chair this time, and even made it up on our second level. It was nice so we could eat at the table together, and she got to see more of our place. Pauline and her family came over both nights and we had dinner together and the kids played. Rose stopped by w/ the girls (minus Summer who is in college now) for a few minutes the last night as well.
Oh course they had to go fishing while they were here, so Steve and my dad went up to Strawberry for the day. It was pretty cold and the fish were being stubborn, but they had a good time anyway :)
We got some pears at Reams and waited until they ripened then dehydrated them. While my mom was visiting she helped me get them done. I peeled while she sliced and put them on the trays. Then Nyles would open the doors for me and I'd put the tray in the dehydrator. We did 2 batches of drying. They were so big and juicy! They turned out so yummy as well!
Here is our harvest. We did some apples before also. Doesn't look like much, but it was a decent amount of work to make. Totally worth it though! They are soooo yummy!
Some of the many faces of cute Carter!
Carter up at Stacie's house. We went to visit them at their new place before I had to back to work. London was in school, so Nyles and Conor got to play. Steve had helped them move in at the beginning of the month, so I got to finally see their place as well. Nyles and Conor had a great time playing and we enjoyed visiting.
Nyles and Carter down at the pond w/ the ducks.
Throwing bread to the ducks off the bridge and riding their bikes.
Nyles playing on Steve's pontoon boat; just wearing his swimming goggles for fun.
Carter trying to eat his toys, and he's now able to grab his toes too!
Our cute boys. Carter popped a hole in his pjs.
Steve and Nyles just being silly.
We finally got a new fan in (in all bathrooms actually), plus a wall cabinet. We painted it earlier as well. Our bathroom is finally done.....until we decide to replace our shower ;)
We also got our fence posts in the last week of September.
Yeah we're so excited to get our side fence in.
It's been so great to have had this Summer w/ Steve, Nyles and Carter. Though our paid vacation is over, we will look back at this time being so precious. We will likely never have this opportunity again, so we tried to make the most of it. It was great to spend time w/ another and just enjoy each other's company. I feel like I'm enjoying being a mother even more w/ 2 boys. It might be that I'm feeling more comfortable and confident in my abilities since in a way "I've done it before." I think it's also helping that we have more space now to move around, both inside and outside, which helps when you need a little breathing room. Even after the 4 months were over, both Steve and I can honestly say that we really weren't "sick" of each other. We love each other more and more each day, along w/ our 2 boys. I can truly say I feel blessed to have them in my life!
