Happy Thanksgiving!

There is so much to be thankful for in life!  I never want to forget how much I have been blessed.  I also don't want to forget making the first little hand turkey with Asher.  It is not easy to keep a 1 year old still long enough to trace his hand.  Let's just say I may have filled in some details after he walked away from the table, and art is not my thing.  LOL!

Fall Festival

Our neighborhood put on a little Fall Festival a couple of weeks ago.  It was so cute with bounce houses for the kids and free food- I know, right?!

It's so great to have friends in the neighborhood.  We've become close with Daniel and Christina and their kids.  We meet up at the park often and hung out at the Fall Festival as well.  We go to church together, but living close is such an added bonus.  Other friends of ours (Ryan and Kadie) recently moved down the street, too.  I am all about having friends with young kids close by.  It's such a neat dynamic and I love when Asher is so comfortable with the other family because we spend so much time together.  It makes me wonder if that's what it would have been like in a time and place when people lived in smaller towns and really did life together.  Anyway, I digress...
The kids had a ton of fun and Asher seemed to enjoy the big bounce house!

(I clearly wore the wrong thing to get into a bounce house.  Note to self for next year.  Christina to the rescue!!)
My sis and family were able to join in the fun as well.  Here are Asher and Lexi on the slide.  (Kaylee pretty much stayed the bounce houses the whole time.  She loved them!)

Here's a little bonus video.  Asher has really liked having pumpkins around.  He also likes carrying them.

My aunt and cousin made us the cutest little gift this year- a Boo Sock!  They turned a sock into a little ghost.  So cute!  Asher carried it around for days.

So much fall fun!

Love our Friends

We were so lucky to have 3 sets of friends come visit us over the last few months.
Each year my friend Tracee and her kids come out to AZ.  She and I were best buds in high school and have been close ever since.  It stinks that she lives out of state, but great when we can all get together.  The kids (along with Jen's kids) all adore each other.

 Enjoying ice cream.  Love this shot!

Next, my friend Heidi came over the beginning of October.  She and I have also known each other for years.  We were connected at the hip for a long time.  She's married to a military guy, so they have lived all over- including overseas.  Sad to say, we hadn't met each other's kids before this trip.

Distance can do things like that.  No matter though, it was so good to catch up and the kids got along great.  It felt just like old times. :-)

Lindsay and family came back to AZ the middle of October.  She and I are very close and it's been tough having her gone.  Her husband got a great opportunity to work from Scotland for a while, so they are living the European life, and enjoying every minute.  We miss her and her family so much and it was so good to have a few days together.  The kids just love each other, which warms my heart.

It is hard to get so many little ones smiling and looking the same direction!!

The boys were all happy- I swear!!

Part 1- Asher, give Ava a hug.

Part 2- Asher, give Ava a hug.

Halloween

Over time, I'm learning that things rarely go as planned.  Especially holidays.  Yet, I'm also learning that no matter the expectations (mine or those of others) if I let myself be in the moment and take things as they come- they are better!!
This was Asher's second Halloween.  It was going to be great.  I had borrowed a cute shark costume from my sister for him and we were going to spend time with my sister's family and then go to an event with my small group.  So fun.
In typical AZ weather, it was still super hot and this shark costume (while cute) was thick material and covered the entire body.  (I kept thinking positively that it would be cool enough and he would be fine.)  Yet, in order for Asher not to overheat, we made a last minute decision that this was not going to work.  Plan B- jammies with a little skeleton body. He was still soooo cute!

Next on the agenda was Trick-Or-Treating.  Candy bucket- check.  Friends to go with- check.  A wagon or stroller to sit in if he got tired- check.  We were off- to about 4 houses.  Then Asher grabbed on to Brandon super tight and let us know he had had enough.  No more.  We tried to encourage him that it was fun and to try one more.  Nope.  Not having it.  He's only a little guy- sometimes that's easy to forget.

                                            We hung out with our friends the Slager family.

It was 7pm.  We ventured home.  Then we discovered that Asher did like Halloween and was having fun.  He just liked the other side- being at home and handing out candy.  The kid came to life!  He had a blast.

He just squealed with excitement each time the doorbell rang.  He ran to the door and helped hand out the candy.  I think he felt he had a little job.  See for yourself.

Bonus feature:  still sporting the Halloween jams and dancing away to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. 

Happy Halloween!  Love, Asher