More Fall Pictures

Here are some pictures of some fun things that have kept us busy this fall:

Taking 5 kids to a BYU game - Needless to say, I could hardly watch the game.

Abby, Anthony, Andrew, Austin at the top of Lavell Edwards Stadium

A fall trip to St. George

All the boys enjoying the hot St. George weather

At the park in St. George

Conference Weekend:

Kim and her family came up for the weekend and camped in the trailer.  We also saw Cathy and Pete that weekend because they were staying at their cabin in Midway.

Robert and Paul took all the kids on the Heber Creeper

Austin was so happy to ride the train after watching it pass our house everyday.

Hailee, Anthony, Austin, Andrew, Phillip, & Abby

It was about 90 degrees on Oct 2nd, so we pulled out the waterslide - how fun!

Cathy & I enjoyed her new I-PAD while the boys went to priesthood session.

Lots of kids watching a movie while we were enjoying Cathy's IPAD

Cascade Springs

Cascade Springs

Dallin, Andrew, Austin, Abby, Hailee, Avonlea

Anthony, Abby, and Joseph at the Pumpkin Patch

Abigail

Our trip to Phoenix for Fall Break:

We were not much help to Suz, but we made some great food.

I recommend a trip to AZ, just for Suz's home-made chilaquiles.

Juju, Alexander, and Andrew

Susan & Alexander

Swimming in Susan's hot-tub

Somewhere along HWY 89 on our drive home.

What a beautiful rest-stop.

Fall Birthdays

Here are some pictures from our birthdays this fall.  Abby's birthday sneaked up on me really fast because it was less than 2 weeks after Alex was born.

On the night before her birthday, we celebrated with Dad and the boys at the Zermatt resort, because they were gone on her actual birthday to go to a BYU game in Colorado:

My kids have made it a tradition that they get breakfast in bed on their birthday:

Abby had a small slumber party with just a few cousins.  

They had fun playing outside and watching movies together.

  Here is Abby on her birthday.  

 Abigail is such a sweet daughter and sister.  I am so proud of her and excited for her to get baptized.

What a cutie! (Because of the new baby, I did not make a home-made cake.)

The morning after the sleep-over:

Grandma Hatch saved the day by sleeping over that night and helping with the girls and baby Alex:

Anthony's birthday was just a few weeks after Abby's.

Anthony chose a HALLOWEEN theme for his birthday

Here he is on his birthday with some of his cousins:

Anthony really wanted a pinata for his party, but I could not find one that was a Halloween theme.  The only ones I saw were transformers and they cost about $20.  So, on the afternoon of the party about an hour before everyone came, I decided to put this home-made pinata together.  I did not have time for paper- mache, so I used a box, glue gun, tape and paint.   Paul thought I was crazy for doing this at the last minute, but Anthony was so happy about it.

Here is Anthony with his Vampire Jack-o-Lantern cake:

We love Anthony - he is such a sweet, good boy.  I am glad that I get to spend everyday with him!

Our little baby Alexander

Here are some pictures of Alexander.  He is now 2 months old, and I am starting to slowly get in a routine with 5 kids, but life is very busy right now for me.  Alexander has been such a sweet baby and we are all so happy to have him in our family.  It is so cute to see how kids fall in love with a new sibling immediately.  They all love to hold him and talk to him to get him to smile.  They are great helpers, too by finding things for me like diapers, binkie, etc.  We are excited for his baby blessing this weekend along with Abigail's baptism.

In the hospital with Oma & Opa Wirthlin

Alexander: on the day he was born:

Happy Mommy:

Alexander meeting his sister and brothers:

Super Daddy! - Alexander loves Paul and smile and talks to him more than any other person.  I think Paul is his favorite person by far. (except when he is hungry - then he likes me best)

Abigail is a great helper and big sister

Here are a couple more recent pictures from last week:

First Day of School (catching-up on blogging)

It has been a while since I have blogged anything and we have had lots going on.  Maybe I can catch up and add some pictures this week.

Here are Abby and Andrew on their first day at their new elementary school.  The bus stops right in front of our house, which has been so nice especially with a new baby.  I cried after they hopped on this bus and waved to me out the window - going to a new school as the new kids.  They have been there two months now and really like it and and are making friends.  I love this picture because you can see me huge pregnant belly in the shadow:

Baby Alexander

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More pictures to come later.

Enjoying Charleston

Now that we have been here one month and are unpacked and settled, we have been able to enjoy living here in Charleston and the beautiful surrounding Heber Valley. I love the peace and quiet around here - the sounds we hear during the day are sprinklers, birds, and the Heber Creeper railroad.

I have also noticed some advantages of a smaller home - although it messes up quick - a small house is easy and quick to clean-up. The kids get lots of toys out, but they don't get spread as far, so they have an easier time cleaning up after themselves. I like having a cozy kitchen with no sit-up bar. Now that there is no bar - I actually sit down for each meal at our little table with the kids rather than standing behind the counter while they ate on the other side.

As part of my nesting and getting settled, I have been baking and trying to cook more to prove to myself that I can still do it even though the kitchen is smaller. I have successfully made bagels, pizza, sour-dough bread, baguettes, brownies, cake, and lots of other good food. So far, we haven't eaten out too much - even though there is lots of fast food in nearby Heber, we sort-of have that camping or BearLake feeling where you have to plan your food and take care of it all without going out all the time. Hopefully I can keep this up.

Well, enjoy the pictures and check out my other posts. Al says that all this blogging I have done today must be part of my "nesting" instinct.

Here is the view of Mt. Timp from the front yard:

A sunset over the chicken coop and garden:

Paul has been taking the kids on lots of 4-wheeler rides - it takes about 5 minutes to ride to the Provo river.

Here is Pepper enjoying the farm. She and Kaya are loving the open spaces up here and they get into stuff all the time. This was the worst she has ever been and I am not even sure what she is covered in. (probably mud from the cow pasture). We will get her shaved this week. I guess we should have thought twice about getting a shih zhu knowing that we were moving to a farm.

Austin - he is playing on the path that leads to the hayfields and haybarns.

Paul cleared out some junk and mowed this area of the property - across from the house to make a little picnic area and fire-pit. We have had some fun evenings with visitors having campfires out here.

The kids playing at Deer Creek

Strawberry Reservoir

Here is Austin and Abby getting a horse ride - there are some horses that are kept on this property, so the kids got invited to ride. We will probably not buy horses while living here, but since everyone around us has at least one horse, we hope to make some friends that will occasionally let us ride.

Kids on the tramp.