Halloween Fun

We did quite a few things around Halloween.  On Friday we went down to Provo and had a birthday party for Nicholas.  We enjoyed watching all of the young cousins playing together.  We heard that both Drew and Bracken had the same Halloween costume so we got a few pictures of them together that night.

We tried to get a good picture with all three of the cousins, but there was little cooperation.  Nicholas was going to be Charlie Brown and Russell was Snoopy.

 Before we found the great deal on Drew's monkey costume one of Michelle's co-workers let us borrow this candy corn costume.  I think he looks like a pilgrim or something with that hat on.

On Saturday morning we decided to visit Gardner Village to see the witches.  I had never been to see it, but had heard about it several times.  I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was different than I thought.  We were able to get some good pictures of Drew around the shops.  We ended up running into Laurel, Drew's babysitter, and her family.  We even got a little Cardon family picture.

 That afternoon/evening we decided to go visit Dy, Brett, and Bracken in Tooele.  Rather than going from house to house a lot of people will go down Main Street for their candy.  We decided to join them even though it started to rain.  We didn't take our camera with us and had Dy and Brett use theirs, but I did take a 12 second video of us walking down the street and Drew eating his first succor.  We might have pictures later.

After visiting a few of Brett's relatives we decided to go out to eat before leaving for the night.  It turned out to be a cold, but good first Halloween for Drew.  He looked so cute.

3/4's of the Way There.... Drew's 9 Month Stats

Drew is now 3/4th of the way to being a one year old.  We were excited for this 9 month appointment because we thought it would be the first one where he didn't have to get any shots, but we soon remembered he was getting his flu shot and that he would have to get a second flu shot a month later.  It wasn't as bad as his other shots, but he did cry for a few seconds.  Michelle says its good because that means that we don't treat him too badly because he is still sensitive to pain.  I thought if he didn't cry that would just mean he was tough.  His 9 month stats are as follows:

Weight: 19 lbs 1 oz (25%)
Hight: 28 in. (40%)

 Head: 18.5 in. (90%)

We think that he is doing great and no one would ever know that he started out so small.  He now has four teeth, two on top and two on the bottom, and one on the way.  He is finding creative ways to try and get around, but has yet to start crawling although it seems like it will happen any day.  He is eating more and more of what we eat each day because we refuse to buy any more baby food (all of the food thus far was given to us for free, great friends we have).  His right tear duct has cleared and his left one is doing much better.  We hope it will clear before the year is up.  Michelle has started to go crazy with buying him clothes and I need to keep a closer eye on the credit card bill.  Drew is changing so much and it is fun to see how his personality is developing and his looks are changing.  There is still a debate on who he looks like more.  We seem to get a different answer from everyone.  Regardless of what he does or looks like we just love him to death.

As a side note, here are a few videos that we took of Drew this past Sunday when we were celebrating Rachael's birthday.  These aren't even half as funny as what happened before I started recording.  We were cracking up and Drew was just looking at us like we were crazy with no response.

He is the best kid ever!



Rome, Italy Temple - Groundbreaking

I know most people won't be able to read the website, but it is a great day for the Italian members of the church and for those in the surrounding areas. Just after two years from the time the Rome, Italy Temple was announced President Thomas S. Monson broke ground at the temple site in Rome.  Ten years ago while I was serving in Italy we would often talk and dream of the day when a temple would be built for the Italian members and now it is happening.  What a wonderful day.  Take some time to read the article and look at the video and pictures of what the temple and grounds will look like.

Dettagli del Tempio di Roma, Italia - tempiodiroma.chiesadigesucristo.it

http://tempiodiroma.chiesadigesucristo.it/en/rome-temple-details.html# - For English

Bracken's Birthday Party

A week after Bracken's real birthday, Dy and Brett had a family party at their house in Tooele.  Unfortunately a lot of Dy's family was out of town, but we still had a lot of fun.  Brett's parents have a blow up jump room and the little kids loved it.

Bracken got a slide for his birthday, so Drew decided to give it a try.  I think it will be a little while before he does it on his own, but I think he will need one of these.

The party was great and it was fun to see everyone.  After the party we stayed to watch the BYU game and then later went out to eat before heading home.  Thanks Dy and Brett.  Also, I know we say this all the time, but we have the cutest child ever.

Another Visit from the Ferrell and Maxfield Families

After a great Summer of seeing all of my family members here in Utah two of my sisters decided to come back for more.  Christin and Emily, along with their spouses and kids, decided to come to Utah for Fall break.  On Saturday we all got together at Ryan's parent's condo in Provo and Ryan, Andy, and I went to BYU's homecoming game against San Diego State.  It has been a few years since I have been to a game and it was great to see them win.

As I was looking around at everyone at the game I loved seeing the little kids with their fathers, and mothers, and although I am not a huge football fan, I think it would be fun to take little Drew and any other kids that might come along to the games.

While we were at the game all the girls and kids went up to campus to walk around, go to the bookstore, and get some ice cream at the creamery.  Once the game was over and we all returned to the condo we spent some time talking and then we made the trip home with a little stop at Michelle's parent's house to see some of her siblings.  Most of the rest of the week my sister's spent time with other family members and friends.  On Wednesday we all met together at Temple Square to check out the church art history museum and then to walk around the Temple. When we first entered the grounds some sister missionaries stopped us and asked if we wanted to see a video presentation about the Family Proclamation and we agreed.  After the video we went and saw the Cristus statue and got a picture of all of the kids in front of Jesus.

That was followed by a visit to the other visitor center to look at the scaled model of the Salt Lake Temple.  It was a very good replica and all of the little explanation videos were great.

After leaving Temple Square we headed to the dog park by our house and played while we waited for our Costco pizza to be ready.  To finish the evening we went back to our place to have pizza, cookies, and ice cream.  Christin and her family were leaving the next day and Emily would be following soon after.  We wish we would have had more time to visit with them, but we will see them in November for Thanksgiving.

Pics of Drew

Michelle and some of her co-workers went to Wheeler Farm to look at all of the animals and walk around.  Michelle didn't get any pictures of Drew with the animals, but she did get some good pictures of just him.  He is the best and just so cute.  Michelle really loved the farm and says that we should go there all together again.