Galveston

In the first part of October, Jared loaded us all up on Saturday and took us on a trip to the beach.  Galveston is not the best beach, but it is pretty close and we had lots of fun.  We went to Galveston Island State park which has the still side and the wave side just on opposite sides of the road.  We didn't know that at first and started on the still side.  This turned out to be super nice because it was great for wading and there was a lot of empty beach.  

Even the dogs did some wading.  Phoenix liked the water, but Griffin hated it.

We tossed Cheetos to the seagulls and tried (mostly unsuccessfully) to dig in the sand.  But we had a great time.  

Then we drove to the other side and saw the waves.  The boys had SOOOOO much fun jumping in the waves.  I sat on the beach with the dogs and watched my boys play around.  It was perfect!  The only thing that would have made it better was if I had taken pictures :)

Best Friends

A Frozen Halloween

I know pretty much every little girl under the age of 10 wanted to be Anna or Elsa for Halloween.  I was a bit surprised when my boys announced they also wanted to be characters from the movie Frozen.  Micah was Hans the bad guy.  Mima (my mom) made his outfit as it was impossible to find a store-bought costume.  I'm glad he has a grandmother with sewing talent.  His outfit turned out adorable.  He tried it on at Michael's house and made Libby Rae put on her Elsa dress.

He built a sword out of legos and spent the afternoon pretending to attack Elsa over and over again.  Luckily Mima or I took turns being Elsa, so Libby was safe.  She actually built her own sword and did some pretty good attacking herself.

On Sunday before Halloween we carved our pumpkin.

This is at the ward Halloween party.  They posed with friends who went as (surprise!) Elsa and Anna.

Playing ball at the party

This is from Micah's Halloween parade at school.  

He was the ONLY Hans.

On Halloween night we had dinner at Michael and Cara's with some friends.  Then we all went trick-or-treating together.

Grandma Debbi joined us for trick or treating.  So fun!

Libby Rae refused to let anyone carry her bucket until the VERY end of the night.  It finally became too heavy for her to handle any more, but she was a trooper til the end.

Violin

I think Luke first saw a violin in church.  Someone played during sacrament meeting.  He was fascinated, and he asked a lot of questions about the violin.  Then we visited Megan (my sister) and Luke learned that his cousins, Taylie and Brenna, played the violin.  He got to see one up close.  And then he started asking to play the violin.  He was about 4 years old.  We originally told him that he could start violin lessons when he started Kindergarten.  But then Kinder was such an adjustment that we waited until this year.  Luke is in first grade.  

It was a little bit tricky to find a teacher.  I couldn't find anyone through church here in Katy.  I asked Mom if she knew anyone who taught lessons, and she told me that Sister Reyes from Bear Creek Ward (my ward growing up) played.  If she didn't teach lessons herself, she'd know someone who did.  So I called, and she teaches.  Luke started the first week of school.  Luke LOVES his lessons, and he practices on his own --without reminders from me!-- almost every day.  When he first started he just did plucking while he learned fingering.  He started using the bow a few weeks ago.  

The videos are out of order.  The bottom one should be first.  It was before he learned the bow.

Micah's Birthday

This year Micah wanted a Peppa Pig party.  Decorating ended up being very fun.  We put up some pictures and books.  I found these stuffed animals on Amazon for $5/ pair.  And then a friend brought us back a Peppa Pig magazine from England.  I cut out the pictures and hung them around the kitchen.

Table centerpiece

I loved his cake!  We ordered it from a lady whose business in called "Patty Cakes."  Grandma Debbi orders cakes from her often and can get a good deal, so she ordered it for me.

Micah was lucky to have many family members visit Europe this summer, so he got lots of Peppa Pig items that crossed a wide blue ocean to get to this little silly boy.

Peppa pig dolls

Peppa pig dough

And Kinder eggs!!!

I accidentally bought trick candles!

Playing with dough at the end of the night.

What a great party!!!

Phonenix

Meet Phoenix!

Phoenix is a 3 year old Dachshund/ Chihuahua mix (like Griffin) that we adopted from the local shelter a week ago.  We actually picked him out 3 weeks ago, but Phoenix had kennel cough and couldn't come home until he finished treatments.  He is a great play-mate for Griffin.  They are about the same size-- Phoenix is about 2 pounds lighter than Griff.  

Phoenix is a great dog!  We didn't know much about him when we adopted him because he had been found on the street, so the shelter didn't have any history on him.  We brought Griffin with us to the shelter to pick out his friend, so we knew Phoenix and Griff played well together, and we knew that Phoenix would be good with the boys, but that's all we knew.  It turns out that Phoenix is house trained, walks well on the leash, and doesn't scratch at doors!  He does have one flaw, and that is that he has separation anxiety.  If I leave the room he whines.  But even that is getting lots better.  The first 2 nights he cried and whined in his crate.  It was awful!  But he hasn't cried at night since.  He has also started cuddling up in his crate if I leave the room, so he isn't whining as much.  I think soon he won't whine at all.  He is a great addition to our family.

Griffin's Birthday

Griffin turned 1 on August 6.  The boys wanted to acknowledge his birthday in some way.  Actually THEY wanted to have a big party for Griffin with cake and everything and invite all the neighbor's dogs.  Instead we got Griffin a can of wet dog food and 2 new toys.  Luke and Micah were excited to give Griffin his toys.

Touching the Temple

One Saturday at the very end of July or the very beginning of August we drove the boys to the Houston Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  The week before, we had a family home evening about the temple.  Now we wanted the boys to see it and touch it.

The front of the Houston temple

The side gardens

Touching the Temple:

We may have hyped it up a little bit too much.  We told the boys that when they touch the temple, they will feel something special in their hearts.  That is the Holy Spirit telling them that the temple is a special place.  Luke had his face scrunched in concentration trying to feel something special.  He said (in total confusion,) "It just feels like a rock!"  But, bless his heart, he kept trying to feel that something special.  

Then we went into the bride's garden on the side (where bride's often take pictures.)  The boys had a lot of fun playing with the fountain.  Micah actually climbed inside.  Oops!

Even if the boys didn't understand the special feeling yet, I think they do understand that the temple is a special place.