October - Our Favorite Time of the Year!

Hey Friends!

I love Fall. Cooler weather, cozy clothes, hot chocolate, red leaves, Halloween candy; what's not to love? We've been going on Sunday walks, and playing at the park.

 

Out on a walkabout.

 

 

Mason playing with the drinking fountain at the park. He thought he was pretty stinkin' funny when he managed to squirt me in the face. ... Okay, it was pretty funny. :) 

We have been busy visiting family and friends in Utah, overcoming asthma, getting new family pics, hitting the Hogle Zoo, and trying to recover from vacation-mode. Our trip to Utah was fun, exhausting, and totally worth it. :) So here's the trip in a nutshell....

 

Mason was channeling Elvis on our drive to Spokane. When we got there, Travis had some work to do before we needed to be at the airport, so we hit up the Children's Museum. Mase got to dig in the mud, shoot a magnetic cannon, play in the play house, and take care of sick (stuffed) animals.

 

Shortly after arriving in Utah, we were able to celebrate my niece's 1st birthday! She is so cute, and Mason adores her! 

 

 

The after-party consisted of Halloween costumes, and a Frankenstein pinata at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Mase went to town on that pinata! Holy crud, he needs to play baseball. I thought for sure someone (most likely me) was going to end up getting stitches.

 

 

A few days later, poor little Masonator ended up at the doctor's office. He had a minor cold that quickly lead to wheezing (which has happened before). Thankfully, some good friends of ours (thank you Melissa and Ryan) had a nebulizer we could borrow (which is what we usually have to do for a couple of days, and then Mason's back to normal.) This time the breathing treatments were only helping for about an hour before he was back to wheezing, and struggling to breathe. The doctor diagnosed him with asthma, and put him on prednisone. Unfortunately for us, some of the side affects of prednisone can (and did) include: irritability, aggression, problems sleeping. It was lovely. We were all exhausted. I felt so bad for little Mase. But the prednisone helped a lot, and he has now made a full recovery. We'll be discussing preventative treatment with his regular doctor asap. :)

 

 

Miraculously, we were able to get some good family photos. Thanks to my good friend Rachel Flint, (In the Lime Photography). :)

 

 

 

 

 

We had a really fun time at Hogle Zoo with the cousins. We saw monkeys, giraffes, polar bears, all kinds of animals. We saw the rhinos being fed fruits and veggies; the zoo keepers would actually put the food into the rhinos mouths. The slobber went up their arms, nearly to the elbows. Grooooss. But Mason thought it was pretty cool, he's such a boy. :)  

 

 

One of Mason's favorites was the monkeys. He's obsessed with Curious George right now.

 

Did you know elephants communicate with their noses? Here's an example...

 

 

I guess Mason can't communicate with elephants ... he said, "P-hew!!! Smells weird!!"

 He cracks me up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was so fun to get to hang out with cousins and see all the animals.

 

While it was an exhausting trip (as vacations usually are), we had a really fun time with our family and friends. Like I said, it was totally worth it! But now, we are back home and back to normal. We are all healthy and happy.

 

Now we are getting ready for Halloween! Mason and I are going to be Ninjas, and Travis is going to be a Geisha woman. It's going to be hysterical. :D I will definitely be posting pictures of that!

 

Much Love,

 

Er, Trav, and Mase

 

4-Wheeling with the Crazy Elder's Quorum!

Hey Friends,

I don't know about you all, but we have just been pluggin' along staying busy. We went from 90 degree (sunshine) weather, blowing bubbles outside...

 

... to 50 degree (rainy) weather in a two week time period! So, we are a bit weather-shocked; trying to dig out all our warm clothes. :) And finding ways to entertain ourselves in-doors. Mason has been a big helper (as usual) and he's getting SO tall.  

Travis and I had a great time 4-wheeling in the mountains with the Elders Quorum group in our Ward. No matter how hard my friend pushed, that helmet was just too small to fit on my noggin with my hat... even without the hat it was a tight squeeze. :)

 

On our ride, we came around a corner and almost submerged the machine in a gigantic mud puddle, we were nearly clothes-lined by a fallen tree, and rode through miles of foggy cloud banks and frozen rain. On the way down one quad in our group blew a tire. BUT! No one rolled their wheeler AND no one was injured!! I call that a success! It was MUCH colder than everyone expected (especially for September) so we all froze but it was so much fun! Takes me back to my first date with Travis. :)

 

I have been busy working on our family collages. I generally make these collages so that we have pictures to show potential birth-families when we meet face to face for the first time. That way they have an idea what we are like, and enjoy doing together; and so they can see what our extended families are kind of like. We have not yet been contacted by a potential birth-family, but I enjoy making these collages anyway. :) And I hope that sometime soon we will be contacted for a potential adoption.

I still have 2 collages in progress, Bear Lake and Labor Day Weekend. Hopefully I can get those done soon too. I think I'll just keep adding them to my posts as I get them finished.

We have other things going on that keep us occupied, but we are all happy and healthy again. Mason is completely over his cold, and other than an allergic reaction to the neighbors dog yesterday, he's doing great!

Travis had some vacation time that he needed to use before the end of the year so, in October we will be visiting family and friends in Utah. We're really excited! We plan to get new family photos done and maybe go to the zoo.

 

Well, I better get to folding laundry! Take care!

 

Much Love,

 

Erin, Travis, & Mason

Our Fall "Routine"?

Hey Y'all,

So now that summer has started to fade, we are slowing getting back into a "real" routine. OK, so we haven't started school or anything, but besides the normal stuff like going to Costco on (what feels like) a daily basis, we go play at the gym 3-4 times a week, playgroup at the park on Wednesdays, MOPs (see below) every other Tuesday, and then Trav and I have our church callings to work around too. So I guess calling it a "routine" would be stretching it a bit.

We always have time to go to the park. :) -- Now, let me preface this picture by reassuring you that I was right next to Mason the whole time, ready to catch him.

 

I'm sure you're all wondering if Mason filled his pants from sheer terror, and judging from the look on his face, I wouldn't blame you for assuming such. However, he was actually just straining to pull his legs up as high as he could ... thus the "HOLY CRAP!!" face. :) I almost wet my pants laughing when I saw how this picture turned out. ... he looks like he's about to fall to his death, doesn't he? ... Oh man, I love that kid. 

 

One of my new friends here introduced me to a fun group called MOPs (Mothers of Preschoolers). It's a Christian based group for moms to join that gives them a chance to connect with other moms, have discussions, make fun crafts, and support each other. While the moms do their thing for about 2 hours at a time, twice a month, volunteers watch all the kids (separated by age group). It has been really fun for me to get out and meet new people in the area, and it's been fun for Mason to play with other kids and be his crazy little self. I have really enjoyed it so far!

 

One thing that is "routine" is chilling in the PJ's with Dad on the couch watching Phineas and Ferb. I am trying to get Mase to branch out to other hilarious shows (like Emperor's New Groove), but my efforts are in vain. No show will ever be as cool as Phineas and Ferb...
(also in this picture is Mason's favorite stuffed animal. A lamb named "Now", which Mase named when he was first learning to talk ... yes, the lamb is named Now... I don't get it either.... just go with it.)

So everything is pluggin' right along as usual. How's your "after summer routine"?

We are looking forward to our trip to Utah in October! Making fun plans to visit family and good friends, get new family pictures taken, and heck, maybe visit the zoo. Mason is currently fighting a cold, so we hope you are all healthy and happy!

Much Love,

Erin, Travis and Mason