Chandler comes to visit

We were so excited to have Jason, Karyn, Chandler and Kynzie come down to visit us. They got here about 6m thursday night and stayed til early afternoon friday. It was a perfect little get together, especially since our place isn't huge. They had to blow up a mattress and sleep in the living room, but hey, at least there is a big enough space, unlike our last apartment! Wyatt was SO excited to have Chandler here. Every time we'd say "thankful for Chandler" in our family prayers, Y would point to the door and really want Chandler to just show up. So when he actually did Y was happy! They had fun eating together, playing with Wyatt's toys, jumping around on the blow up mattress, and watching Rio. The next day we tried going to the park, it was so cold and windy, so the park didn't last long. We were all freezing! Brock had class at noon, so we came back to the apartment and Jason watched the boys, Brock went to class, and Karyn and I went to the Dollar Store and Restore. It was quick, but super fun! We then went to a Pizza buffet that had fun arcade games for the kids. It was hard getting them to eat, but they enjoyed all the games. Wyatt was running around from game to game like he was in heaven. He was so excited he couldn't stay at one game for more than a few seconds. The kids were super tired by the time Chandler had to go. Chandler is talking a ton, he will say pretty much anything you tell him to...so we're hoping Wyatt will pick it up from seeing chandler talk. Wyatt is such a chill kid though. When Chandler was here, Y was especially quiet and just let Chandler do the talking. Y is the type of child that will let other kids steal his toy and doesn't care. He is pretty relaxed about everything, so I'm thinking he is on his own schedule and will do whatever he wants (like talking) whenever he wants  (hopefully soon?!).

Playing motorcross XBox. Wyatt loves to watch Brock play.

The little boys went down together and I couldn't figure out why they wouldn't look at me. Then the big boys came down and I had to hurry and move the litte ones out of the way!

I don't know if you have noticed a trend with our pictures....Wyatt never looks at the camera. He hardly ever sits still long enough for me to get a clear picture, and looking or smiling at the camera is almost impossible to get. As you can see in this last picture, brock is holding wyatt in place so he couldn't move. LOL

FUN TIMES

Bree Orton, Ivory Ranstrom and I planned a baby shower for our friend Alysha Lester. We were really excited for it. We planned it 2 weeks before her due date and she kept teasing us she wasn't going to be there. The night before the shower she called and sure enough, she wasn't at the shower because she was having her baby. We had fun non the less.

Last night we had a game night at John and Sierra's (our NEXT door neighbors). We put Wyatt to bed and plugged in the baby monitor (we were seriously like 8 steps from our house). It was a fun night!! With great goodies :) Here is Jeff Ranstrom with little Gene.

The group, minus Ivory and Jeff, Brock and I. John and Sierra. Keaton and Bree.

Pumpkin PATCH

Did I mention how much fun we are having down here?! We are constantly busy doing fun things! We have gone to volleyball games, parties galour, parks, lakes, dinners, game nights, and THE PUMKIN PATCH. Brock's boss during the summer was Kevin Merrill. Kevin's son just moved here to start the Ag program and we have really enjoyed getting to know them. They have a little 1 yr old boy that Wyatt loves playing with, even though he is way smaller and younger. They are in a different ward, but they invited us to their ward garden to pick out a pumpkin. It was great! When we got there, we saw 3 deer just hanging out. Wyatt loved it. He kept wanting to go over to them, but then they'd move away. He is a little different in the fact that he doesn't like dirt or things on his hands, so he wasn't too thrilled when he touched a pumpkin that had mud on it. He wouldn't touch a single one again (other than this, I promise he is ALL boy!). They had tons of small pumpkins, which I love to decorate with. We enjoyed the garden and then headed to Riverside Park, our absolute favorite park ever!

"Hunting" Trip

 October 7th-9th Brock and some of his buddies when camping. They used to actually hunt, but over the years it's turned into just a guys camping trip. (I'm pretty sure actually hunting was too much work) Brock met up with the guys and they really roughed it for a couple nights...uh NOT! Ben Giese pulled up his trailer and they were able to sleep and eat comfortably. I fixed enchiladas and pasta for brock to take and just thought it was the craziest thing to have a stove to warm up his food. He really enjoyed it. Said they had a lot of great laughs and really enjoyed the beautiful scenery. The guys the went are : Ben Giese, Jordan Stromstad, Tanner Gilbert and brock.

Such a rough life. :)

...oh the things we do...

 We have been having so much down here in La Grande. Wyatt is currently in the "help momma" stage. He drags a chair over to the counter and climbs right now. He is OH SO HELPFUL too. haha. He actually did great pulling off the grapes, only a few stems left on :)

 I am SO glad I brought these outdoor toys with us. I hadnt planned on bringing them, but when my mom decided to help us move and we had room. I last minute threw them in and Wyatt plays with them ALL the time. We have a sweet little sidewalk area that he pushes this truck and another toy around. He is doing great about staying close so I can be in the kitchen and still see him. He listens to me when he goes too far and I tell him to turn around, he really is doing great about obeying (I'd say about 1 in every 5 times he doesn't obey, which is pretty good!)

 These peaches were such a fun story for me and Y. A lady in the ward needed them picked and gone, so of course we were there to help! We bundled up and walked the 7blocks down to her house. Right as we got there it started raining...like hard. So I picked as many as I could, keeping Y in the stroller and we literally ran home as fast as we could. We both were wet and cold when we got home, but it was pretty fun. We cleaned them and made a YUMMY peach cobbler, then froze the rest for smoothies! Wyatt found a funner activity with the peaches, he liked to roll them down the cutting board. lol. Oh, and my child doesn't smile for pictures, EVER. He hardly looks and never wants to stop what he's doing for a picture....so stubborn :)

 Oh how we love warm days! The weather was great this past week (when I say great I just mean no rain). We played outside a bunch. There is a little playground in our apartment complex grass area and wyatt loves it. This morning we got the chalk out and had some fun. Y doesn't like to color, so I thought maybe a big huge sidewalk would be so fun to draw on. Nope, not really. He would make a few marks here and there, but just wanted to push his tractor around. Our friends moved in RIGHT next door to us, so Wyatt and Cade have started becoming great friends. We really love having them there, although Wyatt goes and knocks on their door EVERY time he goes outside. He always wants Cade to come out. Cade is almost 3, so he is a lot older than Y, but of course Y doesn't care!

Morgan Lake

One thing we love about La Grande is the BEAUTIFUL scenery! Fall time is gorgeous down here. The first week we were here last year we ventured out to Morgan Lake and so this year we kept tradition. It isn't very far away, just up a mountain on dirt roads, and since we only drive like 20mph in our tahoe it takes us a while to get anywhere on gravel roads! (yes, my whole family teases me but we'll see whose car looks better in 5 yrs ;)  Morgan Lake is so pretty. Last year Wyatt was only 9 months, so we didn't do a lot of walking around. This year, he was on the run following trails the whole time. He LOVED it. It was so cute to watch him dodge around bushes and rocks. We actually walked around the whole lake, which took about 1 hour. Wyatts little legs got tired and he actually wanted to be held a few times, totally abnormal for him! The weather was nice and sunny but got a little windy towards the end. The trees were swaying in the wind and Wyatt would stop and tilt his head WAY back and look at the tops of the trees. He loved watching them sway, and seeing how tall they were. Every time he would look up at them, he'd do a little laugh. By the time we got back to the tahoe he was pointing to it and ready for a break.

We were able to get some pictures in the same spot as last year, so I'm posting them to compare. My little guy has grown so much since last year. Makes me really sad when I see how much he's grown!

 There was a bunch of bees on the table this year, so we couldn't get a family picture.

 The log is a little different, but this is the exact same spot. As you can see, this year he knows what he wants, and he DID NOT want to stop for a picture! His hands on his legs like this totally say "seriously mom, let's go!"

 Cool little bridge.

Throwing rocks in the lake.

Motorcycles and Pictures

The week before we left for OR Brock had off work and we loved it! Wyatt went on a motorcyle ride from Gibbons house to McGary's house and he LOVED it. I was a little nervous, but brock took only back roads and went pretty slow. Brock said on the ride he would shout "woot woot" and Wyatt would twist his shoulders, which is what he now does when he's dancing. He was in heaven! He loves all things motors, especially the 4wheeler and motorcyle! He never leaves my parents' shop when we are there visiting. He immediately is out of the car and headed straight to the shop and is on the 4wheeler in no time. He also has really been into looking at my mom's pictures on her walls lately. He is recognizing his cousins and loves ALL of them so much!