I want my children to bring home two things as homework: dioramas and science fair projects. After building a model train set-up we had lots of diorama stuff. Peter brought home an assignment to make a diorama of a desert. So all the kids made dioramas.

We went on a fun drive and hike up by Pineview. There wasn’t anyone around and it was beautiful. November is one of favorite times to hike. It was so warm we quickly shed our jackets.

Finally, a beautiful fall sunrise.

Here is an overload of mostly baby pictures. I love having Zack around. He makes life more complex and difficult…But it is so fun to see him grown up and do cute baby things. He brings more love into my life. 

It’s such a weird holiday. I do the bare minimum. The kids get costumes that can double as pajamas. We went to a party that my sister-in-law had that was a lot of fun. We had a scout carnival and went trick-or-treating. This year Peter and Curtis went out on their own and had a great time. My win for the year was trading in candy for toys.

Here’s more hiking in the fall, because fall is the best time to hike. Even when I am pretty out of shape because I had a baby two months ago. Just Joe and I, + baby because baby goes everywhere with me. It was nice to spend some time away from the children, which I love but can also be loud.

I love where I live, it’s a beautiful small town. By the way, two-month-old babies are hard. But luckily he is calming down and things are getting a bit easier.

The kids had fall break and I wanted to go do something. I love to travel. But with a fairly young baby, I didn’t want to go somewhere far or very long. So we went to our default location of Dead Horse Point. That’s where the kids picked to go, and it’s always a great vacation to visit cousins and see some beautiful sites.

We went and saw the sunset, hiked, and mostly enjoyed our family. On the way there we stopped at my Grandparents, and the way back we stopped at the Springville Art Museum and Provo Library.

I was glad that I didn’t go far: by the end of our car ride back, Zack was very ready to be done with his car seat.

Fall is a great time to spend outdoors. We haven’t been out much since Zack was born, but lately, we’ve been trying to change that a bit.

We went hiking at Tony’s Grove. There was snow and Curtis wore flip flops. He didn’t enjoy the hike much after a while.

We also went exploring up in Mantua. I love walking through the campground in the fall when no one is there. It has lots of fun places to explore.

Henry’s preschool had a field trip to a corn maze and pumpkin patch. He adored the big straw pyramid and spent a long time climbing and crawling through the tunnels. The kids also finished up their football season. Neither of their teams won that much, but they both had a lot of fun.

I am happy with the way Peter is growing up. He has learned to be obedient and the kind: he’s the first kid to pitch in and help out. He excels with all his school work. He knows what he wants and what he doesn’t want. He hates getting surprised by about anything and struggles to try new food. He loves basketball, and the NBA and more basketball. 

We had a great time on his birthday. We went to his cousin’s house for a party and went to Boondocks to play.

Having a baby is pretty great. But then as I was just starting to get into a good groove, I got a bit sick, baby also got sick and live gets thrown off again. We are both recovering just fine now.

Everything takes a lot longer, especially because Zack prefers to be held all the time. Literally. He sleeps better with a warm person next to him. When I was sick, I wanted a nap so bad and had a tender mercy from the Lord when he slept by himself so I could take a good nap.

This is Henry’s first day of preschool. He is loving preschool: super excited to go and loves to show me all that he does. 

This is Zack’s current version of a smile. 

This little guy is doing just great. Gaining weight, nursing well (which is a happy surprise because I basically didn’t nurse him for the first three weeks of his life) and he’s generally happy. If he’s being held. It’s a lot of work though, just to help someone eat and sleep and poop. I’m glad he’s so cute. 

The remaining children are all doing pretty good at school. Henry loves preschool, and the other kids slipped into their new grades without any fuss. 

The boys started fourth and second grade.

And Zack came home after 19 days in the NICU.

So life is pretty good.