Sledding

We had some good snow this winter which allowed us to go out sledding a few times.  The big boys love it!  Greyson was not so much a fan.  He hated being bundled up, and was much happier to be in then warm car.  

November

November brought playing in the leaves and playing in the snow.  It got COLD here this month, which was only a sign of the cold winter ahead.  

Grey turned 10 months which brought him standing up in the crib and a first tooth.  (bottom two came in about the same time)

Poor baby got a nasty cold and ended up with croup this month too.  I knew he was sick when only after an hour after his first nap he passed out on the floor.  This just doesn't happen with my babies.  I hated seeing him so miserable, but I did think he looked so dang sweet in these pictures.  

Thanksgiving was spent at Ala Grandma and Grandpas with Jeremy's family and Jeff, Emily & Norah.  Jackson was of course in heaven playing football with his Dad, Gpa, and Uncle.  Because if you ask him what Thanksgiving is all about he'll say turkey and football! :)

Visting Chi-town with mi mama!

My mom came to visit for about a week the end of October/first of November.  I know she has been wanting to visit Chicago ever since we moved here, so I decided we needed a day out with just the two of us to explore Chi-town.  I've only been once for a few hours with Justin when we were dating, so I was excited to visit too.

We started the day at the Sear's tower.  This is the 3rd tallest building in the world and the largest in the US.  We went to the top of the skydeck and had a really cool view of all of Chicago.  It's amazing how big this city is!!  

Afterwords we did a.lot! of walking.  We first went to the famous "bean" and took some pictures of ourselves in the reflection.

Next we walked to Navy Pier, which we could have skipped.  It was a pretty cloudy day and because it is the off season the pier was pretty dead.  It started to rain about the time we got there so we hopped in the mall area and had some lunch.  

After the Pier, we crossed the Chicago River and walked part of the magnificent mile.  We walked through a few stores (Crate & Barrel, The American Girl Doll Store, and the Lego Store) and bought some giadonni chocolates.  

If you cant tell, this entire mural was made out of LEGO'S!!  Amazing!!

The oldest standing building in downtown Chicago--the water tower.  This was one of the only original structures that was not destroyed in the great Chicago fire.  

We loved having her visit and miss her when we aren't with her!  Thanks for coming Mom!

F-O-U-R!!

This cutie turned four October 31st, 2013.  He was so excited too!  Just look at that face.

  

Having a birthday on Halloween can be tricky.  There is so much activity and things going on and so much sugar!!  It's hard to get in everything.  So far he's been pretty okay at sharing the day with the holiday and is willing to have birthday celebrations on other days.  We did open presents and have cake after some trick or treating.  (It was a rainy year so they didn't stay out as late as they could have).  And THESE faces are what you get with a sugar high, excited birthday boy!

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We did his Birthday party that weekend.  I decided on a Construction theme and he was happy to oblige.  And here are some of the details...

Grandma Blake was here for a visit so she got to enjoy the birthday festivities with him.  And of course Ala G&G came over for the fun too.  Here they are playing his new game from Grandma Blake.  

Super Mario Bros!

I took the kiddos to a halloween store to give them ideas on what to be and Jackson decided he wanted to be Mario.  The store bought costume was $40!  I thought that was ridiculous and knew I could make it cuter and cheaper.  So I convinced Jonah to be Luigi and went to town on making their costumes.  Of course, I had to get Grey in on the theme and decided to do toadstool.  

I had so much fun with the costumes and really, really love how they turned out!  

Halloween Trunk or Treat at the church.  There were a couple other Mario and Luigis so we had to snap a picture. :)

The boys invited their neighbor friend to the trunk or treat.  They were so proud to be missionaries and I'm glad he was able to come with them.  

Jonah at his preschool.  Such cute kids all dressed up! :)

His church buddies, Sicilly and Blake