The catch up before Christmas

I ended our last post saying that Mark was itching to go hiking...so we went hiking. It was fun. We saw a very large moose and Mark with Marin strapped on his back went to get a closer look getting closer he saw the mama moose and we were done. Mark could have kept going but I was done. Funny how once you have kids the thought of having to out run a moose doesn't seem so exciting. Who am I kidding I would NEVER have thought out running a moose would be fun.

The view from our hike. It was pretty and a perfect day for a hike. Mark and Marin on the trail, this picture makes me laugh every time I see it. Interestingly enough our conversation was about the old spice ads about smelling like a man after I took this picture. Mark smells like a man....I love this picture. Paxton was such a champ on this hike. I don't know what I'm going to do this summer when I have to pack one of the kids.... I think Mark can handle both don't you? I have been watching two of the little kids from upstairs in the mornings and the little girl Kate is 6 months older than Marin, they play well together it takes them about 10 minutes to get over the mine mine mine stage and then they are great. They like to cook and feed it to Paxton.

Halloween! It of course was awesome weather all day and then around 4 the clouds rolled in the temperatures dropped and it rained like crazy. Not being one to go out in the rain my Mom suggested we head over to the old folks home...river meadows.....old folks home. Indoors and lots of Grandpa's and Grandma's that were thrilled to have little kids running. Marin I think said 4 words the whole time. Painfully shy. ANYWAY she was Belle and she had a blast she wore this dress for I think 2 months straight.

Mark and Dennis went fishing....somewhere far away. They spent the night in Wyoming and had a blast catching fish. They both needed a vacation I think. Dennis is showing off their catch. They were all longer than a foot the longest I think were around 22 inches or something like that. Anyway they were huge! And yummy!
While Mark was off fishing sickness hit our household. Marin was sick for 2 weeks. I think this is the most she has EVER cuddled with me in her life. So in that way it was fun. However I decided that having 2 kids and one of them being sick the game of keep away isn't easy (Yes I realise Paxton is sleeping NEXT to the sick kid, but it was a cute pictuer) Paxton luckily is a pretty mellow baby and doesn't have to be held. So this is what sickness looks like I take advantage of Marin cuddling Mark takes advantage of the added sleep.
Let the joys of dress up begin! Marin has found that she can use Paxton as a doll! Her thing at the moment is sunglasses. Again he is such a good sport.

I had to document this. Marin and I were cleaning up her Legos and the container was only half full. Odd. So I walked around and looked to see if she had built a tower or something in her room nothing. Then I recalled her hanging out by the speaker. See the hole in the bottom? 42 legos shoved in there. I have skinny hands thank goodness or that would have been a chore. With everyone I pulled out I had to laugh. She has since been told to not put things in there, every once in a while I still check.
Marin loves loves loves to wear dresses. She wanted me to put her dress on and I told her no for whatever reason we were probably about to eat, she came out of her room crying. That's what happens when you try to put your dress on, Mama takes a picture.
Thanksgiving. It was a nice day, food was great, my Uncle Ray and Aunt Lorri were in town so that was awesome to get to visit with them. My cute kids showing off their Thanksgiving shirts that I made. On the way to dinner I started naming off things I was thankful for. You know it's true if ever you are down all you should do is start listing all the things you are grateful for I could have gone on all day and not repeated a thing. I truly am blessed.

Marin loves fish so we went to the aquarium today and went and checked out the Utah wildlife part of it...you know trout, frogs, brine flies. EXCITING STUFF!
Mark and Paxton showing off their awesome boat driving skills...
Checking out the shark tank, there was a sea turtle in there and it reminded me of heading to the beach to watch them come up and lay eggs and going back to watch those tiny turtles head to the beach when I was younger. She liked looking at the sharks they kept swimming by the window so that was fun.

The canoe was the hit for the day I think. Well maybe not the hit but it was up there. When my Mom called tonight Marin was talking to her telling her how they saw fish and rode the boat. Too cute. We have been so blessed this year with our health, a new baby who is growing faster than I want, a supportive family, good friends, and the gospel. Things couldn't get much better....well they could but for right now they are perfect! Hope everyone had a great Halloween, Thanksgiving, and fall. The snow has arrived in Utah and Christmas is right around the corner! Happy Holidays Everyone!