It's the Long Awaited UPDATE Post!

I used to be so good at updating our blog, but lately I've been slacking. Once you've finished this marathon update post you will understand why. We have been BUSY!!! Hold on to your hats and get ready for the ride through the last month of our lives! There are TONS of pictures, but really isn't that what everyone wants to see anyway????

As most of you have already seen...we got our family pictures done in Kanab with Yates' side of the family. We're having them done again with my side of the family when they come down for Thanksgiving because there are lots of big changes on both sides of the family since we did them last. Here are some favs besides the ones that are already on the blog.

The whole clan (Top row: Nick, JD, Yates, Brett and James. Second Row: Yvonne, Jeri K holding Miley, Me holding Titan, Roxi holding Jaybin and Nicole. Bottom row: Krysha, Devin, Kyeron, Tucker, McKinlee and Maddie)

The grandkids:

Then we have the sighting in of the guns for the "big hunt". Yates drew out again this year for the deer hunt and I didn't put in. I was being stubborn because of last year's accidental mis-firing and consequent argument with the husband and had promised myself I wasn't going to put in. I kept true to my word and was the only one who suffered! :( I suck and am totally and completely stubborn and dumb! Enuf said! Since I can't work when Yates is gone, we all went along with him and took the trailer out for the last camping trip of the season. We took the camera, but I must have hidden it well because there are no pics of the actual hunt or the camping fun. Yates did shoot a 4x4 deer with a big body that ended up being 114 lbs all dressed out, but we didn't get ANY meat!!! The butcher we took it to said it had "sour bone" and the meat wasn't good. It was a super fat deer and had been eating in a big hay field right before Yates shot it and after talking to a few people, including our regular deer butcher, we think it's probably because their freezer wasn't cold enough for all the deer he was trying to pack in there and so it kept the meat too warm too long. Anyway, what a waste! Here's cute Tucker taking a few shots on the .22. He got a little too close to the scope and when it kicked it nailed him in the eye and left a little mark for a few days. tee hee...lesson learned early. :)

Then we had Paul & Liz come down from Herriman for a week and we spent lots of time hanging out with "The Network" (LOL). We got pictures of all the kiddos chillin' but I must have not thought it important to get all the adults. We're not as good looking as our kids anyway. j/k

Left to right: Maci, Ellie, McKinlee holding Titan, Tucker and Isabella holding Mckaylee

Mckaylee looking gorgeous as always:

Dezie (Kyle & Josie's new baby):

I volunteered in Tucker's Kindergarten class to help with their Halloween Party and it was so much fun. I must say I was extremely under-dressed. The other "room moms" that were regulars had all dressed to the hilt in some pretty amazing costumes, but they were a blast and the kids all had fun!

Next up is pumpkin carving spectacular. We deviated from our fancy pumpkin tradition and just did regular ole' faces on our pumpkins this year. That may have had a lot to do with the fact that we carved them Halloween afternoon before heading out to trick-or-treat. We, of course, had to do some posing in front of the beautiful flowers showing off the kiddos and their masterpieces.

Then we have an introduction to Ironman, our Indian Princess and the toughest football player you've ever seen! We went to a Tri-Ward Trunk-or-Treat at the church and let the kiddos run around and then just came home and let Tucker go with some neighbors around the neighborhood. P.S. Yates even got into the action this year and scared the living daylights out of trick-or-treaters (only the older kids...AND McKinlee) with his costume. Our friends Brandon & Jessie also dressed up and their little boy, McQuade, came over to stink up the place.

Tucker has also started Little League Wrestling again. We weren't sure if he was going to want to do it again or not. He did really well last year as a preschooler, but got tired of it by the end and said he didn't want to do it this year. We took him to his first practice last Thursday and he was going at it so we signed him back up. He had his first tournament on Saturday and won ANOTHER gold medal to add to his collection from last year! Yates was able to come to this tournament and I know it always means a lot to Tucker for him to be able to be there. For those who don't know...Yates was quite the wrestling stud growing up and did VERY well all through High School placing in state EVERY YEAR! I always wanted basketball players, and I guess they still could be (they don't have any basketball programs for kids as young as Tucker is), but he's already proving to have a knack for wrestling. Tucker's a lot more aggressive this year and even though he got hurt in his last match at the tournament he didn't quit or give up...he finished his match and won!

Titan is also 5 months old tomorrow! Holy moly how time has flown. He's starting to lose his baby look and is starting to look more toddler'ish. It makes me so sad how short of a time they're really "little babies"! He's still a champion sleeper, although he has his days where he decides to keep my on my toes and sleep bad. We also just barely started putting him to sleep in his bassinet on his back. He has slept up to this point in his carseat, but is starting to get too big to be comfy in there. He is eating rice cereal really well and will actually eat it fairly thick so he sort of has to "chew" and will tolerate me putting veggies and fruits into his rice cereal. He doesn't like the fruits/veggies plain too much yet...I don't know if it's the strong flavor they have on their own or what, but I'll be happy to mix them for now. He's pulling on anything he can get his hands on to try to pull himself over or to try to sit up (unsuccessfully) and likes to sit in his little "bumbo" seat and look around and play with his toys. He is very ticklish and will giggle and smile when the kids talk to him and play with him. His favorite thing by far are his toes and likes to be undressed down to his diaper so he has easy access to them to munch on. Overall he's such a good little boy and WE LOVE HIM!