Thanksgiving Birthday Boy!

This year Eli's birthday was on Thanksgiving. (Along with my mom's and Aunt Jill's---happy happy birthday to them too!) So I decided to have his party the day before with a few of his friends. I had seen some really cute ideas for a golf themed party, and thought it would be perfect since he was turning 4. It was a lot of fun making everything for it and coming up with ideas. If only it hadn't been so windy! I had foam golf visors & foam stickers for them to decorate, but it was just way too windy. In fact, my tiered platter that held the blackberry "Par"-faits actually blew off the food table and shattered all over the ground. (Kelsey got a great pic to document this awesome moment.) But the kids still had fun playing on the toys and eating the yummy food. Eli was spoiled with some great gifts that he has enjoyed playing with since. And sometimes he will even share them with Ava. Thanks to all of you who came & helped set up and clean up. And to my great friend Kelsey for taking such great pictures for me! I swiped these off her facebook page because I was so excited to get them up. :)

Schnepf Farm

We finally made it to the farm this year. Every year they have a fall festival with hay rides, pumpkin patch, carnival type rides, shows, etc. And it was so much fun! We met Kelsey and her girls there and the kids had so much fun. Eli didn't want to leave! He and Brookie went on the roller coster first, but they said it was too scary. So we rode the Bee ride, airplanes, & carousel. Then before the kids and I headed home I took them on the train. Eli was in heaven & didn't want to get off it! I think we were there for a good 4 hours. Glad we finally went.

Preschool Halloween Party

Eli's preschool class performed for the parents in front of Mrs. K's house & then went trick-or-treating to all of us. Siblings even got to join in, which Ava was thrilled about! She made friends quickly with one of the girls and held her hand the whole time.

Boo!

We are ready for Halloween at our house! The decorations, costumes, and even candy to hand out. I've noticed that people in Arizona love to decorate their yards & houses for Halloween. It does make it easier when you have nice weather and no chance of snow. Eli & Ava love to see all the witches, ghosts, spider webs, pumpkins, lights, etc. And we have been taking full advantage of the cooler weather this week. It finally feels like fall! A week or so ago Kelsey did a Halloween photo shoot that was so much fun. Here are the kids as Tinkerbell & a pirate.

Little Miss

I'm a little late on posting Ava's 18 month info, but she is just like her brother. In the 99% on height and 25-50% on weight. She is such a girl with her obsession of shoes & dressing up. She will try to put on any shoes--mine, Eli's, Kaelub's, or her own. Ava also loves her babies and tries to change them. She's also going through the "I don't want to wear my diaper" phase. I have to put her in onesies when she goes down for her nap. One too many dirty diaper clean-ups! She is always giving hugs and kisses and trying to keep up with her brother.

September Zoo Trip

Kelsey invited us to go with them and meet some of our friends at the zoo a few weeks ago. We thought it would be fun for the kids, and it was even with the heat. Luckily we took their swimming suits so they could cool off before we left! Ava loved looking at all the animals. Eli said his favorite was the zeebra.