Pumpkin Patch 2015

We love heading out to Schilter Family Farms each year to get our pumpkins.  This year we headed out with our friends, the Latimers.  The animal train wasn't running, but the kids all took turns sitting in the train cars at one point or another anyway.

That's a lot of boys in the pumpkin patch!

Carter's shirt matched the tractor!

Measuring up!

Tristan was legit running with the boys in the wheelbarrow.  The were laughing and giggling so hard!  And Tristan was totally worn out by the time everyone got a turn!

Ashton loved the big sandbox

The hayloft is a favorite every year.

Carter was excited to be able to get up close and personal with the calf this year!

Tractor ride!!

Carter wanted a turn with the camera and shot some pics of the moms since we had been behind the camera most of the day.

I love that our fall days are often filled with sunshine so we can get out and enjoy them doing fun things!

Fall Fun

Ethan decided that he wanted to try playing soccer, which marked our first sports team as a family.  We were glad that one of our friends in our ward was the coach and we knew a lot of people on his team, so that made practices and games fun!

Ethan did a really good job and had a lot of fun playing!

One afternoon we hit up Lattin's Cider Mill again with some buddies to play.  Ashton loves this carousel!

 He was fascinated by this goat!

 And got up close and personal!

Fall really is one of my favorite seasons in Washington!  I love the time of year and the feeling in the air!

End of Summer and Back to School

Oops!  Out of order, but before all the birthday celebrating we ended summer and started school.  Before school started we snuck in one more trip to the Point Defiance Zoo.  The boys love going up there and since we have a membership we are lucky to be able to go often.  It's not too far to drive and it takes the pressure off of feeling like we need to see everything.  Usually we head up, do half the zoo, have lunch and play at the play area and head home before traffic hits.  It's a favorite summer activity for us!

Ashton being a little birdie in the play area

This peacock was really interested in our lunches!

And just like that, summer was over and school started!  The boys love any excuse to put decorations up, so I decorated and had a special breakfast waiting for them!

Ethan was excited to start 1st grade with Mrs. Stewart this year.

Carter started half-day morning preschool.  He was so excited to finally go to school like his big brother!

The end of summer is definitely bitter sweet for us.  Luckily, both boys looked forward to school starting so that made it a lot easier to give up our lazy days of summer!

Ashton Turns 2!

Ashton's birthday is three days after Carter's so Transformers came down and Dinos went up!  Ashton loves dinos!

 It was a school day, so we did a low key cake and ice cream at our house with my parents.

Ashton is a joy to have in our family.  He is funny, smart, loving and LOVES his big brothers.  I'm so glad he's ours.

Carter's 4th Birthday

This boy turned 4 in September.  He wanted a Transformers birthday, so I delivered the best I could.

 He also wanted donuts for his birthday breakfast!

 Tristan was at work, so Carter Face Timed with him in the afternoon.  Later that evening we met my parents at Dirty Dave's for dinner and cake.  Carter loves going to Dirty Dave's (mostly because of the video games) and luckily I really like the pizza.  So it was a win-win.  We brought his chocolate Transformers cake with us and played for a bit.

 Brotherly love!

I sure love this sweet boy.  He is caring and wants people around him to be happy.  He is sensitive and likes to be loved and snuggled.  Our family wouldn't be the same without Carter!

Celebrating 9 Years!

For our ninth wedding anniversary I surprised Tristan by setting up the whole evening.  I arranged for the kids to be gone and had dinner waiting for Tristan when he got back from dropping them off.  It was nice to enjoy a quiet dinner at home with each other!

 Then I set up a scavenger hunt with clues from places we went and did things while we were dating.  We went to each stop, did something and then moved on to the next.  We had to stop at Cash and Carry for some syrups for a treat later that night.

 We eventually went to play frisbee golf and had some sparkling cider.  It was such a nice evening!

 We ended the night by going down to the waterfront where Tristan proposed to me for sunset.  It was a lot of fun to reminisce about our dating days and to be kid-free for the evening.

 After we picked up the kids and put them to bed, Tristan made "scones" for us.  This was something we did one of the first night we hung out with a group together.

Yummy!!!

It's amazing how it feels like not that long ago that we were married, but here we are celebrating 9 years of hard work, fun, love, tears and growing as a family.