October's FFD's

FFD's used to stand for Friday Family Date, but we decided the name needed a change since we rarely went out on Friday nights. So now FFD stands for Family Fun Day, and boy do we ever live up to the name! October was full of fantastic FFD's. 

We spent a day at Tracy Aviary. I was a little hesitant about going here because I didn't know if it would be very fun, but it proved me wrong. We had so much fun!

Kayla looks like she needs to go potty in this picture. 

 And I don't know what Tyler is doing in this picture... Doesn't it seem like you can never get a decent picture with everyone looking and smiling at the same time?

 See?

We saw a lot of birds at the aviary... obviously

 Then enjoyed some snacks

 The kids played in the garden area

We took a lot of silly pictures...

 We stopped for some lunch

 Kayla had a huge glob of jelly on her face that was worthy of a picture!

While we were eating lunch,  the peacock tried to eat all the kids' food. If it wasn't for mom, that darn peacock would have attacked us.

 Then we got some bird food and fed all the birds and almost got attacked by them. We had to keep telling the birds to "shoo".

After the aviary, we went to the park that was right by it and the kids got to play on the swings and slide. 

I definitely think we'll be going back next year!

We also went to the Zoo. October is the perfect time to go because it isn't as crowded and the weather is perfect. We got to see the monkeys

 And I think the kids' favorite part was the elephants.

 This year was Caden's second time at the zoo, but it was so much better this year because he was so into all the animals. He couldn't take his eyes off of the animals. See? Case in point.

At almost 3 years old, Makayla is the size of a juvenile gorilla.

Caden is about the size of an infant gorilla, and I am the size of an adult. Ironic?

 We went into this place where the monkey's were making some creepy noises. Caden seemed to know what they were saying because he started yelling back at them.

 We played in all the fountains

 And went to see the seals and polar bears.

 We did see real animals at the zoo, but the kids were more entertained by the statues.

 And our trip to the zoo wouldn't be complete without a ride on the carousel.

One of the things I love about living back in Salt Lake is that there are so many fun things to do. I love going to the zoo every year!

For another FFD we headed to "This is the Place" for Little Haunts. Kayla and Caden were so excited to dress up in their costumes and go trick-or-treating. I just love my adorable Belle and my handsome Scooby! We went to this last year and Makayla had a blast. I was so excited for Caden to go this year because I knew he would have just as much fun as Makayla did last year.

 One of the kids's favorite parts is story time. They listened intently about the ghost that had a hard time scaring all his friends.

 The kids got even more candy at the cannon ball where candy went flying everywhere.

 We went on a train ride

 Then stopped for some lunch.

 Then went to the petting zoo. Caden loves animals and gets so excited from a distance, but when we get up close, he gets all scared.

Little Haunts did not disappoint again this year, and I think Caden loved his first "real" experience at it. 

Our last FFD of the month consisted of carving pumpkins! We went over to Grandma and Grandpa Evans' house for dinner and carving pumpkins! 

Kayla and Caden each got to pick out their pumpkin and mommy and daddy helped them carve it. 

 Caden was surprisingly really into the whole thing. He loved helping daddy get all the "guts" out.

 Makayla was pretty distracted and only lasted a few minutes carving her pumpkin, so Daddy had to finish it for her. 

 Uncle Roger was in town! He joined us on the fun festivities.

 Grandpa Collard and Gayle worked on their pumpkin, but by the end, it needed major reconstructive surgery.

 Grandpa Craig helped Carson with his dinosaur pumpkin

 And the Jones family worked hard on Colton's pumpkin.

Grandma Terry got stuck in the house finishing dinner, so I didn't get any pictures of her.

All the families, and especially the kids, were so proud of their pumpkins.

I think it's safe to say that we had the funnest FFD's this month getting ready for Halloweeen! I just can't say it enough how much I love my little family and all the fun things we do together!

Project Make our Backyard Awesome= Complete

What a difference two years makes! We have lived in South Jordan a little over two years now and the biggest project is now complete. I've mentioned it before, but one of the things we loved and hated about this house was the back yard. It was huge, but it needed so much work. We (and by we I mean Tyler) have made it our goal to make our back yard awesome. So here's a look back at our house when we moved in...

And two years later, here's our awesome backyard!

One of our favorite things to do this summer was to sit out on the patio and watch the sunset. Seriously, can you beat that view?

 Since Craig is now retired, he works part time at a nursery. He made these planters for us for our Christmas present, and by the end of the summer they were huge!!

Whelp, you might think that with the biggest project done we would be done too, right? Nope, we already have plans for our next projects: adding a kitchenette to the basement and turning the bonus room into a home theater! Projects at the Evans' household are a never ending thing!

18 Months

I'm only two weeks late, but this handsome little boy just turned 18 months and had his check up at the doctor's. 

Here's his stats: 

Height: 32.25 Inches (50%)

Weight: 21.7 lbs (15%)

Head: 18 inches (15%)

At 18 months Caden: 

-Is talking more and more every day. He is up to about 15 words. 

-His favorite word is "DOON" (Don't). 

-He takes FOREVER to eat. Seriously he could sit in his chair for 45 minutes and eat if it is something he likes. 

-If the food is something he likes, he is very protective of it. You can move the plate or else he will freak out. 

-He is one of the pickiest eaters. If it is not eggs, toast, PB and honey, cereal, or bananas he won't eat it. 

-Just recently (as in 3 days ago) gave up the binkie. We went cold turkey and he is doing really well without it. 

-Would rather play with Kayla's toys than his own. 

-Loves to read books, especially anything with animals. 

-Hates watching t.v. He maybe has an attention span of about 5 minutes, then he is done. 

-Can fully communicate by grunting. 

-Loves his blankies. 

-Loves to snuggle with mom or dad

-Follows Makayla around every where. They can either be so cute together, or they can fight like cats and dogs. Caden is getting pretty good at holding his own.

And how did Caden celebrate his 18 month birthday? By getting into his first car accident. He was fine (because he is still in a rear facing car seat), and luckily there were no injuries. Mommy just needs a good reminder to pay attention while driving!

Bedtime Routine

Our kids love bedtime routine. They don't love going to bed, but they love everything leading up to it. It really is the highlight of their day, so I thought I would blog about our nightly bed time routine. 

It all starts out with us telling the kids that it is bath time and they literally RUN to the tub! If we don't watch Caden close enough he will jump right in the tub fully clothed. 

 The kids love bath time because they get to play with all their toys. Their favorites are Spot, Bubbles, and Addy (the dogs). We only have 3 rules in bath time:

1. No getting water out of the tub.
2. No getting Daddy or Mommy wet
3. No drinking the water.

If the kids break any of these rules, Daddy squirts them with the squirt gun. They pretend to hate it, but really they love it.

 And sometimes in the middle of bath time Kayla needs to take a potty break.

 After playing in the tub we finally start to wash them. Makayla insists that I wash her, and Daddy washed Cader-tot. We like to experiment with crazy hair styles.

After baths, we get them all snuggled in their towels and then take them to get dressed in their jammies.

Part of the routine is for Makayla to pick out her pull-up. It takes her quite a while to decide among "nice monsters, Ariel, or Minnie Mouse". Seriously, don't you wish you were a kid again and that picking out your pull up was the hardest decision of your day? Makayla insists on picking out her jammies which takes another few minutes for that tough decision.

 Once the kids are in their jammies, we start cleaning up, while singing the clean up song from Barney. Caden is not the best at cleaning up. In fact he tends to make more messes along the way.

 And sometimes the kids fight over baby. We don't stop them, we just take more pictures.

 Then it's time for milk. The kids used to drink bottles, but now they just take little sips of milk.

 We ask them if they want to brush their teeth and they both scream with excitement. Seriously, our kids LOVE to brush their teeth. Sometimes we have to hide the toothpaste because they love brushing so much. Sometimes in the day they disappear and I find them in the bathroom brushing. Daddy helps them get toothpaste and Kayla tells him, "I want a big one" every time. If it is too small, she cries until we give her more.

 The kids are pretty good at brushing on their own for a minute.

 Then we step in to finish.

 Makayla is the cutest when she finishes brushing. She rinses her tooth brush and then taps it twice on the sink... just like Tyler and I do. It is so funny to notice the little things we do that they pick up on.

 Recently she has tired to rinse her mouth and spit, but she doesn't quite know how to do it and ends up just swallowing the water. It cracks us up every time.

 Then it's time for the first round of kisses. This is my favorite part of the night because the kids give each other a big kiss on the lips.

 After kisses, Caden waives and says, "nigh nigh sis-a"(night, night, sister). Nothing can melt your heart faster than that!

Kayla gets her hair dry while staring at herself in the mirror and the other one takes Caden to his room to start reading books. We trade off nights, so this particular night it was my turn to get Caden to bed and Daddy got Kay-bugs.

 The kids always get to pick their own books to read that night and they certainly have their favorites.

After a few minutes Kayla comes rushing in to give the second round of kisses. 

 We finish reading books, I give Caden so many kisses that he pushes me away and says, "don" (don't), and then I tuck him into bed. He has to have his binkie and blankie with him to fall asleep.

Meanwhile Daddy  is reading Kayla books. Makayla is getting so good at recognizing all her letters because Daddy is so good to review them every night before they start books. 

After books we usually ask Kayla to tell us about her day, and her favorite part of the day. Her favorite part usually involves Addy (her cute little friend at daycare). We kiss her good night and tuck her into bed with her blankie. Kay bugs still has to suck on the corner of her blankie to fall asleep. 

Then Tyler and I have a few hours to relax and watch tv before we head to bed. But before Tyler and I go to bed, we sneak in to check on the kids. We give them one more kiss and then just stand there and wonder how we got so lucky!

It really is the simple things in life that mean the most.