Indian Summer

To ring in the Fall I met up with my good friend Melissa at Gardner's Village for caramel apples, witches, pumpkins, shopping and ponies. Hooray for Autumn!

7 months and growing ...

Berlin is 7 months old now, and yesterday I just couldn't get over how grown-up she looked. So I snapped these pictures to remember how quickly it all changes. One minute they are a baby, the next a little person.

It's probably that I dressed her in a full big-girl outfit with shoes and all, rather than our standard onesie or romper. In the first one, she's growling, hence the open mouth. She loves to growl like a lion and wait for us to respond.

"Rubber Ducky

... you're the one. You make my bathtime lots of FUN!"

Berlin is no longer in the baby bathtub. Now that she's a pro at sitting up, she gets to take big girl baths - in the kitchen sink atleast. She loves her rubber ducky, but most of all she likes to SpLaSh! and make a mess of my kitchen floor. Even Finley wanted in on the action.

Like Sister ... Like Brother.

Finley's new thing is feeding the ducks. He has no fear of the squawking birds and here you can see him reprimanding one of the greedy Canadian Geese that take over the pond this time of year.

We Are Family!

This is the latest picture of Ryan's family (minus the recent addition of Jackson Robert Hoesch born 2 days ago). Roll call below (relation to Ryan listed in parenthesis).

Back row: Ryan, Cynthia, Finley, Oliver (brother), Melinda, Brighton, Bill, Shannon (Lynne's daughter), Jane, Alia, Teresa (sister), Brad, Monica (sister) & baby Jackson in her tummy, Marina, Bob.

Middle row: Lisa (Lynne's daughter), Peter (Father), Lynne (Peter's wife) holding Brenton, Grandma (holding Berlin) & Grandpa Daynes (Lynne's parents), Renate.

Front row: Brenner, Arianna, Megan, Heidi, Sophia, Brandon, Thomas, Amanda, Rachel.

Now ... if we could just get my family together in one place at the same time :)

Utah State Fair

Today was the opening day for the Utah State Fair so I dragged Ryan and kids out to the fairpark. I figured that since all adults got in for $2 today only, that this was the best day to go. We had lots of yummy food: corn dogs, kettle corn, lemonade, philly cheesesteak sandwich, and a funnel cake.

The rodeo started shortly after we got there and we had front row seats. The best part were the skydiving parachuters as they zoomed over our head - literally right over our head. Finn thought the horses were pretty cool, and the tractor that plowed the dirt while we waited.

Then it was off to the rides. All the money we saved on our entrance was put to use here. Finley got to ride the helicopters and go down the big yellow slide. In the second picture Finley is crying because he wanted to do it again and we told him no. If he had been tall enough he would have ridden all the scary rides, you know the ones that make you puke.

We saw lots of cattle, dairy cows, sheep and billy goats.

Berlin was just happy to be outside and was an angel.

After only 3 hours, they were tuckered out so we headed home. It was fun to spend the time together as a family (including my sister Valerie).

Fairs are the best for people watching (people mocking), mixing with the crazies and eating food that on a normal day would give most people a heart attack. That's why we love it!

Labor Day Fun

We love holidays when Ryan gets to be at home. We forgoed a crowded weekend at the cabin in favor of a relaxing weeked at home. I finished reading Eclipse, Ryan finished Twilight (yes, he read it!), and the kids played outside, fed ducks at the park & played on the playset. It also gave me a chance to play photographer in the backyard. I'm still trying to figure out some of the photo options on our camera (yeah, about time right - we've had the camera for 2 years now). These are just some of the better ones that Ryan and I liked.

Oktoberfest

The highlight of our weekend was going up to Snowbird today with Rich and the girls for Oktoberfest. Despite the mid-day heat, the kids had fun dancing the polka in the main tent and playing in the bounce house. Afterward we met back up at Rich's house for a family BBQ. It was a blast and Finley & Berlin were so exhausted that they were in bed by 8pm! Gotta love that. Sorry for all the pics, but they were too cute to pass up. If you want to see live video of Finn dancing the polka with the girls, check out these 2 youtube.com links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQgtTH-NUVM and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZCxggykYjY