Halloween!

I'm sure that I think this about most holidays, but I love Halloween! I love all the pumpkin foods and smells and getting dressed up. This was the first year that the kids seemed to have an understanding of what was going on, which made it so much fun! For weeks, Jaxson has been talking about how he was going to be Batman and Aynsley chose to be Ariel/Mermaid for her costume.

We went to a Halloween party with Mike's family and the kids loved being able to dress up and play with their cousins.

I always try to get decent pictures of the kids, but it is tricky when they are both at the age of not wanting to sit still and pose for a picture. Aynsley was being so funny because when I asked her if I could take her picture, she went over and grabbed this little chair that I have had her sit in for pictures before. She sat in the chair and then glared at me for a few seconds to "allow" me to take her picture.

Jaxson was excited to be able to wear his Batman shirt and was a little more willing to let me take his picture. 

Mike's dad has a huge maple tree in his front yard and had raked a big pile of leaves for the kids to play in. I think this was the highlight of the party for Jaxson and Aynsley. They loved playing in the leaves and didn't want to stop. 

Halloween day was also a lot of fun! Halloween is a big deal at my work and I love being able to dress up with my coworkers. This year, we dressed up as a Richard Simmons exercise group and we won the group contest! I think we clinched our victory by performing a little exercise routine for the judges. It made for some good laughs and we had a fun time. The kids had a Halloween party that they went to during the day and they were part of a costume parade through my work. After work, we went trick-or-treating with some friends.

Jaxson was all about going from house to house, while Aynsley was a little more easily distracted. She kept seeing different things (decorations, bugs, etc) and wanting to stop and look at them. I don't think it really connected with her that she would get more treats by going to more houses. Jaxson was not happy when it was time to go home and wanted to keep going out. When we woke up the next day, he wanted to go trick-or-treating again. Maybe he will take after me and have a love for Halloween, too? A mom can only hope...

December Recap

I hate having to do recap style posts, but let's be honest, I have really sucked at blogging lately. December was a crazy busy month in our household, so sadly the blog has been terribly neglected. The two biggest events were Christmas festivities in general (duh), but also my sister getting married!

Making their debut as Mr. and Mrs. 

Beth and her husband, Mike, finally tied the knot after four years of dating! This was definitely a long time coming, but I know that they couldn't be happier. It was so fun to reflect back on my own wedding day and remember all of the excitement and emotions that were part of the day.

Beth lived with us for about 18 months, so we had the opportunity to get to know her husband even more. They seem to genuinely make each other really happy, so it is exciting to have another member in the family!

The Swain Siblings, plus our new addition: Kristin, me, Mike, Beth, David, and Khemia.

We did have a little bit of drama for the wedding. Jaxson and Aynsley were diagnosed with croup just two days before the wedding. Our pediatrician advised us not to take the kids out, as it seemed they would probably be getting worse before they got better. It seemed like their illnesses were pretty mild and they were getting better earlier than expected, so we decided to take them out anyway. Khemia watched them during the temple ceremony, and they seemed to be doing pretty well. Once we went outside for pictures, everything changed. I think a big part of the problem was the fact that the wedding was right during their naps and it was FREEZING cold. Both kids were miserable, kicking, screaming, etc. We ended up being in one picture before we decided that enough was enough, and Mike took the kids home for naps. I stayed behind to be in more of the family pictures, but it was kind of sad to not have the rest of my family there with me.

Beth had asked Mike to help out with the sound equipment during her reception, so he had to leave early to help get everything set up. I was kind of nervous when the kids woke up from their naps, and there was one point when I honestly thought I was going to miss my own sister's wedding reception because of the kids. Fortunately, they started to perk up and so I decided we would try the reception and see how it went. They ended up doing great! I think that they loved the party atmosphere and being able to move around and explore. Poor Beth, Jaxson kept trying to get her to hold him at every opportunity. She was a good sport and kept saying she didn't mind, but I would be willing to bet that there were a few people wondering if Beth already had a kid. 

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This Christmas season seemed especially busy. Between work events, family parties, and everything else, it seemed like there was something going on every night. As nice as it was to be able to see everyone, it has been nice to slow down a little bit and enjoy time with just our own family. 

Our Christmas Eve/Christmas Day was really nice, and actually ended up not being quite as busy as years past. 

We spent the night at Mike's mom's house on Christmas Eve. We ate a delicious dinner, played games, and watched a movie. She had a pinata for the kids, which Jaxson thought was so much fun. I think that Jaxson and Aynsley were still a little young to really understand what was going on, but they knew that something was up. On Christmas morning, the kids had a lot of fun opening up their gifts. They both were able to do pretty well on their own, so this was the first Christmas where it wasn't Mike and me doing all of the unwrapping for them. After breakfast, we headed home just in time for the kids to take their naps. I was SO glad that we were able to get their naps in...both kids were getting pretty cranky by this point, so I know we wouldn't have survived the day otherwise. 

Aynsley, Mike, and Jaxson on Christmas morning. 

Look what Santa brought...a kitchen!

After naps, Mike's dad and his wife came over to visit for a little bit before we headed down to my parent's house. We ended the day with dinner and gifts with my family. Nearly all of our extended family lives out of town, but we had a few family members who were able to come in for Beth's wedding and stay for Christmas. It made it so nice to have everyone there, especially since I think that the last time we were all together for Christmas like that was when I was in elementary school.

Also, my sister Khemia got a special Christmas present that arrived a few days late...her mission call! She is going to the London, England South Mission and reports to the England MTC on April 4th! We are so excited and proud of her, but will definitely miss having her around as our live-in nanny. :)

Trick-or-Treat!

I LOVE Halloween! I love the movies, the treats, decorating, costumes, you name it! I have been looking forward to the day when I would have kids to enjoy Halloween festivities with for a long time. Although it was both Jaxson and Aynsley's first Halloween's last year, I think that this year was a lot more fun. It has been so fun for me to watch them get excited about the different activities, even if they didn't completely understand what was going on. I am pleased to say that I think that my kids have inherited my love of the holiday. Jaxson seems to be fascinated with pumpkins, and even sat through "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" with me.

On Sunday, we celebrated Halloween with Mike's family. The kids dressed up in their costumes - they dressed as Jessie and Woody from Toy Story. Jaxson LOVES Toy Story. Anyway, it was fun to have the kids dressed up and see the cousins in their costumes. We had a delicious dinner, played some festive games, and ate more good food. It was such a fun evening.

We had to pose for some pictures while the kid's costumes were still looking good. Getting two toddlers to pose for pictures is tough!

For family home evening this week, my family came up to carve pumpkins together. Both of the kids seemed to think it was pretty interesting and wanted to be involved at the table. Jaxson even helped scoop all the guts out of his pumpkin. My dad helped Jax with his, and I think that Jaxson was pretty proud of their creation.

My work gets really into Halloween, which makes for such a fun day. This year, the people in my department dressed up as super heroes. Most of us were Avengers, but we also had Super Woman and Poison Ivy make an appearance. My boss dressed as the hulk, and ended up winning an award for his costume. 

I love Halloween night, and this has been one of my favorites so far. We took Jaxson trick-or-treating for the first time, and it was so fun. Mike took him to a few houses, but then I decided to take him out again because he was having such a fun time. He lasted a lot longer than I was expecting, and was seriously running from house to house. He was so cute to say "trick or treat" and then "thank you" at each house. Poor boy didn't want to come home, he was having such a fun time. I think that I am going to have a hard core trick-or-treater on my hands!

Autumn Activities

Wow, where has October gone??? I have seriously had so many times when I had posts in my mind, then time just flies by. I feel like we have really been able to take advantage of the beautiful fall weather and enjoy these last few sunny days. It has been so fun for me to experience the season through my kids and enjoy getting excited over the little things. We have loved our autumn outings, yummy treats, festive movies, and fun craft projects. Here is a look at what we have been up to:

We have been able to take a couple of trips to Gardner Village to see the witches. During our first trip, we went with our family and Mike was able to come. It seems like most of our activities are always during the day, so it was nice that he could join us.

To say that the kids loved the witches was an understatement. Jaxson especially was so fascinated by them. There were two that were his favorite, and he spent quite a bit of time running back and forth between the two witches. He would run to one, copy whatever she was doing, then run to the other. He did this for at least 10 or 15 minutes. 

I had to go to a conference for work in Tampa, Florida, and was lucky enough that we had our spouses join us. Our hotel was right on the beach in Clearwater, and it was absolutely gorgeous! Clearwater was seriously one of the nicest beaches that I have ever been to. 

Mike got to beach bum it while I was in classes, but I did have a chance for a few fun outings. We flew in a day early so that we could go to Universal Studios in Orlando. I was pretty excited, because I had never been to either Universal Studios park, and I also wanted to check out Harry Potter. We must have chosen a good day to go, because the lines were not bad at all. We had a lot of fun, but I must admit that I am still a Disney girl at heart. It was pretty cool to see the Harry Potter area of the park, but I was expecting it to be a little bigger than it was. Still, I have no complaints about the day. It was so much fun to spend a carefree day with Mike without worrying about the kids. Unfortunately, the camera that I brought with me that day was out of batteries, so I was only able to take a few pictures on my phone. 

Enjoying the beautiful sunset on Clearwater Beach

Although most of the time I was at the conference without Mike, he and the other spouses were able to come on the last day when we received our award. He was also able to hear the closing speaker, Commander Kelly, who was the commander on the last space shuttle mission and the husband of Gabriel Gifford (AZ Senator who was shot). It was really interesting to hear him speak, and I am sure that Mike enjoyed it since he is so into space stuff. After the conference, we went out back by the riverwalk for a few pictures.

Last week, we headed out to Pack's Pumpkin Patch with my cousin and her two kids. Jaxson and Aynsley loved being able to run around and check out all the pumpkins. I love going to this pumpkin patch because they have a little hay maze that is the perfect size for Jaxson to explore.

We had our second trip to Gardner Village on Friday. We went with my cousin and her kids, and it was crazy busy! Jaxson totally recognized where we were as soon as we pulled in  and was so excited to see the witches again.

We ended the day by going over to Gardner Village's petting zoo. I really wish that I had taken my kids hear before, because they both loved it. They went from being cranky and ready to go home to smiling, laughing, and not wanting to leave practically instantly. Aynsley was a little nervous around some of the bigger animals, but she and Jaxson both loved the bunny rabbits and the chickens. I loved that the workers were so willing to help the kids hold, pet, and even ride on the animals. We will definitely need to remember to come back next year!

Independence Day

Independence Day has definitely become one of my favorite holidays. I love being able to spend the day with family, while at the same time, enjoying a holiday that hasn't become super commercialized and still has its focus on the actual purpose of the holiday.

This year, we went to Mike's dad's house for a BBQ, swimming for the kids, and fireworks. Jaxson loved being able to spend some time with his cousins, and it was just nice to spend some time visiting and relaxing with the family.

I had to take some pictures of Jaxson and Aynsley in their cute patriotic outfits. Aynsley was easy to photograph, but Jax is going through a little phase of either trying very hard not to smile, just not being willing to sit still, reaching for me, or a combination of the three. Needless to say, it makes taking his picture a little difficult.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Jaxson loved playing in the water...to the point of not being willing to even come eat dinner because he didn't want to stop playing. Pretty much almost all of the good pictures I got of Jaxson are of him playing in the water.

We had to take a picture of these three cute cousins. They were all born within three months of each other. The last time we had them all together at the same time was Halloween, so they have definitely changed since then!

This was Jaxson's first sparkler. He was so excited when Mike was helping him with it. 

We ended the night by walking over to Sugarhouse Park for the fireworks show. Fortunately, both kids did better than we were expecting and seemed to enjoy the fireworks. We had such a fun time and it was so great to see everyone! 

St. George!

Jaxson loved playing in the sand with his cousins.

Our family was able to head down to St. George to spend some time with Mike's family over Memorial Day weekend, and we had such a good time! It was so fun to just relax and spend time with everyone. Jaxson LOVED being able to spend time with the other kids that were there; he is such a social little guy, so he was in heaven.

I was surprised at how well the kids did in the car...this was Aynsley's first long car ride, and the first long trip Jaxson had taken since he was about six months old. Fortunately, both kids were great! Even though they didn't sleep for too much of the drive, they weren't too restless. Having the portable DVD player was a huge help on the way home, although we did realize that Aynsley is a little frightened of 'Beauty and the Beast'.

We spent most of our time playing in the pool, going to the park, and exploring the desert. Jaxson loves to play in the sand, and the house backs the open desert, so Jaxson loved playing in "nature's sandbox". He got a little frustrated when he couldn't go outside to play whenever he wanted.

Mike and Aynsley are all ready to head out for a walk. 

Jaxson loved hanging out with his Grandpa...they would go for walks in the desert, and Jaxson just loved to explore and check everything out. 

On Sunday, we took a picnic to the park. Jaxson got so excited when he saw the playground equipment...too bad it was a little too hot. He kept trying to go down the slide, but as soon as he sat down, he kept saying "hot". 

At first, the kids were a little nervous about playing in the pool. This surprised me, because they both absolutely love playing in the bath, and Jaxson really enjoyed his swim lessons last year. After a little while, they both warmed up to the idea of playing in the water, so we will need to plan some more trips to the pool.

Aynsley loved lounging around in the float. She was so relaxed and looked like she was trying to lay out and get a tan. 

All in all, this was such a great trip, and the perfect "first vacation" for our little family. We really enjoyed just being able to spend quality time as a family. It is so easy to get wrapped up in everything that is going on in everyday life, so we really appreciated all of the family time we had this weekend. Now, I just need to convince Mike that we can handle a trip a little further from home... :)

Hoppy Easter

We  had such a fun Easter with the kids this year. Even though Jaxson still didn't know what was really going on, he still had a lot of fun, and Aynsley loved being able to play with the plastic Easter eggs. It is so fun to see them get excited! 

We had my cousins come over for a little egg hunt and to dye Easter eggs the day before Easter. The two other kids are a bit older than Jaxson, so I was a little worried about how well he would be able to keep up and whether he would be even able to find eggs on his own. I shouldn't have worried...he was a champ! He started finding eggs and putting them into the sack while I was still trying to explain the rules to the other kids. It was just like he was an old pro at finding eggs and knowing exactly what to do with them. So cute!

Aynsley was just so happy...she loved playing with the empty eggs. She is such a sweetheart! 

 The kids weren't too excited about anything on Easter morning. I thought Jaxson would have liked looking in his basket, but he seemed to be mostly fascinated with the Easter grass. I think I was the most excited of everyone. :)

 I think the kids look super cute in their new Easter clothes. I really love this picture of Aynsley...she just has the biggest smile on her face! I tried to catch a good picture of just Jaxson, but no luck. That kid is ALWAYS on the move!

It has been interesting for me to celebrate the holidays as a mom rather than just as a wife or daughter. Especially now that Jaxson is understanding more and more, I feel an added weight of how important it is to really teach him about why we celebrate occasions like Easter. I don't want them to grow up thinking that the most important things in life are things...there is SO much more. This Easter season, I am so thankful for the many blessings that I have been given, especially during the past few years. I am so thankful for the power of the atonement and the ability it has to ease the pain and difficulties that we face in life. I know that I couldn't make it through alone!

My Little Loves

I tried so hard to take pictures of the kids in their Valentine's Day shirts, but taking pictures of two little kiddos is much easier said than done. I would get one kid settled, and by the time the other was in position, the first was needing attention again! So, I had to settle on taking pictures of the kids individually.

Little Miss Aynsley:
Happy first Valentine's Day! She is such a sweetheart! Lucky for me, she was willing to let me take a few different pictures without getting too bored.

My Jaxson:
Always on the go, and definitely more difficult to photograph. I was so pleased to see that I got this picture, though. This is such a classic Jaxson expression, and I love it!

We had such a nice Valentine's day...I loved having it be low key and just spending time with the family. We have started a little family tradition to have dinner at home and then watch a movie. I love it, and am truly looking forward to continuing this as the kids get older. Mike and I went out for our own date night later in the week, and it was so nice to enjoy a quiet evening away. No crowds, no rush, just quality time. I love my family.