One Sunday Morning

Once upon a time there was a little boy named Nathan.

He loved his Papi very much.

He wanted to be just like his Papi.

So one Sunday morning he decided to try on Papi's glasses

and see what the world looked like through Papi's eyes.

Things were a bit blury but the little boy named Nathan

discovered how much he did look like his Papi.

And that really made his day.

The End

Swords

 Oh the things we get to enjoy because we're the parents of two little boys!

Idaho Fun-Leaves and Halloween

Hello from Idaho!!!

The boys and I are in Malad visiting my parents, and poor Curtis is in Arizona all alone. 

We miss you Papi!  Mucho Besos!!!

Saturday Grandpa King raked up the yard and Nathan had his first ever leaf pile jumping experience.

It was a BIG hit!

 

Grandpa was having as much fun just watching Nathan. 

He was such a good sport about re-raking the leaves into a pile after every jump.

Nathan getting his running start.

Isn't that a perfect pile for jumping?

Throwing leaves in the air.

Savoring the moment.

 

Here's the boys all decked out in their costumes ready to start some trick-or-treating.

Nathan really wanted to be Diego, so I made him a rescue pack and the signature Diego vest complete with a rescue patch.  Nathan couldn't be happier with it, which means the world to me.

Bracky is totally awesome in his chubby robot get-up complete with super-cape. 

He looks so darn cute toddling around with his puffy little robot tummy!

Halloween in Malad is just what Halloween should be. Malad is a super quaint, tiny town and the more I learn about it the more I appreciate and love it. It is a great place to come and visit Grandma and Grandpa.

The majority of the population is LDS, and everyone knows eachother.

The neighborhood has sidewalks on both sides that are sprinkled with Autumn leaves from the tall trees that line the road. Combine that with the cute little brick and siding homes and the setting is picturesque.

I was thrilled that Nathan could have this "real" Halloween experience and he LOVED it!

We walked up and down each road going from block to block. Kids were running from house to house, excitedly awaiting their next trick-or-treating gifts and several times Nathan looked at me and said with a little wink and nod "Their my friends." So cute!

 

Go, Diego Go!!!

Knocking his first door.

On the the next house!

Bracky is still a bit small to truly appreciate the trill of the night.  He went back home to Grandma halfway through the evening.  But he was a good sport while it lasted.

His bag is getting heavy with his loot.

Our last stop was Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Nathan wanted to surpriseGrandma by trick-or-treating her door.

Bracky was a good sport about the long day.  He was very ready for bed when we got home.

It was so fun for me to go trick-or-treating with Nathan, it reminded me about my own Halloween experiences in Idaho when I was a kid.  It was a special evening.

Thank you Malad!

Scoos

 

 We LOVE our Scoooos!!!!!!!

Big Helper

 This evening before dinner,
I sent Nathan in to clean up his room. 

And this is what it looked like when he was done.

I was thrilled that he had done such a great job,

until I noticed this...

Out of sight out of mind, right.

When I asked him how he cleaned his room, he got a big smile on his face and said,

"I did it all by myself and I did it so fast!"

He was so thrilled with himself, 

I just had to grab him and give him muchos besos.

I love my silly Nene.

Perrito Nene

Meet Nathan, the dog. 

Or as we like to call him, Perrito Nene.

Since last week, Nathan's new "thing"

is to pretend he is a dog. 

He walks around on all fours, panting,

barking and whining.

He plays with his doggie toys,

and curls up all over the house.

For some reason he likes to take the towel

from the kitchen stove and lay it out

for is doggie bed.

When Nathan is a dog, he is extremely polite.

And much to Curtis's delight he speaks

almost exclusively in Spanish,

ripping off gramatically complex, past tense sentences. 

Perrito Nene's favorite doggie treat is Cookie Crisp.

He eats at least 1 bowl a day.

All in all we like this new development.

We get a new and improved 3 year old along with a family pet.

It's a win win situation.

Kleinman Vineyard

 In our backyard we have this little beauty, a concord grapevine.

In the spring we enjoy it's pretty little buds and bright green leaves.  And it's deep green foliage lasts all summer long.  Come September the grapes are so fragrant that simply walking near it makes me feel like I'm swimming in grape juice.  Last year I didn't harvest the grapes.  I had just had Bracken and it was really overwhelming to thing about, so I just let them go and the birds enjoyed them.   But this year I was determined to put them to good use. 

One afternoon while both the boys were napping I thought to myself "Let's go pick the grapes." So I did and here they are.  Now what to do with them?

Nathan and Grandma stripped the fruit off the stems.

Bracken could hardly stuff them in his mouth fast enough.

Luckily my Mother-in-Law has all the equipment for processing grapes, so we were able to get juice and pulp for jam.  I actually did 2 batches of gapes, and the juice is amazing.  It was all natural, no sugar added and perfectly delicious.  Not to mention it's gorgeous color.  The jam on the other hand, not so perfect.  My first batch I tried the cook method without pectin, but a miss calculation with the amount of sugar needed caused the jelling point to be a little off.  Long story short, I ended up with a grape jolly rancher inside my pint jars.   The second batch, seemed to be right but it didn't set up as thick as it should be even with the pectin.  So, I am still a novice at making grape products but there is always next year!