Welcome Home Mark!

Mark's potential 2 week deployment ended up being only 4 days and it has been so nice having him back! Having Mark gone reminded me how much I love him and how nice it is to have him around. I also realized how grateful I am for wonderful, helpful friends who would do anything for me. I had a girl's hot tub party here Thursday night that was tons of fun and very relaxing! Around 12:30 we were all eating cake, chatting, and having a great time when Gavin threw up in his bed (Megan did the same thing Tuesday night). Part of me was embarrassed and expected my friends to leave so I could clean up, but instead they all stayed to keep me company, change sheets, clean, and comfort Gavin. Thank you to all our family and friends who called and stopped by to keep us busy while Mark was gone.

Is it Halloween yet?

I realize that we still have 1 month until Halloween, but Gavin is getting excited so we've been on the lookout for costumes. We borrowed these ones from a friend (thanks Melissa P) and I'm not sure if we'll use them for trick-or-treating, but they sure are fun to play with.

The kids looked at the camera at different times, so here are two very similar pictures.

Grandma Black gave Gavin this cool skeleton decoration that is also a very fun dancing partner. His name is Jim-Bob-A-Louie!

Playhouse

A few months ago Grandpa Black started working on a playhouse for the grandkids and I am so excited about it that I wanted to share updated pictures of it.

Isn't it so cute?! He has put tons of time and effort into it. Thank you Grandpa!
It isn't quite finished yet, but it's fun to see progress everytime we visit. Gavin's favorite part of the house it the ladder.
Here is Gavin standing in one of the loft areas. I can't wait to see the finished product!

Park play

We spent Friday morning of our Idaho visit at the park. The weather was perfect and we had a lot of fun.

We started out at the playground...
Then we hiked over the hill to the sand. Gavin loves to make snow angels. He makes them on carpet, in the grass, in the sand, and even in the middle of the aisle at Walmart.
Next thing I new my kids were running around nearly naked! Gavin was determined to catch a seagull and spent several minutes trying. I love to watch my children play and enjoy life. They are so carefree and innocent.
Megan loved feeling the squishy sand between her little toes.

Happy Birthday Grandma Price!

Mark's grandma turned 95 last weekend so we headed to Idaho ro celebrate with her. It was so fun to visit with family and I was so impressed with how well Grandma is doing for her age. I treasure this family picture with her.
We had planned to party at a park, but we relocated to cousin Lisa's house because of rain. Gavin loved playing with cousins in the nice big yard, very fun tree house and trampoline.
Megan loved the trampoline as long as she was the only one on it!
Sorry for the fuzzy picture, but I thought it was so cute! Grandma price was so nice to let Megan ride on her walker.

After the party we went to my Aunt Candace and Uncle Ray's house to visit. They took us out to dinner and right as we were leaving to go home I realized I should have taken pictures! Darn! At least we have the memory.

Answering the call of duty

We returned late last night from a weekend trip in Idaho. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed seeing lots of family. Mark received an e-mail this afternoon (which has been confirmed by multiple phone calls) that he is being deployed to College Station, Tx to assist those who have been affected by hurricane Ike. He leaves tomorrow morning at 6 am and we expect him to be gone for 2 weeks. We are both excited for this opportunity and I'm grateful to be married to a man who is willing to serve our wonderful country.

Feeding ducks, fancy shoes, and first day of school

A few days ago we went to a nearby pond to feed some very friendly and hungry ducks.

Gavin was a little scared at first (the ducks got really close), but he quickly warmed up and had tons of fun!
I had made some rolls a few days before but they didn't turn out, so we had plenty of duck food.
Every night after Megan's bath we put on her pj's then she goes to her shoe box and picks out her shiny black shoes that she wears to church then she brings them to me so I can put them on. This girl LOVES shoes! She has such a fun personality.
This rabbit was a pleasant surprise out our window as Gavin got ready for the first day of school.
Gavin attended preschool for the first time on Monday and he loved it! He is last to be picked up by the bus and first to be dropped off. I love having time alone with Megan and I'm enjoying preschool too.

Goodbye Summer!

September 1st was the first day of Autumn for us! The weather has been comfortable, but cool and I can't believe summer is already over! I love Fall though and I look forward to changing colors, playing in the leaves, the pumpkin match and other fun activities in the coming weeks.
After much prayer and consideration we have decided to enroll Gavin in preschool. He qualifies for speech therapy at a local facility so that has been the main purpose for sending him to school, but I also love how his eyes light up at the mention of school or riding the bus. It will only be 2 days per week for 2.5 hours each day. I think he will love it and I'm looking forward to spending one-on-one time with Megan. We met Gavin's teacher today and he is all set to start on Monday.
Megan is now officially a toddler! She is walking all over the place now and is so much happier now that she is mobile.
Yesterday my sister-in-law called with round-trip airline tickets from Chicago to London in March for $223! What a great deal! We bought tickets and were planning to go and I was sooooo excited. The more Mark and I talked about it, the more uneasy I felt. We hadn't found anyone to tend Gavin and Megan for 7 days and 6 nights, the cost of living in England is quite a bit higher than the US and neither Mark or I have been out of the country and I was having a really hard time being an ocean away from my little ones. We ended up cancelling the tickets and have decided that in the spring or summer we will travel somewhere in the states. If anyone has suggestions (or wants to come with us) of a fun, relatively inexpensive vacation I would love to hear ideas!

First Family Campout

Over Labor Day weekend we went on a family and friend camping trip that was a lot of fun mingled with chaos. We were one of five families and all together there were 13 kids. We bought a new tent and other camping accessories and we were very excited for our camping adventure.
We left Friday evening as soon as Mark got home from work so Gavin and Megan helped me pack during the day. We arrived at our campsite around 7 and quickly set up before dark. Gavin went to bed with no problems, but Megan was a different story. She is a sensitive little darling and has difficulty adapting to change. She was not keen on the idea of sleeping in a tent, or sleeping at all for that matter, so we stayed up and visited with friends until she fell asleep in my arms around midnight. Thankfully, Megan slept until 7am so we were able to get more sleep than anticipated.
Megan and I were the first ones up so we went for a walk. We'll have to go camping again to get her more used to the idea.
Mark started a fire and we had a delicious breakfast then visited around the fire while the kids played. It was so nice to have older kids who played well and kept an eye on Gavin for us.
After lunch we planned to go for a hike, but Brandon James (pictured here with Gavin) fell and broke his arm. It was so sad! The men were so calmly cared for him, gave him a blessing and pain medication then sent him with his dad down the mountain to the nearest hospital. The rest of us went for a hike then packed up and left. The hike was beautiful, but I didn't take my camera!
We really did have a lot of fun, and although we may need to convince our friends, we plan to go next year! Thank you so much to everyone who went with us!