Pumpkin Patch

There is a spooky Pirate ship to play on
A crazy maze
Look at those characters

We took the kids to the pumpkin patch this week and let them choose their own pumpkins. We went to Engh Gardens, they have a million pumpkins all shapes, sizes and colors, it makes it very hard to choose the perfect one! Beckett searched high and low for the one he wanted and I am pretty sure he found the smallest pumpkin ever grown!

Hayes Blessing Day.

Our baby Hayes was blessed this last Sunday, I can't believe he is already six weeks old! Dave just happen to Bless him on the same Sunday we got a new Bishop, the church was packed to say the least( no pressure Dave). Dave did such a good job despite the huge audience, we are all so proud of him and Hayes did awesome also he was awake the whole time and just looked around so quietly!

Milestones

It has been a huge month at the Raulstons, aside from adjusting to a new baby Sloane has started kindergarten and Beckett has stepped his game up and started going on the big potty. Sloane is so excited to going to School everyday she can hardly wait to go to sleep in anticipation for the next day of learning. She has started to read, which I swear I did not do until I was a Freshman in college, she is getting so big! There are a couple kids in her class from pre-school that she is friends with and has made a few new friends too.

We have been working with Beckett on potty training for the last couple months, he never seemed to interested in it even though we were holding a new mit and ball hostage until he went consitently, that is until he saw his new baby brother had diapers just like him...he decided that was not so cool. Last Saturday he decided diapers were bunk and he wanted to use the toilet like the rest of the fam. He has not looked back on his decision and is a bonefide potty user, we are so proud of him.

Hayes has started to smile and coo, he is still struggling with sleeping through the night but is getting better every week so we hold out hope that a solid eight hours is coming soon. He is getting big he already is looking around when the kids are playing near him wanting to join in on their shenanigans.

New Addition

We welcomed Hayes Benjamin to the family on Wednesday the 26th. He weighed 8lbs 4oz and was 20 inches long. Jeanne was scheduled to be induced that day and in fact was in labor when we showed up for the induction, it was reminiscent of Sloanes birth when she showed up to the hospital dilated to an eight, she has a crazy pain threshold. Hayes on the way out decided to come out like superman with his left hand leading the way and his right hand on his hip, the Doctor kept saying "this is not the way I would do it but we will make it work.". His incorrect birthing form made his come out looking like he was on the wrong end of a prize fight, he was swollen and bruised, pretty brutal. The kids were pretty stoked to have baby brother finally make an appearance, and Jeanne was happier than anyone to be back to normal. We are excited to start this new stage in our life and are grateful for all the well wishes from friends and family.

Snake!

We had a visitor at our pond this last weekend, a snake! The kids got a kick out of seeing a snake in our yard but I realized the massive amounts of danger we were in so I was not to keen about them getting to close. If I had to guess I would say it was close to 17 feet in length and probably about as thick as my thigh...thick not chunky. I was able to capture a picture of it with my phone, unfortunatly I do not know how to get the picture off my phone so I have to use a stock photo of what I recall the snake to look like. I am pretty sure nature has it out on the Raulstons, Sloane and I both got stung by bees within the last two weeks and now this reptillian intruder. I have not been able to find the snake since our encounter but I am sure he is lurking in the shadows waiting for his chance to attack. So help me if any of my kids or fish go missing that snake is going to feel my wrath.

Countdown to Thirty

We celebrated Jeanne's Birthday this last weekend. She is now officially on the down slope to thirty, where has the time gone. We decided to go out to a movie and lunch on Saturday to celebrate. One of our favorite places to eat is Yamasaki (900 E. 6000 S.) so we went and just got in before they closed between and lunch and dinner. After lunner we saw "The Proposal" which was not as bad as I anticipated, not a huge fan of Sandra. Anyways I thought I would take this time to write down my 29 favorite things about Jeanne then I re-thought that and decided to do just my favorite 11 things (2+9=11)

11. She does great hair
10. She takes life serious but not too serious
9. She is willing to do things out of her comfort zone (a tri with 7 weeks to train)
8. She has a great sense of humor, dry just like I like it
7. She is the voice of reason in our house
6. She holds no grudge even when I prune (butcher) her favorite plants
5. She loves Michael Cera (see prior posts)
4. She is super low maintenance but still looks fabulous (even preggers)
3. She is really open minded and holds no judgment over anyone

2. She is a great wife... I am a pain in the arse sometimes and she still loves me.
1. She is a great mom- I hope our kids grow up and realize how awesome of a mom she is.

I LOVE you and Happy Birthday.

Let the Good Times Roll

Sloane celebrated her fifth birthday this past weekend...I cant believe we have a five year old! She decided she wanted to have a "Sponge Bob Water Party" this consisted of a kiddie pool, water balloons and a caterpillar whose legs whip water around the yard. We invited all of her closest friends and family and had a wet and wild blast in our back yard. Sloane wanted to have a orange frosted polka dot cake and Jeanne was more than willing to fill that cake order (watch your back "Cake Boss"). After the shindig Sloane Jeanne and I went to Sloane's favorite eatery Cafe Rio and went to Target so she could use her "credit card" (gift card) on some new toys. Being the good big sister she is she spent a portion of her money on a ball that she shares with her brother. We are so proud of her and could not ask for a better daughter. We love you Sloane Ba`lone

San Diego

We went to California with the Slaugh Family this week and have had a blast. There is nothing better than the warm California sun draining your energy while you splash around in the ocean. Sloane took about three seconds to warm up to the ocean but Beckett was a little more timid, but by the second day he was jumping on the boogie board begging to be pulled up and down the beach. Sloane has been really helpful with teaching Beck the ropes of the beach and keeping an eye on all the little kids. For fathers day Beckett took me to a Padres game, what a great fathers day gift, it is like he knew exactly what I wanted.

Catch Up

Where to begin, Jeanne has decided that blogging is not her forte so I am going to take over for a bit until she can bust out of her slump. Beckett turned two in February and graduated to a big bed, so far he has been really good aside from a few nights that Sloane led him astray. Sloane has been doing really good in school, she is meeting with her kindergarten teacher in a few weeks...I can't believe she is going to be in public school. We took a trip to Fresno to see the Raulston's, it was so nice to see everyone. My cousin has a daughter that is Sloane's age they had so much fun together, I wish we lived closer because 12 hours is kind of a long drive for a play date. I will try to post once a week...well at least once a month unless something saaaweet happens.

Luckiest Man Alive

Happy Valentines Day Sweetheart! I just wanted to thank you for being such a great wife and mother. Every morning I wake up and realize how lucky I am to have you as my wife. I am so glad my six months of free haircuts has turned into what it has. I look forward to the rest of forever with you. Love, Dave

One adveture after another......

Sloane is quite the adventurous type, and she asked her dad to take her hiking, so he did and they had a blast! She is such a trooper, she hiked a mile and a half up to a lake and back with treacherous snowy conditions and loved every minute of it. She took her camera and got some cool pictures!

We have a little girl who loves to do arts and crafts, so today was a stamping day. Unfortunately for us our little boy loves to do it as well, he's just not as good at getting it on the paper!( by the way ink pad ink does not come off as easily as you'd think!)

Christmas and Everything in Between

Christmas was a lot of fun, Grammy and Papa Slaugh slept over and had Christmas morning with us, it was so much fun. Then we went up to their house and met up with Steve and Buz's family to have a yummy breakfast. Christmas night we went to the Raulston's for dinner with Jon's family and Grammy Crickett. A Few days after Christmas we had dinner with some of Dave's friends from high school, it was a fun night and we appreciate the Ferre's for having us over to their house. It was nice to see everyone and the kids had a really good time, unfortunately at the expense of one of their decorations. OOPS! We spent New Years with the Longhurst's and then watched the Utes roll the Crimson Tide a few nights later with them. GO UTES! Last year was a great year and we are sure that this year will be just as good. We are grateful for all our friends and family and look forward to all the good times we will have in 2009.