Witches!

 Haha! Can you read it?

So for our Mommy Fun Friday yesterday, we went to Gardner Village to check out the witches. We usually go with my friend Shannon and her kids (sorry, Shannon, we will still go again with you guys!), but I needed something free to do and that was the kids' favorite option.

As usual, the witch displays did not disappoint. I don't think they were all out yet, but the kids still loved them and were very happy to see the one where the witches are making their brew. 

 My handsome boys don't like to steal each other's thunder, so they make sure to never look at the camera at the same time. :)

 The favorite. 

 He was excited about the ducks.

 I took this shot from way far away. I was honestly surprised it turned out, and I think it's one of my favorites!

 I love this one too because Jarom is still little. It won't be much longer that he has to peak below the railings!

 Kyle is big into pointing lately. He's also big into animals. He was so excited about those ducks!

 Just checking things out.

 Being goofy. Jarom.

 This was the spot Makenzie wanted a picture. Pretty cute.

 That thing is huge.

 Checking out the water mill.

 Sleepy eyes, but he's still cute!

And I don't know why, but I just love this picture. He's just so little and cute.

Alright that's it!

Fall Photos of the Kiddos

Today I discovered that I hadn't ruined the memory card in my dad's camera after all. I just read the manual and all I had to do was take the battery out for a minute and stick it back in. 

Voila! 

Problem solved.

I was so stoked about my fix, and also a bit inspired by the photography class I went to in my new ward last Saturday, that I decided to take the kids out for some Fall photos. 

It was exactly noon when we went out- the worst possible time of day for photos. But I knew it was a "do it now or don't do it all" kind of moment.

So we went for it.

 

And some outtakes:

 Makenzie trying to hold down both of her brothers.

Classic. 

Kyle totally giving up, Jarom going crazy, and Makenzie getting a kick out of it.

We went to Gardner Village right after this to see the witches and I got some cute ones, there, too. 

Next post!

New house tour

After 2 weeks in our new house, I think I owe you guys a tour of the new place. 

I'm not going to post any pictures of the exterior lest there be any weirdos out there that may be able to pinpoint our house due to way too much online information sharing on my part. 

But we will start at the front door and I will "walk" you through!

So... welcome!

 Here's our entryway:

Formal living room to the right of the entryway:

Beautiful oil painting Justin's coworker painted for us at the end of our entryway. Only thing on my walls so far. I'm terrified to decorate this place.

Okay, so in this photo, that is the entryway to the far left... so it opens up to our great room. I love this room. It is huge and has a gas fireplace and I just... love it.

The great room leads to our dining area and kitchen:

Here's a closer view of the kitchen. I have a gas range for the first time in my life. It is as awesome as they say. I can't believe how fast I can boil water.

In the previous photo, there is an itty bitty bathroom to the right, very handy. And then our laundry leads out to the garage from the kitchen:

Okay so if you go back through the great room down the hall, there is this bathroom at the end of the hall for the kids:

Jarom and Kyle are sharing this bedroom. It's pretty decently sized, but they used to have their own rooms and I haven't put any thought into making their combined room look cute yet. Someday. It will probably be easier when they both have normal beds.

Makenzie's room:

And Makenzie gets her very own Halloween wreath on her closet door! This was supposed to go on my front door, but it, um... didn't quite work out. Okay, let's be honest, it's hideous. I moved it to a door in the kitchen first but I couldn't stand looking at it so I stuck it in Makenzie's room. :)

 

And then our room:

We converted our old entryway table and this random bench I had into a computer desk in our room. I wanted something that wouldn't take a lot of space, so it works. Just need a power strip and a little hiding of cords. :)

Closet:

And our master bath that we adore:

The kids totally love the jetted tub. They even play in it when there is no water, as you can see.

There is a shower to the right and the toilet is in a tiny separate room to the left.

And finally, I had to snag one of Kyle, who saw me snapping pictures and was walking around smiling saying, "teeez!"

Okay, that's pretty much it! The basement is unfinished. Justin has plans for a movie room, kitchenette, game room, three more bedrooms and a storage room. But that is many years down the road. Right now it is one BIG storage room. We do have a cold storage area which is pretty cool. Alright, hope you enjoyed your virtual tour! Come visit us, we have lots of room now!

We like to party

Take a look at this smile. 

Right at the beginning of Kyle's big 1st birthday luau on Saturday, my (gorgeous) sis-in-law Candace was throwing him in the air so I decided to snag a quick photo of them. Kyle busts out this HUGE smile and says, "teeeeeez!"

What??

I have never seen him smile for the camera and I've definitely never heard him say cheese!

It was a magical birthday party moment.

(Yes, Kyle turned 1 a month ago, but it was 2 weeks before the move, and we were halfway packed, so we decided to wait and have it at our new house.)

Next he had himself a little Grandpa time.

Cheese again! Could not believe it. So cute!!

We ventured outside to greet our guests when cutie patootie Ka'aulani comes with a homemade card, a lei full of 1-year-old appropriate snacks (love Tasha), and THIS. A homemade miniature sword made out of tin foil. Seriously the cutest thing ever. And Kyle did love it.

Next he went for Grandma. Maybe Kyle gets his eyes from her?? Wish he would've busted out the "teez" again but he was getting sleepy.

Garage band! 

Thanks to Reed & James for some awesome music- it totally made the party.

Justin provided the bass guitar and that's his gorgeous sister Amanda snapping some photos of...

Kyle's bewildered expression when he saw fire on top of the doggy cake he had been getting giddy about every time I opened the fridge for the 2 days before his party. Kyle's first word was dog. He said it when he was only 9 months old and it was his only word for months. He LOVES dogs, so I thought it was only appropriate to get him this little doggy cake to dig into for his first birthday party. He didn't get it. Just look at that face!

"You want me to EAT him??"

We eventually tried to feed him some and he couldn't handle it. The tears came. It was adorable/sad/funny.

My awesome sister Tiffany and her ma-an Joey. Tiffany came over 4 hours before the party to help me get ready. Love that girl!

We had fun. :)

The beautiful Tasha & Aja (cousins) and their beautiful babies!

Yep, beautiful.

(Look at Kua's eyes!!)

Apparently it's contagious.

Opening presents.

He was one happy boy. It took some major effort on my part just to get him to look up for this picture, he was so enthralled by his gifts.

Okay and just for good measure, I have to include this one of him before the party in his birthday suit (+diaper) because it's so cute!

We had a great time, so glad so many of our friends and family could make it! Kyle definitely had one happy birthday!