Weekend at the Farm

For labor day weekend, we drove up to Neola, Utah to stay with one of Ty's old mission companions, Anthony Whiting, and his family. Don't know where Neola is? Let's go one town larger... Roosevelt? No? How about Vernal? Neola is about an hour outside of Vernal. It's a tiny town, but really pretty...so much land everywhere!

The Whitings have 3 kids, 2 of which are our kids' ages. The kids all know each other from mission reunions and get along really well. Carter and Taylee were so excited for this trip.

We got to Neola in time to attend church...and everyone was so sweet to us. The primary was sooo well-behaved. I was blown away. There were a lot of kids, but they were so polite and reverent. Whatever is in the water there, we need here.
For dinner, we picked fresh vegetables from their amazing garden.
Then we checked out their land and all their animals

and of course played and hung out

This is Carter's very favorite dog. He wants a dog just like her. Why? She was super pregnant (in fact, she delivered 8 puppies the night we left) and wouldn't jump on him. That's all Carter looks for in a pet....one that will leave him alone.

Making homemade ice cream. The moon and stars were amazing outside

I thought this picture was so cute. Two old mission companions back to work. A guy from their mission in San Diego had moved to Roosevelt, so they got dressed and went to visit him and share a message.

Taking a ride on Anthony's motorcycle.
Visiting the Vernal Temple
Merilynne's family has a dairy farm, so we dropped by. Here's Ty helping milk the cows...I couldn't stay in very long because of the smell, but Ty was a trooper and helped for awhile...and had cow poo on him the drive home to show for it.

Taylee checking out all the milk being stored

and petting all the farm animals...she was in heaven with so many animals

Merilynne gave both kids a drive around the farm

they thought they were pretty neat

It was STINKY! I don't think I could ever adjust to the smell of a dairy farm...at least not with pregnancy sense of smell

While the guys were milking the mama cows, we helped feed the baby cows

and the kids helped shovel some hay...well, I don't really know how helpful it was

We went skeet shootin'....no-Ty, Anthony, and Merilynne went skeet shootin'. I couldn't even hold the gun up...so I watched and took pictures

We discovered Ty has a pretty good shot

Little country gal

Thanks Whitings for a fun weekend!

A week later for Family night, the kids wanted to go back-so we did the next best thing...visited Thanksgiving Point Farms

"I am 16 going on 17"

I guess 2 and a half going on 17 would be more accurate

Our little Taylee is awesome. She has the fastest and most extreme mood changes of anyone I've ever met-BUT-she can change her mood into a happy mood in a matter of seconds. Seriously. She just decides "I'm happy now" and she is. It's incredible. Her "bad" moods...not so incredible. She is super loving and very nurturing to her big brother...I can only imagine how she'll be to little brother. She has a definite style and loves to pick out her own clothes and dress herself. The dressing herself part I love...the clothes/outfits she picks out...not so much. She is very good at expressing love and lets me and Ty know multiple times throughout the day how much she loves us.

She is definitely our little princess and we are so grateful she's a part of our family

She rarely takes naps now, and if she's does-it's of her own free will. This is how I found her a few weeks ago when she put herself to bed. True princess style...with cinderella gown and all

Some samplings of Taylee's style:

notice the princess crown at the lunch table

headwear's important

as are tights...you can never have too many tights

Now, this was my doing...but I was soooo happy that my girl finally has long enough (and thick enough) hair for french braids! Hurray!

For about 6 months now, my kids have just been doing showers. I was done with doing baths and they were happy to move on. They love their hot (and often long) showers. They're pretty independent with them. A few weeks ago at dinner, Taylee said she wanted a warm shower. She got down, cleaned herself up, and got into the shower. She was being really quiet (there's usually loud singing involved), so we went in to check on her and found her like this:

Sound asleep with the warm water raining down on her back. I was super glad it was a shower and all the water drains right out. Warm showers help me get sleep too. Don't grow up so fast my little lady. These young days with you are too precious

Busy Boy

We enrolled Carter in some extracurricular activities this semester to give him a taste of different things and to see what he might like or have a talent for.

Football is not one of them

Well, we enrolled him in football...but it's I don't think it's going to be his thing. He had fun with his buds Noah and Canon, though.

And tossing the ball around at home with Dad or Taylee was fun

but getting tackled or having his flag pulled....not fun..a lot of tears were shed over this

I think football will be a sport he enjoys from the stands...and I'm alright with that

Swimming, on the other hand, has really helped him to grow
He started in September and is now in the second level.

He has two male teachers and they definitely push him more than his previous female ones, but he's adjusted really well and learned a ton

Maybe solo sports are more his thing. We'll see how he likes basketball when it starts in January.

I'm glad he's getting opportunities to develop his talents, get out of his comfort zone, and grow before life gets upheaved when the baby comes and then he starts Kindergarten. Way to go sweet Carter boy...we're sure pleased with the boy you've become.

We Bleed Blue

We bought season tickets to the BYU football games for our entire little family this season. Our fun neighbors across the street also have a little boy and girl (twins) and we got seats next to them. It has been really fun...even with the games that didn't quite go our way. We've been there through both rain and super hot shine.

This past game was Homecoming. We attended my school's (David O McKay School of Education) alumni gathering before the game and had a blast. They had food, games, prizes, face painting, and even a professional photographer taking FREE family pictures. Both kids and I won a prize in the raffle. While I was waiting in line with the kids for face painting, Ty was chatting with some people at our table. I guess the story of how Carter is named after the prophet and school came up and someone went and got the head of the alumni association. She came over all excited and gave Carter a bag full of presents for being named after the school and then wanted the details of how I was pregnant with him during student teaching and my final year and he came early and we chose to name him Carter McKay because he graduated with me from the school. They got a special picture of him and Tay and are including the story along with his picture in their quarterly magazine. I think they must be grasping for material ;)

Our kids are becoming great fans and love singing the fight song and shouting "Go Cougars" Taylee can be found shouting it anywhere we go...especially if she spots a letter Y or U.

We're grateful to live close so that we can participate in football and all the other fun things BYU has to offer. We definitely loved our time and the experiences we had there.

Fall Happenings

So, still no pictures this time around b/c of time...but we've been super busy the last few weeks with some exciting things:

Derek Heaston finished our basement bathroom basically out of the goodness of his heart. I am beyond excited about it and the preschool kids love it as well. This means all preschool business stays in the basement...so great for sickness and when baby comes...Yay! THank you thank you thank you Derek and Cammie!!

My mom and Caleb and Chris and Lisa and Sara came into town for a visit and to help get Caleb's mission stuff (when you're that tall you can't just pick up suits your size in San Antonio, but these Utah mission stores have it all down to an art). We celebrated my birthday together and had a blast. I was super spoiled and got some cute maternity clothes and now have a kitchen table that I adore and also that is easy to clean...no more fabric on kitchen chairs. EVER!

Probably the best birthday present EVER was getting to take this whole group, plus my own little family on my birthday to the baby's ultrasound. My kids thought it was awesome, but they already LOVE this little guy. Yes, it's a BOY. I had myself completely convinced it was a girl-so I'm so glad we found out. My boys will be the exact same age difference as my two brothers with Taylee the same as Sara in between them. I've spent so much time with Chris, Sara, and Caleb the past couple days and really loved getting to know them better and now that I can put an age/gender gap situation to my own kids' situation, I'm really excited. I'm even more excited that the baby was really healthy and looked awesome...he had the perfect little Kearns profile...love it! When I get home and have a scanner, I'll post it. It really is adorable.

Another awesome birthday present was from my sweet hubby. He potty-trained Taylee! I've known she's so ready, but just puts up a stink for me...so he did it all in one day. Serious super-hero. And she did awesome. 6 successes and only 1 accident the first day. Hallelujah! And she's even handled our trip really well. 4 months of no diapers...hurray!!

The day after my birthday was spent driving to Spokane, Wa for my sister-in-law Kayla's wedding. 10 and a half hours and freezing cold and snow later, we made it here last night safely. The kids had a blast seeing their cousins they haven't seen in forever and slept like champions last night and this morning. Today is my mom's and Ty's Dad's birthdays and we're excited to celebrate with Opa. Mom-I love you so much and hope you have an awesome day with Grandma and Grandpa. You are THE BEST....seriously. Happy 50th! Kayla's wedding is Saturday and then we turn around and drive back Sunday...whirlwind week!

Someday really I'll get to posting pics...maybe from this hotel...when I find a cord to upload. Until then, life will continue to be crazy busy. But we like it that way. Life is good. The gospel is great. Families are forever. Christ lives.

Happy Sabbath

Someday, I'll get around to posting pics and catching up. In the meantime, LOVING this. EXCITED to share this beautiful Sabbath day with those I cherish most.
Also, check out this beautiful and inspiring post from one of Ty's friends from BYU...their baby daughter recently passed...and we have been so impressed by their faith