November 2013

November 1-26, 2013

Because I am so behind on blogging, I picked my favorite snapshots from the month leading up to Thanksgiving.  Enjoy the randomness and the little pieces of heaven in our life here in Rexburg.

Bubble Blowing

I had so much fun chewing bubble gum that matched my shirt one night.  Blaine and I had a bubble blowing contest and I won with the biggest bubble!  This meant I also had the most to clean off my face too!


 

Shirt Wigs

My kids used to hate when I would pull their shirts off at night to get their jammies on, especially when the shirts would get stuck on their heads.  Blaine and I started laughing at the way they looked because they look hilarious!  Now they kind of like when they get the shirt stuck on their heads, and Hyrum runs around the house until every member has seen his shirt wig!

"Go Get a Tissue!"

Hyrum is such a good little helper.  He goes and gets diapers when we need them.  We have had runny noses non-stop since November at our house.  A common phrase Hyrum will hear when he tells us his nose is runny is "Go get a tissue!  This particular night, this is the tissue he brought out of the bathroom.  The photo below shows how useful the tissue was....he still found another place to put those boogers!



Afton's First Teeth

Afton got her first two teeth on the bottom of her mouth this month!  This is her first tooth-brushing escapade!

Quote of the Month

"Dad, my tongue got an outchy on it...KISS IT BETTER!"


Summer in November

This particular November day was absolutely perfect weather.  After going for a walk, I got Blaine, Afton and Hyrum to come enjoy the perfect day out on our lawn in the sunshine and slight breeze.






Where's Afton?

One Saturday morning, we heard Afton squak but we couldn't find her anywhere.  After a minute of looking, we found her stuck under the exer-saucer.  This is the face she made as we were pulling her out.


Making Applesauce

Apples from Mama and Papa Murray's trees turned into the most delicious canned applesauce!


 

 11/12/13

Blaine turned this day into the most special little dinner party, complete with "Dated Breadsticks!"



Brother/Sister Love

These are the moments when the craziness of having two little ones close in age all disappears and I realize how worth it it is.



First Snow Day!

Hyrum did the funniest little happy dance on our bed this morning when we opened the blinds and showed him the snow!  "I get to wear my snowboots?!" is what we heard come from his mouth.

These snapshots are the discovery that happened as Hyrum opened the door and Afton saw and felt snow for the first time.





Little Laundry Helper

Afton started being so into laundry baskets!  Literally!  I come out from the bathroom or from doing something in another room to find her hunched over the laundry basket pulling everything out, or putting things in, or tipping the basket over, or crawling into it.  She is my little laundry helper.  This particular day, I think she played with this laundry basket for at least 45 minutes!  I guess it is not such a bad thing that I don't put the laundry away right after it is done.


Decorating for Christmas

We wanted to put up some Christmas decorations before we went out of town for Thanksgiving.  Here is a glimpse of the holiday cheer coming...Hyrum's face describes how happy we felt that Christmas is coming!





Halloween 2013

October and November 2013

Halloween festivities this year included the Annual King Family Halloween Party in Kaysville, going trick-or-treating in Rexburg,  dressing up in black and orange, and having our Annual Spudnut party with Dean's famous cider in the beginning of November.  It was such a fun month!


Spudnut Party process {from start to finish}



 Grandma Liz is an angel.  She just showed up at our house to read books and play cars with Hyrum while we whipped out close to 200 donuts!
 
 Blaine is a ninja at rolling and cutting out the donuts.



 Mmm!  Look at those donuts frying!


The finished product: 200 + donuts!
 

Annual King Family Halloween Party

 We were the "Winnie the Pooh" gang!

 The Whole Crew

Halloween Day
I was so excited to be "matchy matchy" with Afton.  Hyrum had a great time trick-or-treating.  The best house that we went to was the Smiths'; they served hot homemade rolls for all!  Yum!

Making Cider

October 2013



Picture this:  The perfect fall day.  Sun is shining.  Cool breeze blowing.  Early afternoon.  Leaves falling from the trees outside.  Driving in my van to run a couple errands while the Blaine is watching the babies while they sleep.  See my good friend Dean out in his front yard making cider again.  That delicious, wonderful, homemade cider that I crave all year long.  He invites me to come and watch the process. Quickly drive home and as soon as my babies are awake, the four of us head to Dean's house.  Hyrum rides his trike over there.  The trike he is in love with.  We get to Dean's, the magic begins.  Take a journey on our cider making tour with us.


Step 1: The apples are soaked in a large old washer full of an apple cider vinegar/water solution.


This guy is seriously so cool!



Step 2:  The apples are then placed into what we will affectionately call "The apple-nater" a.k.a. "The Apple Chomper" or "The Apple Dapple" or "The Apple Crusher."  Take your pick :)


My dreamy Blaine was loving this!


Afton was enjoying the process from her stroller.


Step 3: After the apples pass through the "Apple Dapple" they land in a net inside a wood barrel.



Step 4: Dean screws on press to barrel and uses muscles to press apples within an inch of their life.


Step 5: Juice then rides down what Hyrum called "The Juice slide" into a large metal bowl.



Step 6:  Apple Cider is placed in large cooking apparatus and is pasteurized at 160 degrees.


Step 7: Apple remains are collected from the barrel and are then fed to the turkeys pictured below.

Dean raises turkeys and says feeding them the apple remains makes them sweeter to the taste on Thanksgiving.





Fresh pressed apple cider is one more reason why Fall is the best time of year.  Yum!

Park Date in Malad

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

My sister was in town from NYC.  So we met half way and had a picnic park date in Malad, Idaho.  I had no idea Malad was so charming.  The fall leaves and the great company made for a day of great photos and memories.  It was so fun to catch up with my sista and my darling nephew Huds.  I loved seeing the  cousins play together and watching Afton try to eat all the leaves in the Malad City park!








Adventures of a 2 (almost 3) year old little boy

November 2013

I am in love with this little boy that lives at our house.  Today just reminded me how much fun I have with him and how much he melts my heart.

Here are some of my favorite quotes that came from Hyrum's mouth today:

"Afton...she's a cute little girl.  I am a little boy, because I have a runny nose!"

"Is this long enough?" (Speaking of the toilet paper he got to blow his nose.)


We are trying to teach Hyrum to wipe his nose with a tissue.  As you can see from this picture, we haven't quite mastered it yet.  Blaine....skip this next photo :)
 

"I just bit my tongue and got an ouchie.  Dad, kiss it better!" Then Hyrum sticks out his tongue wanting Dad to kiss it.



"This is fun!" Spoken to me while we were snuggling in his toddler bed together before he went to sleep.  Did you know that you can fit a toddler and a mom on a toddler bed?  I didn't until Hyrum asked me to snuggle with him last week.


I love that my little guy wants to wear his "Tigger" costume to Walmart and loves to dip his food in sauces, and is so silly.  He makes my day every day.  It's days like this that make me realize that I am living my dream, and my dream is so good.  Having a toddler is so much fun!