Halloween

We had a great Halloween today! This morning Tenley and Ryder wore their comfy Mickey and Minnie Halloween costumes for a bike ride. They were so cozy and the ride was so long that they ended up falling asleep. We biked about 20 miles today. It was fun and I love biking so much! But I'm feeling pretty tired now.

I went in to Kade's school this afternoon to help with his Halloween party and had fun there too! It was nice to meet more of his classmates.

After dinner we went to our church trunk or treat. Ryder really got into Halloween this year and had fun getting treats in his very own bucket. Then we went around our neighborhood to see our friends and get way more candy then I'm sure we'all ever eat!

We're all pretty exhausted now, but we had a fun holiday together!

The Primary Program

The kids had their primary program at church today and they did a wonderful job! They both had their parts memorized. Tenley said, "The scriptures teach us to pray always." And Kade said, "Reading, watching, and listening to wholesome things keeps my mind clean."
All of the kids did great! The program had a great message about our beliefs in the scriptures, the prophets, the Temple, and our Savior. I loved it.

I forgot to get a cute picture of them in their church outfits, but this will do.

'Big' Cities

We had a fun day enjoy the "big" city of Spokane today. We woke up early and headed to a ski swap so Brad and I could buy some ski stuff. I can't wait to use it! We took the kids to the mall afterward so they could play and when we were leaving Kade asked if we could ride on the escalators because we don't have those where we live! It was funny. I don't think Ryder has ever seen an escalator before! I love that such simple things are fun to them!
We got to spend some time at Target again while Brad went to a little meeting. Ryder is hard to keep track of these days! He loves to explore and hide from me. It's kind of embarrassing having to look around the store for him so much and have people ask you if that's your baby they just saw running down the other aisle. Good thing our little guy is so cute or it might be hard to laugh as much at the crazy situations he puts me in sometimes!

Disney on Ice

The kids have been looking forward to this day all week. The day when we pick up Kade from school early, go to a hotel to swim, eat out at a restaurant and then see Disney on ice! Tenley was counting down the days and all the fun did not disappoint.
Swimming was a lot of fun. Kade was having fun swimming and then flipping over to float on his back. It's so fun to see him progress. He also did a ton of canon balls! Tenley was brave as well. She jumped in the deep end without floaters! Mainly because I forgot them. But luckily that didn't hold her back! Ryder was jumping in on his own as well which made me nervous. Gratefully, we didn't have an incident!
Disney on ice was pretty amazing! We've never been so I'm glad we made the effort. Ryder danced a lot to the music and Tenley couldn't wait to see Elsa! We saw Toy Story, The Little Mermaid, Cars, and then, FINALLY, Frozen! It was fun to see her excitement! They all loved it.

Newborn Babies

Today Tenley, Ryder and I got to go visit another one of my friends who just had a new baby. He was the sweetest little boy and is just two weeks old! Ryder really loved to cuddle with him! I think he likes babies!

Lunch Breaks

I love being able to have lunch with Brad everyday. It really breaks up the day nicely and Tenley and Ryder look forward to it as well. Today, Brad and Tenley were trying to see who could fit the most goldfish in their mouth! Brad won with 25. Tenley got up to 10. Oh my sweet little girl needs to learn some different games...

Ryder's Dance Moves

Ryder loves to dance! Every time he hears some music he can't help but shake his hips and his head. It's pretty amusing and it always makes me smile! My goal is to catch it on video tomorrow! It sure is nice to have little kids around with such happy attitudes to make you smile all the time.

Kade must be growing because tonight he out ate me for the second time in a week! He had two huge plates of spaghetti! I was expecting leftovers but we didn't have any. He's a hungry boy!

Scott McMahan

Brad and I both got some sad news today. Our friend Scott passed away yesterday. He had just had surgery to remove a brain tumor. He was married with three young children.

Scott and Brad served in the same mission together in Tallahassee Florida. They returned home together at the same time. I actually met Scott before I met Brad in a singles ward in college.

He was a really, really good person. One of the few amazing people you just can't seem to find any fault with. I'm grateful we were both able to know him.
We are very shocked and saddened to hear of another friend and someone our own age passing away so early. It has made us appreciate the life we have even more. We're holding each other and our kids a little closer.
Death seems to be a more prevalent part of our lives lately. I guess it is a part of life that we have to learn to accept. We can let it impact us positively or negatively. It does helps us keep our perspective. It reminds us what is really important and what our priorities should be. It causes us to pause and think of good memories. It makes us grateful for the life we have and are still able to live. And it makes us more sure that there is life after death, that we'll see those we love again, and that we have a Heavenly Father that knows and loves us.

Kade's lesson was great tonight. It was on gratitude :). He chose the topic himself and I loved it. It was a perfect reminder today and a perfect lead in to November.
After the lesson we watched Cars for the first time in a while. Ryder loved it! We got all the cars out from the movie and he was loving playing with them. He's so cute.

Kitchen Helpers, Daddy's Voices

Kade and Tenley made dessert for us tonight! They decided to make a very chocolatey bundt cake and it was delicious! I was proud of them for working together and making it!

Every night when I put the kids to bed I read them a story, but tonight Kade requested Brad to read the story instead. Apparently when I was gone last night and Brad put the kids to bed and read them a story he was a much better story reader than me. So I got to listen to Brad read a story to the kids and it was adorable. He is definitely a great reader with a bunch of great reading voices! The kids giggled the whole time!

Ring Pop binkies are Ryder's new favorite!

Soccer Goals, Lindsey

Kade's last soccer game of the season was today! Before the game, Brad was motivating him to be aggressive and make some goals. He had made two goals last season and hadn't made any yet this season. Brad's speech must have worked! Kade scored three goals today! He played really well and was always running hard after the ball. We were so proud of him! He made a lot of progress this season and it's really fun to watch him play!

Tonight I got to go to a bridal shower for my friend Lindsey. I got to know her really well before we left for dental school. She babysat Kade a lot and she taught me the 'Single Ladies Dance'! She is an awesome girl. I love her spunky personality and her happy-no-matter-what happens attitude. I really love her and I'm so happy that she found a great guy to marry! It was so good to see her!

Toy Rooms, Local Football Games

Ryder really loves playing with toys. We have almost all of the toys downstairs in the toy room and he's pretty content to be down there by himself playing. But he prefers someone else being there with him. It's nice to have all the toys in one room where I don't mind it being messy. We usually only clean it up once a week and that is plenty!
Tonight we took the kids to the local high school football game. It was the last one of the season and we found a great parking spot so we could watch from our car and the kids could run around. It was a blowout and we had fun watching our team win!

Bath Time

Mornings with my kids are my favorite part of the day. We've created such a routine that Tenley has it memorized now. After we get Kade on the bus Tenley and Ryder finish their breakfast. Then its bath time for them and shower time for me. They both love taking a bath and can stay in for over 30 minutes which is plenty of time for me to get ready. Tenley comes up with silly games and Ryder giggles and giggles and giggles at her. It's so adorable. It's nice to get ready while they're happy and preoccupied. I need a bath in the kitchen so I can cook dinner without Ryder crying and begging to be held!

Smoothies, Great Coaches

My visiting teachers were planning to come over and visit today but since one of them has a new baby and Tenley and I have colds I warned them that they better not. But they still stopped by and brought us a yummy smoothie! It was really nice of them. They're the best.

Tonight was Kade's last soccer practice. He had the best teammates and the best coach this year! It was a good season.

The Book Fair, Small Moments

Kade's been looking forward to the book fair for a week now! Tonight was family night for the book fair and we had a chance to look at some of Kade's work in his classroom while we were at the school.
 Kade and Tenley picked out some fun books and then we headed to Kade's class. He showed me the 'small moments' pages that he has to write in everyday. He said that sometimes it's hard for him to come up with something to write about, so when we got home I showed the kids this blog and some of the things I write about each day. They thought it looked like fun so they wanted to write their own post. It was fun to do that with them. Hopefully it helps Kade with his daily journal writing!

Playing in the Leaves with Ryder

When we went to pick up Kade from school today, I got to play in the leaves with my little brother Ryder. We had races around the trees. We also laid down in the leaves. It was a lot of fun.

Love,
Tenley

Lunch Recess

Lunch recess was my favorite today because I got to play on the playground. And I played sharks and minnows with Tanner, Bracken, Cameron, C.J., Silas, and Canyon.

-Kade

Bike Riding Adventures

Normally Brad and I go for a bike ride together on his days off, but this morning he had to go into the office to see a patient. When he got home, even though we were both already ready for the day and it looked like it was about to rain, we decided to go for a bike ride anyway. It ended up being really really windy too! The wind was pushing us back so hard that I had to ride in my easiest gear and we weren't even coasting on the downhill parts. It was crazy. But when we turned around and the wind was to our backs it was a super fun and easy ride! We tried out new parts of the trail we've never been on and it was fun to explore. It did end up raining on us at the end too, but not too hard. By the time we got home it started pouring so at least we missed that! We enjoyed it and the kids did too! Ryder actually fell asleep for most of the ride so that made it easier for Tenley who doesn't always enjoy entertaining him for that long.
Tonight was my night and after our family lesson we had pizza then watched Frozen and drank hot chocolate with oreos. The boys weren't too excited about watching a movie they've seen 'a thousand times!' but Tenley and I loved it! That's the beauty of having your own night I guess! Tenley actually didn't really love hearing Kade sing the songs so loudly. He likes to make fun of them while he sings and he actually has a pretty good voice. I thought it was hilarious! Ryder really loved dipping oreos in the hot chocolate. He's becoming a big eater!