Halloween!!

We grew this beast of a pumpkin in our garden this year. It weighs almost a hundred pounds and we have another one that is around fifty. The interesting thing is that they never turned orange. We are not sure what kind of pumpkin it is... Mckenna got the seeds from her school a year ago and we decided to try them out.

It looks really creepy all lite up. If you look closely you can see Hayden's little hand reaching in the mouth. It was amusing watching Kev carve this massive pumpkin with a butchers knife. He said that it wasn't to hard to carve because it had a soft consistency. It was crazy because the walls of the pumpkin were about three inches thick. Several of our neighbors asked if they could have some of our pumpkin seeds for next year.

I had to include this cute picture of our Hayden. It was his first Halloween and his Aunt gave him this cute onesie to wear. We love to see this little guy smile!

Parker was so excited to finally wear his Woody costume. It was great to see him smiling and happy after so many days of being sick. After eight days with a fever above 101 we found out that his flu had turned into Bronchial pneumonia. We were so thankful that the antibiotics started working and he was better enough to go trick or treating.

Halle looked darling in her bunny costume. It was another costume that Mckenna wore when she was her age.

A fun picture of all our kids in their costumes. They were so excited to go trick or treating in our neighborhood.

I really liked this picture of Halle and Hayden. He loved reaching up and grabbing her bunny ears.

Mckenna was our 50s girl this year. She loved being all dressed up in her poodle skirt. Grandpa Foster bought her special earrings to wear for the occasion. They have a battery that attaches to the back of the earring causing them to light up. They looked really cool in the dark.

Halle cracked me up with how she would sit down after every house and try another treat.
She definitely has a sweet tooth.

We ran into Kev's deacons while we were out trick or treating. The Waldo costume was my favorite.

My favorite part of Halloween is enjoying a Reese's peanut butter cup and watching a scary movie.

Down with Swine...

One week ago today Parker's preschool teacher called us saying that her kids had the H1N1 virus. The next night Parker got a really high fever. I took him to the doctors and they said he had the virus. The sad thing is they can't to anything to help unless the patient is at high risk or under the age of two. So we put Parker on Motrin alternating with Tylenol to help with his fever. It breaks my heart to see how miserable he is. His eyes droop and our blood shot red and his cheeks are bright pink. He just has no energy. On Friday Halle came down with a fever. They were both miserable all weekend. We got a lot of calls from worried family members asking if they would be hospitalized. The media has made such a hype about the virus that people think it is more serious than it is. It is similar to the normal flu and may only be fatal in those with preexisting medical conditions. On Sunday I came down with a fever as well. I am so thankful that Kev was home for the weekend because I couldn't do much of anything. The virus affects everyone differently. Thankfully, my fever went away after 24 hours. I have had to take extra precautions to not let Hayden get the virus. He is in the high risk category because he is under two years old. It has been hard not to kiss him and keep him away from all of us. We have been blessed that he hasn't come down with anything. My chlorox wipes have been my best friend this past week. I wipe down everything multiple times a day. We have gone through so much Motrin and Tylenol. We started out with new bottles and they are almost gone. My ear thermometer has been a lifesaver. We have been taking temps every few hours all day long. My hands are raw from all the hand washing that I have been doing. I make sure to wash my hands every time that I even touch Hayden. Parker has had it worse than anyone. We took him again to the doctor's today to see why he is still running a fever. He still has the virus and we just have to wait for the fever to break. Kev gave him a blessing tonight and we are praying that he will get better quickly. We really want the swine to go away so we can enjoy the Halloween holiday.

Fall break!!

Mckenna had a couple of days off from school so we decided to do something fun. Kev was able to take a day off from work so we went to Park City. My Dad is always glad to let us stay at his condo in Park City. The kids love it! They get to sleep in the pullout bed and watch the Disney channel.

The resort has a huge pool that is part indoor and outdoor. We enjoy swimming there all year long. Parker is at the age where he has quite the imagination. As we were relaxing in the hot tub he told me some of his ideas. He told me he was going to swallow up the whole pool and hot tub in his mouth. He informed me that it would be hard work and take all day. Then he would go home and spit it back out so we could have a pool.

We decided it would be fun to take the kids on the alpine slide. We were lucky because it was the last weekend they were open before the winter. It was such a nice day. The fall leaves were beautiful.

Parker wanted to go down the slide with Daddy because he goes fast! They both have the need for speed. They didn't brake once and caught up to the girl that was in front of them.

Mckenna was happy because she was tall enough to go down by herself. It was fun to see the huge smile on her face.

We couldn't resist stopping by the chocolate store while we were there. They had this fun ski lift bench for the kids to sit on.

Hayden was happy just to spend the day in the baby bjorn. It was his first overnight adventure away from home and he did really well. He turned three months old on Saturday.

My 29th Birthday!!

I turned 29 years old on Sunday! It is hard for me to believe that I am only one year away from being thirty. On Saturday Kev and I went to Magleby's for dinner. It was the first time that we have been out on a date since Hayden was born. It was nice to have some alone time together. The food was great as always. I really like the Halibut they serve there. They brought me out a delicious dessert for my birthday.

On Sunday we had more delicious food! Loni cooked me BBQ ribs and cheesy ranch potatoes. We really ate like kings all weekend long. One of my favorite gifts was the CHI flat iron that Kev gave me. I had been wanting one of those for a long time. It was great celebrating with my family. Thanks to everyone for all the phone calls and birthday wishes!

Have I done any good today?

I always enjoy listening to conference. I am so thankful for our prophet President Monson. In one of his Sunday talks he spoke about service. He referenced the hymn "have I done any good in the world today". President Eyring also talked about service. They both said that when we become more like the saviour we will want to serve others. We will feel of Gods love for them. An experience I had this weekend came to mind. A complete stranger went out of their way to make my day better. On Friday I had some errands to do. I was out shopping with our three youngest kids while Mckenna was at school. It was probably one of the worst experiences I have had shopping with the kids. Parker and Halle were running away from me and hiding in the clothes. Hayden was fussing and wanted me to hold him. When we got to the checkout line the kids had a breakdown. Halle was screaming at the top of her lungs and I had to hold her hand so she wouldn't run away. Hayden started to join in with her crying. The line was long and everyone was trying to ignore me and my screaming kids. A lady in front of me in line went out of her way to talk to me. She tried to help me feel better by explaining that her kids have done the same thing when she was shopping. She then told me that I could go in front of her in the checkout line. It was great to know that someone understood what I was going through and tried to make things better for me. It is now my turn to do something for someone else.

Hayden is two months old!

Hayden is two months old now! I took him to his doctors checkup last week and he weighs 11lb 4 0z. I was really surprised when I heard that. He has almost doubled his birthweight in the last two months. The pediatrician said that they like them to double their birthweight by four months. Hayden is quickly becoming our chubby boy. I love his double chin and seeing the dimples in his elbows and hands.


He also has begun to smile for us! We will do just about anything to get him to smile. It is the sweetest thing. When he smiles it makes all those sleepless nights seem so worthwhile.

He also likes to coo and babble to us. We have little conversations together. Parker gets so excited at every sound he makes and exclaims, "mom, he is really talking to me"! He is also begining to reach out and grab things. His favorite is to grab Mckenna's hair. She is a good sport and let's him pull it. We love having a new baby at our house.

Oktoberfest!!

We made our traditional visit to Oktoberfest up at Snowbird this weekend. We always enjoy the good German food. Halle surprised us once again by eating the sauerkraut and tyring just about everything. My favorite German food is spaetzle. It is noodles with a gravy on top. The apple strudel and German chocolate cake were a big hit with everyone.

Kev's parent entertained us while we ate. They participated in a contest where you dance with a egg balanced in between your heads. It was really funny to watch. They started out with the egg on their foreheads and then it ended up rolling onto my mother in laws eye. They did a great job and made it to the second to last couple.

The balloon man was there again this year. The kids all had fun picking out what they wanted him to make. He also juggled and performed all kinds of balancing tricks for them.

Hayden spent most of his time riding around in the stroller. He was happy just to look around at everything going on.

Kev and Hayden were all dressed up in blue to show their cougar pride. We are starting Hayden out young. Go Cougars!!

Halle enjoyed picking wild flowers as we walked along one of the trails at snowbird. We even stopped and tried some wild raspberries.

I thought this picture of the kids running along the path was so cute. They would run along and then stop to pick up a stick or flower.

We took a picture of all us Fosters at the lookout point. It was a really nice day and it was great to be up in the mountains together.