{The Nelsons Come to Town}

Our good friends the Nelsons stopped by on their way from Mississippi to North Carolina for Thanksgiving. It was fun to introduce them to Grayson and spend the day together. Ryker and Ayla had a blast playing together. I love it when Ryker and our friends kids get along so well and have so much fun playing. We tried out Gladys Knights chicken n' waffles restaurant downtown. This was our first time trying out this southern combination and much to our surprise it was tasty. The wings were super yummy and we were shocked at how inexpensive it was. Defiantly worth trying out.  

 After dinner we took Blake and Annie out to Stone Mountain to see the lights. This place is so dreamy and the kids were loving playing in the Christmas trees. 

Ayla thought Brady was a good bedtime story reader. We love having visitors and getting to see good friends. We sure miss living down the street from each other like we did in St. George. Thanks for fitting us into your busy schedule. We had a blast with ya'll!! 

{Grayson :: 2 months}

My sweet dream baby Gray is two months old. He is a growing boy 14 lbs and 23" tall. We know how to make them big and boy does my milk know how to keep em big. Grayson is such a good sleeper. He sleeps well in the day with all of the crazy that goes on around our house and he usually sleeps 10pm  to 7:30 or 8am. I could not ask for a better schedule and he came up with it all on his own. Grayson you have started to smile like crazy and coo. Your daddy and I had forgotten how sweet these new tricks are. You love to say "a goo". Your big brother still loves you to pieces and give you "big hugs and kisses" you are still unsure about them. You have started sucking your fist. We think this is because you are teething. I know I am so not ready for this but you have been drooling like a mad man and sad. You went on your first airplane ride to Utah and you were a champ and slept the whole time. We hope you keep being our dream baby. 

We finally got your newborn photo shoot back and we are in love with these photos. 

{Just for fun}

 The past two weeks I have been working on Christmas projects like a mad mama before we leave for Utah so these little boys of mine have had LOTS of daddy time. Ryker loves it when daddy holds "both brothers" and Gray is a champ and sleeps anywhere and through just about anything. Still being my little dream baby. 

 I gave Grayson a bath before Ryker one night and Ryker insisted on taking his bath in the baby tub. He thought it was so silly and loved it. 

 This is a common sight at our house. 

 Ryker has a new love for Mickey Mouse Club House and one day he came out of my closet with my heels on and said "mom, look I'm wearing Minnie's shoes".  

I am impressed with how well he walks in them. Skill Ryker. Skill. This will be one of those good pictures to show his future wife someday. 

** Memory Note**

Last night as I was making dinner Ryker pulled his stool up to the bar in the kitchen and was trying to get some candy out of the candy dish. After being asked not to and that he could have one after dinner he continued to get into it. The stool then got put in time out and Ryker proceeded to have a melt down. Then he walked over to my boots {that were in the kitchen} and said "maybe mommies boots will help me get the candy" then put my boots on and reached for the candy. That didn't work so he went into his room and got his scooter and stood on that to try and reach the candy. That didn't work either. The funniest part to me and Brady was he was telling us exactly what he was doing and how he was trying to accomplish it. I love little kids and how their brains think. We couldn't help but laugh at his efforts. 

{Hoedown}

Our Stake had a hoedown/ chili cook off a few weeks ago and it was such a blast. The gal who planned it is a professional party planner and boy did she do a fabulous job. We enjoyed eating yummy food and spending the evening with good friends. 

Ryker loves wearing daddy's cowboy hat. He also had a blast playing with Matix and Hawken. Ryker rarely gets to play with boys {most of my friends have girls} so when he gets to play with boys he is in heaven. 

They had these cute cows and we were trying VERY hard to get a photo with them but Ryker was not having it. C'est la Vie! I was super excited to have a good excuse to wear my cowboy hat. 

{Crafts:: Pine Cone Turkeys}

I love that Ryker is getting old enough to enjoy doing craft projects. We went on a walk as a family to find pine cones. We discovered that Ryker is totally a city kid. There was a patch of grass out in front of our apartment complex and he was THRILLED to play on the grass. That got me and Brady thinking... when was the last time this little boy played on grass.... not sure. That was a weird sad moment for me. We go to the park all of the time but we just play on the playground and not the grass so he is not very familiar to it. Hopefully that will change this summer when we move and get into a rental house. I am also looking forward to not living on such busy roads. It was a bit scary having Ryker walk on the sidewalk with us on such a busy road. I was so stressed that he was going to run off the sidewalk and get killed. But we were successful in finding pine cones and much to my surprise they were VERY poky. I did not know that most pine cones were poky. After breaking off all of the pokies we were ready to make these cute little Turkey's. Ryker and I had a blast making them together. I look forward to many more projects with my cute boy. 

{Grammy}

 Ryker and Grayson had a blast with Grammy in town. We played at the park, fed the ducks, did crafts, snuggled, and played a LOT. 

 Daddy was even able to spend some time with us and enjoy an adventure out to the Botanical Gardens. I forget that Brady doesn't go on adventures with us much so he enjoyed going and getting some use out of our pass. Ryker and I usually go to the places we have passes while daddy is at school. 

 Oh the technology our kids are already used to. Ryker loves reading books on the the iPad. I am so grateful  Grammy was able to come out and help us with Gray and make some fun memories. This Christmas when we head to Utah will be fun for Ryker because he has developed such a great relationship with his Grammy and Nana. 

{The Rock Ranch}

A big thank you goes out to Kelsey for telling me about The Rock Ranch. It is truly AMAZING!! It is this HUGE farm about 1.5 hours south of the city truly out in the country. We decided to have family adventure since Brady had a free weekend {I am loving this semester and all of the free time Brady has to spend with me and the boys}. Each weekend in September/October/November they have a different theme. Since it was the weekend after Halloween it was Pumpkin Destruction Day. What does that mean, well it means we got to watch them drop pumpkins from air planes {trying to hit an old trailer}, launch pumpkins out of a cannon, drop pumpkins off of a 40 foot crane, smash pumpkins with sledge hammers, and shoot arrows at pumpkins. 

 Ryker was really scared when we were up on the crane. He was holding to me for dear life and not speaking. But as soon as it was time to get off he asked if we could do it again. So I guess he did really like being up so high. Our pumpkins didn't really smash because I had to just roll them off with my foot since I was holding onto Ryker. Still super cool and fun. 

 Ryker got to see his first monster truck and we were even lucky enough to see it smash a few cars. So cool. 

 This is how delusional and tired Ryker was. He was having so much fun that he pushed through it until the drive home. 

 All he needed was the corn box to wake him up. He was not so fond of the corn getting between his toes. He was freaking out about it. 

 Once we got his socks back on he LOVED it! He didn't want to get out and we had to stop by later and play in it again. This was by far his favorite activity of the day. 

 While waiting in line to smash our pumpkins Ryker filled the stroller with pumpkins. He liked the "Ryker sized" pumpkins as he called them. 

 Ryker smashing his first pumpkin.

 Mommy smashing her first pumpkin.

 Daddy using the "mans" sledge hammer. That thing was so heavy I could barley pick it up. So yes I used the  kiddie one. 

 Ryker had fun playing in these semi truck tires that were as tall as him. Oh to be so young and entertained by such simple things. 

 They had this town called "Tiny Town" that was full of play houses. Ryker enjoyed the fire house. 

 Going down huge slides with the mama on burlap sacks. 

 Riding the cow train all by himself. He doesn't look like he is having fun but he must have been since he wanted to go on it twice. 

 Riding a pony. He was so excited/nervous to do this. 

 Driving the peddle cars. 

We spent close to 7 hours at the Ranch and only managed to do about half of the activities  Yes, that is just how much there is to do there. I totally recommend making the drive down. SOOO worth it. We had so much fun and all of us were totally dead by the end. I love going on adventures with my family. I hope where ever Brady gets a job has as many cool things to do/see as the Atlanta area does. We have been so lucky to have many adventures here. Oh and Grayson was such a trooper. He just ate and slept and loved all of the daddy snuggle time in the bjorn. We are so lucky that he is such a dream baby and just goes with the crazy flow of our little family. I am truly blessed to have the best little family. Heavenly Father must REALLY love me!