Happy Halloween!

I love Halloween and it's not just because  I love candy.  I love seeing the costumes and feeling the excitement of the kids.  This year Porter was old enough the kind of appreciate it and going trick or treating with him was soon cute. He would walk up to the door, knock and peek in the door with his sweet little hulk face until someone came.  He would sometimes say "trick or treat", but he would always say, "tank you" with the sweetest voice.  One lady said she wanted to take him in to live with her.  

Our friend Gayle came over for dinner and to head out with us.

Enjoying the loot with Dad.  He did a good job of sharing.

Earlier today we met up with friends at The Little Gym to test it out.  For some reason Porter literally cried for the first 30 min and just wanted me to hold him.  It was bizarre.  He must have been afraid I was going to leave him.  At the end he started to have fun and play and run around.  Too bad he missed out on all the fun he could have had.

Trunk or Treat

Some family friends lovingly call Porter "Baby Hulk".  This nickname inspired his Halloween costume this year.

He actually didn't mind the face paint, but the hair coloring took a little bit of chasing around the yard while spraying.

He was enthralled with seeing all the costumes at the party, but when it came to trunk or treating, I ended up holding him the whole time.  He didn't love the costumes where he couldn't see a face.

And just a photo from the other day because I think he looks cute:

Feeding the ducks

David found a duck pond right by my gym and we fed the ducks.  It was a beautiful day and Porter loved throwing bread and watching the ducks go wild competing for it.  I love watching Porter experience new things and see the wonder in his eyes.

The Troutman's visit Utah

We loved having Amber, Jon, Suvi And Mira visit.  Porter would wake up and ask for "Suvies".   Super sweet.  Suvi was so good with Porter despite some episodes of hair pulling, hitting and a big bite.  She was a trooper and a good example for Porter.  And Mira was just a sweet, sweet baby.

Horsey rides with Aunt Ash.

31 weeks pregnant.

Enjoying a beautiful day.

Yard work.

Playing.

Helping Dad dig.

We found a new park.  It was a fun one.

We were sad to see the Troutman's go!  

Violated

Last night David was on call and I had a work meeting at 4:30pm.  I left the house at 4pm and our friend staying with us got home about 5:30pm.  When I got home at 6:00pm he asked if I'd moved his computer or made his bed.  I told him I hadn't and he thought he must have been really out of it when he left for work.  I didn't think much more about it.  We ate dinner and then I went to the bathroom.  At that point I noticed all the drawers in the bathroom were slightly ajar.  I looked in the top drawer and noticed all my jewelry was missing.  That's when it dawned on me that we'd been robbed.  What a weird feeling to know that someone was in your house, rifling through your stuff and took what they wanted.  

Besides being creeped out and a little nervous about a repeat episode, I was grateful that not much was stolen. It could have been way worse.  Fortunately I'm not much of a jewelry person, so there wasn't much value in the items they took and I was wearing my wedding ring.  I felt worst for our friend since his lap top was stolen.

The cops came, the crime lab came and dusted for fingerprints and took photos.  Note:  if you are robbed and or suspect it, don't touch anything.  Call the police.  I know I went through looking to see what was missing and I couldn't help but close drawers.  Oops.  Luckily I didn't know where the robber had entered, so once the cop located the open basement window missing the screen, there were fingerprints to get there.

I am grateful we weren't home.  I am grateful that we didn't lose anything sentimental or of significant value.  I am also grateful that I was reminded of not having lots of "stuff".  It puts in perspective what's really important.

It's amazing that in the last few months our car window has been smashed and stuff stolen, our landlord gave us a bad check for our security deposit refund and now won't respond to us, and our house has been broken in to.  Is Heavenly Father trying to make sure we know all of that is just stuff, nothing of real eternal value. 

Cousin time

My sister Amber and her family came in town.  We are enjoying having them here.  Porter loves a constant playmate and he loves Aunt Ash coming to visit.

The weeks just getting started, but it's wen fun so far.

There has been lots of swinging and Porter is as the stage where he'll let other people swing with him now.

First bath with cousins.

Sister love.  Suvi and Mira.  So sweet!

Decorating Halloween cookies. Porter really just wanted the candy!

I'm sure he's saying, "Mmmmm".

Baby's Name

Tonight while I was putting Porter to bed I told him the story about the angel telling Mary that she would have a child and his name would be Jesus.  Then I told him about the birth of Jesus.  We sang some songs and then a while later (it now takes forever to get Porter to go to bed, especially when we have guests and we don't want him to disturb them) I was asking him what we should name the baby.  Very matter of fact, he said, "Jesus".  

Love this kid!

And during church he was trying to share his sacrament bread with everyone, including the picture of Jesus that we were looking at. Then during the special musical number, he stood up, turned to face the rows behind us and led the music.

Smartie Pants

Tonight Porter mocked me again. I told him he had until the count of three.  I started my counting, "One"...  Then Porter said, "Two (pause), Three". I should have been mad, but I was so proud of him.  I guess he is listening to me.

Then later tonight he said, "A, B, C".  Now I just need to work on the rest of the alphabet and start counting past 10.  He is clearly listening and will decide when he's ready.

The other night I taught Porter how to do butterfly and Eskimo kisses.  He especially loved the butterfly kisses.  He would grab my hands so I'd cup his face in my hands. That was his way of telling me he wanted me to give him more butterfly kisses.

We had a family photo shoot last Saturday.  That was a blast (insert sarcasm).  Porter would stone face the camera and wanted nothing to do with posing.  It wasn't much of a shock to us. He was happiest running free.  We got a few smiles when I enlisted the help of fruit snacks as bribery or if David or I jumped around behind the camera.

 Realizing this window leads to the basement.

Working out his muscles.

 The photo shoot.  Professional pictures to come.

 The Natural History Museum.  Porter had a blast.

 Putting together the parts of a cell with friends Max and Maddy.

Conference, visitors and great weather

We had lots of visitors for conference weekend.  David's parents, Ashley and our niece Keara.  It was a full house.  Porter loved every second of all the attention.

Porter has:

Practiced hiding:

Spent time with grandparents:

Hiked:

Helped mow the lawn:

Practiced wearing underwear (this has been a daily occurrence lately):

And played, played and played:

The weather has been fabulous.  We are enjoying being outside until we can't be as much.

David has most of the recent pics on his phone, so hopefully I'll get some more up on the blog.

One quick story:

Tonight Porter got in trouble before bed, so he had to go to bed without reading a book.  I of course gave in and still sang to him, but I told him I got to pick the song.  He is very opinionated about the songs I sing:).  I picked "Choose the Right", hoping he'd learn a little something from the words.  About halfway through he plugged his ears and sat there smiling at me.... Who taught him this???  It's not the first time he's done it either.

Little Prayer

For the past week we have started helping Porter say our family prayer.  He kneels down on the ground, upper body bent over with his head buried in his arms.  He usually gets out the following words, "bless", "thank" and "amen". It is precious.  If we are the ones praying and it's a little too long, he has blurted out an early "amen".  It is incredible to watch him grow up.