Family Portraits

So the whole fam damily had new portraits taken last month. Here are the highlights. Of course Kaden's photos turned out to be absolutely adorable. These are his photos for turning 3. He is so photogenic and his personality really comes through. It was kinda sad to not have Derek in the photos this time around.  Anyway, everyone's photos came out so well. It took a number of photos (11 to be exact) of the lot of us to get one that seemed right. My brother was getting so irritated. Don't tell him we ended up picking the 2nd shot. I especially love the one of my grandma (bestemor).

The whole fam damily.

The grandchildren: Tarah, Taylor, Kaden and Annika.

Mom and Dad.

My sister's family: Dave, Kristin, Tarah and Annika.

I can't figure out why this photo is so tiny, but they sure are cute!

My sister, Tina.

Tina with her neices and nephew.

My brother's family: Travis, Kathy and Taylor.

Bestemor.

Happy Halloween

Kaden loved Halloween this year!
I can't remember why he was bawling. I guess he wasn't happy about the idea of getting free candy. He was lucky we got to trick or treat at all. The dreaded H1N1 paid me a visit. The swine flu.  I would have rather not had such a houseguest...what a pig. I was sick all week. Kaden wasn't well for one day and the pediatrician prescribed Tamiflu.  Tina was sick for a couple of days too, her doctor gave her Tamiflu as well.  I was afraid I wouldn't be well enough to take him trick or treating. Luckily, I started feeling better the day before so we got to enjoy our Halloween traditions at my parents': chili and trick or treating in their neighborhood with the family.








My mom and I made Kaden's costume (including the boots) and I must say that I am impressed with ourselves. Honestly, my mom did most of the work. I came up with the concept and my mom brought it to fruition. All I did was baste some lace onto a turtleneck. She sewed the sash and the boots (which were actually shoe covers).  Everything only cost about $10.00, not counting the stuff we already had - hat, sword, turtleneck, lace.  I think looks so much cuter than anything we could have bought.





Kaden and his dad in his "costume" (that is one of his mother's wigs, and yes she does wear it). Derek wanted to keep his distance due to the H1N1 flu, but I stopped by and let Kaden trick or treat at their house so he could at least see him dressed up.

Pumpkins

We had an impromptu pumpkin carving party on the 24th with my sister, Kristin, nieces Tarah and Annika, and our friends Jami, Ethan, Chloe, Brooklyn, Saige and Tess. We had planned on going to the pumpkin patch to pick pumpkins, but it ended up raining so we had to settle for Macey's pumpkin "patch."

We ate soup, carved pumpkins and then made cupcakes. Kaden dove right in to carving his pumpkin. He had no hesitations whatsoever about digging out the pumpkin guts with his hands. The kids had so much fun carving their pumpkins. They all turned out great.

My mom and me helping Kaden draw a face on his pumpkin.

Brooklyn Rogers

Kaden's pumpkin.

The gang.

Brooklyn and Kaden eating cupcakes.

Utah State Fair

Last month we went to the Utah State Fair. This post is late as I was slow uploading the photos and I didn't want to delay Kaden's birthday post for it. Derek wanted to take Kaden to the fair so we all went. I'm not a huge fan of the fair.  It's totally commercialized and everything costs a fortune. They did have a few fun things for kids. Kaden had been the night before with my mom and sister, but didn't seem to mind doing it all over again.  My favorite white trash moment of the day was seeing a man eating crawfish claws, using a garbage can as a table, as his wife/girlfriend/woman/cousin stood watching him eat. Nice!

Riding a pony (which my mom considers animal cruelty).

There was an agricultural exhibit for kids at the Fair at which kids experience the agricultural process of farmers from planting to growing, harvesting to transporting, marketing to eating. Kaden got a kick out of it.

Daddy and Kaden

Golly Gee Look Who's 3!

My little Kaden Boy turned 3 on Saturday. I can't believe it! Every parent knows how fast time passes by. We had a great turn out for his party. It was the first year we invited friends. Kaden is currently obsessed with Curious George so that was the theme.  It was a little crazy and unorganized, but I hope everyone had a good time. Parties at home are so much work! I was exhausted.  We did bat craft project where you trace the kids hands to make bat wings.  My intent with the craft project was good, but it turned out that I wasn't fully prepared (wrong type of glue) so it was a little chaotic.  We ate pizza, Curious George cake and ice cream. 

How lucky I am to have such a beautiful and smart boy who is so full of personality. He charms everyone he meets. When he walks into school each morning, everyone shouts, "Kaden!" It reminds me of the show Cheers, when everyone shouts "Norm!" every time he walked into the bar. Today is Kaden's first day of preschool at daycare so I'm certain I will continue to be surprised at the rate he is growing and learning.

Daddy helping Kaden with his craft project.

Eating pizza with Jaelynn and Alex Mitko.

On the left, nearest first: Tess Uriarte, Jaelynn, Kaden, Alex Mitko.
On the right, nearest first: Lexie, Annika, Leah Jones, baby Kelly Jones

Kaden's dad gave him this camera.  It is by far his favorite gift.  By the next day he had taken 377 photos.  For reals.

New coat from Aunt Tina.

Kaden telling everyone thank you.

ABC's: The Sequel

Kaden is getting better at reciting his ABC's. Click on the link for an updated performance of his rendition of the ABC song.

Lagoon

My sister-in-law Kathy and I decided to take Taylor and Kaden to Lagoon last week. Her friend Mindy and son Mason came too. We had been talking about going earlier in the summer, but somehow time got away from us. We did make it though, the last week Lagoon was open full-time. It was a fun day. We spent the entire day in kiddie land. Taylor was so nice and let Kaden ride a lot of rides with her. Kaden's favorite ride was the Helicopters. He rode it three times. My favorite was the OdySea. I laughed so hard on that ride! Kaden bawled on the Rattlesnake Rapids. I tried to keep him as dry as possible by sacrificing myself. Ah, a mother's love. He asked to get off the log flume. But overall, he had fun and there were minimal tears and no tantrums that I recall. My friend Jen was there with her kids too. It was fun running into them.

Tuckered out.  Looks like he's getting too big for the stroller.