Snow Day!

Yesterday was our true "snow day" we woke up to about 3+ inches on the ground and it snowed off and on all morning. It was so pretty. Sadly we didn't get to play in it though because I kept putting off buying Carter some snow boots. So, we went out yesterday afternoon and got some so we could play today! Carter LOVES his boots. He was wearing them this morning with his pajamas before we went out to play. He really liked his snow clothes too! So, here are a few pictures of playing in the snow today and a few other pictures from this past week. We made Christmas cookies to take to some neighbors, watched cute little Ella, and I got a picture of the moon the other day I knew my Mom would love so I had to put it up. Michael surprised me and got me a new camera for my birthday/Christmas, so I've been toying with the different settings and such, so that's why some of the pictures don't have the best lighting and such.

Carter all suited-up and ready to play!

Trekking out to the slides.

Look at those eyelashes! He got those from his Daddy...sadly not me.

Carter and Ella playing in her Graco. They had the best time playing in there together!

Making our Christmas cookies.


The moon...pretty self-explanatory I guess!

What we've been up to...

This is going to be a very random post of various things we've been up to the last few weeks. We went to Boise for Thanksgiving and had a great time! We had dinner at my brother Gregg's which was fabulous! Carter had a blast running around with his cousins, seeing the chickens, bunnies, sitting on the tractor, and playing on Brock's tricycle. For some reason I didn't take a single picture! I don't know why, it seems at the big things that most people would take pictures, I fail to do so! Hopefully I'll be better at Christmas! Carter and I stayed for a week after Thanksgiving after Michael went home to study for finals, I got to see some friends and spent good quality time with my brother Ben and his wife Nikki. Ben and Carter are best-buddies now. Carter calls him Uncle Ben which sounds more like "Unckie Betz". It is hilarious! Some how I didn't get any pictures of them playing together either?! So, here are some random pictures of different things.

We took Carter to the zoo in Boise and it was GREAT! The animals were very active. Carter's favorite part was pretending to drive this jeep.

My friend Coralie's family recently moved to Boise, so we got together one day...the boys were playing with dolls. They started out being so cute and feeding them.

Then Jaden decided to get into the doll Graco and Carter threw the babies in with him. Jaden was crying at this point, but it was hilarious and I had to snap a quick picture before rescuing him!

Ben, Nikki and I met up with my friend Andrea and his husband Blake to go to First Thursday. One room was covered completely in paper as you can see...Ben told us to pose like models...this is apparently the best we can all do! :)

Ben thought this shot would be good for our album cover if we ever started a girl band!

Carter sitting on the counter eating some cheese before dinner, I don't know why, but I just love this picture!

My birthday dinner cooked by my wonderful husband. It doesn't look that great, but it was DELICIOUS! or "Licious" as Carter says. It is Frito Pie..homemade chili, Fritos, cheese and I put sour cream on it too, which is blasphemous in Michael's eyes.

Here is our Christmas tree...Carter LOVES it!

We made a gingerbread house on Monday for FHE.

It's gonna be a long winter...

So, yesterday we woke-up to a nice little blanket of snow. I was very excited and so was Carter, but sadly this means we won't be spending near as much time outside. It was really cold yesterday...I think the high was 38 and then today it was sunny and the snow was gone, but still pretty cold. By the end of the day yesterday Carter was bored from being inside all day I think because he was just tearing the house apart! He was taking everything out of the cupboards, taking all the movies and books off the shelves, etc. While I was cleaning up one mess he was making another. So, today I decided I'd take him to story time at the library to get out of the house. While I was showering, Carter was being a little too quiet. I called his name and usually he comes running in, but not this time. So I quickly finished and went to see what he was up to. He had found the bag of Epsom Salt and spilled it all over the living room rug, all around his toys, and down the hall! It was hard to be mad because it was my fault for having it under the bathroom sink where he can so easily access it. Also, when I found him he had his little wash cloth and was trying to wipe it up! It was so cute/funny. It wasn't so funny though when it took me 45 minutes to clean it all up. So, sadly we missed the story time. Maybe he'll remember that next time and won't make a huge mess for me to clean up?! Probably not. These pictures hardly do it justice.

Here's Carter trying to "wipe-up" the salt. Such a good little helper!

Salt down the hall....

Fall Fun

Fall is absolutely my favorite season! We've been out enjoying the leaves and the cool crisp air. Here are a few pictures from our adventures. There's also a few pictures from Halloween. We went to the Law School Halloween party on Thursday where Carter had lots of fun seeing some friends, we ate pizza and went trick-or-treating to all the law students' carrels. I don't have any pictures from that day though because I still hadn't found the charger for my camera battery! I know Lesley took quite a few pictures though, so maybe I can get some from her later to put up. On Halloween day we didn't do a whole lot sadly because Michael and I have had colds. We did go to the ward trunk or treat though which was fun. Carter loves any excuse to wear his costume. He was the cutest bee ever! The few pictures I have don't do him any justice.
Today I took Carter in to get his first flu shot. We thought we'd do it since last year I didn't have him get it and we all got the flu and were miserable for weeks! Anyway, our doctor's office is right down by the Provo River and we got there a little bit early so we went for a short walk and got some cute pictures! Enjoy this beautiful fall weather before the snow hits! (Which I think I heard on the new maybe tomorrow! Ugh..)

Carter just loves slides!

Picking a dandelion for me.

Carter made for a pretty cute little bee!

I love this action shot of him trekking through the leaves!

He thought just for a second about venturing down into the unknown.

Look at all those leaves!

We have a lot of fun together!

He loved watching the river.

And the Worst Blogger Award goes to....

ME!!!! I am seriously I think one of the worst bloggers and I apologize to the few of you who check our blog and find no updates for months because I get upset when I check others and they don't update them. So I need to stop being selfish and share the love I guess! Well, Michael is now in the thick of his 2nd year of law school and I am chasing Carter around cleaning up his messes all day long. We spend a lot of time outside each day and wonder what we're going to do when it is snowing. I did buy a snow suit for him, but I am going to need one too! We are loving the fall weather. Fall is my absolute favorite season! I love the cool crisp air, the changing leaves, the smells, just everything about it! We love our new place here in good ol' Orem, Utah! We have great neighbors and a great ward. I never thought I'd say this, but Utah is really starting to feel like home!?
So, some of the highlights from this semester (since Michael is still in school my calendar still revolves around semesters) are lots of fun dinners with our neighbors and friends from law school, the Colvins, also with the Harpers our next door neighbors, our good old friends the Stokes (although not enough dinners, but the few were fun!) Carter and I have gone on a few outings with the Law Partners (the association for law student spouses) to Bridal Veil Falls and the Pumpkin Patch and tomorrow we are going to the Halloween party. We went to TEXAS for a week during Michael's placement break. We had so much fun with Michael's family. We of course at lots of good food. All the places we miss so much when we are here...enjoyed our nephews football game, played Wii at his brothers, did some shopping, and we got to go out on a date while Carter stayed at home with Grandma and Grandpa Hawkins which was great too! We went to Boo at the Zoo on a record breaking attendance day! We thought there were at least a million people there, but I got an email saying there was only 23,497. I swear they missed some people though because it felt like a lot more than that. We had fun though. Carter loved wearing his costume (a bee) and seeing at the animals and other crazy costumes. And I think that is really all the big stuff. Carter would probably add that his highlight is our just about daily outing to the slides and swings. He LOVES going to the playground either here at our complex or going for a walk to another park and playing on the slides. That's what most of my pictures are from. Sadly we didn't get any pictures from Boo at the Zoo because my battery is dead and I can't find my charger! Oh and I almost forgot another highlight Carter would mention was the weekend we doggy-sat for my friend Rachael. We had cute little Koda for a weekend and I think it was the best weekend of Carter's life! He loved playing with Koda and playing in Koda's cages as you can see. It was so cute/sad the day after they picked her up Carter woke-up in the morning and was running around the house calling Koda and looking for her. Rach we need to watch her again soon! So, here are pictures of all the highlights from this semester thus far...there are a bunch!

Carter's hair is finally long enough for a mohawk...still not really thick enough though for it to look good!

Carter wearing his friend Ella's crown!

Carter just being cute!

Carter closing himself in Koda's cage. ( I promise he did this all by himself!)

Carter sharing Koda's bed.

Carter taking Koda for a walk...so cute!

At Bridal Veil Falls

At a pumpkin patch in Texas with Grandpa Hawkins

Taking a bath with his cousin Aiden...they had a great time!

Carter getting up in Ella's business...he was curious about what she was so curious about!

At the park peeking through the tunnel!


Discovering pine cones..his expression makes me laugh!


This horse lives right next to one of the parks we frequent. He loves to watch me feed it carrots...he's not quite ready to feed it himself.


Carter LOVES to "help" me cook


Mike got Carter this gigantic balloon...he loved it! That is the cat named Puma laying down that he also loves to play with.


Reading with Daddy...while eating pretzels-that is why his cheek looks funny!


Carter loves to put the lining from his laundry basket over his head after I wash it. I don't typically let him go outside sporting this look, but Michael apparently does!


At the pumpkin patch! It is in Santaquin...it's a great one!


I love this picture. It was such a beautiful day!


Carter and his friend Gavin on their pumpkins. Carter wasn't really cooperating for this picture. Gavin kept leaning over and saying "say cheese Carter". It was hilarious!

Sitting on a bench outside the barn at the pumpkin patch.

All geared up for the Red Sox game! This was the night they ended up coming back from being down 0-7! I think he was their good luck charm that night. (Emily and Mom...doesn't he look just like Porter in this one?!)

PHEW!!! That was quite a catch-up! I'm rather pleased with how it all turned out though. I'll try not to go this long again without posting, but I can't make any promises!