It's a...

Boy!!!

And we're very excited. Caden said, "yes! I knew it was a boy. I don't want another girl, cause girls are not nice." Lexi looked a little bummed and said, "I knew it was going to be a boy, but I really wanted it to be a girl." I'm sure she'll be excited when the baby arrives and just be glad to be a big sister!
As far as names we have a few we really like, so we don't know what his name will be. We're just happy everything is healthy and that we'll be joined by another sweet boy in a few months!

He kept resting his little hand under his chin. So cute!

He must have know his picture was being taken. Look at that grin!

Waving to us all!

Festive Family Fun

We had fun carving pumpkins last night for FHE. We decided that we'd only get two, since Clint and I would be the ones carving anyway. Lexi wanted her Jack O' Lantern to have a cute face and Caden was insistent on having a mean face. For some reason, no one wants to clean on the insides of the pumpkin, so I get stuck cleaning out the seeds and I actually think it's fun (weird I know!). Clint helped Lexi with hers and I helped Caden with his. Once we were done we went on the front porch and lit them. The kids thought it was so much fun!

Taking a break...

Clint left the end of September to go on a business trip to Europe for 3 weeks. (I'll post some pictures he took while there later). While he was there, we knew there may be a chance the sale of our house would close the weekend he got back; which meant I'd be packing up our whole house by myself to move the day after he got back. As luck would have it, that did happen and the week of the move was October Break for the kids. I felt bad because every day I woke up early and would pack and clean until late every night. My poor kids watched so much TV because all their toys were packed. For some reason I thought this would be no big deal, but surprisingly we have a lot more stuff than I thought! Anyway, I did take a break on Tuesday morning and we went to the zoo with my sister in law, Ashley and her friend. The kids had a great time. We hadn't been in over 5 months because it's too darn hot. We also brought their suits for the spray pad and the kids loved that!

Lexi in front of the elephants. Caden was not wanting his picture taken (as you can tell he's walking away from the camera).

Lexi and her cousin Presley

How cute is my niece Piper! Love her. She is the BEST baby!

what I'll always remember...

My dear Grandma Jensen has been reunited with the love of her life, my Grandpa. My Grandmother passed away last Sat. Oct. 3rd. Though I will miss her dearly, I am happy that these two people are together again.

My Grandma is the most amazing person and one that I would hope to resemble in any way. She was the mother of 9 children, grandmother of 48, and great grandmother of 70. She has touched so many lives and I feel blessed to have known her for as long as I did.

These are the things I will miss the very most:

• Playing games 'til late at night. Every time I'd visit Grandma she would ask if I was ready to be beat by her at Zilch. I will miss playing Mormon Bridge, where Grandma always put the last card behind her glasses to hold it up.
• Her way of shuffling cards: putting them in a bowl and mixing them around
• Thanksgiving dinners where the food and company was always great!
• Her way of making her own contraptions with rubber bands to keep the kids out of cupboards.
• The way she made you feel whenever you were at her house. She was always sure to make you feel right at home.
• The way she'd wait outside and wave goodbye until you were out of sight.
• The way she ended all conversations when it was time to depart: "Bye, Bye for now!"
• Her delicious strawberry jam that my friends and I devoured while visiting after EFY.
• Her amazing love for my Grandpa. She would do anything for him!
• Her wonderful stories of all the places they have lived and traveled. She has so many friends around the world.
• Sitting around the table putting a puzzle together for hours.
• The way she'd always brace the top of the car when Grandpa was driving.
• Fig Nutons. I can't stand those things, but she always had them. Thank goodness she loved ice cream too!
• The baby quilt she made for me when I was born and the ones she made for each of my kids.

I am so grateful for my Grandma! I am thankful that I had the opportunity at the beginning of August to stay at her house and visit with her. She didn't have the strength to get up and move around a lot so we had the chance to just sit and talk. I know it drove her crazy to have guests and not be able to wait on them. That just tells you what kind of person she was. I will cherish those last visits and look forward to the day when I'll see you again Grandma!

love october

I love October for a million different reasons and am so glad it's here. These are just a few reasons this is one of my favorite months of the year:

• in AZ it finally begins to feel like fall
• and because of that I can start thinking about wearing the clothes I love; sweaters, jeans, and boots
• pumpkins! who doesn't love seeing pumpkins all around
• i can make foods that have been absent for the past 8 months. My favorites include chili, pumpkin pie, pumpkin cookies & bread!
• Halloween (Clint thinks I'm crazy, but i love this holiday!)
• we have so many fun celebrations with all the birthdays in October
• i think my most favorite thing of all are the smells: who doesn't love love love the smell of pumpkin pie, apple spice, and cinnamon bun?! (even if they do come from a burning candle)

I was reminiscing through old pictures and came across these! So much fun!