a climber

Ashlee is a climbing girl. She will climb on to anything and everything that she can, the table-the dishwasher-the bed-big chairs-the sewing table-the play chest. Luckily for us she can not pull her own weight up on things, so it has to be low enough or have levels to get up. At this age Caitlin never climbed on anything, ever; so this is new to us. But fun to see what mischief Ash can get herself into.

Just to say

we are still here.

Just in a bit of a monotonous rut. But enjoying playing.

Who has time to blog

when we are experiences such beautiful weather.
Today is day 6- and counting- of straight days of nice, warm, clear skies, little to no wind, perfect fall weather.
We love it.
We only wish the sun wouldn't set so early so we could enjoy each day a little longer.

Spooky Halloween Night.....Boo!

The trick-or-treaters loving every second of it. (Ashlee had to be holding her pumpkin at all times while trick-or-treating or a screaming/crying fit would be had)

The 1 year old skunk who wasn't very interested in having her picture taken.
But won cutest costume at our ward Halloween party.

The 3 year old clown who is adorning the exact costume her dad wore when he was 3.

The pumpkins.

And an absolutely beautiful evening with almost no wind to speak of made for nice trick-or-treating!

Happy Halloween!

Just about a full walker

She is almost there! We just have to get past the 'I think I might fall at any second' stage.

We had a visit

from a couple of pretty princesses,

who went on a journey to a far away land to dine with acquaintances at their castle.

And made it home again in time for a book before turning in for the night.

outside

Although very windy, it was not terribly cold today, and we took full advantage of it. We had to drop something off for Chris at work, so we packed up the bikes and took them with us. We took a walk by the soccer fields at the school. The sidewalk wasn't to long, but Ashlee's walking stamina is still very low, but she is getting better at walking daily!

And here she is crawling because she doesn't have her walker toy. She can go about 10 steps not holding on to anything.

What a treat, a little bit of fall colors.

This pretty much sums up a lot of the terrain that is "Rock Springs"- except this picture may be a little too pretty :)

I love this picture. And she loves her tricycle.

Getting stuck on the grass is very perplexing when you are still learning to walk.

We even found a nice rock to climb on which made for a happy ending to our adventure.

Pumpkin Patch

We decided to check out the Pumpkin Patch today in downtown Rock Springs. It is no pumpkin farm, but it was fun to walk around and look at all the different sizes, shapes and looks of all the pumpkins and then pick out a couple to come home with us.

unconventional hats

Today while playing:

"Look Mom, we are hat costumes!"

falling leaves

While in Colorado over the weekend, Caitlin enjoyed some time playing in the fallen leaves.

Very cold weather early in the season and some hard frosts prevented the leaves from changing colors. So all of the leaves on the trees were just different shades of brown (greenish-brown, yellowish-brown, reddish-brown) and dead. A nice breeze on Sunday brought many of the leaves spinning to the ground.

"....falling down, gently down, covering the ground below"*

*I know that song is actually about snow, but it applies to falling leaves also

laundry helpers

I get lots of help with laundry. Caitlin likes to help put things in the washing machine and dryer and clean the lint catcher.
Ashlee likes to pull clothes out of the hamper or basket and put them on the floor. Clean or dirty, it doesn't matter much to her.

Ashlee found her dirty blankets and laid on them.

Caitlin thought it looked like fun and joined her.

Football 101

This is our 3 year old's interpretation of football:

Touch up

Touch down

Touch sideways

little girls in matching sweaters

The girls got new sweaters thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Will!

One good thing about having cool-cold weather for the next 9 months is that we have plenty of time to wear our sweaters.

50 years

Western Wyoming Community College is celebrating 50 years, and they had a carnival of decades on Saturday.
Chris's parents were up for the weekend and we enjoyed going to it with them.
Chris was volunteering and they put him over the cotton candy.
The girls seemed to have fun, who wouldn't when there are so many activities and prizes.

snow castle

There was major snow melting going on today, but still enough snow left to allow for playing and building after Chris got home from work.

They set to work on a snow castle.

It had progressed quite a bit farther than this, when Chris, completely exhausted from doing 99% of the work himself, called for a break. (Which, in truth, was quits for the day, but Caitlin didn't need to know that).

They came in for hot chocolate, then dinner, FHE and bed. If the snow lasts through the day tomorrow, we may get more building time tomorrow afternoon.

Covered

IN SNOW.

It started snowing yesterday, and by the time we woke up this morning it had snowed 8 or so inches (according to our ruler in the snow method).

This is last evening.....

and this morning.... (after I had knocked the snow off the tree)

The girls got in their snow gear. They should be warm in this stuff, it makes them at least triple their actual size. Caitlin helped shovel and Ashlee sat in the snow.

I was hoping for a warmer fall, but I don't think we are going to get it.

visitors

We had some visitors over the weekend. My brother, David; sister, Annie; and I are all graduates of the University of Wyoming, so this weekend they flew up and we all went to a football game. (David's wife, Julie and their daughter, Bailey also came). After the game- and dinner at a fantastic mexican restraunt in Laramie- they came home to Rock Springs with us. We had a great time and are so glad they could come and visit!
obviously there was something very exciting going on in the game because I am the only one looking for the picture.

the girls did really well at the game- we had plenty of snacks to keep them happy.

Bailey even got a nap in.

Annie and Caitlin. It was a great game and the Cowboys won!!

fall colors

The woman we bought our house from was very wise. She planted many perennials in the yard, some which blossom in the summer and some in the fall. These are some of the beautiful fall colors we get to look at this time of year.

Caitlin started at a pre-school at Chris' school yesterday. She was very excited, she couldn't even look at the camera for fear her Daddy would leave without her.

She had so much fun and cried when we told her she couldn't go today- she is only going twice a week. She especially loves going to work with Daddy.