Halloween Party

We had a Halloween party. It was lots of fun and we took lots of pictures. Here are some of them.

Crowl Family Pictures

Yesterday we got together with Jason's family and took a family picture. That means his parents, younger sister Emily 13, and brother David 8. Then our family. Allison (his sister) her husband, Dan, their two daughters Kendra (5) and Lexi. Then Katie (his sister) and her husband Jameson. Anyway, it was really nice to all be together. Allison and family live in Pennsylvania about an hour away. Katie and her husband live in Frederick about 2hours away, they will be going to BYU Idaho in November. We are not sure when we will all be together again.
It was a lot of fun. The photographer had a hard time figuring out who went with who and who all the children belonged to. Patti and Don look too young to have kids Jason's age, and David being just a couple years older than his niece and nephew didn't help. Layla would not take her hand off her eyes.
I hope that we get to do this again someday too!
The Original Crowl family is wearing Maroon
The next generation Crowl family is in blue
The Testerman Family is in purple
The Monson Family is in black

Chunky Baby

Day before yesterday, Laura and Nick went to the doctor and they said that Nick weighs 13 Lbs 14oz/90%. What's best about that is he's 23.5in long which is only 50% He's not big he's fat. On top of that his head is only 25% so he's got a tiny head. Here are some more pictures of him and Andy playing the fool.

Orr Family Farm

We went to a farm with a pumpkin patch, pony ride, train ride, hay ride, petting zoo, and other fun things. It was so much fun! Here are some pictures. If you want to see more you can go to our blog.

Pictures from our visit with Andy and Laura!

Growing Up, Barely Surviving

Ryan has been learning and growing a lot. We are not as prepared for him as we should be. He has fallen down the stairs twice now...the second time I didn't even realize that he had fallen, I just noticed that his cry seemed muted somehow. I went to look at him and he was sitting at the bottom of the stairs. So I finally put a gate up, but didn't latch it securely. He pulled that over on him. He eats everything he finds on the floor, which all of you know is a lot at our house. Heavenly Father must have made babies very strong to survive.
A month or so ago Austin and Layla were jumping around in their room. Austin started crying and Jason went in to see what was wrong. Austin said he fell and bumped his head and would not stop crying, so Jason told him to go to bed and left. After a few minutes I went in and told him to calm down that he was okay. He still would not stop crying so I got ready to leave when I noticed blood all over his pillow! He had cracked the back of his head open. We put gauze on it and wrapped it up. Of course Layla had to have a "hat" on too!
Once again, it is amazing that my kids survive! Anyone else as negligent?

The boys. Last night Mike and I were thinking about what we should be for Halloween. Will is going to be an elephant. Isaac has two choices--a "sweet pea" or a pumpkin, and I am going to be a cow, which is how I feel these days ;). We aren't sure what Mike should be. Maybe a carrot or a raisin, or a sheriff, or a pirate. What should he be? What are you all going to be? Are you going to dress up mom and dad? I think that would be funny!

Here are some more pictures of Nic. I remember dad saying that they'll suck on anything you stick near their mouth and sure enough...
That's our sweet love seat from the yard sale weekend before last that came in a couch/love seat set. I really liked reading everything about your family Mandy. It's nice to know what's going on with everyone. With that, I'm done
Andy, Laura and Nicolas.

Will's learning to use new utensils.....yikes!

Pitcher's Week

I thought I would respond to Adrianne, even though I have nothing exciting to share. Last week Braden went to his first preschool class. We are in a group of 8 kids in the ward and each Wednesday we meet at a different persons house. The kids stay for their preschool for 2 hours and learn about a specific letter in the alphabet. My turn is not until November, the letter I. He had a great time there, and I enjoyed my time running errands with just one child.
The boys also got haircuts. They asked what I wanted, I said short. It is very short. For those familiar with the guard numbers, they used a #4 all over their heads. They look very cute, but it took a while to get used to.
Jess and I have become ebay addicts, selling some things together. Luckily it is over and we feel good about what we have done. Now we need to stop compulsively checking ebay.
Mikayla has recently learned to tie her shoes, which is a great help for us all.
Tomorrow, Mike will be doing a Moot Court. He has a case, a partner and they have prepared and written a brief. They will go up against another partnership and argue one side of the case. On Tuesday they will face a different partnership and argue the other side of the case. The judges will be teachers and lawyers from in town, one of them Mike's boss. The two final winning teams will get to argue before the Supreme Court of North Dakota. The Supreme Court will be in town for a case this week. Mike worked on it this summer and so he will get to sit up with the lawyers during the whole thing. For those who don't know, that is Cool!!
We have almost run out of food... I have been trying to change my shopping day to Wednesday and haven't planned very well. I will have to go tomorrow. Luckily Mike brought home pie from the preisthood session last night, and ice cream, or we would have to go without dessert!!! How tragic would that be! Also, for those who are trying to be health conscious, I have discovered that you can bake Mom's chimichangas, rather than deep fry and they are still very yummy.
Last night we went over to the new Wellness Center on campus. It's a gym. I got a spouse pass and will now be going there in the mornings to exercise. It has gotten too cold in the mornings to run outside. I am about 10 pounds away from my goal weight!!!
Well, now that you know more than you ever wanted to know, I'd love to know what everyone else is up to.

Our week

Yesterday the boys both went to the doctor for check-ups. Isaac is 9lbs 13oz, 22 1/2in. Will is 24lbs, 32 1/2in. They are both healthy. Today we are going to the case lot sale at the commisary and then going to Walmart to pick up a few things. What is everyone else doing this week?

Soccer Pictures

Here are a couple of pictures of the kids during their soccer games.

Nicolas

It's late so here are just a few of our favorite photos of Nico.

Mike tuning our piano

Mike had a great idea to tune the piano. He would turn on a tuning program in the living room that would play the note and then go back into the extra room and try to match the note. That wasn't exactly the easiest way of doing it. So, he got the laptop (as you can see on top of the piano) and found another program that played the note and showed the frequency. Then he would play the note on the piano and adjust it until it was the same frequency as the note on the laptop. Smart man. Our piano sounds great now.

Laura and I both can curl our tounges. So far Nic hasn't done it, but we're hoping he will later... Right now we can't get our pictures from the camera to the computer but once we can we'll post some of nic and the new house.

Grandma and the boys

Grandpa and Ike

More tongue curling

Looks like we can all do it.

Curl Your Tongue

Every six months or so Jason and I have the same friendly argument. He can curl his tongue and I can't. He thinks that I just don't try hard enough and that I can learn. I am sure that it is something you can either do, or not, a special curling your tongue gene. SO I need everyone to let tell us...Can you and your spouse curl your tongues? Feel free to post pictures of you doing it, or just looking dumb trying to do it! That will make me feel better!

Beach Party!

Here we are at the beach. Isn't Laura cute in her suit and hat and umbrella?
We took turns in the water and on the sand, as not all the kids wanted to be in the water at the same time. It was a very hot day, but we had fun. After the beach we drove to the board walk and wandered about eating and looking at things.

A Very Merry UnBirthday!!

While visiting in Maryland
we had an unbirthday for all that were there. We had ice cream cake, presents and a very fun game. We all had a great time and wished the rest of the family could have been there with us. Thanks again to the hosts (Mom and Dad)!! We love you!

Steven's First Court of Honor

Steven attended his first boy scout court of honor this evening where he was presented with his tenderfoot and 2nd class ranks. He has really enjoyed his first 6 months of scouting and already has plans to earn his Eagle by 14.

First Day of School

Rebecca and Steven started at their new middle school today. Rebecca started 8th grade and Steven started 6th grade. This is the first year in 3 that the kids have attended the same school. Next year Rebecca will be at a new school yet again starting high school. Overall I believe it was a successful first day.

Mom is Here

We are very happy to have Mom visiting us. She likes the boys and has been very helpful while she's been here.

On a different note, Adrianne and I are reading a book called Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle. It seems similar to body for life, from what I remember of that book. Adrianne would like to lose weight, and I am supporting her. The book also said by changing your eating/exercise habits you'll have more energy throughout the day. I would like that- I am tired a lot of the time. We'll let you know how it goes. I also bought some calipers that measure your body fat percentage. The book says we ought to be more concered with that than we are with wieght, which makes sense to me.

Mike