Our trip to the Happiest Place on Earth!

So to kick off our October we generally go on a family hiatus to the Oregon Coast for a few days-usually the days the kid's and Barrett have off school for inservice. Well, this year we decided to change things up a bit. As Anson is totally and completely obsessed with roller coasters (hello, fast trains that spin and go upside down!)we thought we might let him try some out for real, rather than just watching them on DVD's and youtube. Gma and Gpa Wod very, very graciously agreed to take Bo for the week while they went down to Escalante, Utah to visit great Gma and Gpa Munson who had just returned from their mission in Maratin's Cove. Bo's a great unpacker and all and he had a blast with all the grandparents to himself! And I almost hate to say it, but we had a blast without him. Sure he might have enjoyed some of it, but I'm real glad he wasn't there. Next time for sure though, bud! We had received some great tips from family friends and got some great deals, thanks to discounts with UPS and/or Military. As a last minute surprise we had a couple of friends from our ward come along. Carol and Sam. Carol is a disney fanatic-been there a hundred times, used to work there, etc..she was our VIP tour guide and she was awesome! Sam is Ansons primary teacher, an aide in his classroom at school and a family friend. She had never been before and jumped at the chance to come along. She was incredibly awesome, too. Both ladies were huge helps with the kids, watched them so Barrett and I could go on some rides together, etc..then they did their own thing some of the time so we got some good family time in as well. We all stayed at the same hotel (which was nothing fancy, but had a pool, a nice continental breakfast and a comfy place to lay our heads at night). So we all drove down to Salt Lake together and flew from there to long beach. Got a shuttle to the hotel and began our real adventure on Wednesday AM. Did I mention it was over 95 degrees on Tues night when we flew in-totally not expected. It was real warm our first couple days and real nice on Friday. Then we flew out Sat at noon back to SLC and drove home that night. Wow, what a trip! We did 3-day park hopper's and put them to serious use. The crowds were minimal and it was fantastic! A few of the highlights included lunch at Ariel's Grotto for all the "girls", which was a little pricey, but so yummy and so much fun to get one on one time with almost all of the princesses! Eden was in Heaven, so was Sam. And Carol. I loved watching it all!!! We loved, loved the parades in both parks, except for Anson, who thought they were too loud and did not care for the characters getting too close. We all loved all the rides we could go on, though the kids were not tall enough to go on the big roller coaster in Ca. adventure park-boo! But they loved the matterhorn or the "mountain train", thunder mountain railway (or whatever it's called) our kids called it the "fast train"and space mountain "dark train". They put their arms up on every ride, whether it was a coaster or not! They loved the food and the rides, and Eden loved all of the characters and the shows (we got lots of autopraphs and pictures) and they loved going back to the hotel to swim at night! It was an incredible time and I'm so glad it worked out this year. I can't wait to go back when we can all go on everything!

somewhere in September...

here we have a random racoon, who had the nerve to walk right up to our back window and tempt us outside to try to get a decent picture. There were actually 3 of them from who knows where. Never seen em before, haven't seen em since. They all ended up hiding out in one of the trees in the back yard and were gone the next morning. and for any of you who care, Lulu (the bunny) was unharmed during the whole incident...
Eden and Anson getting a few good bike rides in before it get's too bitterly cold...
For any of you who have seen the movie "Monster House" you may or may not remember a little girl in the beginning scenes who rides her tricycle along the sidewalk singing and talking to herself, riding as fast as she can. Eden loves to imitate this girl, riding back and forth between the neighbors houses. Why the headband and sunglasses, I don't know? Just because she's Eden, I guess.
This is a cute picture, I think, of Eden and my cousin Greta at a family get together at Winstead park. Unfortunately it's about the only decent one I got. Eden had so much fun with Greta. And we had a great time visiting with family, especially Gma and Gpa Munson who surprised everyone by coming to Nathan Munson's missionary homecoming-So fun!

Run for Autism Awareness

In late September our family took the challenge to participate in a little fun run
(5K)down at Veteran's Memorial Park to raise money and awareness for autism. I want to personally thank each one of you who ran: (Becky Ann Kent, Grandpa Mike Wood, Tucker and Michelle Botkin and Trey Botkin-better late than never, right? And Gma Wood was a HUGE help by watching all the kiddos while we ran (or jogged, in my case). Everyone did awesome, and I will take this opportunity to shine the spotlight on Trey for winning first place in his age group, and Barrett for getting third in his! Way to Go! It was really a great experience to see so many people from the valley come out to support this cause. There were way more people than I thought there would be. Of course, it's always nice to see the other kids, older and younger, who have the same tendencies, actions and reactions as Anson. Sometimes he seems so different, in a good way mostly, but there he was the same. And it was good to see. I love Anson so incredibly much and there are not many things in life that make me more proud than to be his mother. What a huge blessing he is in all our lives! Thank you again to ALL of our family and friends for continued support and love-I know you'll be blessed!

Anson's first day of school

The first two pictures are obviously of Anson and the last is of all the kids eagerly anticipating the arrival of the school bus...



Here we are two months into the school year and I am just now posting a picture of Anson on the first day...Nice. Oh well, I'll just take a minute and tell you that he is doing really well in both classes. He spends a couple hours in the morning and a couple hours in the afternoon in the first grade classroom. He has several of the same students from kindergarten with him so they know how to work with him, which is so nice. It's a really small class-only 15 or so kids-yeah! When he's not in first grade he does his therapies and one-on-one with the SLC teacher and/or aides. Everyone is fantastic and says he does a great job. They especially love his musical talents. He sings so much, but not so much in music class. I think it's because he has perfect pitch and not everyone else does and it drives him crazy! He is especially good at reading, though we're a little unsure about his comprehension, he's great at spelling (I'll go ahead and take credit for that one) and real good at math-addition that is. He's having a bit harder time wrapping his brain around subtraction. He'll learn...Anyway, that's the first couple months for you. Hope the rest of you are enjoying the school year thus far...