Kasey and Athan

I forgot to include these pictures in the November update! Kasey and I went to visit my cousin Annie and her two darling boys, Athan and baby Ryder. Kasey and Athan had the funnest time playing together! Thanks Annie for taking such cute pictures! We had the best time!

Athan and Kasey

Pounding on Anne's nice glass table.

Hi there!

Grrr!

November Update

It's been a busy month, but only a few things are picture worthy. First, Kris' brother Tyler's wedding (did you follow that?) was at the beginning of the month, and Kasey was dressed fit for the occasion (with a fresh new hair cut, too!).

What a little man! (Thanks Janece for awesome pics!)

The family in matching wedding attire.

Yum! Kasey loves chocolate and cookies, of course. I never hear him say the word "more" as clearly as when I give him something extra tasty to eat!

Kasey all ready to play in the snow! (Does the movie A Christmas Story come to mind?)

Yay! Snow! Kasey can barely walk around in the snow, even with his new snow boots. That's okay with him, though. It's just fun to be outside, watching Molly run around and reveling in the new mysterious white fluff.

Help, mom! I've fallen and I can't get up!

Kris only has one more week of school! Hurray! (Well, until next semester starts again. Ugh.) He has been busy to the max lately, and we are so excited for Christmas break so that we can be together more! There is nothing like spending time with family. (Heather and Javan - we can't wait!)

Lake Powell Trip and Other Pics

Before I share Lake Powell Pics, here are few recent ones of Kasey:

Mmm! Dinner! (He must have really enjoyed this one, what with the food in hair and greasy-looking food mustache.)

One of Kasey's favorite treasures of nature: sticks!

As always, Kasey is ever getting into things. Literally.

Kasey and Molly are becoming best buds. Kasey gives Molly his open-mouthed kisses, and as you can see, Molly hugs him back.
Time to wrestle!
Hmm! The Old Testament manual looks like a good read.
Ready for church!
Here are the Lake Powell pics. This trip, we went a lot of fun places. This is us hiking down "The Crack." There is an incredible hike between two slabs of rock. From a distance, you would never know that you could hike through them!
The view from a top the crack.
Hiking through the crack. Hold on Kasey!
Dad has special skills.
I know this is a bit out of order, but this is the crack we hiked through!
"Get me out of here!"
Driving with dad.
Another one of our adventures was hiking up a beautiful narrow canyon. Here's Kasey with Grandpa.
Kasey with dad.
Check out this wall!
Mom look! I found a rock! (Rocks are akin to the treasured sticks in Kasey's world.)
My little sis Jenny walking through the freezing waters of death! (Check out the beautiful waved sand walls of this slot canyon!)
We are so blessed to be able to go to Lake Powell so much! And this time, we were able to enjoy the trip with both sides of our family! It was one of the best Lake Powell trips I can remember.

Kasey's First Birthday Party!

Tiffany was so proud of her nicely themed party and homemade decor. She had so much fun putting this party together!

We filled a tonka truck with cupcakes, and Kris decorated Kasey's cake.
Kris made a bona fide construction site, complete with access road and excavation!
Kasey: "Yum! When do we eat cake?"
Kasey and his Uncle Jake sporting their vehicles -they must think alike: both born on Oct. 17 and both a fan of lime-green and speed!
Mmmm! Kasey's first cake and ice cream! (Well, at least in substantial proportions. Dad has been known to give him a small taste from time to time...)
In the spirit of birthdays, Tyler decided to paint chocolate warrior signs on Kasey's chest. Molly was more than happy to help clean Kasey up.
Mom, in a chipper, sing-song voice: "Kasey, what do you think of your new fourwheeler?" Kasey, nonchalantly: "It gets me from A to B."
Testing out his new slide.
"Yeah! A new hat! Just what I wanted!"
Thanks to all who came and supported Kasey! Kasey was spoiled with so many fun presents and nice clothes. We had the best time!

Happy Halloween!

Here's Kasey with his pumpkin. Mom carved it to look just like Kasey: big bug eyes, two bottom teeth, happy grin, and often, food spilling out the mouth.

Kasey in Halloween heaven. Yeah for suckers! (He would not let go of it!)
You guessed it: Kasey is dressed as a little devil. We spiked up his hair, pinned on a red bow tie and tail, and placed his horns on his head. He carried around a red trident for part of the night (by "carried" I mean tried to stab people with it. Thank goodness it was made of felt!).
The 'Lil devil looking so innocent with dad.
The lil' devil trying to hit mom with his trident.

Donut Falls

Here is the last of our summer fun posts. But before I tell you about our Donut Falls adventures, let me tell you some exciting news: Kasey is now one year old (as of October 17)! Way to go buddy! Don't worry, we gave him quite the Tonka trucks birthday party, pictures of which will be included in the next blog, once I load them unto our computer.

Back to the Donut Falls Report: This summer we went twice to Donut Falls. The first time, sadly enough, we didn't even find the donut! :) We hiked up to the falls, looked up and didn't see any donut-like openings, and then proceeded to hike to the left of the falls (up quite the steep and precarious rock slide, I might add). After a bit of hiking, we found ourselves gazing down upon the river. Still no donut. Someone had told us that there had been a rock slide, covering the donut fall. Alas, we concluded, it must be true.

We didn't give up, however. We determined to visit the falls again. Soon we found ourselves at the base of the same waterfall. This time, we decided to climb up through the waterfall, instead of to the side. And, you guessed it! We found the donut falls!

Look how the forces of nature have combined to create a stunning replica of a such a delicious and popular pastry. (In other words: Look, the rock is shaped like a donut.)

Kris decided to climb up to get a better look.

Kasey and I took this picture under the falls. If you look close, you can see Kris peeking down at us.

This picture is proof that Kris dunked his head under the frigid flowing waters. He asked me if I wanted to join him. "But who would hold Kasey?" I replied. It was tough, but someone had to make the sacrifice and fore go the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of drenching one's self under pellets of ice water.