Family Pictures

We had this great idea to get family pictures taken while the beautiful Fall weather was peaking. Good thing we acted on our intuition, because it sure did snow all day yesterday, and now its rediculously cold! Good bye Fall. Hello Winter...(This is not a welcoming hello).

Halloween Heaven

Who knew Halloween was such a fun holiday? Not me. Well, not me until I had a little guy to dress up and hall around the town showing off to anyone that will pay attention to his cute Pumpkin self. We started off our festivities on Friday by getting dressed up and heading to my work. I work at a domestic violence shelter, and all of the kids staying in the shelter during Halloween get dressed up and go around to each of the offices and "trick or treat". Kai loves watching other kids, so I thought it would be fun to let him help me pass out candy. Darin has been sick this past week, but was feeling better while we were getting ready to leave, so he decided to join us. Kai had so much fun (and he doesn't even know about candy...next year is going to blow his mind).
On Halloween we spent some time with his good friend Leila (the pretty princess featured below). Kai couldn't get enough of her costume...literally he kept trying to eat it the whole time they were visiting.
Next we headed up to Ogden for some famous "Ogden Pizzeria" pizza, and a little trick or treating with Kai's cousins Briana and Garrett. Kai got a whole bag full of baby food from Aunt Kristy and Uncle Brian, but the night would not have been complete without a little dance party featuring "Thriller" and "The Monster Mash", we may have scared away all of the Trick or Treaters, but we sure had fun...Kai was in Halloween Heaven!!!

LET IT SNOW! LET IT SNOW! LET IT SNOW!

Weather dot com said it was going to snow this past Tuesday, so Kai and I decided to get ready. We went to the mall to find him a little hat and mittens.
Weather dot com was right...it snowed all day. Good thing Kai was prepared.

Oh October...

I always dread October. First reason: it starts to get cold. Second reason: Week Without Violence. The first needs no explanation, the second, needs a little explaining. All 300 YWCA's in the country dedicate the third full week of October to educating the public on the effects of violence in our homes, communities and families. I am the Education Director, and therefore I spend all year planning this week of activities, events, public speeches, media interviews and a children's carnival. I love the actual week, but I don't love the 358 days leading up to the week...it's a lot of work. The week finished on Friday night, and I came home to flowers and my favorite candy from my two favorite guys...it was the best ending to a really successfull week! Now on to planning for next year.

6 months later

What do you get when you combine a bumbo chair...

a box of rice cereal...

and a baby boy celebrating his 6 month birthday....

TADA!

That's right folks, Kai has joined the rest of the Patterson family in a life time love affair with food! And, he was practically an expert...barely spit any up!!! We are so proud. The best part is, he doesn't even know how much amazing food their is out their for him to sink his slobbery gums into...but he will soon enough (how could he not with Darin and I for parents...food is really our only hobby).

Congratulations Kai!

To Grandmother's house we go...

Last weekend we went to visit my Mom and Step Dad in Spokane Washington. Kai was in heaven with all of Grandma's kisses, toys, hugs, and candy (he doesn't eat solids...so his parents graciously comandeered it). It was so much fun to show Darin all of the houses I had lived in as a child, schools I went to, places I played at and visited, and most of all things I used to eat (we went to Tomatoe Street for delicious soup and bread pudding, great harvest for pastries, Zips for burgers and fries, and my Mom made her world famouse coffee cake the morning we left). It was GREAT!

Mom and I at Manito park...I used to come here when I was a little girl to play, and they have the most beautiful gardens.

Zips...just as good as I remembered.

Kai and Grandma liked zips too!

As soon as Kai got over his fear of Grandpa's mustache...he just couldn't get enough of it!

My mom discovered Hula Hooping as a great ab workout during commercials while she is watching football. I was amazed at how long she can keep it spinning. She left Darin and I in the dust!

This was Kai's reaction to the news that it was time to get back on the airplane and fly back home (away from Grandma).

We had a great time! Thanks grandma Judy and Grandpa Chuck!!

End of Summer Blues...

Darin and I have been trying to prolong summer for the past three weeks...picnics, walks, barbeques and parks. This week the weather is supposed to get down in the 60's, so we packed in as many last minute warm weather activities as we possibly could. Tonight we went to the park and swung on the swings for as long as Kai would let us, and then walked around the park until it got dark reminiscing about all the fun we had during Kai's first summer with us. Here's a little video momento: