Family Photo Shoot.

Lori, my sister, took our families pictures last Saturday. I think they turned out great, especially considering Landon and his goofy mood. He thought it would be funny to stare some faces in pretty much all of the poses. Lori thought it would be cute to capture the many facial expressions of Landon in a collage. I agree. What a silly boy!

Carving, Party and Prayers.

Landon talked us into carving his pumpkin a little early this year. He gets more fun with holidays as he gets older. This year he wanted to draw the face all on his own and let daddy cut it for him.

This just might be the cutest darn jack-o-lantern I've ever seen.

We also had our wad Halloween party last night. We had a chili cook off and a jolly time. I made some chili. I was nervous, I'd never made homemade chili before and didn't even have a chance to taste it before we rushed it to the church. I guess it was good. It won second place. I even got a ribbon. :)

Our friends, the Hunsakers, lent us their Halloween costumes this year. I think they were AWESOME! Dave makes the perfect Frankenstein. Landon wanted to be Jack Sparrow but wouldn't have anything to do with the dreads. He didn't want to look like a girl. Dawson made a cute little Lion.

This is unrelated, but oh well.
We take turns doing Landon's routine with him. (his routine consists of brushing teeth, reading two books, singing two songs, prayers and hopping into bed with his bazillion treasures. Don't try to break the routine or it's BAD NEWS!)


I just happened to be walking by the other night and came across this. I snapped the picture. Landon noticed and Dave scuzzed me. I guess it was inappropriate to do so during a prayer. oops. At least I got the picture and now I can look at it and say "awwww, sweet..."

Park City and Pumpkins

Park City

About 4 years ago we received a gift card from Dave's client at work for the Stein Eriksen Lodge in Park City. We didn't use it when we first got it because I was very pregnant with Landon, and then just kind of forgot about it. We found the gift card again and Dave called to see if they would still accept it, we were in luck! They were also offering a great "fall package" which included the hotel room and a 3 course meal at their fancy restaurant (the fanciest one I've ever been to...)

So Dave booked it and we went last weekend. I left Dawson for the first time overnight with my mom. The kids did great(unless you count Dawson waking up twice in the night), thanks mom!
I had heard people talk about how nice this lodge is, but I'd never really heard of it. When we got there I was stunned at it's beauty! The rooms.. wow.. the rooms. I have never seen a more beautiful hotel room. (Katherine Heigl had her wedding there this last summer, that's how nice it is!)

Thought I would include some pics of the hotel room. Too bad we only had one night, this place was awesome.

All dressed up for our fancy dinner! Our three course meal was awesome and a new experience for me. I think the fancier the restaraunt the slower the service and the smaller the portions. (We were still full) I would have taken pics of our meals that looked too pretty to eat.. but I felt weird... Dave got a spiked lemonade. That was funny.

The Room(s)

Sitting room

Hot tub on the deck! Niiiiiice.

ahhhhh.. .. I want this bathroom.

and this bed. I crave this bed.

best of all.. it was ALL FREE!!!!

Pumpkin Patch

Our Crew from Left to right: Amy, my mom(holding Jackson) My dad (holding Kaemon) we missed ya Lori(she had her wisdom teeth out today) Me (holding Dawson) Cecily, Rylund, Dave, Landon, and Jaycee.
Dawson and his namesake. (my dad, Craig)
Cute stinkers.
All the cousins on the Bruderer side minus Eli.
He had to find the biggest pumpkin there!

He is ALL over!

He has perfected his crawl and is now all over the place. Soooo cute at first, but now it's scary! Three days ago he decided rolling was overrated and began crawling, now he is a pro! His first night of "real" crawling he was zooming all over the house really enjoying his newfound freedom. Now he has made it his mission to find anything and everything he shouldn't. Even the tineist spec of paper on the carpet, he'll find it! (then eat it, gag and throw up) I forgot how scary and frustrating this stage in babyhood can be. (even though they look so cute when they crawl)


He can pull himself up onto anything now, I don't have a picture of him doing this, but he loves to scale the wall. Everyone says babies are a lot happier when they can crawl. I disagree, from all the bumps and falls he seems to cry MUCH more...

This picture in itself is scary!!! He cannot get enough of these stairs, I would put the baby gate up but Landon has a hard time getting over it, and wants to know why I am putting him in jail. (Landon had a police officer come to preschool yesterday and they talked about breaking rules and going to jail.)

If he's not over by the stairs you'll find him here. Yuck. He will suck on every shoe, then chuck it behind him while laughing. Hilarious, I know. Who needs toys?

Dawson loves Landon just a liiiiitle too much. If Landon is on the floor, Dawson will find him and crawl over to him, start whining and want Landon to hold him. Landon thought this was cool at first, now he is annoyed :) (I thought this picture was so funny, Landon was telling Dawson to "just leave me alone!" Poor Landon :)

Hooray for Engagements!

My brother, Rob, got engaged last Saturday to the beautiful Kari Scott. They've been dating for a while and we're excited to have her in our fam! :) The wedding is going to be next month! November 21st. wow, I know. (this isn't the best picture of them, it's the only one I have. They had just finished a rigorous mountain bike trail and met us for dinner.)


Tonight my sister-in-law, Stephanie, got engaged to the awesome Corey Muir! Congrats to you guys! We are so happy and I am super excited to help with the wedding plans! I also get to be a bridesmaid for both weddings! sweeet!

I did it!

At least that's what my husband and the Bennett's tell me..

I have tried several times, very unsuccessfully to make yummy cinnamon rolls. I even went to an enrichment night to learn how to make them, came home all jazzed up to make them, made them and they looked and tasted what a brick might look and taste like. The cinnamon rolls from the class were fabulous, I watched her make them and even took notes and asked lots of questions. I wouldn't eat the one's I made, neither would Landon. Dave choked them down claiming they were good. (he would never tell me otherwise)

So today with the cold yucky weather, I got the itch to make them again. I really want to master the perfect cinnamon roll so I went online and googled "Worlds Best Cinnamon Roll Recipe" and I stumbled across one that looked intriguing. It has vanilla pudding in the mix. I thought this looked yummy and interesting so I thought I would try them. The verdict? YUMMY!!!!! I am a little proud of myself and here's to the saying "Never give up"

My perfect baking buddy. I know you're all jealous of my stylin hair and awesome outfit.

Here's the recipe for anyone out there that might want it:

Vanilla Pudding Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting

Rolls:
½ cup warm water
2 tablespoons active dry yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
3 ½ ounce package instant vanilla pudding
½ cup butter, melted
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
6+ cups flour

Filling:
1 cup butter, softened to room temperature
2 cups brown sugar
4 teaspoons cinnamon

Frosting:
8 ounces cream cheese
½ cup butter, softened to room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups confectioner’s sugar
2-3 tablespoons milk

In a small bowl combine water, yeast and sugar. Stir until dissolved. Set aside. In large bowl, take pudding mix and prepare according to package directions. Add butter, eggs and salt. Mix well. Then add yeast mixture. Blend. Gradually add flour; knead until smooth. Do not overflour the dough! It should be very soft but not sticky. Place in a greased bowl. Cover and let rise until doubled. Then roll out on floured board to 34 X 21 inches in size. Take 1 cup soft butter and spread over surface. In bowl, mix 2 cups brown sugar and 4 teaspoons cinnamon. Sprinkle over the top. Roll up very tightly. With knife put a notch every 1 1/2 inches. Cut with thread or serrated knife. Place on lightly greased cookie sheet 1 inch apart. Cover and let rise until double again. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Remove when they start to turn golden (don’t overbake). Frost warm rolls with cream cheese frosting (combine butter and cream cheese and mix well, then add vanilla and sugar and mix again, then add milk for desired consistency). Makes about 24 very large rolls.

Unfair Time-Out

The other night I went shopping with a friend. When I got home Dave and Landon were both kind of irritated. I asked what went wrong while I was gone and this was Dave's reply.

"I am not happy that kids are teaching our kids inappropriate words."
I asked what he meant. He told me Landon kept saying the phrase "Chubby Jesus" Dave asked Landon where he heard this he said "Gage, Taryn and Joelie told me." (my sister's nieces and nephew) Instead of asking Landon to expound on what he meant by that, he sent him straight to time out. I guess Landon said it a couple more times and got sent to time out a couple more times. Why do you ask if this is unfair?
Immediately I told Dave that Landon was saying "Chuck E Cheese's!! " I only knew this because Landon saw a commercial on TV for it earlier in the day. (Gage, Taryn, and Joelie had recently went and I guess were telling Landon how fun it was and Landon misunderstood the name...)
The poor kid was just trying to express his desire to go to chuck e cheeses and got sent to time out, not once but three times.

Needless to say Dave felt TERRIBLE and immediately apologized to Landon (who burst into tears...) Now we laugh about it (even Landon)

Dave felt so bad that he promised to take Landon to chuck e cheese's tonight. :) Lucky boy.

Free Handbag Contest

Thought I would give this a try. Thanks Amber! Enter to win a free handbag! They are giving one away every hour! They are super cute too. I entered to win the green one.

http://www.handbagplanet.com/

Sleep? Dawson doesn't need it..

I don't get how one baby can go for so long on such little sleep. I am a little frustrated with his napping lately and would like some advice.

Here is his daily sleep schedule:

7:20- awake. No matter what time he went to bed. (after waking up at least once and coming in to bed to snuggle with mom and dad. I've decided as long as he goes to sleep by himself in his crib what's the harm in letting him in with us at 3am? I love to snuggle him and it's the only time he will let me.. )

9:30- morning nap. Lucky to get 25 minutes.

12:30- Nap again.. here is where it gets tricky. He sleeps for about 25-30 minutes and then is AWAKE. I cant get him back to sleep either.. So, we get him out of his crib and he is happy for about an hour. After that hour he is soooooo grouchy!! I know it's because he is super tired and didn't sleep long enough.. Do I make him cry it out and put himself back to sleep? I don't want to do this. I've tried and he cries forever because he has had enough of a nap that he doesn't want to fall back asleep. Rocking him is out of the question, he will not have it. :(

Tips and advice much appreciated. Thanks!