Enter Fall

The leaves are beginning to change colors and fall is now upon us.  It's the first time we've had fall in 5 years, since it doesn't really exist in Tucson.  It's been fun.

CO-OP PRESCHOOL
Tara has started doing a 1 day a week pre-school with other moms in our ward, and this week it was her turn to teach the kids.  The topic was letter "D", so she centered the theme around dinosaurs and got them little doughnuts to eat.  Here they are coloring pictures:

She bought some dog bones and hid them so that the kids could be little archeologists.

CIRQUE ELOIZE 
Since I'm a new faculty member at Penn State, the university offered me and Tara free tickets to a cultural event of our choice that the university was sponsoring.  So we decided to go see Cirque Eloise, which is an acrobatic theater group, similar to Cirque du Soleil.

Here are couple pics that came up on Google Images that capture a few highlights of the show, although the images don't do it justice.  It was really great show.

We had Natalie Farnsworth come and babysit our kids, including baby Ryzen.  We fed Ryzen right before we left, put on the "Emporer's New Groove" for the older kids to watch, and made the night special for them too by having sleeping bags set up downstairs that they could fall asleep in when the movie ended.  This was the first time we'd left baby Ryzen, so we were a little worried.  We said a little prayer as we left, because we knew this babysitting outing could go smooth or it could be miserable for Natalie. Fortunately, Ryzen went right to sleep as we left and the older kids went right to sleep right after their movie.  So everyone had a good time.  Pfew!

The Chunk

Ryzen is now quite a beefy 3 month old.  He's well over 16 lbs, and wears 9 month old clothing. We like to call him "chunk chunk."  He's also old enough now to put in a Bumbo chair, which he doesn't mind.  (He's a pretty laid back guy thus far.)  He's also developed the coordination to grab things, like sheets, and pull them to his mouth.  That's his favorite thing to do.  In addition, he's begun drooling like crazy.  We have to put a bib on him to keep him from soaking his clothes.  

All the kids accompany Aria as she walks to the end of the street to catch the bus in the morning.  It got pretty cold in the morning a few days this week (although for the most part the weather here has still been very lovely).  So we put Ryzen in the little bear outfit to keep him warm.

Zade's crazy antics
Just before bed Zade was all hyper, running around his room and pretending to be a ninja.

He then grabbed one of his swords and began hamming it up.

 "I'm gonna chop your head off!"  (One of his favorite phrases, which we believe he picked up from when we read scripture stories before bed.)  :)

Beware, the lizard tongue!

 Little cheeseball. :)

Mt. Nittany

Tara and I went on a date, where we dropped the older kids off at the Smith's house, and went on a hike up Mt. Nittany (emphasis on the word "up").  It was a short, but steep hike through the forest.

There was a nice observation spot at the top. 

ZADE'S CO-OP PRE-SCHOOL

BACK TO SCHOOL SHOPPING

Zade had outgrown almost all of his clothes, so she picked up a few shirts for him. He was pretty excited. 

Aria's First Day of School

ARIA'S 1st DAY OF SCHOOL
Aria began kindergarten this week at Park Forest Elementary school, with Ms. Mattivi teaching her class.  There are 18 kids in her class, and she's so excited.  She took the bus on her first day, and didn't have a single tear, since our neighbors Abby and Cooper took the bus with her.  It was definitely a blessing for her to head to school with some friends already.  Tara on the other hand, started tearing up, since her little baby is growing up so fast.

CHICKEN NUGGETS

Here's another little gem that came from Zade's 3 year old lips this week.  Tara was asking Zade if he'd like to eat some chicken nuggets, and his response was, "mmmm.... they taste like heaven with ketchup on top."

GRANDMA & GRANDPA "D" COME TO VISIT

My parents were so kind to cancel their cruise along the East Coast in order to come and visit us in our new home, and to see Ryzen receive his baby blessing.

Penn State Arboretum

Black Moshannon State Park

Ryzen's Baby Blessing- Grandma Debenham bought Ryzen this cute outfit for his blessing.