Happy Halloween!

Our Halloween celebrations started last weekend in Idaho Falls. Holli suggested a pumpkin patch in town and we went with Darcy, Max and Eliza. We were going to a trunk or treat afterwards, so the all wore their costumes to the pumpkin patch! So cute. There was a train. Blake liked sitting on it ... as long as it wasn't moving.

So the big kids went on a train ride.

And Blake started looking for a pumpkin.

He's a pretty cute Tigger, if I must say.

As soon as Mylie got off the train, she was ready to find a pumpkin for herself!

My best attempt at getting all 5 of them looking at the camera.

Ritchie grandkids are pretty darn cute!

And here is the newest grandbaby, Lila, in her costume.

Of course while we were in Idaho Falls we had to decorate and eat Grandma's famous sugar cookies. Love the look on Blake's face is this one.

Grandma helping out Mylie and Max.

Yesterday was a busy pre-Halloween day with trick or treating to Daddy's office, the courthouse, and to Grandma and Grandpa Breach. And then tonight they were off again. Princess Mylie posing with Bosco, our new puppy.

The kids had such a fun Halloween week.

Happy Halloween!

This boy ...

really truly cracks me up. He's walking around the house this morning having a deep conversation on his Elmo phone. Mylie and I are giggling at him and it is reminding me to write down the funny things he does.

• He jabbers non-stop but only have a handful of words (that we understand). This doesn't stop his communication in the least. For instance, yesterday we had to stop in Coscto quickly to pick up a few things. We are across the store, but Blake spots the samples, points and starts grunting. It was so funny! Better yet, they were cream puffs!
• This morning I found Blake in the kitchen on the floor. He had pulled one of the place mats off the table and was laying on it doing push ups. Not exaggerating at all. It was so stinkin' funny. He is a totally mini-me of Jeff.
• He loves to dance (total white boy style). He has serious moves to the Dora Explorer theme song.
• He loves to take out the garbage. Whenever there are boxes or containers (bigger things) he takes them and puts them by the garage door for Daddy to take them out. He is a good helper.

We sure love this little man, also known as Blakey, Blakester, Colonel, Bubba, Buddy and Turd.

WARNING: Insanely cute baby & momma pictures ahead!

I am not really a spontaneous person. I like to plan things, things are planned at our house months in advance. But last week I was talking to Bailey and she was talking about all the new baby animals at Hogle Zoo, including the baby elephant. When we were last at Hogle Zoo in July, the momma elephant was getting close to having her baby. I got off the phone with her and Jeff and I spontaneously decided we would go to Salt Lake this weekend to see the baby animals.

Oh my goodness, I am so glad we did! We had such a fun (albeit quick) trip. We left Friday afternoon and got to our hotel around 9 that night. Bailey came to the hotel to visit the kids. They were slightly excited about the whole trip in general and probably didn't fall asleep until 11:30 or 12 ... and up at 7, ack. Regardless, they were such good kiddos and it was a fun trip. We saw the baby animals, went on the carousel and the train. We got back home around 10 on Saturday night.

This baby elephant (Zurri) is one of the cutest things I have ever seen. She looks so little, but she was born in August and was 251 pounds. I guess that isn't too little!

She was totally performing for the {large} crowd. Too cute!

Then onto the baby giraffe, born in July. We guessed she was about 7-8 feet tall.

They were hiding, but there were 3 tiger cubs. I wished we could have seen them play, goodness, I bet it would have been precious.

There were also baby snow leopards (but they were really hiding), a baby monkey and a young orangutan. She was the cutest thing and was playing with her dad. There was a blanket in with them and she would put it over his face and then pull it off, totally playing peek a boo!

We had such a great time. It was nice to just get away as a family and spend some quality time together. You know how sometimes you have those moments when you realize how lucky you are? I had one sitting on the little train at the zoo, with Blake on my lap and Mylie sitting next to me. Jeff and I had a great chance to talk uninterrupted on the ride home while the kids were asleep. It was a spectacular weekend!

Meet Bosco.

Bosco is our new boxer puppy. He is too little to come to our house yet, just 4 and a half weeks old. The kids (Jeff and Mylie, haha) are so excited. Blake will be too when he figures out what is going on. I'm excited to bring this cute little dude home and to watch my kids have their own puppy. We have his bed, bowls, toys, leash and collar all ready to go. We just need to pick up a kennel and some dog food. Only a few more weeks ....

Busy Bs

as in busy Breach family. Jeff pointed out to me that I have not blogged lately. My poor picture of the day blog has been deserted the last few weeks. I haven't downloaded pictures off my camera in weeks. Sigh. September is always this way.

Here is a little run down on what has been going on at our house.

JEFF - His work is busy, but he was just able to promote someone into an assistant supervisor type position which will help him out and allow him to switch to 4 - 10s (yay!) with Fridays off. He is waiting for his instructor to set up his black belt test. This is something he has been working towards for years, I'm really proud of his dedication. He is trying to plan a staycation for us (without the kids).

STEPH - I'm teaching 9 credits at CWI and running the Youth Court program. Crazy busy. I've been baking more than usual which makes Jeff happy - recent successes, caramel corn (2 varities) and chocolate pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting. Loving the kids. Drinking extra diet coke. Reading the new Dan Brown book. Actually scrapbooked 6 pages last weekend. I've already started my Christmas shopping ... so fun!

MYLIE - She is loving soccer. Their team is having a lot of fun this season and it is fun to watch them improve each week. She has scored 3 goals so far this season and her pink shin guards are so cute. She has been playing dolls a lot lately. She has a great imagination. We have some fun library books and need to go get new ones. She loves loves loves going to the library. She and Jeff went on a movie date last weekend to "Up" and she had such fun. She is growing up so fast and I think we are going to have to go on fall shopping spree. She is much taller than she was last fall! She is going to be a princess for Halloween, so fitting.

BLAKE - He's just crazy. He understands so much that we tell him. He still has a limited vocabulary (at least that we can understand). He loves to play outside and just stands by the backdoor and begs to go out (like a dog). He starts dancing everytime he hears music come on ... TV show, commercial, radio, whatever. He is going to be a martial artist like his Daddy apparently. He and Henry fight a bit at daycare. They are the same age, but Blake is bigger. Apparently today Blake just sat on Henry, looked at him and folded his arms. So I'm totally open to ideas regarding hitting and wrestling ....

OVERALL - we are happy and excited about fall! We are in the process of getting a family dog which is exciting for all of us. Mylie is over the moon about it and Blake walks around saying "dogdogdogdogdogdogdog." We have everything ready to go except the dog and the food. We are working on finding the perfect dog for our family. Our weeks go slow and our weekends go fast. We are happiest just being together ... hanging out ... watching movies ... just as long as we are together!

There are people in your life

who you really miss when they are gone. I can't believe it has been 3 years that Grandma has been gone. Yet on the other hand, it seems like so much longer than that since I have talked to her. I still miss her so much. I love this picture, taken just about 6 weeks before she died.

Sometimes when my parents are on vacation and I don't talk to my mom for a week or so, I have this glimpse into what it must feel like for my mom not to be able to pick up the phone and call her mom and talk anytime she wants. And it hurts.

I'm so grateful to know that I will see her again someday. I'm grateful for eternal families. I am grateful that I had my Grandma for 30+ years of my life and that I have both my Grandpas going on 34 years. I am grateful that my grandparents aren't distant relatives but people who are a very important part of my life. I am so blessed.

Silly Kids!

**Mylie had a soccer game today (she scored 2 goals!). Jeff is the assistant coach so he is on the sidelines with the girls. There was a girl on the other team who was quite a bit taller than the girls on our team. Jeff said our girls were deep in discussion about her ... "How old do you think that big girl is? I bet she's a hundred." Silly girls.

**Blake loves dogs. But he thinks that all animals are dogs. So when he sees a dog (or any other animal) he yells "Dog! Dog! Dog!" After soccer today we went to lunch with Jeff's parents at Famous Dave's BBQ (yum). They have wild game mounted and hanging on the wall, such as a big elk right in front of our table. Blake yelled (loudly) "Dog! Dog! Dog!" Silly boy.