Count Your Many Blessings

It's the beginning of November and I'm already feeling like the end of the year is too close.  This last week we were pretty busy and I don't see it slowing down any time in the near future.


David:  His blessing was this weekend! It was absolutely incredible. Byron's parents were able to come in from New Mexico, they finally got to meet their newest grandson in person, and I was thrilled to have my Grandpa and Grandma Wilson there as well.  They came up from Louisville for the day and had to start early, so I am grateful they made it.  My Parents and brothers and sisters (minus his namesake since he's still serving a mission in Brazil) all came to our ward for it, as well as Grandma and Grandpa Lane, my Uncle Ryan and Aunt Wendy and their children, Uncle Ben and Aunt Liz and their children, President Connell, who was the branch president for the YSA branch Byron and I were in before getting married, AND my OB.  That was pretty exciting for me.  She had to leave before sacrament meeting was over due to family obligations, but I was so grateful she came and was part of our special day. Byron performed the blessing and the spirit was so powerful.  I love being a latter-day saint and having the wonderful opportunity to receive blessings for my children as they begin their earthly life.

Caleb: He had a good time dressing up as a cow boy for trick or treating Friday night.  Byron took him out with my dad and 4 of my siblings and trick or treated for about an hour before coming back home.  My dad stayed out, he takes trick or treating really serious and totally books it (I was impressed Byron managed to keep up while carrying Caleb the entire time), but Caleb ate some of his candy and put a coat on to help Granny and I pass out candy.  We kept him up that night so he could be awake when Byron's parents got here and he loved having his Grandma and Grandpa Boulton here for the weekend. I'm still not sure he understood they were related, but he was quite spoiled and had a good time playing with them as much as he could.

Byron:  He's been absolutely wonderful.  He helped me with whatever he could trying to get things clean and ready for this weekend while still working hard every day at work.  He rides his bike to work every chance he gets, loves being a Daddy and is so kind and loving.  I am so grateful for him and everything he does for our family.

Arielle:  This week has been great.  I went to water zumba, got grocery shopping done, did some visiting teaching, made cookies with Caleb, and had fun spending what time I could with my mommy.

In General:  This week has really been pretty busy.  Byron's soccer season was finally over, so for FHE Monday night we had the elders over for dinner and carved pumpkins with them.  One of them asked for a pattern off line and carved angel moroni into his pumpkin, which was pretty impressive, and we had a good time eating cookies covered in pumpkin goop up to our elbows. :)  Tuesday night I picked Byron up from work a little early and we went to my parent's house for family pictures.  They turned out incredibly well and we even managed to get a couple cute ones of Caleb even though he was being a total stinker and just wanted to play on the trampoline the whole time.  Afterwards we went with my mommy and sister for their end of season soccer party.  Byron had never been to Marion's pizza before, so he got to have that fun experience.  He ended up not really liking the pizza, but he said the interior was cool and Caleb had fun running around.  Wednesday night we went as a family to the scouting broadcast.  It was really cool and I wish all the families had been invited as well.  They sang a funny song thanking all of their mothers with lyrics that went something like "Mom you earned your eagle, but they gave the badge to me,"  It was really funny and I had a great time listening to it.  Thursday was Halloween and since our beggar's night was rescheduled (and I"ve never really been a big fan anyway) we had my parents over for pizza and treats and watched a cute halloween movie.  Friday night they came back and my Mommy helped me hand out candy to almost 200 kids (a lot of people came in from other parts of the area) while the kids all went off trick or treating.  Saturday we dropped Caleb off with a baby sitter and went on a lunch cruise on the BB Riverboats with my parents, Byron's parents, my Lane grandparents, and Alyssa even got off work and paid for tickets for herself and a date so she could come.  We totally filled my parents 11 passenger van and had a great time.   A few of us danced to the music even though the selection wasn't as great as it could have been, and there was a children's super hero cruise there as well on the deck below that came through to parade their costumes.  It was pretty cute and the food was amazing.  When we got back Caleb got Grandpa Boulton to watch Cars with him while I got some cleaning done and my mother in law got to hold David while Byron did something to update her computer.  I got to do some baking that night as well, and stayed up way past my bedtime.  Sunday morning we all got ready and headed out for David's baby blessing, and after church all of the family came over for a baked potato bar.  It was fun having the house filled with family and I was so grateful for the incredible support we received from all of our loved ones.  After everyone went home we were able to Skype with Craig and Mindy's family and after dinner we got to Skype Kristen, Nathan, and Carl as well.  Caleb had fun putting on a show for those on the screen and it was nice being able to connect with family out of state.

Well, I guess that's all the news from this part of the world.  Hope you all had a great week too!

My sweet baby enjoying his swing.

The elders with the pumpkins they carved. The one on the right did angel moroni!

Caleb with the pumpkin he and I carved "together"

Caleb helping me make cookies for visiting teaching

David in his halloween cosutme <3

Our pumpkin family <3

Our group on the cruise

Mom and Dad Boulton with David

My adorable sister Alyssa and her date

David with his Great Grandpa Wilson

We were so glad they could make it for his blessing :)

Granny and Grandad!

Caleb was totally spoiled by Grandma and Grandpa Boulton.
He got to open his birthday present early and play with
 Grandma and Grandpa before we put it back up to wait for his actual birthday. He loved it.