November

November is always a fun time around our house.  We started early getting the house ready for Christmas. With such nice weather we couldn't not put up our Christmas lights.

 Don't let Monty try and say I didn't help. I have photo proof.

 Mia in her bed she made for her and Violet (the dog)

 Nothing better than a game of Candy Land in front of the fire on a cold morning.  Mia's getting pretty good at playing it too. Most the time she'll follow the rules.

 I think it was in September Mia started a tumbling class.  In November they had a parent day to show off all the things they've learned. I'm there every week but on parent day I got to go out onto the floor and I took some pictures.  The balance beam is one of Mia's favorites.

 She's really good at her forward rolls and likes doing them on the wedge because she goes super fast.

 Backward rolls are a bit harder. She has done them by herself a couple times but usually needs a little help.

 My brother and his family came out to Idaho from Colorado so Mia and I made a quick trip up to Grandma and Grandpa's house to see them.

 Mia and Khloe were really good friends and played well together.

 Mia loves swimming in Grandma's hot tub. Poor Daxton had to stay out with his daddy.

 My sister in-law brought this really cute snowman craft for the girls to make.  They are socks with rice or something in them that you then decorate to make a snowman.  Mia has 2 of them that she is constantly playing with now.

 There was steady competition for Grandma's attention.

 November is also my birthday.  I had my usual birthday pie (YUMMY)!

 Mia got me the movie Now You See Me.  If you've never seen it I would highly suggest it...it's a good one.

 Monty got me an awesome popcorn popper with the seeds and movie theater flavoring to go with it.  It makes the BEST popcorn. I love it! Makes the microwave stuff taste awful.

 Mia made her own little fort.  Notice her favorite Daniel Tiger in the background. LOL

 The night before Thanksgiving Monty's family does pie night.  That way you can enjoy your pie because you aren't stuffed with Thanksgiving dinner. We went to Idaho for Thanksgiving but I was on stand by for work.  I was scheduled but they didn't need me, but I had to be available until 9 to know for sure that I was off for the night.  So we packed everything up and headed down to Monty's parents for pie night while we waited.

 We had soup for dinner and then there were lots of pies to chose from for dessert.

 Mia went for the berry and the chocolate...smart girl, I did the same.

 Doesn't Sophie look super impressed by Monty's beard?

 I forgot to take pictures of Thanksgiving dinner at my parents house.  We did the whole traditional Thanksgiving dinner with my parents and my brother Shawn (Steve and his family were back in Colorado), and then planned out our Black Friday shopping.  Yes we are those crazy people up at all hours trying to score the deals.  We got everything we wanted again this year in large part to my online shopping I was doing for everyone late Wednesday night/early Thursday morning.  It was definitely an easier way to do it.  Friday afternoon we took Mia to the "Big Park." She loves the park that is near my parents house.  We had to convince her that it was closed on Thursday to keep her from begging to go.

 She's getting pretty good on the monkey bars. She keeps telling us she needs to practice.  It's pretty funny.

 I don't know how she didn't fall out of that swing.  Monty had her swinging about as high as it would go.

 Even Monty did a little climbing...

Can't wait for Christmas.  December is even more fun than November!

October

We had a good month in October.  The weather was nice enough to do lots outside and we just seemed to have a good, fun, and happy month.
We are officially done with training wheels.  Mia got it all figured out this month and is doing awesome.  Initially she struggled with starting, stopping, and turning but now she just gets on and goes.  Stopping can still be a challenge at times but I think part of it is her bike is just a tiny bit too big for her still.  It will be just perfect next summer.

Look at her go!

We went mini golfing at Cherry Hill again this year for Scary Hill.  I almost think Mia did better with the concept last year than she did this year.

We had a lot of fun though.

One of the few times Mia would let us help her and she actually putted the ball instead of kicking, throwing, are just pushing it around.

Mia thought the decorations were pretty fun.

It was really busy the evening we went so Mia didn't get to do quite as much playing around as she would have liked.

This year we had to find a new place for pumpkins.  A friend told us about a local farm.  We didn't even know it was there but we plan on going back next summer and enjoying some fresh local produce.

Mia's pumpkin was the big one...of course

We did a lot of work outside to get the yard ready for fall.  Mia helped Monty till the garden up.  Don't mind the bike helmet... she was multitasking. She thinks if she takes her helmet off it means she's done riding her bike for the day and now all she wants to do is ride her bike.

She helped me cut down our sad little peach tree that died this year.

We painted our pumpkins again this year. I've decided it's so much easier than trying to carve them with little kids. Especially one that thinks she can do every thing herself now because she is 4.

Our finished products!

Mia had a great time at the FSA (Families Supporting Adoption) Halloween party.  They made ghost suckers.

She got to go fishing...a couple times.

And they had a dance off!

Then it was time for full costume for trick or treating down the hall.  Mia was a nurse this year...just like mommy (as she was telling everyone).

Mia and I made pumpkin, ghost, bat, and cat sugar cookies for our ward trunk or treat.  That was quite the chore. Like I said, now that Mia is 4 she thinks she can do everything herself.  It probably took 4 times longer to make the cookies but at least she had a good time.

Monty and Mia all ready to head out trick or treating. Monty is Sheldon from Big Bang Theory for anyone wondering.

I'd say she managed a pretty good candy haul.  They were out trick or treating for almost 2 hours. Luckily it was perfect weather for it. She even got 5 full size candy bars and got to enjoy hot chocolate around the fire at one house!

September

September was a great month.  Sadly once again I didn't take a whole bunch of pictures. My goal is to do better in October. The end of August and beginning of September were rather chilly so we spent a lot of time indoors. We built another massive fort one day.  We watched a movie and had a picnic lunch in our fort.

 Summer made a return after the 1st week and we were able to play outside in the water again.

 Now that it's the end of the year she actually gets the concept of the slip and slide and can slide almost to the end.

 It's hard to believe that my baby turned 4!  This year she wanted Hello Kitty cupcakes for her birthday.  Being the gourmet chef that I am when she found exactly what she wanted at Smiths I was more than happy to oblige.

 This year she waited until we were done singing Happy Birthday to blow out the candles!

 Of course she got spoiled again this year.  She got lots of adorable clothes from Nana and Grandpa and from her aunts.  Gina has embedded an obsession with Minnie Mouse.  Mia can't wait to go see the real Minnie Mouse next year.

 Mia also has an obsession with tractors.  Nana found the perfect shirt for a girl in love with tractors.

 More cute clothes.

 Mom and dad gave Mia a tea set...

 And a soccer goal.  We've had fun kicking the ball around outside.

 Mia definitely enjoyed her cupcakes.

 Watching her eat wasn't quite as enjoyable.

 We had a lot of fun playing outside after dinner (rice and gravy...Mia's choice) and cupcakes with ice cream.  Every time Mia made a goal Nana and Monty would swing her in the air.

 Grandma Barb came down from Idaho the weekend after Mia's birthday and took her to lunch and shopping for her birthday.  Grandma doesn't want to admit to anyone what she bought Mia for her birthday.  She got her a Nerf gun.  An "Awesome one that shoots 2 at a time."  What can I say the girl loves the toy and isn't it most important that Grandma got her what she wanted and she's happy?  Mia's a good mix of girly girl and tom boy.
While my mom was here we also made raspberry freezer jam with all the raspberries that managed to make it past Mia this summer.

 Refried beans anyone?

 I thought this was really cute.  The neighbor kids all lined up sitting in our driveway.

 The girls trying to take a nap.  Let me tell you it's not easy trying to take a nap with a wiggle worm.

 Mia was a robot...or so she says. I think she tends to get most creative when she has the laundry basket.

 When we finished the basement most of Mia's toys went downstairs. She still has a few in her room but I think her favorite thing to play with are her books.  She loves building houses, walls, and towers out of her books.  One night I went in to turn off her lamp before I went to bed and this is what I found.  I thought it was really cute.

 Gotta love this girl!