Happy Halloween

Zach begged to be a Race Car Driver for Halloween.  He went to the races with Dad back in September, and everything in his life is now somehow related to race cars.  We have all sorts of 'race cars' all around the house and he thinks every car on the street is a 'race car'.  I have to say he made a darn cute little race car driver.

Beka made an adorable little cat and, while she wasn't so sure about the whole thing in the beginning, was definitely interested in all that candy by the time it was over.

Zach's "Pumpkin Friends" we carved for FHE

All the cousins at Grandma's House after the Trunk or Treat

Pumpkin Patch

A few weekends ago, we took the kids to a local pumpkin patch to ride some rides, pet some animals and pick out a pumpkin to carve for Halloween.

Zach loved the little bunny rabbits and the swings were definitely his favorite ride.

Fun all around and just in time for Halloween!

Grass!!

While those who did not grow up in a desert don't understand this, fall is the time we desert dwellers are finally able to spend some good quality time outside.

Beka was too young to play outside when summer hit and so now she's finding out all about the wonders of the outdoors...

Like grass..

and swings..

Zach, a lifelong lover of the outdoors has been enjoying our beautiful weather as well

Yeah for fall!! :-)

Tractor

Who doesn't love a ride on a tractor?

A Day At the Farm

Nothing feels more like fall than visiting a farm and picking some apples.

So.. at the end of September that's just what we did.

We drove over to Murray Family Farms near Bakersfield and had a great day picking apples, jumping on their giant air 'pillow', petting animals and racing water ducks.

So much fun.  Will definitely have to do it again next year.

Kart Races

In what is becoming an annual Reed Family tradition, we went to the Go Kart Races in Downtown Lancaster in mid-September.

This year though.. Zach was big enough to get to actually RIDE on a Go-Kart.  He was definitely excited!!

Let's Go Fly a Kite!!

Once Zach got kite fever, there was just no turning back.

He pestered us until we went out back on a crazy windy day and flew Dad's kite.. which he couldn't actually fly because the wind would have picked him right up and he taken him away...

Monterey - Part 2

We went up to Monterey over Labor Day weekend just to 'get away from it all' for a while.

We went to the aquarium, did some shopping in Gilroy and even hit a couple of estate sales in Pebble Beach.

However, the highlight of the entire trip -- at least according to Zach -- was flying kites.  The wind up there is perfect and the weather was so beautiful that we spent every afternoon watching his 'Cars' kite fly high above our heads.  His new favorite song (which can be heard pretty much any day)?  "Let's Go Fly a Kite!"  :-)

Zach and his new favorite activity

Daddy and Crew at Lone Cyprus in Pebble Beach

9 Months

Time is FLYING by... and to let us know just how fast, Rebekah reached the 9 month mark at the end of August.

She is such a happy little baby -- right up until you do something she's not happy with, and then she can scream with the best of them.

She was 'scooting' around with a fish crawl similar to Zach's by 9 Months and was pulling up on just about anything she could find.  She wants to be doing whatever Zach is doing, much to Zach's dismay, and is therefore a huge fan of tinker toys, legos and cars.

Go figure..

We love her though and couldn't imagine our little family without her

Trek

At the end of our camping trip up in Troy Meadow, the kids, Jake and my mother-in-law headed back home while Chad and I stuck around.  We were then privileged to participate in the Stake Youth Trek that happened the following week. 

For those who may not know what Trek is, it's a 3-5 day event where youth ages 12-18 are given the opportunity to reenact a pioneer handcart trek.  They wear pioneer garb, are divided into 'families' and have to carry all their gear on their carts.  They walk a total of 15-20 miles, set camp each night and cook all their meals with their families.

While I've heard stories for the past few years about this, I never had the opportunity to participate, so I was excited to be able to go this year.  Chad is a member of the Stake Young Men's Presidency, so we really were just there to do ancillary support (Chad was head of the official port-a-potty transport crew), but it was an amazing experience I will never forget.  The youth had an incredible time and it gave all of us a renewed appreciation for our pioneer ancestors a well a renewed appreciation for the comforts of modern life.

The handcarts heading out...

Pioneer children sang as they walked and walked and walked...

A bunch of tired kids at the end of a 10-mile day

Army General coming to take the men off to the Mormon Betallion -- the start of the 'Women's Pull'

Resting and processing at the top of the Women's Pull

The meadow where we camped for the last two nights

Chad taking a ride with the trail boss through the meadow

The whole crew the morning before heading back to civilization

Heading home..

Troy Meadow

Our big family outing this year was up to Troy Meadow.  We loaded up the Toy Hauler, the kids, my nephew, Jake (who came out and stayed with us for the month of July), and Chad's Mom and we all went up to the mountains for a long weekend.

Zach got to have his first Quad ride, which he totally loved.

We took a lovely hike

and did a LOT of just hanging out at the campsite watching Zach get as dirty as he could.  Unfortunately, I have no pics of the dirtiness.. just cute Beka hanging out with Grandma :-)

Monterey: Part 1

Wanting to spend some time with my parents, and get out of the heat of the AV for a while, the kids and I headed up to the house in Monterey to spend a couple of weeks at the end of June.

The weather was PERFECT -- sunny and cool and beautiful.

We hung out with the family, got to spend some quality time with cousin Tanner, did some yard sale-ing and (as always) found some AMAZING stuff, and even got to help Tanner fly a kite (which Zach LOVED).

It was fun to get away and spend some time with the Elsberry's for a while..

Mom & Beka at the park watching Zach have lots of fun

Zach hard at work with his 'new' weed eater -- a fabulous yard sale find. :-)

Beka happy and smiling for everyone