Dessert Garden Fun and DSU Trunk or Treat

Saturday we realized that we have really been slacking on our time we spend out doors. So we decided to go to the red dessert garden and explore. It is a really neat park with dinosaur tracks and a man made stream to resemble the Virgin river. They have all the plants labeled and facts about deserts and desert living. It was a lot of fun and it was so nice to be out walking in the sunshine.

 This past Wednesday we had a chance to attend the Dixie State University Athletic Department Trunk or Treat (Wow that was a mouthful :p) Avery was a little afraid of some of the costumes that the athletes were wearing but had a great time overall. James was ale to join us for about 30-45 min before he had to head over to the Haunted House. (I mentioned that he got a job there right?) After he left Avery took a few laps up and down the football field getting all of her energy out which was fine with me ;) More energy gone the easier getting her to bed will do...at least that what I thought. :p She had a lot of fun, She was excited about all the different candy she got and would tell me about them after they got put in her bucket. :) She got to meet Rapunzel and get a picture with her and of course introduced herself to some other kids and made some new friends. :) Avery is REALLY good at that I love it. On a more serious note I also noticed some odd behavior from her; after reflecting on it I realized that Avery has anxiety. She was worried about walking in the parking lot because she would get hit by a car, she didn't want to walk on the side walk because it was to close to the road where there was a lot of cars driving. She was worried about the cars staying on the road because she didn't want them to drive on the side walk and hit her. Then she was worried about the people. Are they going to come in and get candy too, did that little boy/girl get candy, or will they take her candy. On and on at first I was just a little baffled and not gonna lie kinda frustrated about it. But after thinking it over and talking it over with James we really think she may have some anxiety. So I will be talking to our doc and see if he can recommend any good books or other research options so that I can learn how to help her recognize and cope with her anxiety. I am very thankful that this is something we noticed now so that I can prepare myself on how to help her and handle her as well as help her understand a little better about how she is feeling, what she is feeling and have more conversations about her feeling. If anyone has had a child I would like to know your input as well.

Halloween Carnival

Avery's pre-school had a Halloween Carnival this past wed (Oct 21) I tried to get everyone's costumes done before the party but it wasn't happening. So I focused on getting Avery's finished and then James and I just dressed up as a pirate and a witch just for the party, I am going to work on all of our costumes this weekend to get them done and ready for next week. We were a little late but it really worked out for the better. There wasn't as many people there as I was expecting. Avery hopped right in and started finding her little friends to say hi to. James loved being able to see that, because I drop her off at school I am the one who gets to interact with Avery's teachers and her friends. It was fun to see how excited James was to watch Avery interact with her friends. Avery loved seeing all the different rooms all decked out in Halloween stuff. Every room had a fun game to play and then they got to go trick or treating to the teachers. They could play the games as much as they wanted, but they usually only gave them 1 treat. Avery had so much fun playing with all the games and seeing her friends. James and I were surprised that not as many parents and adults dressed up. Avery had made a cute cheese cloth ghost that the teachers had displayed in their room for the carnival. At the end of the carnival she got to take her ghost home with her. The second reason why I was happy we were a little late is because it was a pain to get her away from everything. It was a lot easier once they started closing everything down. It took a little while to get Avery calmed down after the excitement and the content of sugar intake. But we drove around and looked at Halloween decorations for a little bit and by the time we got home and ready for bed she didnt last long before she crashed. Which was excellent because James and I wanted to sleep too. by 9:30 we were all in bed and two thirds of us were happily snoozing and snoring away. :) It always takes me just a little bit longer to unwind, so I read until close to 10 before I fell asleep. Overall it was a lot of fun, Avery was still a little sleepy the next day and her teacher said she was one of the first to fall asleep which is not like her at all. :) She is usually the last IF they can get her to nap. :p

9 years

We have been enjoying one of the best months out of the year. :) We have been trying to get on our feet still from me being out of work for so long so for our anniversary we got a little creative. I woke up the morning of our anniversary with a sweet text from James explaining that he was going to do random text messages through the day looking back on our time together. I wrote him a 4 part love story distributed over 5 cards with a few candy goodies on a few. It was really very sweet and lots of fun and it felt like we were taking advantage of still having a special all day anniversary despite the fact we had to work. I cant really explain how amazing it felt, I think just because of all that we have been through in the past year....or even 3 years. It was nice to have something like this that was a little more intimate and thought out and helped us look back on our time together through the whole day. When James got home he had picked one of the flowers on our hibiscus plant and gave it to me which was so cute. Pont des Arts. Where people have been placing love locks on the bottom of the bridge. We climbed up there and I had a lock that James and I added to the bridge. With everything that we have been through and the hardships that we have faced particularly this past year or two, I felt like this was a good way to once again cement in our love and commitment to each other. I'm sorry if this offends someone; I know there is a lot of controversy over the love locks all over the world.

 Then we got ready and headed out to dinner at Dixie State's Red Rock Cafe. So my work ;) After dinner I had planned a walk at the nature park, but I had a special treat planned  that needed some light and since it was already getting late and dark, I told James and Avery that we had to go straight to the the second half of the evening. For those who don't know St George very well, there is this place called Pioneer Park. It is a red rock park with tons of hiking and fun; there is this hike up to this very large rock that over looks the city of St George and has the word DIXIE painted on it. You can repel and rock climb off the rock or just sit and admire the view. To get there though you climb up these hand chiseled stairs and then cross a metal bridge. A tradition has started on this bridge that is a lot like the
After we just sat and watched the sunset over St George. Avery loved spending the time with us and looking at all the lights of the city. I think she could probably feel that that was a special day and just the love and wonderful feelings the day had contained. James and I have had hard time some harder than others. We have come close to separation and even divorce (not gonna lie) and I was afraid this move down to St George was going to break us. It has been hard, we've been battling crippling depression, anxiety, job loss, financial difficulty and even expulsion from a daycare. But through it all we have tried to focus on our marriage and our personal and coupling relationship with the Lord. We have tried to turn to each other and relying on the Lord. Looking back at the past year, yes it has been hard. But James and I are so much more the better for it. We appreciate each other and the relationship we have together. We have grown together in the gospel and have felt the spirit more fully in our home and lives. It kind of feels like we are having an opportunity of getting to know each other again and the more time we spend with each other (how little or great) the closer we become. I know James doesn't read this but I just want to declare my love for him. He is my best friend, partner in crime, cuddle buddy and my husband. I am falling in love with him all over again and this time it feel like a more solid love (if that makes sense) and I am loving every minute I get to spend with him. Our 9 years together so far have been a roller coaster ride but I really wouldn't trade them. I never knew I could grow so close to someone over the course of these years to the point where I can honestly say and feel that James truly is my other half and without him I wouldn't be whole.

Staheli Family Farm

James came home one day very excited. He found out that there are haunted houses in St George and he had applied to one. Well long story short he got the job at the Field of Screams at Staheli Family Farm and was very excited about it. So the last 2 weeks of Sept  he got to help them set up the haunted house. On Sept 25th I took him to work and he introduced me to one of the owners. She showed us around the farm and let Avery and I stay and play for free while James went to work.At first Avery was shy and a little unsure, but that didn't last long. :p Before I knew it she was going crazy over all the exciting things. She finally settled on starting with the petting zoo, until she saw the funnest thing there, in her opinion. The only way to describe it is the blob, like the one on Heavyweights. Except half of this one was buried, so you could jump on it like a trampoline.

Anyway she spent a good 45 minutes on this thing before she decided that she wanted to go somewhere else. She didn't really give a lot of the animals the time of day. Until she saw the pigs, this girl LOVES pigs its kinda funny, but cute. We spent the whole night going from swings, slides, games, mazes, (except the corn maze it wasn't open yet) and many many more. She was afraid of this witch that wondered the farm until she plucked up the courage to go saw hi. She got a big witchy hug and a sticker, which she was very excited about. She got a butterfly painted on her face and was off for more adventures. When James was finished he came to meet us at the farm. He played some games with us and went down the slide with Avery and such. But we were all pretty hungry and wanted to go get some dinner. We had to almost literally drag Avery away from the farm she really had a lot of fun and loved it.

 She wasn't a fan of the minion and it was like pulling teeth to get her to take a picture with it. :p