Random November Happenings...

Brad started a new job a few weeks ago.  So far, so good!  He is working in compliance for a company in the health industry and really enjoying the standard hours and short commute!  His company sent him to Cleveland for a week, so I took the opportunity to do some traveling myself.

 

Owen and I flew to San Diego for a week and completely surprised my mom!  She had no idea we were coming and we had a great time.  Owen loved the warm weather and feeding the horses with Great Grandpa Fox.  He also loved exploring new territory and picking flowers for Grandma.

Not sure if the flower made it into the house in one piece, but he was sure proud of himself!

 Brad and Owen had a few "guys night" where they ate dinner and watched sports together in the family room.    

Owen sported some Fox family pride on Thanksgiving with the Hardcastles

And we have officially entered the tantrum stage.  Fun!  Luckily they are few and far between.  Mostly it is when I won't give him any more snacks after his 3rd snacktime of the day.  The boy loves his snacks!

This little boy of ours...

Is pretty special.  Is my best bud.  Is so handsome.  Is the sweetest little boy, always giving us hugs & kisses.  Is funny.  Is so smart.  Is the best thing that ever happened to us!

We love you baby Owen! 

Happy Halloween!

 Last Wednesday was a Halloween themed mutual.  Since Brad and I are both in YM/YW right now (my last week for me... I'm so sad to go!) Owen got to come along with us.  We decided to whip out a family themed costume.  We could only get Owen to keep the hat on long enough for this picture, but don't we look good! 

I was bummed that Owen got a little cold Saturday that kept us from a friend's Halloween party... our costumes would have taken 1st prize.  Right, Nicki?!

Yesterday, we went to Brad's work and did some trick or treating office to office.  It was sweet!  He got more candy in 15 minutes than we would have gotten in 2+ hours of walking house to house.  Since he's still so little, we called it good and didn't do anymore trick or treating that night.  Probably our last year of ever getting away with that!

Last weekend we met up with some friends and went to the "Boo at the Zoo".  Basically everyone dresses up, walks around & looks at animals, and trick or treats at different vendor spots along the way.  It was pretty fun!  Of course, Owen had to sport a zoo-appropriate costume for that, so he was a cute little monkey.

 Cutest little monkey I've ever seen!

Special Visitors

We were lucky enough to have my Grandpa Fox & Dad visit us the last couple weeks.  Of course, they were a little more interested in a certain little boy than Brad & I... but who can blame them?!  It is always fun to have visitors, and since we only get to see my family a few times each year these quick visits were extra special!

Labor Day Fun in the Mountains

For Ron's birthday, we decided to head up to the mountains and camp for a couple of days. His birthday always falls around Labor Day, so it was perfect timing. Owen also celebrated his official birthday while we were there too.   

I guess we can't begin a camping trip with the Hardcastles without some sort of excitement.  Last time it was the river, this time it was a moose that was a little too close for comfort.  Ross, Ron and Owen saw it on their walk when we first got to camp.  Luckily, we never saw it come around again.

We camped up Big Cottonwood Canyon at the Spruces Campground.  It is only about 45 minutes from our house, which made it nice to be close if we needed to head back and get something or if Owen got sick, etc.  But it was absolutely beautiful!  Just as pretty as some of the places we've camped 2+ hours away. 

We had quite the group to celebrate Ron's birthday.  I think we consistently had about 16-20 people sleeping onsite, and for dinner one night we had 25 people!

Owen had fun being outside and checking out the trees, water, noises, etc.  We were a little underprepared for how cold it would get at night (in the 20s) so he didn't sleep that well, and ended up sleeping with us most nights.

On Saturday, Owen's actual birthday we went on a hike to Donut Falls.  Our good friends let us borrow their backpack, which made carrying Owen so nice.  The water was pretty cold, but Owen didn't seem to mind.  He enjoyed walking exploring it for a bit. 

(Nevermind the walking stick I'm holding... I have no idea where it came from)

That night we tried our luck with birthday cake #2, but Owen still wanted nothing to do with eating it.  He just enjoyed poking at it for a few minutes.  Silly boy!

On our last day, Brad & Chris took Owen up to "The Rock", a place they hiked to when they were little kids.  The same swingset is still there that they would play on 15+ years ago. 

As you can see, Owen loved swinging with Uncle Chris.  I think Uncle Chris had a pretty fun time too...

One year pictures

Yesterday Brad and I thought we would take a shot at our budding photography skills and try to get some pictures taken for Owen's 12 month photos.  I usually take him to a studio, but I really wanted to get some pictures that matched our outdoor family pictures.  Despite not totally knowing what we were doing or how to work the fancy camera we are "camera-sitting" for my brother, I think they turned out really well!

Owen's Birthday Party

We celebrated Owen's birthday last week so that my parents could join us.  I figure Owen would never know the difference, since he barely understood what was going on anways!  All he knew was that there were bright, shiny things attached to his high chair, all of his favorite people were over at the house, and that he got some new toys.   What more could a kid ask for?
We kept the celebration small and only had about 10 immediate family members over.  For dinner we had Owen's favorite: pizza & pasta!   We played a fun "All About Owen" game, opened presents, and then gathered around to see Owen *not* demolish his birthday cake.  All he did was touch it with one finger, and then crumble it into tiny pieces!  Even when I dipped his pacifier in the frosting he seemed disgusted that I even offered it back to him.  I couldn't believe it.  The boy who eats everything, wanted nothing to do with his own birthday cake.  Oh well, we still got some cute pictures which is what it's all about anyways, right?!

 Happy Birthday banner & Pompoms that I made.  Cute & easy!

 Owen excited to greet everyone!  He knew something was up.

 Some of the yummy spread my mom helped me with.  It was all so yummy, especially those Oreo balls.  Definitely my new favorite treat.  YUM!

 After a frantic cry for help the night before, Brad saved the day and decorated the cake.  We used crushed graham crackers for the "sand" and then he freehanded the beach ball.  Pretty simple, but I thought it turned out really cute!

Ready to open some presents!

He wasted no time and got right to trying out his new tee set.  It was right after this that he took his first steps!  We were all going crazy, as you can imagine. 

Time for cake, as you can see he's not quite sure what's going on.

But quickly decides cake is not for him!

"Isn't it funny how you all have your cameras out, and I refuse to eat my cake!  Here I'll touch it for you, but that's all you'll get from me!"

In the end, we resigned to the fact that he didn't like cake and just let him play with it. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY OWEN!  WE LOVE YOU!