Fall Fun

We've had beautiful weather this October, which has made for some great fall outings!  Owen's preschool co-op visited the Thanksgiving Point farm for a field trip.  The kids had a great time riding the ponies, going on the wagon ride, and feeding the animals.  

These five are such great buddies and have a lot of fun together.

Last week we had a few neighbors over and made some Halloween sugar cookies.  Owen & Porter were not thrilled that I tried to interrupt them for pictures.  They sure love their cookies (wonder who they got that from...) 

 We also ventured over to Peterson Farms for our annual visit.  The boys loved sitting on the tractors and running around to all the pumpkins.  Everything was much too exciting for Porter to focus on the camera, but we still got some cute pictures.   

He was trying!  This picture makes me laugh.

2013 above and 2014 below.

Look how much they have grown!  

Instagram September-October

The boys enjoying the pumpkin patch with the ladies during Priesthood Session of Conference

Porter had a scissor scare when he opened the scissors to cut the grass, but instead cut his eye!  We were worried their might be serious damage and spent the evening at Primary Children's.  We were so relieved when we got the good news that is was just a surface injury with no permanent damage!

No visit to BYU is complete without a visit to the creamery for ice cream (or in this early morning case, donuts!)

My neighbor spent the afternoon teaching me how to make 100% whole wheat bread that actually rises!  Love how it makes the house smell.

Owen's yearly allergy testing.  Still positive for peanuts (darn!) but for the first year, all tree nuts were negative.  He is loving his newfound Nutella sandwiches!

Got to celebrate the upcoming arrival of Jordan and Jessica's baby girl!  We can't wait to have another cousin close by.  

San Diego in September

The boys and I traveled to San Diego for 2 weeks at the end of September to "babysit" 3 of my siblings while my parents enjoyed a 30th anniversary trip!  I was a little nervous how everything would go, not having any reinforcements for 10 days, but everything worked out and we had a great time.    

Headed out!  The boys did great on the plane-- easiest flight yet!

Although we had celebrated a few weeks before, Porter officially turned two while we were there.  He loved having cupcakes at "More Mimi's" house to celebrate.  

It was so fun to see my BFF from high school and her two cute kiddos one afternoon.  

We visited Grandma Urry one day.  The boys had their first ever Lunchables and thought it was the coolest thing ever!

Owen got a quick checkup of his teeth.  No cavities!

"More Papa" took us on a tractor ride in the Gator one night.  

Dinner at In N Out with the gang.

It was so warm while we were there!  Mid 90's!  I was grateful for neighbors who share their pool.  We had a fun afternoon swimming.

Lunch with "More Mimi"

We fed Blue and Sunny lots of carrots!

 Papa U & Luke flew back to Utah with us.  (They were visiting for General Conference.)  Owen loved sitting with Papa on the flight.

 Despite the fun, the boys definitely missed their Daddy and were so excited to see him again.   

I am grateful that I was able to help my parent's out for this much deserved trip, and enjoy some California sunshine at the same time! 

Family Birthday Celebrations

Owen turned 4 on September 3 and got to have his first friend birthday party.  He wanted it to be Dusty themed (from Disney's "Planes") and was so excited to eat a "chocolate Dusty birthday cake".  

We had planned for a larger plane to go on top of the cake but Owen insisted on the smaller one.  I figured why mess with the birthday boy, so the smaller plane it was.

(My talented friend Annie made the cake!)

So happy to be 4!

We had the kids color some Planes coloring pages and also decorated the candy bags for the pinata.

His party was in the morning, so we just a few snacks for the kids.  Easy!

Owen and his friends getting ready for our "Wings around the Globe" competition.  

We bounced balls on racquets for Dusty, from America

We did a tea cup water relay for Bulldog, from England 

We spun hula hoops for Ishani, from India

We did a parachute shake for Rochelle, from Canada

Last, we took a swing at the pinata for El Chupacabra, from Mexico 

(My talented friend Adriana made the pinata-- it is a cloud!) 

Owen was in his element opening presents and having us sing Happy Birthday to him.  He was so happy!

This year was Brad's 30th birthday!  My in-laws were awesome and kept the boys overnight for us to have a quick getaway.  We watched the BYU opening football game at a sports bar in Park City.  (We had the place to ourselves, so we got to watch it on the projector & have it piped through the restaurant!)  We stayed at the Zermatt Resort and enjoyed a visit to the hot tub, sleeping in, using the onsite gym, and exploring Swiss Days in Midway.  It was so great to have the one on one time together!

  

We also had a family birthday party at Blackridge Reservoir in Herriman to celebrate all of the Hardcastle birthdays in August/September: me, Brad, Owen, Ron, Spencer, and Porter.

Owen having fun building a sand castle.  It was a beautiful day!

Part of the gang enjoying the sunshine.  

We went back to our house for cake and presents.  My sister in law Angie made this yummy ice cream cake.  

The boys were pretty excited about their new "Fire and Rescue" helicopters

 Last, but not least, Porter turned 2 on September 21.  We were actually in San Diego at the time, but he had celebrated with Owen & the rest of us earlier in the month, so we kept it pretty low key.  We had some cupcakes and he was so excited to have us sing "Happy Birthday" to him.     

Happy Birthdays to us!