Our ward's Halloween party was this weekend. I ordered Xavier's costume online and was crossing my fingers it would be here in time. It wasn't. So we had to improvise a little. We decided to make Xavier a greaser for the night. It was super easy and he turned out looking the part. I even put a little comb in his back pocket for a final touch. What do you think Grandpa, did we do a good job?
A couple weeks ago we went to Uncle John's Cider Mill. Xavier and I went with our friend Stephanie and her daughter Skyler. (Tim was in Atlanta :( ) It was a perfect day- sunny, mild weather, and busy with lots of people. Xavier loved the "mower", which was really a tractor pulling people around the farm. 
Xavier and dad shivering in their pants! Brrr!
This weekend we decided to go to Uncle John's Cider Mill once again as a family. I was in Utah last year during Xavier's first Halloween and I didn't want Tim to miss out on our fun fall activities this year too. It was super cold, gray, and raining. We spent about 5 minutes picking a pumpkin as quickly as we could. We found a good one!
Xavier's favorite part was riding the train. Go figure. He was able to sit in the very front where the bell was. He enthusiastically rang the bell the entire time. 
The little explorers. Searching for a perfect punkin.
Xavier and Skyler love to play together. They had fun being pulled in the wagon for about 2 seconds. Then they wanted to get out and run around.
After our pumpkin picking we went to get some cider and donuts. Tim and I got hot cider and we got Xavier cold apple juice in an apple shaped bottle. I tasted my cider and about burned my entire mouth. It was burning hot. Then Tim, Dave, Katie and I started joking around about the woman who sued McDonald's for pooring hot coffee on her lap. Within 1 minute of this conversation I heard Xavier screaming a death curdling scream as loud as his lungs could bear. We rushed to pull his clothing off of him. What do you know? He poored the hot cider onto himself. It happened so quick and I felt so horrible. I didn't realize the drink was still within his reach when I set it back on the table. What a stupid mom I am!!! Luckily a man who was sitting next to us was a paramedic. He offered to take a look at him. He recommended we take him to Sparrow Hospital immediately to have his chest examined. We had about a 30 minute drive to the hospital. I sang to Xavier the entire drive to keep him calm. The doctor and nurses were great! They took care of our little guy and he was his normal self in no time. He suffered second degree burns on his chest. But the doctor said that he shouldn't have any scarring. Xavier was one tough cookie. By the time we got home he was running around as if nothing happened. Needless to say I will never get hot cider again or any hot drink for that matter. It's not worth the risk.
Grandpa was very fond of the little X-man. I think Xavier loved spending time with Grandpa too. They have one big thing in common- they love sports! We love you Grandpa! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for flying us out to Utah. We have so many fun memories for always. Even though we are far away, we will always have times like this that we will think of so Utah feels a little closer to home.
Our final day in Utah was not a disappointment. We went to the Children's Museum at the Gateway. If anyone has been to the Gateway shopping center in Salt Lake you'll know how cool it is. It is the shopping center that was built for the Salt Lake Winter Olympics. This museum had everything for kids: A ball play area, a little house, an infant play area, a garden and horse, a store, a water table, a helicopter, a stage to perform plays, a news station play area, and more. It was amazing! I think every city should have something like this. If only.....Here are some fun pictures.
Xavier playing with balls. As if he doesn't get enough of this type of play at home.
This was Xavier's favorite spot. All he'd say was "drive" "drive" "drive". He was so happy.
Madi, Ethan, and Xavier got to experience a real helicopter without actually leaving the ground. It did however have sound effects that mimicked the actual noises it makes. There was even wind that would blow to imitate what happens when the helicopter lands. 
Xavier got to play the good guy in this sweet police car.
Water table- splish splash!
So let's see Xavier got to drive cars, play with balls, and play in water all afternoon. This must be heaven.
After a long day of playing, Alicia took all of us to The Red Barn. It has really good ice cream. Xavier and I ate brownies on the moon. It was a blue mint ice cream with white chocolate chips and brownie pieces. Need I say more. Yum yum!
Outside the Red Barn sat this tractor. Xavier found love at first site. The kids climbed all over it taking turns sitting in the drivers seat.
Could his grin get any bigger?
We decided to do dinner up the canyon. You can't visit Utah without a trip up the canyon at least once. I forget how much I loved driving up the canyon as a kid. The mountains are so amazing and beautiful. This time of year it's especially beautiful with the leaves changing colors. After we ate our dinner we made S'mores. Xavier liked the marshmallows or as he would say it "mashmeyohs".
Boys exploring the outdoors.
We attended Madi's last soccer game. Xavier was a good cheerleader. He kept yelling "Go Dragons"
Madi running on the field. 
Xavier got to attend Ronan's 1st birthday party. It was so great to see our friends Noah and Kendra and their 2 boys. Here is a cute picture of Ronan eating his cake.
I attempted to get a picture of Ronan, Porter, and Xavier. Trying to get 3 boys to sit still was pretty much impossible. This is as good as it gets.
Ronan opening Xavier's present. We got Ronan some soft balls and a book. Happy Birthday Ronan. We love you!
Once Xavier was over the worst of his croup I was able to go spend some time with my sister Alicia, her husband McKay, and their two kids Madison and Ethan. They live in Santaquin, Utah. We had a blast! The first day we were there we visited Salem pond and fed the ducks. My sister has those pictures, so I'll post some later once I get them from her. Xavier tried to run into the pond with the ducks. I think he thought he could swim with them. He also played in some duck poop that was on the trail around the pond. That was a little gross. Then we walked over to the bridge where a gentleman was fishing. He actually caught a fish as we watched him. The kids loved it. Xavier wanted to pull the fish out of his bucket. 
The next day Madi had preschool, so Alicia and I entertained the boys outside. The first activity was the ball spaceship. 
Next was driving the jeep. If you look close enough it has pink and purple flowers on it. 
Third activity was the sandbox. Xavier and Ethan have so much in common. I'm not sure if it's because they are boys or they just like the same things. Maybe it's a little bit of both, but they sure had fun together. They even share a love for Thomas the Tank Engine. 
This is my favorite picture of Ethan. Every morning after Ethan gets dressed he runs into his sisters room and takes her Snow White princess dress. He puts it on over his clothes, throws his arms in the air, and yells "Dreth" with a grin that stretches from ear to ear. Even though Ethan is so boy, he has a soft side too. 
As you can see, Ethan rubbed off on Xavier. Doesn't he look good in pink?
Ava and Xavier playing before breakfast. They loved to play with each other. Xavier became quite the bully towards the end and seemed to think hitting Ava on the head was fun. But before that they enjoyed one another's company.
Xavier, Kendra, Ava, and I had lunch with my mom at her school. The kids loved meeting Xavier. I thought Xavier would be a little shy around so many kids, but it didn't even phase him. He ran right for the bin of balls my mom had by her door. That seemed to keep him occupied. The boys in my mom's class immediately ran over and started passing him balls left and right.
As the students lined up to go to lunch, Xavier gave everyone hi fives. The kids seemed to think that was pretty cool. One boy said "Can we keep Xavier and have him be our class mascot". I'm glad they liked him so much.
Xavier is staring at the door because several of my mom's students are peeking in the window trying to look at Xavier.
My mom and Xavier. Me and my mom got together a few times for some mother, daughter, grandson fun. One day we played on the playground at her school. Xavier loved riding the teeter tauter. Thanks mom for some fun memories! 
Gene and Xavier watching golf. Male bonding at it's best.
My second week was a little more low key. Xavier ended up getting croup towards the end of the week, so we were kind of in quarantine. I was staying with my sister Kendra at the time. Kendra and Gene were so great and understanding. They let me extend my time with them until Xavier was better. They even let me use Ava's crib and provided a cool mist humidifier so Xavier could sleep a little better. I had to take Xavier to the doctor to confirm it was croup. They gave him a steroid shot to help with his breathing. This prevented an ER visit thank goodness. After lots of sleepless nights trying to soothe a sick son, many walks around my sister's neighborhood, hour-long drives to get Xavier to sleep and relax during the day, lots of prayers, and a blessing from local missionaries Xavier recovered and we could enjoy the last part of our trip.
My family decided to take a trip to Hogle Zoo. Here is a cute shot of the kiddos hanging out while the adults took turns checking out the albino alligator exhibit.
This elephant made noise and shot water out its nose. I thought I'd take the opportunity to get a picture of us sitting on the tail before it shot water at us again.
Xavier loved riding on the carousel. He sat on a penguin. Well, he pretty much tried as many animals on the carousel as he could. Who knew picking one would be so difficult. As the carousel started to move I had to restrain him from hopping off to get to the bear next to us. Hence I didn't get a chance to take a picture of him on the carousel.
This was Xavier's favorite part of the zoo. Don't get me wrong he loved the animals, but this was the cherry on top. A real choo choo train. Once the train ride was over, he kept sitting hoping we'd go around again. It took all my strength to pull him out of the train car.
This picture doesn't even show how excited he was to be riding on a train. He LOVED it.
Ava's party was a blast! My sister Kendra is awesome at entertaining and one of her specialties is the table settings. She loves dinner parties and her table decor is always amazing. She even put a picture of each month of Ava's first year as the backdrop. This picture doesn't do it justice.
Eating dinner. Yummy food, good conversation, fun times.
My entire family (except for Tim ;()has not been together for 4 years! Too long huh? So we took this opportunity to get some updated family pictures. The other side of the room was more entertaining because all the hubbies were snapping one picture after the other. From left to right back row: Allison, Dad, Mom, Alicia, me
From left to right front row: Kendra, Derek, Alana
Uncle Derek and X. Xavier had a blast with his uncle. Derek played airplane with Xavier around the room forever. After that, he'd throw him into the air. I think Derek was wiped out after this party for sure.
All the cousins together. Wow, our family has grown a lot in the last 4 years. Cousins from left to right: Myla, Xavier, Madison, Ava, Leiland, and Naysa. Ethan didn't want to be part of the picture. We still love him anyway.
We got to go swimming with Ava and celebrate her first birthday. Ava and Xavier were fast friends.
Cousins from left to right: Myla, Leiland, Naysa, and Xavier
Xavier and I got to go see James enter the MTC. We love you James. We are so proud of what you are doing.
My mom's school hosted a carnival fundraiser. Me, Xavier, and grandma had a blast playing all the games.
One of the carnival games Xavier loved. Water and ducks- need I say more.
