Halloween's Comin'!

Hoyt's favorite thing to tell me for the past month has been, "Mom...Halloween's Comin'!" He loved helping me put out the Halloween decorations (especially the pumpkin lights out front) and he calls every other decoration he sees a "scardy guy". Every night when it gets dark I will ask him what time it is and he will say, "Time to turn on the punkin lights!"

Here he is with his little pumpkin lights and the "scardy guys" in the background.

He also loves his pumpkins and counts all the pumpkins as we drive around our neighborhood.

When he reminds me, daily (at least five to ten times) that Halloween's Comin' I will ask him what he wants to be for Halloween and he will say, "A Cowboy Hat!" So, it is no surprise that for the third year in a row he will be a cowboy for Halloween. This is a sneak peak at his costume; chaps, a gun belt and a vest that were Ryon's when he was a little boy, and of course...a brand new cowboy hat.

Pumpkin Patch!!

One of my favorite outings of the year is to the pumpkin patch. There is something about the crisp autumn air, the fall colors, and all the pumpkins that I love! We made our annual visit to the pumpkin patch last week. The weather was perfect, and we had a great time picking out our three pumpkins to take home.

The first thing Hoyt saw as we walked in was the mechanical bull that was set up for kids and adults to ride (for a small fee of course). All he could say for the first 10 minutes we were there was, "Mom, I ride the buckin' bull...Mom, I ride the buckin' bull!" After convincing Ryon that it was worth the cost; Hoyt was ready to ride. However, as Ryon was about to put him on the bull, Hoyt had second thoughts and held on to Ryon for dear life. So, we decided to do the hayride instead.

We took our time picking out the perfect pumpkins...

And Hoyt enjoyed being pulled around the pumpkin patch in his own little "pumpkin chariot". Pulled courtesy of mom and dad! As we were on the hayride, Ryon decided that when we move to Idaho we need to start our own pumpkin patch. His words..."We could make a killing!"

Every Morning...

Hoyt can be found sitting in Ryon's favorite place - the massage chair! Hoyt loves to wake up, get his cup of milk, and watch Little Einsteins and Mickey Mouse as he sits in "the chair". While I don't turn it on (his poor little head would end up getting the back massage), I'm sure one day he and Ryon will be fighting over who gets to sit in it at the end of the day!!

Enjoying the morning shows

Ryon has talked about getting a massage chair since we got married. He finally broke down and bought one - I might have to put a time limit on how many minutes a night he can sit in it though!

Big Boy Haircut

Ryon has continually told me that we don't need to take Hoyt to get his haircut and that we can easily do it ourselves. Now...I think I can do a lot of things, but I'll be the first to tell you that I cannot cut hair! So after a few times of doing it ourselves (and it not turning out too well) I decided to take him to a professional.

Ryon was hunting on a Saturday morning, so I figured I had the perfect opportunity. Hoyt and I walked into the salon with our arsenal - Mickey Mouse, blanket, Pezz dispenser, and a few rolls of Smarties. He did surprisingly well (he held my hand the entire time, but did not cry) and even got a balloon afterwards. When Ryon got home Hoyt ran and said, "Dad I get a big boy haircut!" Ryon had to agree that it looked better than anything the two of us had done in the past. (However, he did ask me if I payed close attention so I could do it myself next time!!)

Happy Birthday to You!

One of Hoyt's favorite songs these days is Happy Birthday. In fact, the other day when he was supposed to be taking a nap I heard him singing from his room, "Happy birfday to you...happy birfday to you...happy birfday to Hoyt...happy birfday to you!" He also loves to ask me to sing it while we're driving in the car. He will say, "Mom, sing a song...happy birfday to you!"

Here are a few birfday (as Hoyt would say) pictures with grandma Hoyt.

Eating cake with grandma and grandpa Hoyt

One of Hoyt's favorite people - Uncle Caleb

Helping grandma blow out the candles on the birthday carrot cake

Happiest Place On Earth!

I Love Disneyland! What is there to NOT love? (Well, Ryon might be able to come up with a few things $$$ !!) We decided Hoyt needed to take a trip to the happiest place on earth, so we took a week and embarked on our first "real" family vacation.

Hoyt had the time of his life. Every morning he would wake up in the hotel and say "I see Mickey Mouse and Minna (Minnie)". We spent three fun-filled days at Disneyland and California Adventure, and while the weather wasn't exactly perfect (high 90's) and it was a bit crowded, we had a great time. Hoyt rode every ride he was big enough to get on and loved them all - even Pirates of the Caribbean, which was a little bit scary!

His favorite part of Disneyland, however, was meeting all of the characters. He was able to meet, hug, kiss, and give high-fives to all of his favorites and is still talking about it two weeks after coming home. Some highlights of the trip include all of the rides, the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse show, the parade, FIREWORKS, breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen, popcorn (a bit expensive, but worth it to calm a cranky two-year-old) and riding the train.

On the walk back to our hotel on our last night there, Hoyt said "Mom, I go on more rides?" This from a child who had not taken a nap that day, so I think it's safe to say he enjoyed himself! Hoyt and I are excited to go back soon, and Ryon is still thinking about it!!

Now...Once Upon A Time:

Day at the Beach

While we were at Disneyland, we decided to take a day and go to the beach. This was Hoyt's first trip to the ocean and he loved it (of course). He thought running from the waves was so much fun, and his favorite activity of the day was playing football in the sand with dad.

The water was pretty cold, but Hoyt didn't seem to mind. Ryon took him out to "jump" into the waves and every time Hoyt saw another wave he would say. "Here comes another one Dad!" After our fun at the beach we went back to the hotel and Hoyt took a 3 hour nap - I guess he had a pretty good time!!

Wee-Ooo...Wee-Ooo

One of Hoyt's truck books has a fire engine in it, and the sound it makes is "Wee-Ooo...Wee-Ooo". Whenever we pass a fire engine, he makes the sound at the top of his lungs.

Last weekend we went over to the Coonce's and Hoyt saw Jeff's 1930's fire engine and was beside himself. He grabbed my hand and said, "Mom, fire truck...Wee-Ooo". Before we left Zan, Blair, Leigh, Ryon, Hoyt and I all climbed aboard the fire engine and took a ride. Hoyt thought it was pretty cool that Blair pushed the siren a few times, so he got to hear the "Wee-Ooo".

We ran out of gas at one point, but Leigh was a trooper and ran back to the house for more! What an adventurous afternoon. Hoyt had a grin on his face for the rest of the day!!

Pretending to drive all "by himself"!

We sat up on back for the ride - oh what fun!

Bull Ridin'

The PBR (Professional Bull Riders) came to town last weekend, and we were able to go on Friday night. We weren't quite sure how long Hoyt would last since it was scheduled to run from about 8:00 to 10:00, but we had a feeling he'd like it and do OK.

Let's just say the child was mesmerized! From the moment the first bull came out of the chute, Hoyt was completely enthralled. We stayed until the bitter end - 10:20 - and Hoyt never cried, complained, or even seemed cranky. He acquired a little black toy bull while we were there, and his new favorite thing to do is to watch bull riding with Ryon, while sitting on his toy bull pretending to be "bucked off". It is one of the most hilarious things I have ever seen!

The boys with their cowboy hats

LOVING the bag of popcorn!

Notice the little bull in Hoyt's hands (the one he pretends to ride!!) - he had to sleep with it for two nights following the bull riding. I had to wait until he fell asleep to go in and retrieve it. All he has talked about for the past week is bull riding and getting "bucked off"!

Look at those cheesy grins

By Myself!

Hoyt's favorite phrase these days is, "by myself". Mr. Independent wants to do everything his own way without any help from mom or dad.

The other night as we were getting ready to say bedtime prayers, he looked at me and said, "Mom, by myself" so I let him go ahead and try. To my surprise his prayer went like this, "Heavenly Father....thank thee for dis day....help us sleep good....name of Christ amen." Definitely pretty good for no help - now I'm just waiting for potty training to go this smoothly!!

Riding Annie all by HIMSELF (at least for the picture, and then dad stepped back in!)

I think he's pretty proud!