3 months and a Visit

Peter turned 3 months old on the 21st. We love him so very much, and still can't believe we've been blessed with two sweet kids.
Lately Pete:
- can roll over (from stomach to back; but has to be in the mood to do it)
- is very social. smiles a lot and he responds to voices and faces a lot more
- gives sweet cooes
- has a partial laugh (It's as though he holds in his whole laugh)
- has slept through the night on multiple occasions, but not every night yet.
- likes his sister until she is on top of him or giving him too much love / attention
- has cute chunky legs. He is definitly bigger than Kendal was at this age.
- loves loves loves his bath
- can raise his head and hold it up well
- loves to stand up

- can try my patience one minute , then melts my heart the next (just like his sister)

Kendal thought Pete should give her ducky a piggy back ride-

Along with Pete turning three months old this past weekend my parents and sister came up to Challis for a visit. We did a little count down with Kendal leading up to their visit. She liked it, but would get upset every so often that they couldn't come that day. My parents spoiled us bringing up some garden treats including a massive pumpkin, some treats for Kendal, and some things for our house. (THANK YOU : ) We were all very happy to see each other; it's been an adjustment not being close to family. We got caught up on happenings on friday, and spent some time Saturday doing a few things around the house, visiting, and exploring Challis, and sunday they went to church with us. I felt bad because our air quality was at its worst this past weekend because of the fires, thus limiting our outings. Kendal was over the moon having her "aunt Kafrine" and Grandma and Grandpa around all weekend; and Pete was giving smiles all around.

Loved having family around. Thanks for coming Mom, Dad, and Katherine : )

It's been a month

Today marks one month since we moved to Challis. We're pretty well settled in, and doing good.
Now that Casey is past his busy busy beginning of the school year he is enjoying teaching. He still does a lot, but he finally has some moments to relax and enjoy himself. Casey's classes are going well, i hear good reports on most accounts (minus his talkative eighth graders). He's also been put over the freshman as an academic advisor which seems more like mediator / referee / help out at events person. He's also excited because he just got a new classroom set of Kindle Fire HD's to monkey around with / figure out for his tech hour.
This past Sunday we spoke in our ward. Our topic was Tender Mercies of the Lord. (I always feel that i'm given talks that i'm personally supposed to be inspired by and learn from, and i definitely was.) We were promised a youth speaker to fill some time, but they were a no show. Luckily Casey is a teacher and a champ at stretching things and filling in time. Kendal is definitely the loudest child in our new ward. We can keep her well occupied during sacrament it's just hard to keep her voice level down. Whispering doesn't seem to register with her most days and her voice tends to carry. This week our ward had a picnic in the park. We met more of our ward members and ate some great pie. Our ward is small, but very friendly.
This week was homecoming at Challis High. Casey's week was interesting with odd dress up days every day, and a whole day devoted to decorating class floats then a parade at the end. Casey took Kendal to the parade. It had about eight floats and a couple of small emergency vehicles in it; Kendal didn't care how short it was because it had Candy! We took the kids to the homecoming football game. Kendal quickly found a "friend" to play with and they spent the whole time following each other, holding hands, and mooching food off of each other. We found out the little girl is just a month older than Kendal, and later there was another little girl just a month younger than Kendal. (I just wish these families were in our ward, or live close : / ) Casey said we better go to more events so Kendal can find her friends and play. Kendal didn't watch the game whatsoever, and wandered around the whole time; so we'll see how she does come basketball season when i have her and Pete while Casey is busy coaching.
Pete decided to roll over this week. : ) I've taken video and tired to upload it here and on facebook, but it hasn't worked. Kendal will be three two months from today. She thinks she's ready to be three, because it means she's older and can do more things. We still have the smoke around, however we've seen a couple of blue Sky's this past week. We even tried to fly a kite for FHE; the wind wasn't consistant enough, but Kendal had fun chasing Casey all over the field. We also explored the local fishing pond. Kendal was pretty loud so we had to take her farther away from the people fishing. She also thought that the pond was dirty becasue of all the weeds in it. Thanks to our generous ward we got some free wood so i can start heating the house (it's getting pretty chilly in the mornings). It'll be interesting to have to use a wood stove to heat the house. We'll see how well i manage, and how well i can keep the kids away from it this winter.

Now to the important part; pictures -

Also Happy 4th Birthday to Campbell! We love you loads!

Allergies or something else?

So lately i've had allergy like symptoms red eyes, itchy nose, runny nose, headaches. I've been attributing them to allergies, Kendal has started to get the same symptoms too. At first i attributed Kendal's issues to a small cold, then i thought she might have allergies like me. I haven't been able to figure out what around here i could be allergic to until i realized that i'm surrounded by smoke. There are currently two big forest fires going on in Merino and Halstead. Meaning Challis is surrounded by forest fires. Since we've moved in there has been smoke and it hasn't gotten any better. I keep hearing that it should clear once the seasons turn and by winter we'll be good. I decided to look up how forest fire smoke can affect ones health. Low and behold i've found all of my and Kendal's current symptoms. So i guess i'll limit my family time outdoors even more, and hope that the smoke clears out sooner than expected. Till then we get to feel like we have allergies for a few more months.
On other news . . . This past weekend we decided to make a trip down to Raft River for our Nephews and Niece's first birthday celebration. Jaxson and Hunter were born last year on September first and our neice Rebecca joined the family a week later on the seventh. All were born early, but they're all doing wonderfully. The evening of the party we were all going to eat outside at the Steadmans water slide. Little did we know that our plans would have change. A couple of hours before the party there was severe thunder storm warnings with possible tornado action. We looked outside and didn't think much of it. However, as the party drew closer so did the Storm and the news telling us to take cover and go into the basement. We were nervous because we had family traveling from different directions right to the area of possible tornado activity. My heart was skipping beats because all around us looked pretty threatening; fortunately nothing major happened and we just got a wicked storm blow through our way. We had a good party for the kids in Grandpa Webb's garage. (yes, i'm kicking myself for not taking the camera; sorry) It was a good short trip to see family especially since we won't see them again until Christmas time.
So onto another week in Challis. Casey is back to work after the labor day weekend, and i'm home with the kiddles.

p.s.
Tomorrow my Dad gets to celebrate his birthday. The family is going to the Brigham City Temple open house and Maddox. I'm wicked jealous and wish we could be there also. Have fun my dear family and eat extra rolls for me. ; )
Happy Birthday to a wonderful Dad, and a fantastic Grandpa! We all love you so much!
/ Casey, Marianne, Kendal, & Peter