Halloween at the Woods. . .

. . . consisted of a fun little get-together with some fun family folk.


There was a family of pirates.


Have you ever seen a baby pirate that looked this viciously adorable?

Me neither!


Or a pirate pup (I couldn't find a parrot outfit) that looked this dog gone cute?


Raggedy Ann and Andy came to play.


And a German couple even stopped by.


Grandma and Grandpa Wertz dressed up like great-grandparents and Uncle Gerry dressed up like a Philadelphia Eagles Fan. Kind of lame costumes, but we're so glad they came!

Here's the whole gang. . .


We ate some good grub, played a good game, and had a howling good time!
All the partying really got to some . . . well only one actually . . .

Hope you enjoyed your first Halloween little matee!

My New Baby Brother

From Tuya's point of view . . .

So, about seven weeks ago, after a fun visit with Grandma and Grandpa Martin, I came home to find a tiny human in my house! Mommy and Daddy got me a baby brother!



I was so confused at first. He smelled very different from my furry brothers and sisters. . .

and I mean different!


And he made the funniest faces.
Mommy says I look funny when I yawn too, but I can't possibly look that silly!


And he made some noises that I had never heard before.


But it didn't take long for us to become the best of friends.


Or for me to decide that I wanted to be the best big sister ever!

So, I help Mommy keep an eye on him.

One day when he started crying in his bassinet, I ran over to see if he was ok. Then I ran to Mommy in the kitchen where she was making his food, and I started to whine. Then I ran back to baby Sawyer again. Mommy said I was a little like Lassie (whoever that is).


I try to make my baby brother happy!
This is Inky, my favorite toy. I sleep with her every night. One day when baby Sawyer was feeling a little sad, I took Inky over to him and put her on his seat with him. I think it helped.
Mommy was so proud of me for sharing!




Just like any big sister, I'm not perfect. I give Mommy a little extra work sometimes. My bad! There's just so many new toys around for me to play with, like diapers for instance. I like to steal those and chew on them.
Don't knock it, til you've tried it!
And how was I supposed to know that Mommy liked the carpet stuck to the floor like that outside of the baby's room. Now I know!
I also caused a little bit of trouble when I didn't realize that those paper presents (Daddy called them checks) on the edge of the table were sent for Sawyer and not for me. I feel kind of bad that I ate his gifts but they were delicious!
One day I was being good and so Mommy gave me a new ball to play with. Then she took baby Sawyer upstairs for a minute. I got to work "playing" with my new toy. She came down to find this. . .


At first Mommy was so scared wondering what I had chewed up. Lucky for me, when she saw it was my new toy, she started laughing. Although it didn't last very long, I did enjoy my new toy!


Since Mommy's been a little busier than usual, she let me watch some TV.



But even though Mommy is kinda busy with baby Sawyer, we snuggle and take naps when he's sleeping.


And Daddy still likes me to hang out with him, too.



Although some things have changed, I know that Mommy still loves me.


And so does Daddy.



So it's ok that Mommy loves Sawyer.



And Daddy loves Sawyer.


Because I love him too!



I love my whole family!!!

Enter Colic

I think that it is so amazing that in just 5 seconds Sawyer can go from. . .


Pleasantly Peaceful



to Absolutely Angry


When he screams at us like this, Lance and I lovingly refer to him as "Manny." This may or may not be because we feel that he resembles the screaming mandrakes in the movie, Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets.

Heavenly Father sure knew what he was doing when he made these colicky babies so darn cute!

We love our gassy baby!

Hocus Pocus With Some Friends

Funny Story. . . so this past weekend we had plans to carve pumpkins and watch the movie Hocus Pocus with some friends in order to prepare ourselves for this Halloween Season.

Well at work on Friday, one of Lance's fellow residents asked him what he was doing over the weekend. Lance replied with "Hocus Pocus with some friends." He told me that the look on Ninad's face was priceless as he said, "You're doing what?"

So as I held this cute "little monster" . . .

. . . Lance used his creativity to make us an awesomely, unforgettable pumpkin.
After much hard work, here is the finished product.
Can you guess what he attempted(I mean succeeded in creating)?



(hint hint) That's right. It's Tuya! It looks just like the real thing. . . well maybe almost like. . . or kind of like. . . or a teensy bit like. . . well good try sweetie! It's still the coolest pumpkin we've had yet!



Scott and Ashley fabulously succeeded in making a "very scary" pumpkin and a football helmet pumpkin (not like I would have needed to tell anyone what it was Scott! :) )



Here is our pumpkin making, Hocus Pocus watching family.


Thanks for the Hocus Pocus, Friends!

Thank you Fans!

From Sawyer's point of view. . .

I've heard my parents talking about how we've had more visitors this month than they did all last year. I figured that it was pretty much because of me and how awesome I am. They told me that I was right! Because I am such a sweet, and sensitive little boy, I want to say thank you to so many of you.

First of all, thank you to my grandparents who all love me so much!

Big thanks to my Grandma Martin who came with Grandpa Martin to meet me the evening that mommy and daddy brought me home. Not only does she love me a lot, she brought me fun little clothes, amazing meals for my parents, and helped to keep our house clean. She loves me so much that her and Grandpa Martin came to watch me another time so that my mommy and daddy could go to a special church meeting. My mommy loves her so much and wants to be like her in so many ways. Thank you Grandma Martin!


Thank you to my Grandpa Martin who loves me so much that he held me even before my neck glue was dry. Thanks for spending so much time at our house, helping to take care of me and my big sister, Tuya. Thank you Grandpa Martin!


Thank you to my Grandma and Grandpa Wertz for coming to meet me as soon as they could. They love me so much that among many other things, they made sure that I had a really cozy crib to sleep in and my talented Grandma Wertz even helped my mommy make the crib skirt to make it look extra cool. Grandpa Wertz has me as his screen saver on his phone. He must think I'm pretty cute! They are always thinking of me and I am always thinking of them. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Wertz!



Thank you to my Grandma and Grandpa Wood who met me on the internet right after I got home and then flew all the way from Utah to come and meet me a couple weeks later. They love me so much that they came to stay for a week to hang out with me and help my daddy and especially my mommy. Mommy was able to get some extra rest and I was able to hang out with my grandparents. What a great deal!


They brought me lots of hugs and fun presents.
















Grandpa even found the time to take my big sis on a walk all the way to Daddy's work. She was very sad when grandpa left, but not as sad as me to see them go! Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Wood!



Thank you to my Aunt Kristie (known as Kristopher by my Mommy) and Uncle Brent for being the first ones to come and see me when I got home. They love me so much that they brought me all sorts of presents and Aunt Kristie couldn't stop crying because she thought I was so perfect.


They couldn't get enough of me. Aunt Kristie loves me so much that she is planning a big party to welcome me to the family. I told her it's not necessary, but she insists! Uncle Brent loves me so much that he is making me something special. I have no idea what it is and I can't wait to see!
Thank you Aunt Kristie and Uncle Brent!


















Thank you to my Aunt Tania who came soon after I was home to say hello and get to know me. Even before my mommy and daddy knew if I was a boy or a girl, she told them that she had a dream that I was a little boy. I guess she knew what she was talking about because I'm sure no girl! Aunt Tania loves me so much that she calls and talks to my mommy all the time to check on me. My mommy has been best buds with her since they were in 5th grade. I can see why. She is so cool! Her and Uncle Jonathan brought me lots of fun clothes including the outfit I'm wearing in the picture below. Thanks Aunt Tania!



Another thank you to my mommy's church friends who threw her a surprise Baby shower. Although having lots of eyes looking at her at one time isn't her favorite thing, she was really touched that so many people cared about her (and me of course) and feels so lucky to have such sweet friends. It really meant a lot to her. She couldn't tell daddy about it without crying. Check out all of the cool stuff that I got. Man, am I spoiled!



And finally, thank you to all of our family and friends who have supported my parents, stopped by to say hello and meet me, given me presents, given us food, hugs, phone calls, emails, and prayers.

As the King of Rock n Roll (one of my mommy's favorite singers) would say, Thank you. Thank you very much!