Fall Family Fun

*Warning: I took A LOT of pictures*

With the help of my friend Google, we found a fun pumpkin patch to go to. Park Hurst Pumpkin Patch. It was a little ways away but totally worth it. Kadee had so much fun! She was kind of tired and grumpy on the way there. In fact, she fell asleep with less than 10 minutes to go. But I think her little power nap helped her to fully enjoy herself. Because she did. I knew she would like it. We didn't do the hay ride, but we had fun with the petting zoo and the corn maze and the play forts and the hay. 

The geese were super loud but I think all of the other animals were just tired.

The hay and the slides (in my observing opinion) were Kadee's favorite part. Although, the animals were super awesome too. She was a little wary of the slide at first, she just likes to climb on the bottom and sit on it, but I think she grew to like it more.

This is probably my favorite picture ever!

They also had some little tepee things which Kadee had fun running around in. I stood on one side and Spencer stood on the other, and Kadee would just run back and forth between the two.

  

I have to call this one my second favorite picture.

And we played in the corn maze. Kadee just wanted to touch and pull on all the corn.

We were going to push her around but she was more content to just sit there.

On the way out we picked out our pumpkins to take home. We let Kadee pick. But I think she just wanted to eat them because she sure tried to.

On the way home we stopped at Pops 66. It's a super cool soda place. One of the ladies working there told Spencer (since it was our first time) that we should come back on a week day when it's not super crowded. I think we shall.

By this time Kadee was very tired, ready to go home, and very ready for bed.

How Did Kadee Get So Big??

So I am having a really hard time with Kadee growing up so fast. Really. This is ridiculous. A 14 month old should not be half the size of her Mommy. Kadee is the size of my whole leg. She is so tall! She can only wear clothes size 18mo and bigger. She is up to size 5 in shoes. She's now in size 4 diapers. We had to buy her socks from the little girls' section because nothing in the baby section would fit her at all. 

Her vocabulary is increasing daily. Listed in order of the most frequently used:

• Hi
• Puppy
• Daddy
• Banana (na-na)
• Cookie
• Fish (psh)
• Hop, hop
• Happy
• Cracker (ca, ca)
• Baby
• Quack quack (cack ca)
• Go
• Key
• Hey!
• Num num
• Woo-we! (weeooowee; it means "you stink")
• Shoes (shoosh)
• Mmmm!
• Pretty (pi-eee)
• Brush (Bush)
• Dance (Da! Da!)
• Hot
• Hat
• Book (Boo; no 'k' sound)
• More
• Bye bye
• Mail (ma)
• Yuck (only a 'k' sound)
• Momma
• Grandpa
• Grandma
• Bum bum
• George (Gurj - she's really referring to "monkey")

Sorry Grandma, but I'm right down there with you.

Kadee can also tell you what a puppy says, what a fish says, what a duck says, what a monkey says, what a car says, and that a bunny goes "hop, hop".
Because of piano lessons, Kadee thinks that every time we get out of the car, we are going to see a puppy. She is a big time puppy enthusiast. 

Kadee has also figured out how to work the drinking fountain at church and how to climb up and down the step stool. Although, going down isn't super graceful and I have to help her off the top step. The bottom step, she has no trouble with. She likes the step stool so she can "help" me wash dishes.

Kadee loves reading books. We read books over and over all day long. Some of her favorites are "Quiet Bunny's Many Colors", "Paddington","The Napping House", "Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose", "Curious George", and lately, "Just Me and My Dad". And "Baby Beluga", but we sing that one, we don't "read" it.

She's becoming more mobile each day and walks less and less like a bow legged Frankenstein. We have been having her walk a lot to get plenty of practice in because she is definitely too heavy and too big for me to carry around.

 Asleep with "Curious George" still in hand.                     Loves reading with Daddy.

She could not stay awake to wait to pick up Daddy.

So, SO! Sleepy                                Caught red handed!

October 2017 General Conference

I have loved this General Conference. I had prayed in the temple for help in being happy each day and I have found multiple speakers have addressed just that very thing this Conference. The Saturday morning session I thought was especially good.
You can go back and watch individual talks, or the whole thing, here,
https://www.lds.org/general-conference?lang=eng 

Many of the speakers talked about The Family Proclamation. https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1995/10/the-family-a-proclamation-to-the-world.p8?lang=eng 
There was a lot of emphasis on the family and finding joy in our trials. It was exactly what I was looking to hear.
President Uchtdorf gave 2 reasons we should turn to God; 1, your life will be better and 2, God will use you to help others lives be better. He said sometimes it fells our lives are more difficult because we are trying to live the gospel. Turning to God opens opportunities for God to help.
Sister Oscarson said that the essence of living the gospel is service. Heavenly Father may be placed those who need us most the closest to us. Her point was that we don't have to look far to find opportunities to serve. She said serving others is the noblest at home.
Elder Oaks talked a lot about The Family Proclamation. He reminded us that this life is the time to prepare to meet God.
Elder Pinegree talked about how there are specific things God has for each person to do in their life. He said the Lord has more in mind for your than you have for yourself. He said there were four things we should work on to find out what it is God would have us do. 1, to focus on others. 2, to discover and develop our spiritual gifts. Everyone is given gifts of the spirit, to some is given one to some is given another. 3, to make use of adversity. 4. to rely on God. He also reminded us that Satan seeks to distract us with less important matters in our busy lives. I really liked his talk.
Elder Christofferson said that we all have different needs to be strengthened through the Atonement of Christ. He said we also must internalize the qualities and characteristics of Christ. He quoted President Monson saying, "We are the product of all that we read, all that we hear, all that we see, and all that we think." I also really liked his talk.
Then Elder Holland talked about Christ's command to "be ye therefore perfect". He addressed how Satan has somehow managed to make commands of the gospel daunting and depressing as we strive for perfection but continue to fall short. He said, "here in mortality, perfection is still pending." Another very good talk.
Elder Stevenson - technology should be used to teach, uplift, and inspire others. We should not use it to rant or bring others down.
I also really appreciated Elder Cook's talk on humility and being careful of how we can become prideful to boasting on Facebook and other social media. It really made me think. It's interesting that we can find so much good in the internet and it's uses, but Satan also finds ways to turn it into distractions and even sin.
Sister Bingham asked the question, how do I find joy despite the trials of life? That was a talk I very much needed to hear.
Elder Bednar addressed how we can easily be distracted from things of eternity by our many busy lives and schedules. I liked his talk a lot.
Elder Waddell said that we cannot control the trials we have, but we have absolute control over the way we respond to trials in our lives. That was another talk for me.
President Eyring reminded us of the Savor's words "look unto me in every thought. Doubt not, fear not." He also admonished that we diligently follow prophetic council.
Elder Ballard spoke on our trek through life. He said as we walk the road of life, we are tested to see if we will fulfill all of God's commands.
Elder Callister gave a very powerful witness of the truth of the Book of Mormon. He said "God's fingerprints are all over the Book of Mormon." 
Elder Koch - we have no right to portray anyone in a negative light.
Elder Ellis talked about how hard is good. He said, "I have learned some of the best lessons through the hardest times." He reminded us of the scripture in Doctrine and Covenants "..endure it well. ...All these things shall give thee experience and shall be for thy good." Another great talk.
Elder Anderson gave a wonderful concluding talk! He summed up the whole conference beautifully!
One of my very favorite parts of Conference was in the Sunday morning session. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir sang "Dear To The Heart Of The Shepard". It has already been one of my favorite hymns but the version they sang in the conference was exquisite. So wonderful! The harmonies were amazing! I highly recommend going back to listen to that one!
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/music?lang=eng#conference=PD60003502_000_000

Spencer shared,

My favorite thoughts from the Priesthood Session:

Elder Evans - we keep our testimony strong by constant nourishment - we have to act in order to maintain it

Elder Maynes - being a "man of integrity" - having integrity means having pure actions and intentions whether we are alone or with others - integrity builds trust and is very hard to get back once it is compromised

President Uchtdorf - spiritual wellness comes from having "light" in our lives - if we lack light, things that were once clear to us can become obscured - if we are in darkness, it means we are not in the right place to receive light

Summer Zoo Fun

Kadee loves going to the Zoo. Luckily for her, it is close and we can go all the time. Her favorites are the Sea Lions and the fishies! We also like to go see the gorillas. They never disappoint! It's also really cool to go into the wallaby enclosure where they can hop around you. I was not really a fan of going inside with all the parakeets. They are really loud and I did Not want one of them to come and land on me. Too scary!

Kadee also seems to really like the rhinos for some reason. But she thinks they are puppies. Actually, she thinks everything at the Zoo is a puppy lately. The rhino, the bears, the zebras, the giraffes, the flamingos, whatever. Oh well.

This last time we got to see the Sea Lion show. I think Kadee would have enjoyed it more if she hadn't been so tired. Oh well. It was still really fun.