Baby Boy #3!!!!

We had our ultrasound yesterday and found out that we are expecting baby BOY #3. He is completely healthy...which was a big relief for me, because I still haven't felt him move! I had some wierd dreams...but now I know he is fine! My placenta is on the outside this time...so the doctor said I probably won't feel him move for a while.



On the way into the ultrasound I asked Cooper if he thought it would be a boy or girl, and he said, "Its a boy!". I said, "I think so too...do you want to bet your Dad (who thought it was a girl)". When they came into the ultrasound and the guy told him, "Well...it's a BOY!", Cooper said, "I just...I knew it!" It was really cute. I asked him later if he was sad he wasn't getting a baby sister, and he said, "No....don't worry mom...you can have a girl someday." It was cute. So Cooper is REALLY excited to have another baby brother.

Andrew said it was a "win-win" situation for him. He asked if I wanted to get pizza to celebrate, and I said, "sure, but you know we would be getting P.F.Chang if it was a girl, right?" He said, "Well good, cause we can't afford P.F. Chang!" And I said, "Probably good, because we can't really afford a girl right not either." :) It was funny. I know I would have gone crazy shopping...so it probably is a good thing during residency to have another boy.

When I told Andrew, "You know this means we're for sure having 4 kids right?!", he said, "I can't handle FOUR boys!" :)

Names right now: Easton, Beckett, Parker...but Andrew just informed me he hasn't ruled out all others too...so who knows!

Over the past few days I have thought about all the amazing women I know who have 3 or more boys in a row, and have made it look easy! Just to name a few....my mom, Aunt Paula, Luke and Janna, Brent and Jen, the Jones', the Wiers, the Landreth's, the Naylors, the Gees, the Wirigs...I hope I can just be half the mom most of these wonderful women are! It will be fun!

As he did the ultrasound I just had that overwhelming love for him come over me. It was SO fun! I am so excited to have another spirit from our Heavenly Father in our home!

Here are a few more pictures. The first is a feet picture. You can see the bottom of one foot, and the profile of the other.


Here is a profile picture with his hand in his mouth


Here's another profile


Finally, here is a 3D picture of the tummy and feet crossed at the ankles. I guess the head was too close to the placenta, and going through the placenta he couldn't get a good 3D head shot...but he did say I could come in at 26 weeks (the best time for 3D ultrasounds), and he would do one for free for fun. Don't ya love the military! :) We are excited because he showed us some he'd taken at 26-28 weeks of other babies, and they were amazing!

Way of Lights

So our ward has a weekly email update that is so great...and they give us tips on things going on in the area. They had information about the "Way of Lights" at a Shrine close by. We weren't completely sold, but for free...we thought it would be a good FHE...even with the 25 minute drive.

Well, we were AMAZED!!! You stayed in your car for about a 10-minute drive through tunnels and tons of lights! They had scriptures posted along the side of the road as you drove and you basically followed the story of Jesus' birth. You see the shepherds, the 3 wise men on their camels, the city of Bethlehem, and then you can pull over and get out at the nativity, where they had Christmas music playing. I have never seen so many lights in my life! The pictures don't do it justice (especially because I didn't get out my camera until the end). Besides bruising my foot on a prayer bench while trying to take a picture of the boys...it was an amazing family home evening. It makes me wish we were going to live here longer so we could do it every year!

Andrew is 30!!!

Can you believe all the fingers you need to make 30! Good thing we have a few kids around!

Andrew turned 30 on Saturday, and I just had to "take a moment and celebrate his age," as the Tim McGraw song puts it. It was fun to have his birthday on a Saturday, so we could have him to ourselves the whole day. The boys were so excited, especially Cooper, who gets so excited about anyone's birthday! As you can see from the pictures, he had to open his presents first thing in the morning...still in pajamas, because Cooper couldn't wait any longer. :)

For his gift we gave him different things (mostly the after-Thanksgiving specials:) ) to go along with the Tim McGraw song, "In my next 30 years". It was fun. The gifts were

"I'm gonna have some fun": PS2 NCAA Football '08
"Laugh a little more": DVD's Christmas Vacation & A Christmas Story
"I'm gonna watch my weight": winter workout clothes
"Eat a few more salads": Qdoba Gift Card
"Drink a little lemonade": Squirt Sparkling Lemonade
"Raise a little family": Bowling passes
"Hang out with my wife": chocolates
"Spend precious moments with the ones that I hold dear": digital picture frame/SD card

Cooper was so cute helping wrap the presents...and trying to keep them secret. The only one that got out was the "cool Christmas movie". We kept one present that was a surprise to Cooper too (a Wii video game), and he was pretty excited.

That afternoon, we went bowling at the alley on base and used some of our passes. The boys LOVE it, and it is so nice because it is less than a mile from our house and smoke free. Andrew won, and Gunner came in 2nd place with a 96 (with bumpers and a ramp...but still!)

For dinner, he picked J.Bucks. It was really yummy.

We love you Honey/Daddy! Can't wait to spend the "next 30 years" making more memories!

Christmas cards welcome!

So, I was just warned about posting addresses on your blog...so I had to remove ours. But if you want our address, or you want to give us your address without having to leave it in a comment...email me at cassielarson16@yahoo.com. We did write down the ones who commented previously, but then deleted your comment for your protection too. Thanks! Hope you're all "simply having a wonderful Christmastime!"

Welcome Winter!

Although it still doesn't feel like winter, as far as the weather goes, we are welcoming the holiday season! We had a great, relaxing Thanksgiving. The Pankratz family in our ward had us over, along with two women and their families whose husbands are deployed (Let me tell you, mingling with these families really makes you thankful for your husband being around, and for the free country we live in, and all the troops serving). It was really fun, and Cooper was playing for 5 hours straight! I did the after-Thanksgiving shopping with a few girls in the ward. We also had dinner with friends, went bowling, and really enjoyed having Andrew around for 4 days straight!


Another hightlight recently was "Breakfast with Santa" at Eckerts Farm. We had a super yummy breakfast (including scones!), decorated cookies, and sat on Santa's lap. Cooper asked for the "Cranium Carnival Clubhouse", so we'll see if he's a good boy. :)


We also put up the Christmas tree, got out the Christmas books, and the Little People Nativity, put up a few outdoor lights, and it has been fun to sing carols each evening. Cooper is like his mom, and loves holidays, so it is fun to notice all the Christmas lights and decorations with him. Hope you all are having fun bringing in the holidays. I am so thankful for this time of year, and the chance we have to celebrate our Savior!

Where did these kids come from??

We came home from a friends for dinner, and were getting jammies rounded up. We came back to the kitchen and found this! Cooper has been helping himself to quite a lot of things in the fridge lately...and the other day Andrew opened the door to find an open ziplock with 2 pieces of moldy cheese that our little mouse had been nibbling on. I asked him how it tasted, and he said, "mmm, mmm, yummy!" Gross!

Missing the big hunts!

So, as most of you know, the Gatten's are hunters. While growing up, I cherished spending time in the outdoors with my Dad and siblings. We grew so close, and it was so fun. My favorite part was getting out there really early in the morning, and then listening to the forest come alive. I dare to admit that I shot 5 deer growing up, but I am sad to admit I haven't shot any for a while! Living far from home is always hard during hunting season. Lucky for me, I still get to hear the stories and see pictures. Unlucky for me, we have had to buy our meat for most of our marriage. So, here is my Dad, who drew a tag in a specific area in Montana that has HUGE elk. And of course, being the expert hunter he is, he got this one.

This next picture is of my youngest brother, Spike. He took his "senior trip" to Canada with my brother Dusty, and they went goose and duck hunting. I am so proud of my little brother, who just left on his mission yesterday to Manaus, Brazil. He is in the San Paulo, Brazil MTC.

Here is a picture of the Montana hunt. I think they brought home 9 deer. Here are the big ones. From left to right, Tyler (married to my sister Mikin), Brett, Dad, Tom.

Although I can't shoot a bow (like the majority of my family), haven't shot a moose (like the majority of my family including my younger sister, Brynne), and haven't shot anything for 7 years, I still am proud to be a Gatten. We have talked often of creating a maternity camo line of clothing. :) Someday I will live close again, and Brynne and I can trade babysitting to go hunting. I'll never forget the day we had a half day of school, and decided to go hunting alone. I was 14, and she was 12. I shot a whitetail buck (deer), and her and I had to gut it and drag it down to my mom who was waiting to take me to piano lessons. :) Someday we can be hunting buddies again. :)

Crazy weather!

So, I just looked at the weather to see what kind of weather we will have over Thanksgiving weekend. No joke...tomorrow 74 degrees! Thanksgiving...40 degrees! Can't believe it will be 74 in November, but also can't believe it is going to drop so fast! Don't think we'll be getting snow anytime soon out here in the midwest...but, as you can see, you never can tell what the weather will bring. Our leaves are finally dropping from the trees though, so we went and did the boys photoshoots Saturday. We'll post some pitures of them soon.

Cooper is FOUR!

Imaginext Pirate Ship $24.99
“Cool” Bicycle with training wheels $28.99
Sponge Bob piñata $12.99
Hawaiian Punch game $8.00 on EBay
Sponge Bob Ants in the Pants game $7.00

Look on your 4-year-olds face as he opens his presents….priceless!


FAVORITES AT FOUR

Foods: eggs, tacos, fish sticks, pizza, chicken nuggets, cup-a-noodles, chicken rolls, string cheese, spaghetti, fruit snacks, pears, apple juice, chocolate milk,

TV Shows: Sponge Bob Square pants, Backyardigans, America’s Funniest Home Videos, Scooby Doo Where Are You, Tak and the Power of Ju Ju,

Movies: Leap Frog Letter Factory, Baby Einstein Movies, Scholastic book movies, Cars, Ice Age, ET, Madagascar, Curious George

Toys: Balls (baseball, soccer, hockey, bowling), cars, board games, play dough, trains

Video Games: Wii (Mario Party 8, Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, Mario Kart, Wii Sports, Rayman, Cars), Nintendo DS, Leapster (Cars, Backyardigans, Letter Factory)

Songs: Take me out to the Ballgame, I’ll Follow Him in Faith, I Won’t Back Down (Johnny Cash), John Deer Green (Joe Diffie), Sweet Escape (Gwen Stefani), Summertime (Faith Hill), This Little Piggy, We are a Happy Family, Do as I’m Doing

Friends: Gunner, Dad, Mom, cousins, Cleveland Friends (Dirk Bentley, Carsen Lee, Brady Wirig, Millie Scholzen, Bailey Jannuzzi), Emma Whittle, Alex Conte (who just moved), Noah Riemer, Trent Bollinger, Dustin Pankratz, Hyrum Redd, Gini Goodrich

Things to do: play outside, bike rides, playgrounds, wrestle with Dad and Gunner, video games, computer games, board games, story time, preschool with mom, going to the gym, swimming, singing, books, help Gunner say prayers, playing with friends

Books: Frog and Toad books, Bernstein Bear books, Dr. Seuss books, Pete’s a Pizza, The Dinosaur Café, The Book of Mormon

Our 4-YEAR-OLD!!!!

This past week was filled with birthday festivities. Cooper is a boy he gets WAY excited about everything...and a birthday...well that tops the charts! We counted down FOREVER, and finally the big day arrived!


We had his "friend" party at McDonalds on Saturday before his birthday. I actually won this party (including happy meals, cake and icecream for 10 kids) at a silent auction for $21! Cooper had so much fun. We had a Sponge Bob pinata too...at Cooper's request, and can I just say it was a GREAT way to get rid of the rest of his Halloween candy! We are doing this every year! :) His favorite present from the party was a Spiderman Web-blaster.

Then came the actual birthday. We started the day with a pancake shaped like a 4.


Then, when Dad came home for lunch we opened all of his presents.

Gunner picked out a Transformer...and a Spiderman figurine for his friends party. It was so cute how he really "picked" what to get him, and was excited when he opened it.


For his bike we did a treasure hunt. He was SO excited at each clue...and then came the bike out the back door. "Oh my gosh! Look at my cool bicycle!" We spent the afternoon playing his games, and with his toys...took a nap...and then when Daddy got home, we headed to dinner at his favorite restaurant, Chuck E. Cheese...BUT....IT WAS CLOSED FOR RENOVATION! How dare they! So we did the next best thing close by, and ate at the mall and rode the train and carausol.


Then we dropped Dad off at Cub Scouts, and went to use his birthday money from grandparents to buy the additions to his Imaginext Pirate ship at Toys R' Us...BUT...THEY WERE COMPLETELY SOLD OUT! So he decided he wanted some more Magna Morphs like his Aunt Artie sent him...BUT...THEY DON'T SELL THEM! So we settled on a sports nets set with hockey sticks, cones, soccer ball, etc. He and Gunner have had a ton of fun with it! We picked up Dad and decided we would stop by Target to check for his Imaginext additions...BUT...THEY WERE SOLD OUT...and no magna morphs either. POOR KID!

We did get the icecream cake he requested from Cold Stone, and headed home. After the Happy Birthday song, it was more time with his new toys. Despite the minor setbacks, I think between the friends party, and the family time, he had a great birthday. We just keep thinking...are we old enough to have a 4-year-old?!


We love you so much Cooper, and you bring so much fun and energy to our lives! Thanks for always telling us you love us, and being a good helper with chores and with Gunner. Thanks for always reminding us to read the scriptures and pray, and for helping Gunner learn to pray. We know you really do have "Jesus in your heart" as you told the doctor today. You are getting so big!

Halloween!

So our Halloween festivities have come to an end...but the candy still remains! Is it possible for it to ever be gone?!

We had a ton of fun this Halloween. Cooper was so into it that it made each event more fun, because he was so excited about everything.

PLAYGROUP AT THE PUMPKIN PATCH


This was tons of fun. Both boys picked their own pumpkins, and loved the animals, play area, and tractor ride.

HALLOWEEN PLAYGROUP PARTY


This was a fun party. The most surprising thing was that Gunner kept his costume on and actually enjoyed himself! I guess throughout the month he slowly warmed up to the idea of Halloween. He loves pumpkins...and recognizing them from the car on peoples porches. The only problem with having two superheros, was that anytime they are in their costumes...they are like magnets, wrestling each other. The best part about this playgroup was the yummy food everyone brought!

MOMS AND TOTS PARTY


We attend a little group on base that meets at the Teen Center gym once a week and plays with bikes, balls, toys, etc. A music lady comes once a month, and a librarian does storytime. We had a fun little Halloween party...and another great opportunity for the boys to wear their costumes.

PUMPKING CARVING FHE


Although they say it is never too young to talk about strangers...it was quite an amusing topic to speak to an imaginative 3-year-old about. After our "lesson", we carved pumpkins. Our kids have yet to find the "guts" fun..but did enjoy picking our the faces and seeing things materialize. Mom like the roasted seeds the best.

WARD TRUNK-OR-TREAT


Tuesday night was a fun ward party. They had a magician, and a chili cook-off. The Bishop and EQ President's costumes were pretty hilarious. The boys LOVED trunk-or-treating and Gunner caught on quick.

HALLOWEEN NIGHT


I think the hardest thing about Halloween, is that until your kids are in school, the anticipation of the festivities that night make for a very long day! We tried to kill some time at storytime, played outside, forced a nap, and cleaned house...constantly counting down the hours for our anxious Cooper. Then we had some new friends over who also recently moved to the area, and who were still living in a hotel and on a food budget. They needed a neighborhood to trick-or-treat in, and even brought us dinner from Applebees! It was really fun to have them over, and the boys absolutely LOVED trick-or-treating. About half way through Gunner found his place in the wagon with his candy...happy...although he was too impatient to ask us to open it for him. He would just chew the candy through the packages.

The night ended with a bang. I let the boys hold their glow sticks while "winding down" to a movie on mom's bed. All of the sudden Cooper came running into the living room covering his mouth with tears in his eyes, and saying, "It's burning!". Andrew asked, "What is burning bud." Cooper pointed at another glow stick. Andrew rushed him to the sink, and after about twenty rounds of swishing and spitting, and a whole glass of water, things were under control. He had chewed through the stick and quite a bit of the liqued was gone. I brought it into the kitchen and Andrew actually touched it with his finger and licked it. He said it burned and numbed his tongue and was fowl tasting. Cooper's breath smelled SO bad! Poor kid just kept saying, "I promise I'll never do that again!" We felt bad for him, but I guess kids learn lessons the hard way sometimes. BEWARE of letting your kids chew glowsticks! :)

So now it is on to the next countdown...Cooper's 4th birthday on November 13th. His wish-list continues to grow!

...and then there were 5!!!

So, for those of you who haven't heard....we are expecting baby #3 May 7, 2008 (that sounds WAY too far away!). That makes me 12-weeks along today! Done with the first trimester, but still too afraid to try a day without Zophran (the miracle anti-nausea drug). We are really excited to have another little spirit from our Heavenly Father in our home. Girl or boy, we will be excited...but send the girl vibes our way. :)

The boys, well mainly Cooper, are really excited too. The other day, when they did an ultrasound to find the heartbeat, he said, "was it a boy or a girl in the picture?!" He is way too anxious. "Mom, is the baby big enough to come out yet"? "Mom, I want to give you a kiss, and then I want to give our baby a kiss," and then he kisses my tummy. We were going to try and hold off telling them, but I am not kidding, one night at dinner Cooper out of the blue asked, "Mom, do you have a baby in your tummy?" I just looked at him stunned and said, "Well, actually I do." I mean, I know I have gained a few pounds...but I think he has some intuition. Maybe it was the fact that I couldn't get off the couch for a few weeks until I got the good drugs. :)

We are also glad that we will be having the baby while we still live here in St. Louis, avoiding a change of doctor mid-way. I still can't believe that I will have a 4 and 2-year-old before the end of the year...let alone be so close to #3. Gunner and the baby will be 28 months apart.

So there's our big news. I am expecting lots of advice from all you great moms out there who make it look easy!

Fall Festival & Our Firemen

This weekend the housing company sponsored a Fall Festival for all the people living on the Air Force Base. Each person got a free pumpkin, and each family got a free mum. They also had yummy popcorn, a few games for the kids, and best of all, the Fire Department was there. They had a fun obstacle course for the kids. They dressed in their uniforms and it went a little something like this...

-Climb up the blow-up ladder and slide down the slide
-Run over to a tarp and stop, drop, and roll across the tarp
-Help a fireman pull a dummy across the next tarp
-use a mallet to hammer a piece or wood through a path
-AND BEST OF ALL!...help a fireman pull the hose out and spray a cone

Cooper was SO into the competition. As most of you know, he is a pretty competitive kid! They had an announcer saying the kids names over the loudspeaker and cheering them on. It was cute. Gunner did love getting dressed up...and just joined the course as he pleased, mostly enjoying the stop, drop and roll.


They also got to climb up in the fire truck, and meet Smokey the Bear and Sparky the Dog.


Earlier this week, the boys also got to meet the firemen at Story Time at the library for National Fire Safety Month.


Also, we went to this month's Family Story Time and got to watch these two cute old women at the library make fools of themselves as they dressed up mummies, flew around dinosaurs, and read and acted out stories. They are really cute. The boys got to make these hands with candy corn as the fingernails, and then filled with popcorn, and then they got presented a reading certificate. They loved it. Except Gunner was scared of the mummy.

Gunner has been pretty funny with Halloween stuff this year. Cooper loves to go to Target and push all the "try me" buttons on all the decorations. Gunner is scared to death! Anytime he sees or hears something Halloweenish, he whines as says, "No Ha-ween!" I think it's pretty cute. Cooper is counting down the days until Halloween. He is excited to be Superman, but already has his costumes lined up for the next few years. "Mom, next year I want to be Spongebob, and then I want to be a skeleton, and then a pirate, and then I am going to be Batman again, ok?"

A Wild Weekend

We have discovered one more thing we like about the Air Force...we get all the "bank holidays" off. So, in honor of Columbus Day, we had a good 3-day weekend together. It was a lot of fun watching conference, but here are some other fun events.

First of all a trip to the zoo on Friday. The St. Louis Zoo was a lot of fun. Cooper makes sure we distinguish between the "St. Louis" Zoo and the real zoo... the Cleveland Zoo. The first pictures are the hippos. It is fun to get the underwater view...and neat to see the fish eating off them...or kissing them as Cooper says. The next pic is the cute baby elephant. It was so fun to watch him toddle around. There are so many elephants there. They have a few places in the zoo where kids can get wet and cool off. It would have been nice to know so we could bring a change of clothes, but it didn't stop Cooper! The "Children's Zoo" part also had a place to go in and pet the goats. Cooper took a seat right next to one! The zoo keeper brought out a barn owl too. It was one of Gunner's favs along with the snake, porcupines, and fish. Because the zoo is FREE, thanks to budweiser, we treated ourselves to icecream before heading home.



Saturday we went bowling on-base. Gunner spends everyday finding empty cups, juice cups, and water bottles around the house to use for "bowlin" around the house, so he was so excited to do the real thing. He used a ramp. Cooper is getting good at just running and throwing his ball. I think both boys beat the parents! Well, before we even got started, Gunner tried to pic up my ball and slipped, dropped the ball, which bounced, and fell on his hands. The bowling ball came right down on his finger with Andrew and me just watching. It was so sad, and he kepts holding up his immediately swollen hand saying "I brake it!" Then, later that night, something happened while he was playing by himself in Cooper's room, and he came out with this black eye. Rough day!



Today we went to the Science Center--another great FREE thing about St. Louis! There was this huge T-Rex exhibit with a bloody Triceretops that looked like it was breathing and moving around. The T-Rex was moving around and roaring. I have to say, neither boy was too excited...more scared. The did have a really neat "Discovery Room" for the younger kids. Cooper could have stayed there all day.


Gunner is a big colorer lately. I love the way his sits when he colors. So intense! The bad new is each time he colors...he usually sneaks a few pictures in on furniture or walls!


This wasn't part of the weekend, but we discovered this really neat wooden park called "Long Acre Park". There is a huge, old-school wooden park that the boys LOVE. There is also a man-made lake and lots of paved walking paths. They loved feeding the ducks and geese. Cooper got pretty good on the mini-rings.

Fall Fun!

I too love this time of year! It has been fun to read all the posts of those who are excited for the changing weather too. Unfortunately, it is still upper 80s and humid here. I've heard the weather changes fast though.

So the following pictures are from the "Family Fun Days" at Eckert's Milstadt Farm.


They had so many fun things to do! They had a huge pumpkin cannon that shot pumpkins down this hill over a mile! They could change the angle and shoot over 600 feet in the air too! So cool...although the boys got a little scared. They also had some carnival rides, 9-hole mini golf, carnival games, lots of animals, a huge slide, a little ride through the apples behind a mini tractor, and when it got dark, a Haunted Hayride (Cooper's favorite). The boys had a lot of fun, and the best part was we got in for free from a military officer spouse VIP pass...and once you were in everything was free except food.


The pig races were Cooper's favorite. He got picked from the crowd to cheer for the "orange" pig for one of the races. His pig won, and he got a pig nose as a prize. He really got into cheering...and Gunner did too.

So for those of you who are wondering why Andrew's smile looks a little grey, it is because he got braces! Him and another resident did them on each other. If you can tell from this picture...there is one tooth next to his front middle teeth that is crooked. The good news is that he only has to have them for 6-months, and I have only been injured by them once! :)

Our Little Fisherman!

So I mentioned in a previous post how Cooper "earned" his Batman fishing pole. He has been pretty excited about the whole fishing thing. We went to a fun fishing store to buy our worms. The old man there was so nice to get Cooper excited. He let him catch a few fish in nets out of his little ponds. He also showed him the big box of "bait" crickets. Cooper was so excited!

So we went out to Scott Lake here on base, and I have to say, he was quite the caster. However, at the first spot we picked, the fish just kept nibbling the worms (another fun part of fishing) off the hook, but not "biting". So we moved spots and wala! He caught 3 fish! He reeled them in all by himself too. It was our kind of fishing! We were only gone from home for 45 minutes, and Cooper was satisfied! He caught little "blue gills". Supposedly there are bigger fish there, but those were perfect for him.

The FUNNY PART, was Andrew told him to hold up 3 fingers for the picture of his 3rd fish...and instead he held up 4 fingers. Andrew said, "You're already a fisherman! Stretching the truth." :)

Gunner had fun playing with his Tigger fishing pole with a fake fish tied to the end of it, and watching the frogs and turtles.

A New Favorite

Each place we've lived, there are the places to eat where you can't wait to go back again and again...and you crave them, especially when you move and can't have them anymore. And then when you return to those places...eating at certain places is one of the priorities of the vacation. Some of our favorites where we've lived...

Spokane: Thifty Scottsman, Racho Viejo, Ron's
Coeur d Alene: Hudson's Hamburgers, Dockside desserts, Pow Pow's Kitchen, Toro Viejo, Tomato Street
Arizona: Ned's Crazy Subs, Rosa's, Papa Kelsey's, Rositas
Oklahoma: The Pankcake House, Braum's, Cactus Jack's
Utah: Cafe Rio, The Pizza Factory, Los Hermanos, Gandolfo's, The Wilk, Jimmy John's Subs
Cleveland: Penn Station, Tropical Smoothie Cafe, Texas Roadhouse, Max & Erma's, East Coast Custard, Quaker Steak and Lube

I realize some of these are chain restaurants (but I didn't list the obvious favorite chains like Oive Garden, Outback, Cold Stone, Jamba Juice).

Well, now that we moved to St. Louis, we once again have had to search for those unbelievable places. And we found one recently. LOTAWATTA CREEK! This place is awesome...mainly because they give you ENORMOUS amounts of food (and it is really yummy). Their appetizers are all at least $8, but you get a plate the size of a serving platter. The nachos are our favorite-and this picture doesn't do them justice. They are SOOOOOOO yummy. They make them and then stick them in the oven so the edges of the chips brown. Not to mention they are big enough to feed our whole family a meal! No kidding! I bet it is a whole bag of chips. Even though it is an expensive appetizer...it is cheap if that is all we have to get! The boys share the kids meal chicken strips...which I can't help but sample since they give them so much! They are so yummy because they are battered. The other thing we love...they have shaved ice in their softdrinks. Yummy!

Ok, now I am getting hungry!

Fall Fun!

So today it really seemed like Fall. First, it was actually kind of chilly outside! (Although it is supposed to warm up again next week) We went to Eckert's Farm...which is only a few minutes from the base. It was ward playgroup with about 5 other moms, so Cooper was so excited to be with "friends!". We rode out to the orchards, and got to pick some really yummy apples. Andrew is less excited about the apples, since he got BRACES today! More about that later. But, he is expecting me to attempt his mom's apple pie...again. Anyway, Cooper was really into it...finding the best apples. Gunner had way too much fun picking all the apples up off the ground and throwing them like "baseballs!".


Everything was decorated so cute, and Cooper got way excited about the possibility of Halloween being around the corner. He loved posing at all the picture props saying, "Look mom, get a picture of me by this one!" Then he wants to see the picture immediately on the camera.


Then it was off to the "Fun Corral" where there is tons of FREE things to do. They had trikes, animals to feed and pet (Gunner loves animals...but they all bark), a sandbox, haybox, and even a 9-hole mini golf course (the boys' favorite). Cooper got a hole-in-one on one hole and was so excited. He likes to play golf on the Wii video game at home, so he kept asking me, "Mom, did I get par? Mom, I got a birdie!" Golf is not my strongpoint, so I just nod and wave. :)




The fun had to end though, and Cooper actually cooperated when it was time to go! It's a miracle! He even helped me get his brother to the car. Priceless!