Trick or Treat

I love halloween now that we have kids. We get to dress them up and take them out and watch their faces as people give them candy by just knocking on their doors! Leading up to Saturday we had been talking to Aidan about what he wanted to dress up as...he was a bit torn because he didn't really want to dress up but he wanted to get candy. When we provided numerous options to him he informed us that he didn't like costumes. So, we decided to keep it simple. He finally decided to be a basketball player (are you shocked?)
We decided this year we would go trick or treating around our neighborhood with our friends that also live in the same neighborhood. We are still new to the area and are still getting acquainted with our neighbors. Before we started trick or treating we headed over to Mimi and Pa's to show off our costumes and get our first handful of candy.

Jaxon's teddy bear outfit was so cute! We found it at Value Village for $5! At first he didn't want to keep his hat on but once we were outside in the cold he kept it on. I lugged him to a handful of houses that we stopped at and let him stand with his own bag to get candy but once he started getting heavy in the stroller he went. Which he was totally fine with. He seemed to enjoy watching the rest of the kids run from house to house.

Aidan was so thrilled with the candy. He has told us on a couple of occasions that we should do this next week again! If only it worked that way.

He was so polite to the people giving out the candy. I would remind him to say, "thank you" and he would look them in the eye and say it! So cute!

He really liked Mimi and Pa's box of candy choices and after Mimi gave him his candy he just kept looking in the box...almost like he wanted to grab more.

He did so well walking the neighborhood. He kept up with the rest of the kids so well and did over half of the candy route on foot all by himself. Then once he started getting tired he would ask if we would carry him and then once we got to the next house he would run up to the door, get his candy and then come back for his ride. When we were done he was going through his candy and one of his favourite things was a juice box! Silly kid.

I am looking forward to more Halloween's in the future in our new neighborhood. Next year hopefully we will be at our house and be able to hand out candy. I want to get to know the kids in our neighborhood and I believe this is another way to connect with them.

n

Family Fun, Fall and Kai!

It has been way too long since the last time I blogged. With that said, there are many pictures to post and stories to tell.

We headed to Quesnel Thanksgiving weekend and had a good time with everybody. Everyone was excited to meet the newest addition to the Beck family. We all took our turns holding and loving on the little cutie.

Jaxon liked petting his head and giving him kisses.....

Aidan was thoroughly excited to hold Kai. He warmed up to him towards the end of the weekend. He was excited to watch CARS with him since he knew that Kai was too little to play.

Yes, I got my turn to hold the bundle. It was fun to have an baby around but I was so glad to give him back to his mommy :) I definitely love babies but I don't really like the lack of sleep that comes along with them.

It looks like they had a good conversation. Kai loves it when people just talk to him. He looks intently at you.....makes you wonder some time what he was thinking.

The boys were excited to have some Unkie Matt time. Unkie has always been a favorite and has always gotten right into to playing with them. Makes for a loud house and great times. The boys have really started to enjoy sitting and reading books. At home you can't sit on the couch for more than a moment before one of them comes with a book to read. By the end of any given day we have books everywhere!

They decided to make a fort with Aidan's bed. They absolutely loved it! Oh the shrieking that came from that room.

Aidan emerging from the fort! Both boys love playing in "caves" and/or "forts" We have used our kitchen table as a fort and Aidan's bed and train table. It has been fun watching the two of them play more and more together. They just sit and laugh inside their forts.

Thank you Heather and Matt for having us all at your place! It was a fun time being together. Can't wait to see you soon.

Nana with her boys!
Yes, Jaxon is in Christmas pj's.

The boys have started to eat apples this fall. Aidan will actually eat almost the entire thing. He likes to get to the point that he can see the seeds. Jaxon just likes to do whatever his brother does at this point. He doesn't really eat the apple; he just bites into it and makes a mess. He spits out any pieces that he does manage to get.

Aidan has been doing swimming lessons on Saturday mornings; he is a Sea Turtle. There are only three kids in the class and he has been doing really well. Every time he goes he gets more and more comfortable. It has been fun watching him become more and more independent. It has taken some time but he now goes into the water with the other kids without any need of having Daddy there.

Jamie and I constantly are amazed at how fast he is growing up. Of course, he still has many of his moments but it has been fun watching him grow....

We can't believe that October is almost over and that means we are getting closer to Jamie, Papa and PaB's bday's and Christmas. The other night we were heading out with the boys and we drove past a couple of homes that have their Christmas lights on their house already and Aidan proclaimed that "those lights mean it is almost Christmas time."

Welcome to the Family, Kai!

Here is the latest edition to the Beck family.

Matt and Heather gave birth to Kai Benjamin on September 24th. He looks like quite the cutie! We can't wait to meet the little one. I now understand (a bit more) of what my family goes through as they live so far away. Matt and Heather only live 7 hours away but it does make it difficult to just get in the car and go for a visit. My hope is that we will be able to go and visit soon (after the grandparents get their turn).

Love you and miss you Isaak's! Can't wait to give your little one a squeeze.

The End of Summer

The pictures on this post have been taken during this last week of summer. We have had a great summer filled with so many memories.

This past week we spent down in Washington at our timeshare. The condo unit that we stayed in overlooked one of the holes on the golf course. Aidan was mesmerized by the view. He could watch golfers and the golf carts to his hearts content. Even Jaxon enjoyed watching everything.
It was so fun watching the two of them interact more and more. Jaxon just absolutely loves his older brother and loves to do everything he does. My prayer is that they will grow into great friends and love spending time together.

This past week was fun for us because we were able to go on vacation with friends of ours. We both have timeshares with the same company and we decided it would be fun to go at the same time. It worked out well. We were able to spend time at the pool and let the kids play with each other and just enjoy the company. The kids did great and seemed to enjoy having other kids to play with.

Once night after dinner I was trying to get the boys to turn around and let me take a picture of them however, there were golfers on the green and there was no way I was going to pry Aidan's eyes away. So, I leaned over the railing and took a picture. I have to say, I kind of like it. How can one not love this smile.
Jamie had the fun idea to make a hat out of a pop case. Jaxon has always seem to really love putting things on his head so we knew he would love it! He thought he was such hot stuff.

Then they thought it would be fun to run around the house with it on their heads and get chased at the same time. It was so funny because the hat would come flying off. Aidan would try to hold onto it as he ran. Everyone got laughing so hard. Who knew a whole family could have so much fun with a cardboard box. :)

I decided to make cookies on Saturday afternoon because I knew that Jamie would appreciate them to add to his lunches for school. Aidan was thrilled because he loves watching me make them and then licking the spoon. Jaxon hasn't quite clued into the yummy goodness of cookie dough yet. So, after dinner the boys both got a cookie for desert.

Jaxon has a rather an art to eating his cookies. The cookie is always about the size of one of his hands (if not bigger) so he always holds it with two hands and he savors every bite. So much so that at the end there is no doubt that he has just eaten a cookie.

Pure enjoyment! Don't you think??!

Tomorrow is our last day of summer as Jamie heads back to school on Tuesday and our lives here at home go back to "real life". I know that it will be a shock to the boy's systems as they have gotten rather use to having their daddy home for the last 10 weeks. It has been nice having him home but I think for all of us it will be good to get back into routine and a schedule.

Birthday Boy!

My little boy is three today!

In the last three years Aidan has learned so many things....there are too many to list but one of the most special things about him (to me) is his soft heart. He can be a stubborn child but when it comes down to it....he's a softy!

These pictures were his early bday party with Nana and Papa while we were in Michigan. We did a combined belated/early birthday for Aidan and Jaxon while with my parents.

Lately, Aidan has really enjoyed cupcakes and you can never have too many sprinkles.


Trying to blow out his candles for the first time. I don't think he realized that he could get burned by the flame because he got really close the first time. It was so cute watching him try to blow them out. He needed a bit of help but we got them.

Can't tell they were excited to have bday cupcakes, can you??

This weekend we decided to take Aidan to the PNE. We realized that since Jaxon had joined the family, Aidan had not had both Jamie and I together just to himself. We dropped Jax off and Mimi and Pa's and headed out to Vancouver. Aidan was super excited to be going and I think it was extra special since it was only for him. He had our undivided attention for the whole day. Jamie and I really enjoyed it because it was time that we could devote to him. I think that we will try to do this with both boys every now and then.

Here's our self-portrait as we waited for the pig races to start. Aidan was being really silly because I had given him some gum to chew. You can see it stuck to his front tooth.

It's kind of funny as I look at this picture I remember taking a self-portrait with Aidan's ultrasound picture when we met him for the first time; then we took a family self-portrait when he was only a couple of months old always with him in the middle. Now, here he is at three! I can almost see what he will look like at 13.
What a joy you have been!

We went to watch the motor cross "On The Edge" show and Aidan was mesmerized. I think every picture I took of him all look like this. He couldn't get enough. When the show was over he said he wanted to come back and watch it again later.

This is what he was looking at. They had quad races...

Anything loud and with wheels seems to capture my boys hearts :)

Here we are watching the Rock N' Roll parade that was going through the grounds. Aidan loved the drum set that was on top of a car. We had to peel him away from watching the 4H cows being weighed to go watch the parade. He wasn't thrilled at first but as soon as the floats and the music started going he was hooked.

Here he is watching the parade at the other side of the fair grounds. This is pretty much the face of Aidan all day. He just watched and watched and watched. When we left that evening I was asking him what his favorite thing at the PNE was he exclaimed, "I liked all the seeing" A boy after my own heart.

Sunday we had a pool party for him with some of his friends (and our friends too). He was a good day. Aidan spent so much time in the pool. I have to get pictures from Mama B.....pool pictures to come soon.

Old MacDonald

Last night I was out with the girls while Jamie watched the boys and he captured this priceless video of Jaxon singing Old MacDonald. If you listen carefully you will notice at the end of the video he is even on cue.

Thanks Mom, for teaching him Old MacDonald!

G.R. Time

We arrived last Thursday, July 23rd, and hit the ground running. We have done so many fun things that I am sure that once we get back home the boys are going to crash. My parents friends, the Shoemakers, let us borrow a swing for the backyard for the boys to play with. It has definitely been a hit. They have to ride it together before they each get a turn solo. Jaxon gets right ripped when he has to wait his turn. He seems to think that he should be able to swing with his brother all the time.

It was definitely made evident that Jaxon loves his brother and wants to be able to do everything Aidan does.
Papa fashioned a seat belt out of this old belts for the boys so that when they went we wouldn't have to worry about them falling off. The swing arc was about 25 - 30 ft which did have them swinging over one of Nana's flowerbeds.

The boys just loved swinging. It didn't matter how many mosquito's were out or not as long as they got to swing they didn't seem to mind. We weren't able to spend lots and lots of time in the backyard because of the mosquito's but they definitely were able to spend some time.

Thanks, Shoemaker's your swing was a success!

The boys love being outside. We spent time playing bocci ball, golf, taking rides in the red wagon and the hammock.

One afternoon we decided to head out to Grand Haven. It is a bit of a beach town about 45 minutes away from GR. It has always been one of Jamie's favourite places (since he met me) and he had said he wanted to go there while we were here. The weather was great but the crowds were huge because of the Coast Guard Festival. Jamie and I didn't mind the crowds but I soon learned why my parents never go....they don't like crowds. They were great sports about it and enjoyed the time with the boys.

Jaxon just loved sitting in the sand and playing with one toy and dumping water from the bucket to the sand. He could have done it for hours.

Aidan struggled to remember not to rub his face with his hands. We had just cleaned off his face and he decided to face plant right into a mound of sand. He thought it was great! Didn't seem to bother him any.

We buried both Aidan and Jamie in the sand at one point. It was great watching Aidan enjoy being in the sand and water.

One of my favorite things growing up when at the lake was jumping the waves. The wind had picked up while we were there and we had some good waves. I had decided to stay on the beach with Jaxon while my parents, Jamie and Aidan went to jump the waves. That didn't last long as Jaxon could not be left out of the fun. Jamie was surprised that I joined them....but it was fun to get back out there.

We just got hit with a wave....as you can tell the boys thought it was great!

I love his smile. Everytime I would jump he would just giggle and laugh. He didn't seem to mind when he would get doused with water. I am glad that he is not a fearful kid in that way. He seems to be a bit more adventurous than Aidan ever was at his age.

Wednesday to Friday we decided to head to Sutton's Bay where my parents have their sailboat. We did not have great weather but we were able to go out and sail once and motor around the next day for Aidan. The day we motored around Jaxon fell asleep. So while Jaxon slept below; Aidan enjoyed sitting at the front of the boat with his Papa.

Thursday was the worst day for weather but we seemed to have fun anyways. Once we came back from our boat ride it started to rain so we put up the canopy and made lunch (all the while Jaxon was still sleeping).

Unkie Ben and Aidan throwing bread to the ducks.

Here was the gang in the cockpit enjoying lunch and trying to stay dry. It was rather hilarious that we were on the boat while it was pouring but because Jax was sleeping it was more important to let him sleep than it was to wake him up and go somewhere for lunch =)

Aidan absolutely loved it. I think he must have thought he was in a big fort.

The next morning we got the boys ready for the day and hit the beach across from the marina. It was a bit cool but that didn't stop the boys from playing and getting wet.

The boys did great with little to no naps during the day and playing constantly. By the time it was bedtime they would be so tired. I don't think it took either of them too long to fall asleep.

Of course, our last day at the boat it was a beautiful day. It always seems to happen that way but we were able to spend some time at the beach and enjoy the sun.

Unkie Ben took Aidan for a boat ride before we left. He was absolutely thrilled. They went out and touched the bouys at the mouth of the marina. He was pretty excited. Of course, pictures don't always show the complete excitement of a 3 year old but please do use your imagination. I guess for me it could be compared to buying a great new outfit for a great price!

I am happy that my parents and brother were able to spend some good quality time with Aidan and Jaxon. With not seeing one another all that often the boys warmed up to them quickly and had tons of fun.

I will have more pictures to post later but thought I should post a bit before we got home as I know when I get home I will be back to work and have lots to do. It has been a great time away and enjoy the time with family and cherish the memories. Thanks Mom, Dad and Ben for everything!