Turtle Time

We went to the Bean Museum this week for a little break and found they were doing an animal show for a group of kids. We decided to join in when we saw the turtle crawling across the floor. Robbie was so intrigued by it. He has seen one on a commercial and when he recognized the turtle in the museum he was so excited. He even got up the guts to actually touch it! I was surprised and proud of him that he would do that.

Neilson Grove Park

My friend, Kara, showed me this great park in Orem that her and Kaiya go to called Neilson Grove Park. We went there with the kiddies and had so much fun letting them run around and explore.
Robbie and Kaiya banging on the benches. Brian has taught Robbie how to "drum" well ;-)
Part of the park is a duck pond. The kids had so much fun feeding the ducks and listening to them quack.

Happy Birthday, Brian!

Today was the big 25th birthday! Here he is as a little boy...isn't he so cute!

We had a family party at our house. Brian requested BBQ ribs and cheesy potatoes. Then we opened presents and had cake and ice cream.

I was hoping the cake looked like a basketball. I was encouraged when Robbie saw it and said, "Bo bo!" (translation-basketball)! Yeah! At least Robbie knew what I was going for.
blowing out the candles
We are so grateful to have such a wonderful husband and father! Thanks for all you do, Brian!

Football Fan

Since being at the BYU football games this year, Robbie has become a big football fan. He sees a game on TV and starts cheering. This week the Chargers played on TV so Brian was watching the game. Robbie found his football and wanted to play catch when he saw them! Even now as I am posting this, Robbie saw the football pictures and started singing the fight song ;-)
watching the game

The Season Begins....

No, I'm not talking about the holiday season...I'm talking about the birthday season for my dear husband, Brian! As many of his family members know...he loves his birthday. Saturday, we went to Tucanos. It's one of Brian's all-time favorites. We had to wait for over an hour, but it was worth it...delicious!
And then we proceeded to play games of Brian's choice all night!(Sorry, I didn't get a picture of it. This one's from last year.)
I will be posting on Wednesday with more birthday details!

UFAN

This week we went to our first "support group" meeting for UFAN (Utah Food Allergies Network). We got lots of helpful tips and some great recipes that I want to try out. I think the most important thing that I learned from that meeting is....we don't have it as bad as most! There were people suffering from multiple allergies which included peanuts, but also egg and milk protein (which is different than intolerance...they would have an anaphylactic reation to milk and all dairy products!). They buy special allergen cook books and make everything from scratch! I've had to make changes, and I still worry alot, but I feel it is much more managable than those I met. Another thing I am grateful for is the support and understanding from friends and family. If we can't go somewhere to eat because of Robbie, they understand and want to accommodate. Also, if we go to their house to eat, they make sure there are things that Robbie can eat or ask me if he can have it before feeding it to him. The one mom at the meeting said that she would be making a separate Thanksgiving dinner to take with her because the family memeber's house they were going to this year wouldn't change anything in their menu to accommodate her sons allergy needs. Another mom had had the same experience. And maybe the hosts get so overwhelmed because there are so many allergy issues..I don't know. Either way, we are so blessed to be surrounded by people who care! When I shared that at the meeting, I think the other moms were jealous. So thank you to all who have been so supportive! We have found many more things to be grateful for this time of year!

Swatting Bugs

Since the weather has been getting cooler here, Brian has found more bugs to swat who seem to think our apartment is better than outside. While I agree with them, I really don't want them inside. Robbie has picked up on the routine and found a new purpose for one of his beach toys.

BYU vs. SDSU

It was the last BYU home game of the season on Saturday, and our last one as students. We won against San Diego State 41-12!

Robbie has become quite the fan. He cheers with everyone, yells out at times of bad calls, loves the fight song, and loves the half time show. He will do the end of the fight song at home at random times during the day, but gets a little overwhelmed at the game when everyone else is cheering too. Here he is during the fight song after our first score.

We are sad to see that games end. It has been fun to go and cheer in person!

A Charlie Brown Halloween

Robbie was Charlie Brown for Halloween this year. (We figured it was the only type of Peanut he wasn't allergic to.) He got the Snoopy this summer at Knotts.

Here are Brian and Robbie at the ward Trunk-or-Treat. I passed out the candy while the boys made the rounds. I have to be honest...I was a bit nervous for this holiday because there are so many treats with peanuts in them. There are still a few candy items that Robbie can eat, however, so we let him go. We went through his bag at the end of the night and separated those he wasn't allowed to have. We figure in the future he can decide what friends to give the unsafe candy to, and we will replace it with safe candy for him to eat. I was so touched when they went around to the different cars and some of the ward members had a special safe treat just for Robbie. We are blessed to have thoughtful friends.
The law school also had a Halloween party. They provide lunch while we watch the costume parade. Here is Brian taking Robbie across the stage at the party. Brian went as LaDainian Tomlinson from the Chargers. They also have trick-or-treating at the study carrels afterwards, but we thought Robbie had enough candy from the ward activity.