Halloween!

We had a really fun Halloween this year. Tyler was a cowboy, Zach was a pea in a pod, and Lizzy was a princess or a strawberry (depending on what we could get her to wear at the time). Her strawberry costume is the one Grammuh Marilyn made for her last Halloween but it still fits this year.

Ward Party/Trunk or Treat:

Zach looks cute this outfit- Tyler wore it as a baby too and they look so alike in it.




On Halloween day we went to Sea World-they had it all decorated with skeletons and pumpkins. We went on some rides, saw some animals, and went to a fun Sesame Street Halloween show.

Check out Tyler's dance moves, I stopped recording right as he was doing a cool spin move but I caught some of it!

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Trick or Treating Texas Style:

Trick or treating was so different than what we are use to because it was so warm outside. People sat out on their driveways on lawn chairs to pass out candy so we didn't have to go to each door and ring the doorbell. All the neighbors were so friendly and some really "Halloweened up" their houses. Some of the displays at the houses were a bit too scary for Tyler and I thought he was going to have nightmares- luckily he didn't.

Still Growing

6 weeks...

He had either a rash or a bad case of baby acne during weeks 6 and 7 and now is finally all cleared up.

8 weeks......

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Zach is changing more each week!

I think about 4 weeks old...

5 weeks...

6 weeks...

Right around 6 weeks he started smiling, he smiles all the time- way more than Ty or Lizzy did as babies.

Looking for a pumpkin

We went to a farm that claimed online to be a place to pick a pumpkin. It didn't have a pumpkin patch and the pumpkins were way overpriced so we didn't get a pumpkin there. We still had fun doing the hay ride, barrel train ride, and other fun games. Later we bought our pumpkins for much cheaper at the grocery store.

School Bike Rodeo

Tyler's school has a cool tradition of doing a bike rodeo every year. I was amazed the P.E. program went through the hassle of getting the bikes as they were delivered to school and keeping track of them by class. It was fun for Tyler to ride his bike along the obstacle course and see other kids in his class ride too. The kids who didn't bring bikes were watching and cheering. Tyler was soooo pround of the red ribbon he earned for participating.

Texas Hill Country

Notice the Beautiful green hills in this picture below. We live really close to Hill country and this is a state park called Lost Maples about an hours drive from us. The drive was beautiful up through curvy country roads along big green hills (poor Lizzy got car sick and threw up on the way). We were also one the the few cars among the many motorcyclists enjoying the scenery. I think it made Andy wish he were riding a Harley through the hills instead of driving a minivan, ha ha. When we arrived we ate lunch and hiked around a bit. It felt a little like being back home hiking through mountains or going up Millcreek Canyon. We sure do miss Utah mountains but for now we'll enjoy the Texas hills.

Tyler thought this heart shaped cactus was cool. He took that picture himself.

Random cuteness that didn't get blogged before Zach was born

Trying on Tyler's goggles and cowboy boots

Swimming!

We had a big pile of dirt delivered for our garden (three cubic yards)
Tyler "helped" Andy wheelbarrow it to the backyard. I did not help because I was 39 weeks pregnant and it was 100 degrees outside. Andy did it all, what a guy!

We planted seeds and tomato plants in the garden box that Andy built. How cool to be planting seeds in late August- gotta love Texas.

Twinke Twinkle Little Star (or at least one line of the song).

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Have Any Ideas?

FOR ALL YOU GARDEN EXPERTS- PLEASE READ!

The rest of you can ignore this post - sorry for its cumbersome nature.



We've just started our first veggie garden, but are having trouble controlling bugs/disease. We have peas, tomatoes, squash, and watermelon (You may be wondering why we started this late - it's because San Antonio has 2 growing seasons).

Anyway, I've been using a pyrethrin-based insectide with a gallon sprayer weekly for a few weeks. I just sprayed last night. Today I go out there and see ants and flies all over, but no other pests visible. There are also many new trail-like markings, which tells me the insecticide isn't doing what I want it to do.

There seem to be 4 patterns:

First, there are yellow/white trails on the top surface of many leaves, as in the images below:

Second, there are holes in many leaves, as in the picture below:

Third, there are brown wilty areas, especially at the leaf edges, as seen below (this phenomenon seems to worsen after spraying insecticide - is it hurting the plants):






And last, there are a couple plants that were completely transected at the base (no pictures, but easy to imagine - like a chopped down tree).

Any ideas? Thanks!

Zachary Andrew Hansen born 8-30-2009

Moments after being born....

At the hospital....

At home....

Lizzy and Tyler love their new baby brother and want to hold him all the time. It was so great to have Marilyn and then my Mom and Dad here to help. They cooked, cleaned, watched kids, and spoiled us. It was also fun to hang out and go shopping with Marilyn before Zach was born (since he decided to come late). Thanks you guys, we sure miss you!

Lizzy is 2!!

Lizzy had a fun birthday on August 26th. We had an early party for her with our friends, the Coombs. Then on her actual birthday Grandma Marilyn gave her some really cute baby doll toys to get her ready to have a real baby at home. Marilyn came to the rescue with Lizzy's cake and made a cute rainbow on it. I was so very pregnant and tired I did not do my usual elaborate birthday cake for her this year. I did make a yummy strawberry cake and it was, of course, Lizzy's favorite color- pink!

The Coombs gave Lizzy some fun dress ups and she was in heaven!

Lizzy loves playing pretend with her babies

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