The Beeston Family

Goat yoga! Oh yeah, it's a thing. This girl in my ward, April, owns some goats. And she has this friend who teaches yoga. Together they decided to put the goats and yoga together, and teach goat yoga classes. It's actually grown a lot over the last couple of months. It's so weird that people are intrigued and want to try it out. I wanted to try it out. And as it turns out, the television crew was there that day, so I got to check am item off of my bucket list, because I was on television, baby! And so was Alexis! It was a really cool experience.

The first time I ever put Kendall in my wedding gown, she was 2-1/2. She's 5 now, and I am amazed at how much she has changed over such a short period of time. She's like a big kid now. She's in school. She has friends. I am no longer the only person she cares about in the world. And then she lost her first tooth, and I had to pretend I was excited for her. Mostly so that she wouldn't freak out over the blood in her mouth, but also because in reality I wasn't excited at all at the idea of her growing up. Stop growing, already!!!

These kids are pretty lucky. They probably don't even know it. But I hope that some day they look back and thank us for all the opportunities and fun that we had together.

William took Kendall and Logan to a monster truck show. Originally, it was supposed to be Logan and Taylor. But Taylor didn't want to go. WHAT??? Kendall was more than happy to take his ticket and go instead. I was kind of mad at Taylor at first, for blowing off such a fun activity, for not being thankful for the opportunity. But then I realized that this was a night that I should enjoy, with just him and me (after Alexis went to sleep). So we had a special dinner (his choice), watched a movie (his choice), then off to bed to snuggle and chat. And this boy had A LOT to say. I'm grateful for the opportunity I had to catch up with Taylor and spend some alone time with him. He's a pretty awesome kid with a great imagination. Love him to pieces. So I forgot to take pictures.

Mostly Alexis pics because... we spend all day together. There's also a nice close-up of Kendall's eye after she got bit by that stupido mosquito.

Oh, it's so fun to play dress up, isn't it? Of course sometimes it gets to be a little too much (see picture below, you'll know which one). We tried again a couple of days later, and she was much happier. Phew. It is kinda funny that she was wearing angel wings, though. Haha.

This month Alexis learned to control her hands and head a little better. She can hold her head up pretty well and put her hands together. She also learned that she has a voice and that she gets a lot of attention when she uses it. Aroo, Agoo, aruh, aguh, and Maaa (when she wants me).

She actually communicates really well. I can totally tell when she's tried, annoyed, hungry, or wet/poopy. She also gives "crusties" when people get too "into her face".

Alexis wiggles a lot, so we like to lay down next to her and when her hands touch us, we roll over, pretending like she punched us so hard that it pushed us away. She gets a kick out of it and actually tries to hit us. It's fun. The kids love it.

Stats: 22 in (21%)

          10lb 5oz (14%)

Sleeps 8 pm-4 am

Naps: on and off

Halloween isn't a one-day celebration anymore. Nope. For us, we had Halloween Part 1, 2, and 3.

For Part 1, we went to the church's trunk or treat, without the trunk part. Okay, so we basically just all sat in camping chairs set in a circle and the kids went around. For some, going around 5 times. Right, Logan? I had to come up with a last minute costume for Alexis because her costume didn't make it on time. So she was an angel. An angel who slept through the entire celebration. That night Kendall got bit by a mosquito under the eye, so her eye swelled up almost shut by the next morning. Fortunately, she's very confident and didn't care too much about the looks the other kids gave her. But it doesn't help that I have a million pictures from that weekend, and that she'll look back to these some day... 

For Part 2, we went to Aqua Tots, where the kids take swim lessons. Alexis got 3rd place in the costume contest. She earned some candy for her siblings. Thanks, Lexi :-) The older kids got to take their costumes off for a while and swim in the pool. Kendall and Taylor had to be rescued by the lifeguard, who was wearing a costume, because they were playing with each other, held on to each other, and were basically drowning each other. 

For Part 3, our neighborhood had a block party, with chili contest, costume contest, and everything. We had set up camp chairs on one street and the kids went around trick-or-treating. Except a lot of people preferred staying in the comfort of their own homes, so there weren't very many people on the street. And I think it makes kids lazy. Get them walking. Make them carry their own bag for a really long time, and then maybe they won't come home with over 10lbs of candy. Right, Logan? Oh, and Alexis won 1st place in the costume contest for her age category. There were only 4 babies, but she won hands down. Thanks for all the gift cards, Lexi :-)

For the record, we had 27lbs of candy, altogether. I'm not sure what it broke down to for each kid, but Logan had 4 gallon-sized bags, Taylor had 3, and Kendall had 2. And that's for all 3 days. I had them get rid of 1/2 their candy, which we donated to the troops, Kelly's dad and his troop, more specifically. He is in Afghanistan right now.

A part of me wishes that we could do family costumes. I always enjoy watching what other families came up with. But I believe in letting kids express themselves. So they picked their own costume. Shopkins Cupcake Queen. Ghost Ninja. Storm Trooper (Stars Wars). Mermaid. And Seal Team.

Alexis' blessing day was just that- a blessed day. I'm so thankful for everyone that made it. The grandparents, of course. But also my brother-in-law and his family. And Cliff and Debbi. It was really cool to have them share this special day with us.

The blessing itself was wonderful. Alexis was blessed to become an educated person and to find a wonderful man who will love her, bless her, support her, but also take her to the temple. She was also blessed with health and kindness. Of course she cried the whole time, which I had a feeling she would since she was super antsy right before. Paul attempted to stick the binkie into her mouth, but baby's got her mind of her own, and she did not like to be held up in the air with a bunch of men surrounding her and mommy nowhere to be seen. As soon as everyone said Amen, little miss was done crying and was fairly happy for the remainder of the meeting. Silly girl. I have to thank everyone that was in the circle: Daddy, Bon-Papa, Grandpa, Paul, Cliff, Bishop Ellsworth, and Brother Embling (friend and neighbor).

After the Sacrament Meeting we all went home, ate food, hung out, and celebrated Bonne-Maman's birthday. I'm sure it was a very special day for Bonne-Maman. Alexis couldn't just share a birthday with Grandma, she also had to share her blessing day with Bonne-Maman :-)

October 16 will always be a special day for multiple reasons. (1) Bonne-Maman's birthday (2) Alexis' blessing day (3) First day William and I kissed, 11 years ago. It was the beginning of our Happily Ever After.