How is it already the middle of October??

Life has been pretty crazy here is the Ward household since school started again, and I can't believe that October is already half over!  Obviously, our blog has taken a bit of a back seat ... but that hasn't stopped us from having some fun over the last month and a half.  Here are the highlights!

* We had a great Labor Day with the Stuarts!  They came over in the morning and we went for a short hike near our house to a little grotto.  It is the same hike Shawn, Jackson, and I did earlier in the summer.  We had a blast, and Jackson wasn't as scared of the waterfall this time.  After our hike, we all came back to our house for lunch and nap time (for the kids).  After naps, we went to the Payson Pool to enjoy our last day before it closed for the summer.  All in all, it was an awesome day!  Jackson was even more adventurous in the pool this time around, crawling through with no fear!

Cory, Rachel, Oliver, and Tommy at the grotto

Shawn and I unintentionally wore matching shirts ;)

Fun at the pool!

Poor Oliver was pretty tired

Tommy didn't want to sit still for a picture, he was having too much fun!

* The next weekend, we went to the zoo to celebrate Tommy's 4th birthday with the Stuarts and the Johnsons.  We went in the morning and it was nice and cool so the animals were out.  Then we stopped for lunch and cupcakes, and finished checking out all the animals.  Jackson LOVES animals, so he had a pretty awesome time!

Checking out the orangutan 

Jackson especially loves elephants

The rhino was getting up close and personal

This monkey was sitting at the glass making faces at Jackson and Tommy.
It was pretty awesome :)

Jackson's favorite animal was the giraffe

Jackson passed out within minutes of getting in the car on the way home.
It was a long day, and he was quite the trooper!

* Jackson and I got to go back to CT during September to visit my family!  We had a lot of fun, and he really loves his cousins Kaliah and Dante.  We went to the aquarium with Dante and my mom one day, and to Stew Leonard's another day.  If you aren't from CT, Stew Leonard's is a "shopping experience."  They have a little farm outside and homemade soft serve ice cream on the way in.  There is only one aisle that winds through the entire store, with a food buffet in the middle.  Jackson especially loved all of the animatronic animals that sang songs or talked as we walked through the store.  We also had professional pictures taken of the cousins with grandma and grandpa while we were there.  They turned out great!  Jackson is finally getting over his stranger anxiety, so this was the first trip he really warmed up to my family.  He would ask for "nana" and "papa" every morning when he woke up.  Now he gets so excited to talk to them on the phone or Skype with them!

Jackson thought the seals swimming up to him were pretty cool

Dante and Jackson checking out a shark

Jackson got a HUGE kick out of the rays flapping against the side of the tank.
He was laughing so hard!

Dante and the meerkats

Jackson wasn't quite sure about the touch tank 

Dante thought it was awesome though!

There was a play area we let Jackson and Dante play in before we got back in the car

And both boys passed out in the car

Dante gave Jackson a ride in his jeep after we got home

First time on a carousel, he wasn't quite sure about it

Some of my favorite pictures from the photo shoot!

* One night for FHE towards the end of September we went to feed the ducks at Salem Pond.  Jackson was so excited to see the duckies, and they were so excited to get some bread  Shawn actually had to nudge them away with his foot they were so close to us!

This picture definitely does not do justice to how many ducks and geese there were.  

* We are really excited to be living in Payson right now because they are building a temple just a few minutes away!  It is really beautiful.  Last week I got a phone call from my Relief Society President who was on her way over to the temple.  They were getting ready to put the Angel Moroni on the top.  Jackson and I were just chilling at home, so we hopped in the car and headed over.  It was awesome to watch!  There were a ton of people there to watch.  It wasn't advertised, most likely because they were worried about traffic, so everyone had heard from word of mouth.  It was exciting to see so many people there.  Click here if you want to learn more about temples!  Here are a few of the pictures we took.

The Angel Moroni still on the ground

The crew heading up to the top

Bringing up the Angel Moroni

We had to wait a while and Jackson was awesome!
He was excited to see the temple.

Almost on ...

The temple is now looking complete, at least from the outside!

* Saturday we went to the Red Barn down in Santaquin to pick some pumpkins with the Stuarts!  We had a lot of fun.  Jackson loved the hay ride, the giant slide, and the horses.  He also was pretty excited to get some pumpkins.

Jackson and daddy on the hay ride

Tommy kept peeking out just after I took the picture.  This is the best we could get of him!

Tommy was pretty brave and went down the big slide all by himself!

Jackson and daddy on the big slide

Jackson kept asking for "more."  He loved the slides!

Tommy loved the sandbox and the maze.  

Jackson thought the pumpkins were pretty cool.

Jackson loves horses, but was a little intimidated to be so close to one.

Helping pick out a pumpkin!

Jackson held his pumpkin the whole ride back to the barn!

Overall, it has been a busy and fun couple of months!