Owen Turns 4!!!

Seriously, where does the time go? Our little Owen turned 4 on October 20th. He had been counting down to his birthday for quite a while and was so happy it was finally here! He is such a smart and fun little boy. He told us he wanted to go to "the pizza place" for dinner. We went to "The Pie." He received many nice gifts and had a great time opening them all. Owen & Callie both like the color orange and I think they are kind of "best friends." She spoiled him this year with an orange cap gun, an orange & brown hoodie, jeans, and a special coloring book. Uncle Ryan & No'el gave him a huge set of legos. Granny Jane & Grandpa Rick gave him some clothes and an ORANGE light saber (it may actually be red but it's close enough to call orange.) Grandpa Dave & Grandma Tisa gave him some clothes, 2 soccer balls (yes, one is orange), some spider rings, and a birthday pin. We gave him some clothes and a new coat. He got to wear the birthday pin that said "I'm 4 Today" and a new "Birthday Boy" shirt all day! He got a lot of attention.





One of Owen's favorite people is his friend, Ally. They say that someday they are going to marry each other. We were glad Ally got to come over for a little bit on his birthday. When I asked them if they wanted to have their picture taken together on the step they were very excited and posed themselves...Owen even put his arm around her. So cute and funny.

Owen is very loved and we are so glad he is our "Middle Child."

Blessing Day/Halloween Party

Harrison & Madi were blessed in our ward on October 17th. Since church didn't start until 1:00, we were able to get the entire family dressed early enough that we could take a few pictures with my new camera before we went to church. We knew it would be a little bit chaotic after so I was glad we did.





We were so grateful for the support we received from our families on this special day. My Grandpa Don & Gloria, Uncle Mike & Aunt Sylvia, and my parents and all my siblings were there. Dave, Tisa, and Tom represented the Styer side. And our good friends, Jeff & Alyssa Hertzler came. Our Home Teachers, Chris Metzger & Shawn Lindseth also stood in the circle. Spencer gave beautiful blessings to the babies. After the meeting, we wanted to take a picture of all the Tew's. Although we all live pretty close to each other, it's rare that all of us are together. And we try to take a family picture at least once a year so we knew that day was our best chance. My friend, Whitney, was kind enough to bring her nice camera to church and take a few shots.




We came home and had a lovely luncheon. We served lasagna (traditional and a chicken & spinach version), green salad, rolls, and ice water with lemons. We had pumpkin pie for dessert. We fed 28 people (I think.) I'll post the chicken & spinach lasagna recipe on our recipe blog. (Kitchen to Kitchen)

My mom likes to have an annual Halloween party for her grandkids. She even gives each of them a new Halloween shirt! In previous years, we have done it at her house but since everyone was already at my house, we decided to have it here. We invited the Hertzler kids to stay and play too. The party started off with a good ol' fashioned pyramid.

Bottom Row: Kayson Hertzler, Cameron, Abbie, Bracken Hertzler
Middle Row: Avery, Gavin, Ady Hertzler
Top Row: Owen, Jette
Assistants: Granny, Spencer, Jeff Hertzler
The kids played "Pin the wart on the witch" which is a tradition at the party. Uncle Jeff drew the witch before he was even officially part of the family. Granny laminated it at school and it has been played numerous times. Gavin won this year!


Then Granny got out the doughnuts on a string game. This was a new game for the party this year but was so much fun, I'm sure it will become a tradition as well. Three people at a time tried to eat the doughnut off the string. First up were Cam, Abbie, and Kayson. Then Avery, Gavin, and Bracken. Followed by Owen, Ady, and Jette. Not to be outdone by the kids, Jeff Harding, Jeff Hertzler, and Spencer also gave it a shot! There was A LOT of noise & laughter at this point. (Unfortunately, Ryan wasn't feel well and was taking a quick nap before driving back to Blackfoot.)






Granny always has a fish pond. This year, instead of fishing numerous times, she just made each kid a grab bag. They all took their turn fishing from the balcony in our house. When it was Cameron's turn, Granny put a diaper on the end of the rope...silly, silly Granny! In the grab bags were these hilarious glasses. We took a few pics to finish up the party.



The babies didn't need a grab bag but they each got a Halloween shirt...Miley & Madi's shirts say "Wickedly Cute" and Harrison's says "Daddy's Little Monster."

We had such a great day!

Spencer's 34th & the Selfless Gift

Spence turned 34 on October 9th. He had such a low-key birthday. We gave him a new white shirt & tie for church and he received some $$ from my parents and a gift card from his parents. A few days after his birthday I got out my camera to take a picture only to find that the LCD screen on the back had been shattered. You could still take a picture but you couldn't see what you were taking a picture of until you plugged the camera into the computer and downloaded the pics you'd taken. I don't know how it happened and was pretty upset about it, considering that it was almost Harrison & Madison's blessing day and I knew we'd need to take pictures of that. I knew it wasn't in the budget to go out and buy a new camera so I asked my mom to make sure she brought her camera to the blessing and I asked my friend, Whitney, if she'd take a picture of the entire Tew family after the blessing at the church. I figured my bases were covered and decided not to worry about the camera anymore...maybe Santa would bring me a new one.

My parents came to our house the day before the blessing. My mom and I took the twins and went to the store to finish buying the groceries needed for the luncheon after the blessing. Spence told me he had an errand to run too so he and my dad and the boys loaded up in his car. We all got back to the house within a few minutes and the boys had the biggest grins on their faces. Spencer handed me a brand new camera! He decided that having a camera was important for our family so instead of using his birthday money and gift card on himself, he used it to buy a camera. Since I'm the one who carries the camera and takes most of the pictures, it was really a gift for me. I was quite overwhelmed and still feel a little guilty but I'm super grateful for a selfless husband who puts his family before himself.

Pics by AprylMay Photography

Our friend, April, recently started her own photography business. She came over when Harrison & Madison were just a week old and took some shots of them (because who wouldn't want adorable twins to add to their portfolio?) You can visit her website here.

These are a few of my favorites from the photo shoot:










Cute, huh?

Randoms

It is so difficult to keep up on this ol' blog and be the mother of five! I just posted a few things from the last month but while I was doing it I found a bunch of random pictures that I couldn't do an entire post on individually so I decided to do a little update with the random pics I've collected along the way...

Harrison & Madison are 5 weeks old today! I haven't had them weighed recently but I know they are growing a lot. Spence believes Harrison has surpassed his little sis in weight. Harrison has rounded out, he's going through a little phase of baby acne, eats like a champ, and sleeps pretty good. He is a mellow baby, waits patiently when Madi demands to eat first, and is loved by his brothers. Madison was born with personality! She likes to be awake from 6 - 10 pm (or later) and just stares at us with her pretty BLUE (currently) eyes. She still has strawberry blond or auburn hair so she is often called "Ginger" by her aunt Callie. She likes all the attention she gets from her big brothers & parents. The twins are usually asleep by 10 or 11 pm, wake to nurse at 3-ish and 6-ish, then wake for the day around 9. As busy as they keep us, we can't imagine life without them.


Owen is my biggest helper. He isn't going to preschool so he is my sidekick most days. Before the babies were born, he would tell everyone that he was going to throw away all the dirty diapers. He has stayed true to this and usually is waiting for me to finish changing a diaper so he can throw it away for me. He is good at getting binkies, fresh onesies, diapers, wipes, and can entertain one twin while I'm feeding the other. He looks forward to Gavin getting home from Kindergarten so they can play. Owen spends a lot of time on the trampoline.


Gavin loves going to Kindergarten. He is often the first awake, ready for a new day. He is happy all the time and has tons of energy. We have to remind him to stop jumping, slamming doors, making noise, etc when the babies are sleeping. He has made a lot of new friends and gets invited to play after school with a new friend most weeks. Gavin is getting ready for the Primary Program at church where he will sing a solo and say a large speaking part. He is very smart...maybe a little too smart for his own good!

Cameron is adjusting to life as a 3rd grader. He loves going to cub scouts each week. He is finishing up his soccer season. This season his team was made up of 3rd and 4th grade boys. Although one of the smaller kids, he learned a lot and is constantly improving. He is getting ready to be "in charge" of his younger siblings when I start teaching piano again. He loves responsibility!

Callie just celebrated 2 years of living with the Spencer Styer family! We like having her around and I'm pretty sure she likes being here. She works a lot of hours but still has enough energy to give her nephews a hard time and to help hold babies.


I am not sure where my day goes. I change a lot of diapers, nurse often, and will soon be teaching piano lessons. I am lucky to have good friends and neighbors who drive my boys to and from school, arrange play dates at their homes, and continue to give me support through this adjustment. I have been lucky to have my mom come visit numerous times in the past 5 weeks and to have my in-laws close so that we can go to their home when we need a change of scenery. Last week some friends had a "Witch Party." It was held on Spencer's birthday so I didn't consider going until he saw the invitation and encouraged me to. He stayed home with all 5 children and kept everyone fed and happy for 3 1/2 hours! I had to dress like a witch and was feeling self conscious and a little guilty about going but had a great time and came home rejuvenated.

Spencer has really stepped up to the plate as a father of five. Not to say that he wasn't a good dad before but he has really turned it up a notch or two. He gets up to help in the night, cooks and cleans, goes grocery shopping and (as I already said) encourages me to leave the babies from time to time. He just turned 34 and we laugh about how much has changed in the last 10 years...but we wouldn't change a thing!

Cousins

Emily & Jeff had a little girl, Miley Grace, just 3 weeks before the twins were born. She is long and has lots of hair and loves to come visit her cousins. One day when she came to visit, she and Madison had on the same onesie...they don't quite fit the same though. :)

Granny Jane came to visit during her school's Harvest Vacation. We decided to do a little shopping while she was here. We had one lady ask if the 3 were triplets!

My cousin, Amber, had a little girl, Ellie, one week after Miley and 2 weeks before the twins. She lives only an hour from our house so on Friday Amber, sister Ashley, and Aunt Susan came to meet all the babies. Of course we had to take a picture!

Miley, Ellie, Harrison, and Madison (in birth order)
We're excited for our children to grow up together. I'm sure they'll be good friends.