And so it begins......

**9:30 PM update: The lawn is no longer green with flecks of snow. It's covered with a good inch and more falling.**

The view out the front & back of our house a couple of hours ago. Sigh. I haven't even cleaned out the flower beds. Not that I didn't know this was coming, I just haven't felt the need desire to do yard work recently this year. Perhaps we should have carved those pumpkins last night. They are going to be frozen now! Yes, I see that the hummingbird feeder is still hanging up. I can safely say that there will be no more hummingbirds this year. Not that they didn't figure out a long time ago that I was done filling the feeder.... ;) Ron is about to catch a plane for San Diego/Los Angeles. I'm serious. He comes back Friday, when it will finally warm back up into the 50's. How convenient. ;) I made sure the furnace worked this morning though before I let him leave us here in the frozen tundra.

I told the kids they should be Eskimos for Halloween. They'll find out on Saturday that they should always listen to their mother.

Fall Soccer 2009

Jared has been playing soccer again this Fall. This morning was the last game until Spring Season in April begins. We were blessed with amazingly good weather this year, just a couple of cooler morning, but so much better than previous years.

Jared did well again. He still remains aggressive, but is getting a bit better about passing off to his team-mates....occasionally! We'll continue to work on that! Really, it depended upon the game and how he was feeling about playing hard or not as to the end result. If we could just make the goals about two feet wider, he'd have had a lot more goals to his stats. This year, he'd take the ball down really well, but then right as he'd kick it in the goal, it would go out to one side or the other....DOH!

My only mishap was this morning. My fantastic little 3 year old early riser had me up at 7:30. Jared's game was scheduled for 9, and as I thought about things, I realized his uniform hadn't gotten washed after last weeks game! So my washing machine and more importantly, dryer, got it's first real test at efficiency this morning as I needed the stuff washed and dried in an hour! Thankfully, it passed the test and he had a clean, sweet-smelling uniform on for the game! :)





These pictures weren't from this morning....it was cooler today so Jared had to wear sweats under his uniform and gloves as well.....I didn't have my camera today, but these from earlier in the season. :)

Odds and Ends.....

Since I mentioned in the last post that Ellie and I are participating in a co-op preschool, I suppose I should post her 1st day of school pictures from, oh, more than a month ago! Thank you to the sweet friends in my ward that invited us to do this. I wasn't sure I'd do it again after I did it with Nicole, but when I realized that: 1. I wouldn't be doing it with a toddler and newborn at home, and 2. It is my last opportunity to do this with a preschooler, I jumped at the chance. And Ellie loves it!

School Pictures

Got the school pictures back, and we're much happier with them this year! They are centered, the kids hair isn't doing anything weird, and their smiles aren't as forced looking as last year's photos. Without further adieu:


Mommy's little buddy....age 3, attending 2 day a week neighborhood co-op preschool! So excited that it's at our house for the next two weeks. :)


Mr. 1st Grade....age 6, loves school, reading ability is exploding, loves math. Told us the other night how long the Euphrates River is. I can't remember the actual number, but it was long! (Although the picture looks like he is wearing a dirty shirt, he isn't. I am not loving our scanner.)


Second grade wonder. Her teacher is holding her back in reading...not because she's failing, but because she can read anything. We are slowing her down a bit so her comprehension can catch up, and just so she doesn't miss the fun books meant for her age. Also just "gets" math. She couldn't be my child. She must've been switched in the hospital! She turns 8 in a month and can't wait to be baptized.


Our High School-er.....I wonder when I'll get used to saying that?! Taking Honors English, Spanish, Chemistry, and Algebra among her classes.....maintaining good grades, and will get credit in them once she makes up her tardies in "attendance school"...Oops! She turns 16 in January and although she doesn't think it's true, the boys are lining up to ask her out. We are afraid. Ron is stocking up on ammunition and building a moat.

Round-up Part 3, or, Celebrating our 10th

As noted in an earlier post, Ron and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary in August. We'd been talking for a while about going away somewhere to mark the occasion....places like Hawaii, Cancun, Bahamas, and even Peru were mentioned. Alas, because we have the responsibility of young children that need to be cared for, those locales will be saved for a later time. :) So instead, we decided to take a quick weekend trip to California. We made our final destination San Diego when we found out that one of the touring companies of "Wicked" was playing there. I have been wanting to see "Wicked" for years, but it just hadn't happened, and when it was in SLC earlier this year, there were no tickets to be had.

We flew in Friday morning, picked up our car, and made our way to San Diego(we flew into Long Beach). We went to the Newport Beach Temple and walked around the grounds as it was closed for maintenance. We had a hotel in Old Town San Diego, so that evening we strolled around there. Went to where the new and improved remodeled Mormon Batallion visitors center is....now I need to plan another trip back down in January to check it out when it reopens! That night we saw Harry Potter 6......yeah, it takes us a while to see movies! The next day was our "Wicked" matinee. It was better than I ever could've dreamed! So well acted and sung by all the players. I never expected it to be so funny, and yet I (of course) cried at the end. I could have sat through another performance right then. :) Too bad they kicked us out! That night we enjoyed fabulous Old Town mexican food, and then walked along Mission Beach at sunset. Sunday was spent driving back up the coast as we had an early flight out on Monday morning. We stopped off at a couple of beaches and enjoyed the tide pools and waves. That evening was dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company...I've never eaten so many shrimp in one sitting! The weekend was fabulous, so relaxing, and a wonderful way to reconnect with each other....we haven't spent that many days with just each other since our honeymoon, and it was so refreshing to just be able to talk to each other without the constant interruption of our (wonderful) kids.

Mission Beach



Aliso Beach

Round-up, Part 2.....

We ended July and began August with the dreaded 20th High School Reunion. But any fears I had were quickly erased with all the fun I experienced that weekend. What a fun time to see and reconnect with old friends, some of which I hadn't seen since graduation. Lots of laughter, and it felt like we all just picked up where we left off 20 years ago. It was amazing to get the 30+ of us that went to the same elementary school all the way through HS together at the reunion for a picture. Lot's of laughter, and just a very good feeling of friendship. These are all the people that we went through the ugliest, zittiest, most immature, and some of the BEST years of growing up with - of course we are still friends!



We also got a visit from Riley's Grandma Judi in August. It had been a few years since we had seen Judi, so the kids were very excited to meet her again, and it was fun for Riley to reconnect with her Grandmother again. During her time here we visited the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point, went up to Park City, and got a lot of school clothes shopping done. Riley and Judi took off one day and got most of Riley's done then. On the way home from Park City, we went to Cascade Springs. I tried to get some pictures of the two of them together.....apparently, when you get two people together that don't like their pictures taken, it's hard to get some winners, but I managed to get a couple!



You can definitely tell they are related, can't you?! I was surprised at how much I thought Riley has started to look like her grandmother.

The rest of us were there too:



**If any of you are wondering what is up with the collages....I playing around with the wonder that is Picasa3....I now need to try and figure out how to print some of these out!**

Round-up, Part 1.....

So yeah....it's been a month...

I've had all sorts of plans for posts to catch up the rest of our summer.....but, they obviously haven't materialized. So, I'm just going to throw everything together here in a big mish-mash post, or posts!

The rest of our days in Duck Creek (July....):

Along with lots and lots of 4-wheeling, we also went to Bryce one day. I had never been, although I'd heard much about the beauty found there, and wasn't disappointed.

I read the funniest thing on a sign at one of the overlooks. It was talking about the first settlers around that area. He was (not surprisingly) named Bryce, and was a Mormon settler that had his home and ranchlands at the eastern base of the canyons later named after him. There was a quote from him about the canyons that he lived near, and it was, "It's a hell of a place to lose a cow." I absolutely busted up! Maybe because it reminded me so much of what my ranching uncles and grandfathers would have said about it!

After being in the quiet of the mountains in Duck Creek though, the major busloads of crowds at Bryce were surprising. We went to a couple of overlooks, and did a hike down into the canyon on the Navajo Loop trail. Something I'll have to remember for next time I go....the beginning part of the hike is easy, with a lot of switchbacks all heading downhill.....it's the hiking of switchbacks UP to get back to the car that STINKS! I think we should get some of that government stimulus $$ to Bryce and install a ski lift or something to get you back up out of that hole! ;)

Top of the Trail....

The bottom of the trail....at the base of the very, very tall and tenacious Douglas Firs that grow in this quite small and almost constantly shaded slot canyon.

The 4wheeling at Duck Creek was fabulous. There were hardly any people there in the middle of the week, and the trails were a lot of ATV-only trails through the forest. OUR FAVORITE KIND! We saw so many deer(including adorable twin fawns), and beautiful scenery, and the smells of the ponderosa pines and douglas fir made my week. :) We took a long ride out to a cave that was created from a lava floe that was very cool to explore around. It is called Mammoth Cave. It was open to exploring when we were there, but in the Fall they close it up as it is the home of hibernating bats (including a couple of endangered species) in the winter. We also found a fun creek to ride through and see how high we could get the water up around us...always a favorite thing for the kids! We will definitely visit Duck Creek again.

Here's a video we took of our little creek crossing. You don't see Riley since she doesn't like to get wet and muddy....we like water crossings for that exact reason!

Four - three = one, and a SMILE!

Back to school today for the three oldest! I'm left with my little one at home, and so much more peace and quiet that I can't help but smile. Don't take me wrong, I love and adore my children, but how can you miss them unless they leave the house?! That, and too much together time for them equals more and more arguing and fighting, which frankly, drives me bonkers! But onto the point of this post:



Riley entered the world of high school this year. It literally seems like yesterday that we were walking her to 1st grade, so it is just so weird to think of her in high school. She was nervous, but excited. I hope everything goes well for her! I caught this picture as she was waiting for her friend to come pick her up...lucky Riley has a friend that is a junior and has access to a car. :)



Here's a look at our newest 2nd grader, sporting her new hairdo. Nicole and Jared are back at the charter school, and Nicole happily got the teacher she was hoping for. :) The only thing that could've made her happier was if she'd ended up having more of her friends in her class.....but no worry there, she'll see them at lunch and recess, and she'll make new friends in 5 minutes flat anyway!



Jared was so excited this morning he woke up all on his own, and came out all dressed and ready with even shoes on before he'd even had breakfast. First grade. I will admit, I will miss him. All day is a long time to be gone! He is very excited about three recesses and taking his lunch to school though. He told me this morning how he was going to organize his desk as soon as he got there. He is a funny kid! :)



So now, it's me and Ellie. I'm glad I have my little princess here with me for a couple more years! When we were out school shopping, Ellie decided she needed a lunch box. So we let her pick one out. She brought it with her today as we dropped the kids off. Then she asked if it was time for her to go to ballet. Nope, not until Monday! When we got home, she asked that I pack her lunch box with, what else? Lunch. So I did. She then put her cereal spoon down, and ate her lunch. At 8:30 AM! Ellie and I are doing a co-op preschool here in the neighborhood, but that doesn't start until September, so we have to figure out how to fill our days until then. But I'm liking the quieter and peaceful mornings just fine! :)

Ten Years

Today marks my and Ron's 10th wedding anniversary! Wow! Congrats to us. :)



Ten years ago today, my dreams came true. I married the man I love, in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple, surrounded and supported by people I love.



One home purchased and moved into. One career placed on the backburner by me for a later time. Three different career/position changes for Ron. Eight cars. Four motorcycles. Putting in a yard. Finishing a basement. Kitchen remodel. Painting. Furniture changes. Three beautiful babies welcomed into our family. Three baby blessings. One baptism. Temple blessings. One goodbye to a parent. Vacations. Disney. Colorado. Arizona. Laughter. Tears. Joy. Happiness. Best friends.

Thank You John Hughes

Mr. Hughes,

Thank you for making some of the best , and funniest movies to grow up watching, and continue enjoying! Bless you for the soundtracks....not only classic 80's music, but I think I could use a couple as the soundtracks of my teenage years. Thank goodness that through the magic of technology, we will have these to enjoy for years to come...

Obviously, my very favorite film of his was "Pretty In Pink"....oh my....I even changed my name to Andie for a while when that film came out!




And last but not least, my other fav, "Some Kind of Wonderful". Best kissing scene just about ever in this one.....