Happy Halloween from...

our cowgirl

Abe Lincoln

Cristiano Ronaldo

Captain Feathersword

and our sleepy ladybug

to YOU!

October phone pics

 

This baby girl is growing up. And out. Oh man, I love chubby babies.

Which would explain why I have had six of them.

 

 

A photo from a morning walk. I think I went twice in the morning,

during the month of October. My numbers are outstanding, I know.

 

 

Autumn is beautiful.

 

 

A photo of the moon during a walk in the evening.

Three times, folks. Did you catch that?

 

I went to the temple for the first time in quite a while, with my

high-risk pregnancy and Grace being born. I love being at the temple.

 

 

This boy feel asleep in the car during a morning errand. Which was very unusual

for sure. And then when I brought him in the house and laid him on the couch,

he continued to sleep for at least another half an hour. That has literally never

 happened in his entire life. Which is why I suspected he didn't feel well. When I 

looked in his mouth later in the day and saw that he was getting his two-year old

molars, I realized the reason. Poor little guy has been struggling the last few days. 

 

Matt had to have some minor toe surgery a few days ago. I've had to have it

myself (dumb genes), but it was something else to watch Matt go through it.

That kid is beyond tough. The shot they have to give is the most painful I have

ever had. The doctor told us grown men have passed out from it. Matt 

gasped a little here and there, but that was it. This kid is amazing!

 

And he wanted to go back to school after, but the doctor said it would be best to stay

home and rest for a day. He didn't want Matt's toe getting stepped on. Matt was

pretty devastated by having to elevate his toe and watch some TV for the day.

Almost seven weeks

Ten seconds in the life of Nate

Dog sitting

And while my sister's dog is so incredibly cute and really well behaved, I know in my heart we were

meant to be dog sitters. Not dog owners. At least for many more years or forever--depending on

which member of the family you talk to. Plus, the temptation to own a dog as cute as this one

always lessened every time I cleaned up after it. Good thing, because I'm currently lacking

in the sleep department. So adding a puppy to the mix would be a brilliant decision for sure.

Sweetness

A family hike

Ancient

These two attended mutual together a couple of nights ago.

I'm old.

Sisters

I've never used that title on our blog before.

It makes me a bit teary just typing it.

Love my girls.

Headed south

Fall soccer

Ben was beyond thrilled to not only be playing soccer this season, but to have his dad as his coach. 

Our boy did so well and absolutely loved playing a more "realistic" version of soccer than the past
couple of years. And I even remembered to bring the camera to his last game. A tiny miracle for sure.

Unfortunately, I didn't remember to take the camera to the many games I attended for

 Matt and Cam (newborn brain I guess). So I thought I would take a photo of all three 

soccer boys instead. And boy, do I love this picture. So all is well that ends well, yes?

Brotherly birthday love

Except Nate. But then again, he finds joy in being a rebel.

Annie Linn

TWELVE words to describe this darling girl:

 • Patient • Loving • Beautiful • Fun • Smart • Happy •

 • Helpful • Funny • Kind • Creative • Sensitive • Caring •

Happy Birthday our incredible Annie! We love you so very much.

Annie's 12th birthday party

Our kids get friend birthday parties when they turn 5, 8 and 12 and it has worked really well for our family. So with Annie's 12th birthday approaching, she knew it was her turn to have a friend party. But after thinking about if for a while, Annie decided on something a little different.

She decided she would rather have a girls' night out with her mom. And believe me, I was more than willing to make it happen.

So this afternoon, Jacob came home from work a bit early and not long after Annie got out of school (hooray for early release days!), we took off. And spent the next seven or eights hours having fun, shopping, talking, laughing, eating dinner and just enjoying the time together. It will forever be one of my favorite memories.

By the end, we were both so tired from all of the intense fun and were laughing so hard we could barely breathe. In fact, just a few minutes from home, at the end of the night, Annie had me laughing so hard I couldn't see the road through my tears and I couldn't even take a breath. (Yes, I'm aware it was a huge safety issue, but I couldn't see to pull over. And Annie made it all the worse by announcing, "Just drive straight, Mom, this road doesn't curve too much!")

As I  mentioned, we packed it a whole lot in those few hours, but I'm pretty positive her two favorite moments were captured by my phone:

Before.

After.
Notice anything different?

And what she wanted so very badly for her birthday. To use during these.

I was thisclose to buying my own boots, because I love Annie's so much.

But I love this girl even more. So much more.

This boy

This boy is growing up so fast. 

This boy still has more energy than any person I know.

This boy makes incredible choices. Even when they are hard.

This boy laughs and teases and loves life.

This boy makes our family just as it was meant to be.

This boy makes his mother so very happy.

One month

The way to a mother's heart...

...is definitely through kindness to her children.

Which is exactly what happened tonight. And it still makes me a little teary to think about.

Annie's birthday is this Saturday. She will be twelve. In our church that means that she starts attending classes with the Young Women. She has been waiting for this day for a long time.

So when the teacher over the twelve-year old girls texted me to find out if these girls could come and decorate Annie's room to welcome her to their Young Women's class, I felt so deeply thankful.

Our kids are doing well. Really well, in fact. But moving to a new home, starting at a new school and attending a new ward has not been overly easy. It has been an adjustment and has been a bit of a heavy weight on this mom's heart. So the fact that these leaders and girls wanted to do something so kind for our Annie, made me a bit emotional.

We were able to get Annie out of the house without her suspecting anything. And she came home to this:

Her very own "heart attack." 

And a mother whose heart was bursting with gratitude.

N&G

To celebrate our baby's dute date...

...these pictures taken of Grace by her big sister. Seriously, can you

handle how darling they are? Because I'm not sure I can.

(Annie girl is becoming an amazing photographer, wouldn't you agree?)