Happy Halloween from the Dark Side

Happy Halloween from the Dark Side

11.02.2016

The Holiday Season is officially upon us.  And I am feeling the buzz!  Lucky for us, the Holidays are made 100 times better with little kids around.  Their enthusiasm and excitement just seems to rub off on me.  Plus, we'll be adding another little jumping bean here in just ten days or so.  TEN DAYS!  It's going to be a crazy but special year.  I can just feel it.

This Halloween, we found our costumes more than a month ago at Costco one day. I wasn't too concerned about Levi changing his mind because the kid is dead set on becoming a storm trooper when he grows up.  He talks about it all the time.  I did convince him that he needs to finish high school first though before he flies a tie fighter... which perhaps the military will develop in a few years.  So maybe that dream isn't too far fetched.

I'm not sure what the boys' fixation is with the dark side of the force, but since Jed chose to be Kylo Ren, we just ran with it.  Bron became Darth Vader and I became the Death Star on account of my huge pregnant belly.  It was super simple and fun!

However, I admit, those pictures up top were anything from simple.  Ha!  I spent a solid hour or more in Photoshop editing each of those individually.  But I am silly proud of how they turned out.  And the boys are "over-the-moon" stoked about how cool they themselves look in them!  Definitely a fun experiment and worth every minute.

Now pictures from Halloween Night!

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Hiking in "The City" and Other October Highlights

Hiking in "The City" and Other October Highlights

10.30.2016

This Fall has been a little different for me.  I just haven't seemed to have the energy to get out and go and do {and photograph!} all of the fun seasonal stuff that I love.  But that's understandable.  I'm very pregnant for the third time.  So I'm cutting myself some slack.  But we have managed to squeeze in some fun and beautiful colors.  And I don't want to forget it.

On Saturday October 22nd, we joined our friends at the City of Rocks.  We meant to help the kids do a little rock climbing but the place was crawling with people.  Imagine that.  A super nice day in October brings people out.  :)  So we wound up hiking and exploring.  It might have been even more fun!  (Side Note: Let me just insert here that hiking up and down rocks at 36 weeks pregnant is no easy task because I can't raise my legs more than 90 degrees; there's a baby in the way!)  The views from within "the city" are just incredible.  Such a unique place out in the desert.  I feel lucky we get to visit so often.

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A Baby Shower + A Girls' Night Out

A Baby Shower + A Girls' Night Out

10.24.2016

My sweet friends threw me a baby shower Friday night and words cannot express how lucky I feel to have their caring presence in my life! We began by stuffing our bellies full of some AMAZING homemade soups for dinner followed by opening presents.  Amy knew I had my eye on a Rock 'n Play Sleeper so the girls all pitched in and bought me one!  I'm seriously over-the-moon excited about it.  It looks so comfy.  I kind of want a grown-up version!  Then we all went to the mall for manicures and pedicures.  Ahhh, those massage chairs are where it's at.  I could have stayed all night feeling those rollers knead my back into smithereens.  And of course, a true girls' night isn't complete without a trip into Ulta where Shelly helped Dani and me find just the right eyebrow fillers, a new-to-me add on to my makeup routine!  Then we headed back to my house to finish it all off with chocolate cake and a late night chat.  It really doesn't get any better than that.

Thank you!!!

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A Video: Princesses VS Big Bad Wolf

A Video: Princesses VS Big Bad Wolf

10.20.2016

For our ward Harvest Party this year, each auxillary was asked to make a short video.  This is what my Beehives and I came up with.  You've been forewarned: it's painfully corny.

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Grandma's 80th Birthday

Grandma's 80th Birthday

10.14.2016

^^Grandma with five of her great-grandchildren: Jed, Levi, Jaxon, June, and Carter^^

We spent the most memorable weekend with extended family at a cabin way up in the La Sal mountains outside of Moab, UT.  We all gathered there to celebrate my grandma's 80th birthday!!!  She just radiates love.  Words cannot describe how much I admire that woman. There was no cell service and it was wonderful to truly unplug from everything: no internet, no advertisements, no pressures of the everyday grind. It was just family (noisy family!) and food (sooo much food!) and some small adventures. I wish we could relive it because I'm missing my weird but loving tribe of people already!

On Friday morning, I dropped off this studly man (and my uncle Ed) at 11,000 feet at the top of a mountain to ride 27 miles of what is called the Whole Enchilada.  Pretty incredible, yeah?  You bet I was jealous!

You guys, I married a good one. I can't imagine my life without this man. He's the one I talk late into the night with, adventure with, work and plan with, and parent with. He is patient and loving and involved and does his best in every facet of his life. I couldn't ask for a better husband. I love you, Bron!

View from the front porch of the cabin.  These horses just wandered in and out of the yard nibbling on the grass (and pooping all over the lawn).  And would you look at that scrub oak?  The leaves were changing colors and it was beautiful in its own deserty way.  

One afternoon, my cousin Rachel, Aunt Becky, Kelsey, and I all went for a little exercise walk that turned into a hike!  And another afternoon, our family of four strapped on helmets and took off in the razor that my Uncle Jeff rented.  That thing was buttery smooth over the dirt trails!  We let the boys take turns riding in the front seat.  "Step on it!" they commanded.  It goes without saying, they had a blast. 

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Trip to the Hogle Zoo

Trip to the Hogle Zoo

10.13.2016

We spent the most memorable weekend with extended family celebrating my Grandma's 80th birthday!!! But first, I want to reminisce about our pit-stop a the Hogle Zoo on our way south.

Jed had both Thursday and Friday off from school.  So we packed up the car and headed out Thursday morning, arriving at the zoo in the early afternoon.  The boys were sooo excited to see all the animals!  Jed was especially excited to see a rhino.  He was pretty fixated on that and wanted to find them right away.  Ha!  (I think the movie Hatari may have had some influence on that.)  We've found that Fall really is the best time to visit the zoo.  It wasn't crowded and the weather was cool and overcast, which meant all the animals were out and active!  We spent over three hours exploring and re-exploring the different attractions.  I was quite impressed, actually.  The Hogle Zoo is small but really nice and harbors all of the major large animals.  I am so glad we have zoos to help foster a love and fascination for animals.

We wrapped up the afternoon at the gift shop by purchasing the boys stuffed animals to remember their trip by.  Jed chose a rhino.  Levi chose a snow leopard. They're inseparable new best friends and kind of go everywhere with us now.

Pictures!

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