Oct 4 through Oct 10

Sunday, Oct 4



I don't have a picture for today so I looked in my picture folders to see if I had a picture from this date last year and I found these cute pictures of my kids at the pumpkin patch last year. It's fun to see how they grown and changed in a year. I've actually been thinking a lot lately about how grown up they are looking. Time seems to go by faster and faster the older I get.

Monday, Oct 5


Here's this year's picture from the pumpkin patch. The weather looked much warmer in last year's pictures! It was actually lightly snowing when we left the house. Thankfully it cleared up enough to gather our picks for this year. We love this little local patch near our home and this year they added some cute little wheelbarrows for the kids.

Tuesday, Oct 6



Nana gave the kids some outlines of paperdolls. They spent the day coloring them in. Ben did a great job making his look like his Halloween costume...Robin. And Natalie had me color hers to look like Natalie...how's I do?

Wednesday, Oct 7


I recently made several of these hooded towels for my kids and for gifts. I am teaching a sewing class for Enrichment tomorrow on how to make these as well as "No Sew" tutus.

Thursday, Oct 8



We went to a local apple farm for Natalie's first preschool fieldtrip today. We enjoyed a hay ride, a tour of their cider mill, and got to pick our own apple from the orchard. We bought a big box of apples to make applesauce and learned some interesting things about apples and farming.

Friday, Oct 9


So after buying a big box of delicious Jonathon apples yesterday, I spent the morning making homemade applesauce. It turned out well and we now have 18 pints of applesauce in food storage. I did, however, manage to break my blender in the process...oh well!

Saturday, Oct 10



For the last 5 years, we have cleaned a commerical office building for Bryan's uncle to earn a little extra money. Today was our last time cleaning as the responsibility is being passed onto someone else. A bittersweet ending. Our kids have spent time each Saturday, playing at Nana and Grandpa's house while we cleaned. We are definitely going to miss playing there each week and might have to make a few trips out just for fun!

Sept 27 through Oct 3

Sunday, Sept 27



Today is my 32nd birthday. Happy Birthday to me! Here's a picture of me on my third birthday. My mom was great about making us cute homemade birthday cakes...a tradition I have tried to carry on with my own kids.

Monday, Sept 28




Here's Ben and Natalie enjoying a FHE treat before bed. We went out "Booing" for FHE. A fun tradition we like to start each year. We take some treats to a few neighbors with a poem declaring ourselves a Halloween phantom and asking them to share it with someone else. Ben and Natalie loved watching Daddy leave the treats and then run as fast as he could to our getaway spot.

Tuesday, Sept 29



Fall has definitely taken over Summer with cooler temperatures. The cool mornings have lead to this scene...the fire going to warm up two little ones.

Wednesday, Sept 30



Yep...it's lightly snowing on Sept. 30th! It has been unseasonally cool this past week. Brr!

Thursday, Oct 1




It's UEA weekend this week and Ben starts his first off track session. Bryan also had the day off and so we headed up to a Harvest Carnival at Hogle Zoo. We enjoyed seeing the baby elephant and playing a few games.

Friday, Oct 2



We've been pulling out the garden and flowers this week since the frost put an abrupt end to their beauty. We grew some giant sunflowers and here is the harvest from that adventure. They were fun to watch grow but a bit of a pain to take care off and then to pull them out as well. We're going to dry out the flower heads and harvest some seeds for roasting. Does anyone like sunflower seeds? We've got plenty!

Saturday, Oct 3

We put out our Halloween decorations this weekend. In our collection, we have several items that spell Boo. Natalie pointed to one after Ben had been reading them all and said..."Boo...hey that's my name!" Awhile ago, Bryan's Dad started calling her NannyBoo and then lately just Boo. It was cute how she made the connection.

Sept 20 through Sept 26

Another theme week...this is the first official week of Fall. I LOVE this season and have posted Fall favorites each day:

Sunday, Sept 20



I love the beautiful, colorful leaves changing and the temperatures cooling off. Our next door neighbor has some beautiful trees in their front yard that are always the first to change colors.

Monday, Sept 21

Harvest...I love farmers markets, gardening, canning, and all things harvest.

Tuesday, Sept 22



Pumpkins! The grocery stores and local patches are stocking colorful orange piles They are fun and festive. We'll pick some up from a local pumpkin patch later on!

Wednesday, Sept 23



More pumpkins...these are some Jack Be Littles from our garden.

Thursday, Sept 24



Apples...my neighbor and friend gave us these delicious apples from her family farm in Ogden. My kids have been enjoying them everyday!

Friday, Sept 25



Halloween decorations...the stores have been stocking decorations, costumes, and candy for the last few weeks. I love cute, whimiscal Halloween decorations. My friend gave me this cute soap dispenser for my birthday!

Saturday, Sept 26



Fall means Football! Bryan is a big BYU fan and looks forward to games each weekend. He has season tickets to the games with his brother and Dad. They love it and it has been a long standing tradition to go to the games together. Several people on our street have BYU flags and so I endulged him with an early Christmas gift so he would stop envying the neigbors! The kids got BYU T-Shirts as well and love wearing them on game days with Daddy!

Sept 13 through Sept 19

Theme for the week...Our House. We have lived in our home almost seven years! I can't believe how quickly the time has flown by. I think it's interesting to look back at pictures of my parents home and how it has changed over the years. While, we have changed a few things in our home since we moved in...a little paint, finishing the basement, and changing furniture a little, for the most part it hasn't changed a whole lot since we've lived here. Here's a pictorial tour:

Sunday, Sept 13


An outside few of the house...I took this after I pulled out the flowers for the winter.

Monday, Sept 14




The family room and kitchen areas.

Tuesday, Sept 15


Master bedroom and bathroom.

Wednesday, Sept 16



Ben's room.

Thursday, Sept 17



Natalie's room.

Friday, Sept 18


Downstairs family room.

Saturday, Sept 19





The downstairs bedrooms...
the bathroom, exercise room, play room, and my craft room:)

Sept 6 through Sept 12

Sunday, Sept 6

Monday, Sept 7



We came home from running errands and Natalie decided to watch TV while I prepared dinner...a few minutes later I heard soft snoring coming from the couch. Must have been a boring movie!

Tuesday, Sept 8



Since school started, this is a typical scene in the evening at our house...Ben doing homework at the dinner table while I finish preparing dinner. Natalie doesn't want to be left out, and so finds her own "homework" to do.

Wednesday, Sept 9

The tomatoes in our garden our slowly coming on...which means homemade salsa and Sweet Red Pepper Relish. I haven't canned salsa for a long time but my friend taught an Enrichment class on canning tomatoes and shared some great recipes. So with a dozen tomato plants this year, I'm trying them out!

Thursday, Sept 10




The stores are already preparing for Halloween and putting out treats and costumes. Ben and Natalie had their first pieces of Halloween candy today...Yum! Natalie was wearing it our her lips...accidentally. And Ben wanted to show his off "train wreck" style...ugh!

Friday, Sept 11



Tis the season for preserving...Beckie's mother in law has a farmer in Farmington that she gets fruit from every year. She was kind enough to get some for me too and this is what I started with on a Friday evening...3 bushels of peaches and one bushel of pears. The canning begins and...

Saturday, Sept 12



...after a late Friday night and early Saturday morning, I had 30+ quarts of peaches and 15 quarts of pears. Whew...I thought about doing another bushel of pears but I just can't muster up any more canning ambition this week!
I've got more peaches to freeze and more tomatoes in the garden!