HAPPY HALLOWEEN

You know what's scary? How little I post on my own blog. We went over to Christie's parents for an impromptu pumpkin carving party. If you know me, I'm not content with triangles for eyes and a nose, and a smiling mouth with two teeth. And I'm too lazy to come up with my own design, so I enjoy finding fun patterns and taking some time to churn out some fun pumpkins. My favorites have been Stupendous Man (from Calvin and Hobbes), the Mortal Combat Dragon (that one was awesome), Lightning McQueen last year (Caleb loved that) and this year...



This one wasn't too bad, since there weren't too many intricate parts. My biggest fear is, as Peeve sings in Harry Potter 7, that Old Voldy will go moldy.

Ha ha, I also changed the background on the blog, Christie.

Vacation to sunny southern Utah part 2

On Sunday we went to our old ward and saw some friends. It was good to see everyone again. When we lived down there we lived next door to some really great friends. Caleb loved playing with Collin and Maleah and we loved living next door to Ryan and Erika. Erika really helped me out after Brynli was born. She always offered to have Caleb come over and play with Collin so I could take a nap. I could tell it wasn't some obligation she felt, but she wanted Caleb to come over because she loved having him over. She's actually the one that witnessed Brynli being born in our bathroom. :) It was great to spend time with them again.
The pictures do a pretty good job of capturing what a fun and exciting reunion they had!

We went over to a park for a little while. This is a picture of Erika, Caleb and Collin waiting for Ryan to throw the x-zylo to them.

Ryan and Maleah

Vacation to sunny southern Utah

We had such a great vacation last weekend. We went down to Southern Utah to visit some family and friends. Friday night we went out to eat with my brother and sister-in-law, my grandma, and my parents who happened to also be down that way the same weekend. We went to a great Thai food restaurant - a first for me. We did the pass the dishes around and take a little of each thing. It was fun to sample each of the dishes we got. We spent most of the day Saturday playing in my brother's amazing backyard. Caleb and Brynli had a blast playing with their cousins. We love visiting Scott and Heidi. They were so nice and welcoming. Their family is amazing!

Caleb and Brynli love to jump. At first I was a little worried that the kids would bounce Brynli too much, but no not her, she just gets up, laughs, and keeps jumping.

They have an awesome sandbox with lots of great toys. They were in heaven.

The basketball boys

Mark has become really good at riding a unicycle.

We went to a park with my brother's family. The weather was perfect there all weekend - low 80's.

Look at that cute face!

Mark played the piano for my Grandma, which I think she really enjoyed.

Here's my Grandma listening to Mark play.

vOLLeYbaLL

This was one of the biggest highlights of our summer. We had so much fun playing volleyball with people in our neighborhood every week. There is a park really close to our house where we set up a grass vball net. We usually had 5 on 5 or 6 on 6 with slightly varying people. We live by so many athletic people. There were a lot of great volleyball players. It was so much fun! Everyone was amazed at how good Mark is.

Our kids would play on the playground next to us while we played. It was a great set up. We would try to keep playing once it was dark because we never wanted the night to end. It made for interesting volleyball when you couldn't see the ball until it was right in front of your face!

It's getting too cold to play now, but I've started playing stake women's volleyball. I haven't played with all women on a women's net probably since high school . . . and that was a little different. :) Quite a few played in high school or college and everyone is really nice and friendly. It is so fun. I can actually block too . . . at least every once in a while. :)

Kindermusik

Caleb and Brynli love going to "music time" every week. I've been taking them to a Kindermusik class once a week that my good friend Marissa is doing. They love it. The classes incorporate musical concepts, pretend play, movement, social interaction, and learning through fun ways. There's probably even more benefits, that's just what I can see happening. I'm so glad they get this opportunity. It has been so much fun.

Nathanael's baptism

We went to my nephew's baptism on Saturday. Nathanael is a very smart, sweet little boy. It was great to feel the Spirit as he was being baptized. Todd and Julie are great examples to me. They have so many good ideas for raising their children. Hopefully some of them will rub off on me!

My brother Todd, Julie, and Nathanael

My sweet, cute little Brynli.

Our family with Nathanael.

Time Out for Women

I had such a great time at Time Out for Women a couple weeks ago. I got to go with some amazing women and friends. It was so uplifting, inspiring, and motivating. We got to hear from some great musicians - Kenneth Cope and Jenny Oaks Baker (one of my very favorite violinists and inspirations). Jim Ferrell spoke to us on Friday night. He has amazing insights into the gospel and the scriptures (he wrote the Peacegiver - life changing book). Mary Ellen Edmunds spoke. She is my Mom's cousin :) . She is absolutely hilarious. Her facial expressions alone had me falling off my seat in laughter! I was laughing so hard throughout the whole weekend, it was great! We had Camille Fronk Olson, Merrilee Boyack, Amanda Dickson, and Sharon Larsen also speak to us. They were all wonderful.

There were so many jewels of inspiration for me that it's hard to put them all into words. One that comes to my mind is doing service as a family - as a Christian family. It blesses and strengthens the family and blesses those that were served. Another idea expressed was of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ's commitment to each of us. They won't stop until we are found. They are fully invested in us. Another one is that the Lord knows what will make us happy. I have found this to be so true in my life. When I have followed inspiration and revelation I am so blessed. I find joy in following what the Lord prompts me to do. There were many more. I hope this becomes a tradition.


OK, I got to meet Jenny Oaks Baker in person. She was the first violinist for the National Symphony - just to give you an idea. That's like the NBA of music. When I heard her play years ago it inspired me to start playing my violin again. Everything inside me said I needed to play my violin again! So, this was really exciting for me to listen to her in person and meet and talk with her.

The great women I went with!