Alpine Loop and Conference

Conference Sunday, as the afternoon session began, we needed an escape from our house and a change of scene. The perfect option living where we do was to drive the Alpine Loop as we continued listening to conference. I can't believe I had never been before! Yes we mean to do it every fall and then suddenly it's winter and we missed the window. But Joseph rode to the top of AF canyon a few weeks back and finally rallied us all up. Plus, he wanted to try out some family friendly hikes he'd seen on his biking adventure.

It was stunning up there! We'd had a fairly wet and cold week so fresh snow topped the highest mountain peaks making the views so striking. I loved it. I think I may not be able to listen to conference any other way from now on :) We drove past many lovely trail heads but 1) some were way too muddy and 2) the recent government shutdown had resulted in many barricaded parking lots and blocked turn-offs. But we pressed on all the way until Cascade Springs and found the parking lot open and ready for us. The kids were pretty done with the car by then anyway so we were ready to wander and explore. It was another new discovery for our little family. Such great treasures in all the glorious mountains around us!

Fall comes each and every year around here but I swear I can never get enough of these vivid colors no matter how many autumns I live through. I think my phone is full of photos of leaves and trees and reds, yellows and oranges. Happiest colors :)

 Livs was not in the mood to participate in this picture so she was pouting in the background...

 Luke had a blast throwing leaves into the rushing water below the bridge

We're glad we discovered this beautiful spot and we'll certainly be back.

And for my own records and as a reminder of what I'm eager to study and reread, some highlight talks from conference:

Come, Join With Us by Elder Uchtdorf
The Moral Force of Women by Elder Christofferson
Like a Broken Vessel by Elder Holland
To My Grandchildren by Elder Eyring
No Other Gods by Elder Oaks
I Will Not Fail Thee, nor Forsake Thee by President Monson
Teaching with the Power and Authority of God by David McConkie
Decisions for Eternity by Elder Nelson

14 Years

Such a beautiful day that was, 14 years ago, when I married this boy. I love our anniversary and how it reminds me to think back to how our love began.  I just feel so blessed and grateful that Joseph LeBaron is an eternal part of my life—I would be so lost without him. It seems silly that the 20 year old me knew so well in her heart that this boy, this man, would be the one who could make me truly and completely happy, and create and raise our precious darlings with me. I love time for what it teaches me and how year after year I grow more and more in love with my husband.

Our anniversary fell on a Tuesday night so we grabbed a babysitter and had a little date night downtown. My cute hubby had just gotten stitches after my dad removed a lymphnode from his forehead, hence the cool bandaid ;)

We ate dinner at Settebello, roamed the temple grounds and remembered our perfect wedding, and popped into a few stores in City Creek. It was a lovely night and always fun to be hanging out together. He's my favorite.

 

Rest of September

Soaked up my Minnesota nieces and their lovely mama while they were in town for a quick weekend.

 Found the new Lego store at Fashion Place mall and it was a big hit 

(and Bentley felt like he had died and gone to Lego heaven :)

My littlest lady had her first taste of ballet and she is loving it! Too funny how a random tiny dance friend held Livs' hand and she just went with it :)

 Luke is an official iPhone/iPad pro—he calls all apple devices "iPad" and it's pretty cute :)

Ahhhh—fall arrived!

The hubby rode his second 100 mile bike ride and I was lucky enough to join him for the last 60 along the Murdock Canal Trail and then up Provo and South Fork Canyons. It was my longest ride to date and I could tell! Man that saddle does not feel great after 40+ miles but I am trying to get tougher.

Snuggled my girl right after her bike crash. We were having a picnic dinner out on the front lawn and saw the whole thing happen—poor beauty!

 Peeking in on Cares' ballet class the other night (she's in the middle of the pic along the back wall)

 We checked up on Sam and gathered produce from my parents' house while they were in Europe. Snuggly (lonely) Sam could not get enough of Cares, and she indulged him nicely.

Hubby decided that the appropriate gift for 14 years of marriage was carbon :) I agreed. Now to tame this thing and get some serious miles under my belt. Oh she's so so pretty!

 

First snow of the season the other day. It was particularly thick and full at my house so Cec and her boys came up to enjoy it with us. Look at that funny Livs in her barefeet!

My primary darlings just before their sacrament meeting program. Love love love these sweeties and their tender little testimonies so much.

Farm With the Littles

On a gorgeous fall day a little while back, Cec and I took our littles to Thanksgiving Point's Farm Country. When my older 2 heard we'd been there they were pretty sad and wanted me to see how unfair it all was—but I reminded them that when they were that age they had plenty of playdates and outings, and I'm pretty sure they had more as we had all the free time in the world! Anyway, our morning was glorious and the kids were loving all the animals and time together.

 Livs' sad little banged up face from a bike fall the day before...

Happiest baby riding a horse all by himself! 

 

  

I always get a kick out of the kiddos doing their best "locked up" faces as they play in the jail :)

Family Playtime

We ditched out on school and work last Friday to spend time together as a family. At first I was thinking we might run off to St George, but Joseph convinced me to stay much closer for the cooler temps and fall colors of the cabin. We packed up Friday morning, stopped by my parents' empty house (they're playing in Europe) to gather produce from my mom's fertile garden, and then stopped at Blue Plate diner over in Sugarhouse for brunch. Yummiest breakfast food there!

Then it was up the canyon to PC and the lovely cabin. My kids love it up there so much and spent the afternoon entertaining themselves in the bunk room. Joseph and I alternated riding bikes, then we popped over to dinner at Cafe Rio and the fun playground on the Swaner Preserve. It was such a perfect fall evening, but once the sun set it got pretty cold and we headed back to the cabin for hot-tubbing and s'more making (once Luke was in bed of course—he is an adorable ball of crazy and we didn't want him in either of those situations :)

 

Saturday morning we made a big breakfast, packed up lunch and headed into Park City for the Alpine Slides.

Bentley rode on the track next to me and I grabbed a few shots of him cruising down but he was fast!

Oh this picture makes me so happy. My slide buddy had the time of his life as we rode together and his soft fluff blowing in my face just made our adventure too fun! Love, love, love my baby bear!

 

In the late afternoon we roamed the property high above the cabin to find some vivid leaves and get wiggles out before heading back to the valley:

 

Our Sunday was packed with meetings, lessons to teach, and a final trek fireside so we came back to the valley for dinner. We'd planned a LeBaron family dinner at Mary and Seth's that evening too—our first without Ruth Ann and Neil :( but we are determined to make sure they still happen at least once a month.

Love my little family with all my heart.

Pinewood Derby!

Last week the cub scouts had their big Pinewood Derby. Bentley and Joseph worked on a car as I have no clue what to do for those (what? kids need weights? See I am clueless...) Our awesome new neighbor had Bentley over to cut and shape his car–he is a woodworker for a huge company and has all his machines and tools in his garage. He graciously invited anyone over who needed help and since the YM and YW did this activity too, he probably ended up helping with more than 20 cars! He's a rockstar--what a good guy (plus he has 3 teenagers so he was happy to help them and all their friends).

Anyway, Bentley really wanted a rocket-like car so this was his final, golden creation. It ended up not being very fast (I guess it wasn't very aerodynamic) and he was a little disappointed that it didn't place first in any heats but we tried to remind him it's all about the fun of creating something cool and learning new skills.

We rented our neighbor's awesome track and used it for 2 hours for both the cubs 

and then the YM/YW.

Bentley's turn pressing the start gate

Then it was time for the youth to race!

I was so thrilled with the great turnout we had and that my YW totally got into it. Such a fun combined activity!

I found some treat ideas on Pinterest and they looked cute for 10 minutes before the hungry yoith devoured them!

 These little trophies were just too cute (another Pinterest idea!) and super easy to make.