Bentley's 30-miler

 We could not have chosen a more perfect fall day for Bentley's 30 mile ride —the farthest he's ever gone. Last year Joseph rode 20 with him and I was kind of sad I missed out on it. This year we grabbed a babysitter so all 3 of us could ride together.

We drove to Highland to jump on the Murdock Canal Trail and ride it all the way to Provo where we popped over to the Provo Canyon Trail right at 800 N. We love that canal trail since it's free of car traffic and full of pretty views of both the mountains and Utah Lake.

 Once we hit Provo Canyon the fall leaves were just so striking and glorious. 

Octobers in Utah are to die for. 

And riding with these two was so much happiness for this mommy's heart.

15 miles out took us right to the parking lot for Bridal Veil Falls where we snapped this picture and turned around to finish the 2nd half of our ride. Provo Canyon is a lovely, easy climb so not hard for beginners but it's always fun to turn around and coast down! At one point Joseph was ahead and he pointed down to a big dip in the road so we could avoid it but cute Bentley thought he meant we should go right in it and so Bean did and laughed through it thinking that roller coaster feeling for a second was so fun. He said "thanks for telling me to ride that Dad!" Such a cute cycling buddy.

 I couldn't stop admiring the gorgeous colors all along the trail. Have I mentioned I love fall?

We stopped at the gas station at the mouth of the canyon for a snack and bathroom break and then rode the remaining 10 miles back without any complaints or tired legs from our boy. He's such a little rock star and it was really fun to have a special date doing something we all enjoy together.

All done with 30! Of course he has high hopes to ride farther in 2015. 

I love this determined kid so much!

LeBaron Halloween Party

 

Luke adores princesses, we all know that, and he especially loves Elsa and Anna (my little Frozen loving baby) but somehow in talking about Halloween this year he got so excited to dress up as little Kristoff. I was surprised at how eager he was but Olivia loved the idea of being Elsa and Luke being Kristoff so I'm sure she talked him into pretty well with her sweet mothering voice she loves to use with him :) 

 

It was no easy task to make these Kristoff costumes (Joseph was Kristoff too :) come to life but luckily I have such a handy husband. He can see an image of a costume and find all the pieces and details to make it work and then just tell me where and what to sew. We made such a mess trimming the fur linings but they ended up looking awesome so I 'm glad we included then. In the background of the pic above you can see Joseph's handiwork in painting an Anna shirt for my costume. Ideally I wanted our whole family to be Frozen characters but my oldest two were completely not interested!

 

Our little Frozen family!

Since Nanny and Neil have been gone we have been trying hard to do family dinner once a month and trading around which sibling is in charge. Mary and Seth were in charge of October and made sure it was our annual Halloween get together. Since we are huge we met at a park near their house (something we did all summer and fall when we met and it worked perfectly! Winter won't be as easy but I know we can at least all fit in my house!)

All the local LeBaron cousins (minus baby Finn who was sleeping in his carseat and little Addie). Can you spy Bentley? He seriously blends in so well in his all black costume!

We had dinner on the picnic tables at the park, had lots of yummy Halloween treats, and even had the kids eat donuts on a string which is always funny and totally messy and they love it! Mary put up the cute backdrop for our pictures that night and we stayed until it was officially dark before wrapping it up. Did I mention it was a spectacular fall evening and so warm that I could not bear to wear my tights or cape for much more than the pictures!

Also I'm in love with this little Elsa girl :)

Gardner Village of Course

This place is just too cute during the holidays and it's close and free —what's not to love about Gardner Village?

We popped over for a little family night one evening after Joseph was home from work and then the kids and I went back with Horsley cousins one morning later in the month.

 We love our family selfies!

 Back again with cousins. This day was the perfect fall morning—crispy, cold air but tons of sunshine and blue sky. I love being outside on those days!

 Maddie and Connor were off track so I let my kids skip school in the morning for our outing and then I dropped all 3 elementary kids off when it was time for Livs' afternoon kindergarten to start. Sometimes we play hookie and we all love it!

UEA in Park City

 We kept close to home for the kids' school break and headed up to the cabin with my parents and the Horsleys—made for such a fun weekend playing in Park City!

 Morning hike up in the mountains. Fall was mostly done up there but still pretty where it lingered.

 Headed to the Alpine Slides in PC. Too bad half of the valley had the same idea as us so we stood in line for about an hour before we could actually got on the lift to head up! At least we had tons of cousins around so the kids did pretty well entertaining each other. It was so sunny and warm up there for mid-October. We saw tons of ladies in the cutest boots and leather jackets, sweaters and layers, and they were all shedding them like crazy :) Too hot for those cute fall clothes!

 Luke's version of waiting in line meant roaming all over and playing in the leaves and dirt. 

Typical Luke that's for sure!

My adorable slide buddy! Just like last year he loved the ride and was happy and excited the whole way down. He even liked going fast! Love that silly boy so much.

Rainy Saturday

After our glorious day Friday we woke up to low gray clouds and a perpetual drizzle Saturday. I thought it would help us sleep in long and hard but after a solid 10 hours of sleep we were fully awake at 8:00 am and ready to head out. Even though it was wet we wanted to hike somewhere — so we drove over to Jenny Lake where we could stay out of the clouds and still enjoy lovely views of that pretty water.

 No views of the huge mountain peaks but still beautiful and serene

 

 And the trails were so perfectly fallish — I loved them.

 

After hiking a few miles we drove up to the Jackson Lake lodge and then out of the park and into Jackson to shop around for the kids a bit. I got the girls some moccasins that I'm saving for Christmas. They look just like a pair I had growing up and they are so cute with lots of fringe!

 Found pretty fall trees in the city square too.

  Back at the hotel we hot-tubbed again and loved the change in the view that the cooler weather brought.

Easy hairdo for another night out. I wanted to see how the braid looked from the top and when I saw the picture I laughed about my distinct sunburn and sunglasses line on my cheek from the day before. 4+ hours on a bike make for a lot of sunshine on the face!

I can't remember where we got dinner Saturday night —somewhere in the city center at a Mexican restaurant that was fine but not great...obviously didn't stand out to us but we certainly loved the free time without our children. Every meal that doesn't involve wrestling small kiddos is a huge win! We missed those rascally darlings though. They make everything crazy busy and also a lot of fun.

 Back at the lodge (strangers have a hard time getting non-blurry iPhone pics :)

We loved this place and would stay there again in heartbeat. The manager even hand wrote us a card wishing us a happy anniversary — well-played...

Sunday morning we enjoyed our free (and huge) breakfast before making the long drive back home to our littles. The Salt River Pass was stunning in its fall glory and made us eager for more autumn beauty at home.

Joseph made the best playlist for our trip (aptly named Love15) and we listened to it every time we were in the car. Now those songs will always remind me of this fun trip and truly, how much I really love being with my husband. We spent the first 4 1/2 years of our marriage as just us, enjoying all our free time together and dating non-stop. Anytime we escape the rigors of parenthood it reminds us of those carefree days and how much we like each other. I always say this but we really lucked out finding each other as we are a really great match. And he still makes me laugh all the time so we're good!