First Sign of Fall

BYU football!

that first half was quite hot

so we cooled off on the grass at halftime

then the sun went down and we cooled right off

Tye and Stacey are in town from Phoenix and we are all hibernating at the cabin for the long weekend. We fit in some fun activities yesterday including the football game last night. And Stacey kindly babysat for us so we could take our (bigger) true blue fans with us.

Love season openers in a sold out stadium. Winning is lots of fun too...

Dates

These 2 are off on a special daddy-daughter date as I type. Joseph took our darling girl to the theater--so elegant! They are seeing Pirates of Penzance and I just discovered this sweet picture in my inbox from their date:


I really love Caroline's dress. So much so that I think I want this one for myself. But I will have to use my "inside sources" at Shabby Apple to help me decide if it would really suit me.

Random thought: every single time I think of Pirates of Penzance I think of this: "I liked it so much I almost peed my pants!" Some movies I have just seen way too many times...

Earlier in the week we grabbed our neighbors and headed over to the temple for a family date night. The kids loved being there and basically explored the grounds at full speed having all sorts of fun. Once we entered the gates and got closer to the temple we tried to help them be more calm and respectful--which may have worked because a temple worker kindly invited them inside to sit in the foyer and simply feel the spirit in the temple. I loved that concept and hope Bentley and Caroline will always remember the feeling they had inside there that day.




We love our temple. And great friends. And eating frozen yogurt at Yogurt Vibes to end our fun date night.

Feeling Ready

I bought this yesterday and read it during lunch. I officially have 3 ideas (ok--maybe 4) that I must put to use during Halloween. I have got to hand it to Martha--she makes that holiday so much cooler than it really is. And I am a sucker for it--hence the purchasing of her handbook.

I do plan to pull it out every fall and use it for crafting and party inspiration each year. So it was a practical indulgence...

New Colors

Just a peek at the new paint. Joseph and I got an amazing deal through Groupon to have 2 rooms painted. We did have to paint the ceilings ourselves (our house came as all one color so we are slowly making it 2-toned where we can.)

A soft gray in the bedroom (Kwal paint color Ice Jam)

For the bathroom, a Restoration Hardware-like greenish blue (Kwal paint color Cervantes)

and a new mirror from IKEA to add some grown-up glamor to our bedroom

And this is what my desktop looked like on Saturday night as I researched dream fabrics and upholstered chairs. Our current bedding is 2 tones of green but when we pull out the comforter in the winter, that bedding is white with a dark brown print. Still don't know what color/print to get if we even get a chair at all. But I love looking into all this stuff anyway.

Summed Up

Our weekend:

started with this double rainbow Friday night

included Bentley and Caroline's first soccer games of the season

(I am a bad mom and didn't get any pics of Cares at her very first game! Joseph was filling in as coach and busy with all the kids while I was home with Livs during her nap time. I am sad because my tiny girl even scored her very first goal! She is loving playing this year and you better believe that she is uber-cute all dressed up in her soccer gear and sporting pigtails in her hair--I will get pics next time.)

a long awaited trip to the Copper Mines with Joseph--a very important part of this year's visit

I think we were there on the windiest day of the year--if Liv's stroller didn't have both brakes on the wind handily just rolled it all around

And today Bentley went to work on his Copper Mines gift shop find--a dinosaur skeleton excavation kit. He was completely taken with it and super focused as he worked.

Livs was worn out on our drive home from Nanny's house this evening, but managed to pose so sweetly as she slept.
Joseph emailed me this pic and titled it "Liver Snooze." Cool.

**We also had our master bedroom and bathroom painted this weekend and are still in the process of setting back up. We've started updating our furniture with black paint and new hardware but we've been slow. I hope it will all be done in the next month and then I will feel ready to post pics--right now it is far from done. I still have to hang window treatments back up so I can sleep in there tonight!

Thank Yous

--Thank you Mom for making homemade jam every single year (and for teaching me how to make it too.)
--Thank you Seth for documenting the triathlon a few weeks ago and capturing us all "in the moment."
--Thank you Joseph for being so patient with Bentley this morning when he and Livs were both falling apart.
--Thank you Caroline for sleeping in until 9:15 am and avoiding our chaotic morning altogether.
--Thank you Maddie for playing with Cares today and entertaining her beautifully.
--Thank you Cec for In-N-Out lunch today (and for reading super fast and loaning me the complete Hunger Games series so I can dig in.)
--Thank you Olivia for taking a 3 hour nap today. You have been going on 2 hours or less for the past few days and it has not made you the happiest of babies in the evening.
--Thank you Heidi for sending us fun mail with Box Tops and an awesome picture for the kids from Max.
--Thank you Blurb for making all photobooks and blog books super easy to create.
--Thank you to me for saving all of Caroline's darling clothes and now dressing Olivia in them. It feels so good to know they are getting well used and well-loved. And each outfit reminds me of my tiny Cares and those are fun memories to think back on.
--Thank you Bentley for braving up right as school started today and making it through another long day of first grade. Oh, and thank you for rocking that pose when Dad took your picture tonight. You are hilarious and darling and I love you for being both.

1st Grade

Bentley was super excited to start school and see his old buddies from Kindergarten.

The report I got from him when we picked him up, "I don't think I like going for the whole day. Tomorrow you should just pick me up at 2:00." It's going to be a tricky transition but he'll get used to it, right?

The girls played together so sweetly all morning. I had to intrude while they were playing "princess sisters" so I could capture their happy game.

I guess princess sisters must wear Baby Legs on their arms

Once Livs went down for a nap in the afternoon Cares and I played Polly Pockets for a bit. After 20 minutes or so Caroline sighed and said "when will Beanie ever be home? I miss him so much!"

When we grabbed our Bentley after school he got two big hugs from his little sisters who were extremely excited to see him. And then he got a big hug from his mama...I may have been pretty excited to see him too.