fall break

we decided to stick around for fall break and just have some down time.

i like having down time with the kids.  i love where we live, but sometimes i ache to get out for a bit and have a change of scenery, so i convinced abe and his posse 

to go to the movie- once i was a beehive:)

it was soooooo fun!  vivian really wanted to come along for the late night, so we brought her,  pajamas and all.  vivian was thrilled to be there and the boys were highly entertaining.  

just the thing i needed!

the next day, i took the kids and we hiked to the Y in provo. 

it's something i have never done.

it was steeper than i thought.

as she was riding on sadie's back, vivian said, "i'm tired."  haha!

we took turns carrying her.  i'm grateful for my kids.  they look out for each other.  they were all happy to help her make it to the top.

this is my crew. 

we help each other.  

this is what i do.  this is what i have done for the past 18 years.  that's a lot of my life.

they have no idea how much they mean to me and how much i hope good things for them.

i enjoyed hiking and spending the day with them.  

we finished the afternoon at waffle love. then a speed round at the DI (abe's super into thrift store shopping, so it was the cherry on top of his day).

this is what the end of a good fall break looks like:)

beautiful choices

lately, i have thought about this beautiful little girl.  

she is happy, kind, caring, excited, smart, and loving.  

right before i go to sleep, i lean over and kiss her (which is easy because she insists on sleeping in my bed),  and i say, "I love you." she then does the exact same thing to me in return.  for some reason, it surprises me every time and i love it.  

it is beautiful.  

my mom and my grandma used to say,

BEAUTY IS AS BEAUTY DOES.

at first i didn't get it.

but now i do.

my goal lately has been to teach vivian to be beautiful through her choices.  

this girl LOVES beautiful things.  dresses, lip stick, sparkles, princesses--so when she got frustrated with a girl in her playgroup and hit her...a few times, i decided to focus on beautiful choices.    i still tell her she looks lovely, but i want her to recognize that what we DO and SAY can be beautiful too.

a few tween girls put on a little princess camp and when i picked her up the first thing she said to me was, "i didn't hit at princess camp!"

 i knew we had arrived when i heard her playing with toys and in a small, but sophisticated voice one toy said to the other, "that was a beautiful choice."

this is a beautiful world.

so glad we get to be a part of it.

 we believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, 

and in doing good to all men; 

indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul- 

we believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured

 many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. 

 if there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.

 (13th article of faith)

cousin halloween

we invited the tullis side to get excited about halloween with us.

we had delicious food, dipped apples, carved pumpkins, and watched halloween cartoons on the porch with papa john's delicious popcorn.

it was a fun filled night!

 

 

 (back row-lily, sadie holding porter, abe. front row-max, vivian, jade, kai, sam)

moments

being a mom is filled with moments!  

it's taking a moment and noticing it, soaking it in, that makes me happy in my heart.

notice something good today and take time to feel it:)

halloween

found this gem.

my, how time flies.

happy almost halloween.

gotta get a move on it around here.

we're goin' to pinto!

dave grew up going to 

PINTO

 for his family reunion--every summer.  

i'm not going to lie, he had to pretty much beg us to get on board to attend his 

family reunion this last summer.  

he really wanted to share this part of his life with our kids, so out of pure love for him, we went.

it actually ended up being a highlight of our summer!

pinto is a beautiful place. 

i liked hearing stories about his ancestors and talking with some of his extended family.

the kids really enjoyed exploring, playing games, meeting new cousins (especially max-everytime i looked for him, if would find him sitting at a table with new people, playing card games.)

vivian and jade's first balloon toss.  highly entertaining:)

real men shoot pink guns, i guess.

we went on a beautiful hike.

fun exploring, and we only lost two people, which kind of freaked me out, but it all ended well:)

bacon eater.

back at camp, mimi kept the girls busy with art projects and headbands.

MAX LOVED EVERYTHING ABOUT PINTO!!

highlights not shown:  

the river and crawdad hunting.  abe only got in stinging nettle once...but it was totally worth it.

thanks dave, for sticking with us, and encouraging us to go to pinto.  let's do it again!