October 2015

 Ohhh October! You always go too quickly! As much as I missed my annual Utah/St. George marathon trip this year, it has been so nice to be home and actually enjoy this gorgeous month! I love all of the fall colors, cooler weather, etc... And the idea of running a marathon right now sounds absolutely like torture... so you know! 

We started off the month with the Norsk Host Fest! The girls performed again this year with their 'traditional Scandinavian dances', and had so much fun! It's basically a giant old people festival, with some good food and good performances! Haha. They have a bunch of fun shops, etc... and it's become a tradition! We've usually only been able to perform one day, due to the marathon, but this year the girls did 3 different performances. Wednesday afternoon, and Friday morning and afternoon. So fun, yet definitely enough time there! Love these cute little braided beauties!

 We saw Anna and Elsa... and Olaf and Kristoff a few times. Luckily the first day Clara had an Elsa braid, and the 2nd day she had Anna braids... Phewf!

We had a super small group Friday morning! It was a fun excuse to get checked out of school though!

Clara was maybe a little bit of a bossy partner... She takes her dancing/following instructions VERY seriously. I'm a little worried she may scare off some friends.... Haha! She is the best. I can't believe this is little Lulu and Ruby's 4th year dancing together!

 I may have to cave and buy Clara a sweater next year- her dresses are pretty much too small shirts and this point! Sorry Ty, I know how much you love these sweaters... we may have two next year! Yay!

Tyler came and watched the girls Friday afternoon and experienced Host Fest for the first time! He took the girls home early and Jaymie and I did a little "shopping" (eating) without the kids! Sometimes moms just need a break! Holy cow! I'll just blame it on the pregnancy.... ;-) Thank goodness I have a really, really, really great husband. Truly!

We had such a nice conference weekend just being home! I feel like I'm in Utah for Easter or the marathon every year during conference, so it was SO nice to actually be home and be able to listen. We were able to listen to all 4 sessions completely- 5 for Tyler, and I honestly can't remember the last time that happened! I'm usually playing catch up for at least 1-2 sessions. The talks were all so good, and of course I have a special soft spot for Elder Holland. It had/has been a rough few weeks/months of just feeling like a terrible mother- mainly because I've been feeling not the greatest and I feel like that gets taken out on my kids way too often, but it was such a nice reminder from my Heavenly Father that I'm doing ok! I sure love these little girls more than anything in the world, and already love baby boy too! It's a crazy, wonderful thing to be a mother!

These two joined us Sunday and had so much fun coloring, playing Bingo, staying in their pajamas all day, and listening to the prophet!

 We delivered cookies that night to a few friends and said goodbye to our dear friends, the Mitton family. They headed back to Logan and we are SO sad to see them go! Lucy and Clara just adore Brylie! Dan has worked with Tyler over the last year, and Marcie is my favorite. So, yeah... huge loss for Minot! 

 Lucy had school pictures and knew exactly what she wanted to wear. This cute dress that she's had in her closet for almost a year that I got on sale last year-- she loves it! I was all for it, but she was for sure she wanted to wear it with her new sparkley shoes and matching belt... After some discussion about how those wouldn't even be seen in the picture, we decided to wear the sparkley belt and shoes the next day-- with a a sparkely shirt too! I just love this little girl!

 1st Grade Picture 2015-2016

and Super hero day-- in addition to all the sparkles!

Clara and I have had quite a few fun bike rides/walks this fall! I'm not much of a walker at this point, but I managed to somehow keep up a couple weeks ago while Lucy was at ballet, we went to the soccer fields and she got to ride her bike! The weather was just too nice to sit inside for an hour!

 Her pre-school class had a Field Trip to the Pumpkin patch last week! I was all set to go with her and mentioned that I might check Lucy out, so she could come too! (I don't have that much walking time/energy in a week... so you know.. two birds... one stone! haha!) Well, Clara vetoed the Lucy invite, which I understood... but then proceeded to uninvite me as well. She said she was fine with her friends. Even though Luke's mom, and Georgia's mom, were staying too... She was okay without me! Well, at that point I was all dressed up with no where to go. And when you're 8 months pregnant... all dressed up, does NOT happen very often...  Lucy was sort of expecting me to check her out anyway, so I did and we had a date! We may not have made it to the Pumpkin patch, but we had a lovely lunch at Panera, a caramel/hot fudge Sundae from McDonald's, and a lovely afternoon at the Zoo! She even got to watch them feed Nigel, the Pelican! Lu was even back to school for the last 30 minutes.... The beauty of living in a small town! Haha!

 The cutest pre-schooler I know! She really does love me, I swear!

 And my cutest lunch date! Who read to me all through lunch!

 Lucy then took about 50 pictures of me. She's so funny, and clearly a natural photographer! ;-)

32 weeks!

 My Sweet Lucy!

Cowboy week at school. And her and cute Emma!

Lucy came home after school last week saying what a crazy/sad day she had! It turns out a little girl in her class had her dad pass away the night before. He had had cancer for quite a while, but I think it was still unexpected. They had the school counselor in their classroom for a large part of the day, and Lucy was so cute telling me all about it. She told her class all about her 'Grandma' (great-aunt) Cheryl who had cancer, and just kept telling me that it was ok because Rebecca's dad was up in heaven! She has always been so close to the spirit and is just the perfect example of perfect faith! The next morning the girls were coloring while I was still asleep and I woke up to this cute note she had written for her friend!  I hope she always stays this sweet!

 We finally all made it to the Pumpkin patch too! Tyler was driving to Billings that day to finally drop the boat off to his dad, so we met the Noel's there and the girls had a blast!

 We got all of our pumpkins, and I must say it's so fun to have a front porch to set them on! 

We have 3 of these great huge trees in our front yard, along with our cute apple tree. It makes fall so happy! And a lot of leaves! ;-)

We love, love our cute house! Missing our big kitchen, but not nearly enough to leave! Have I mentioned how nice it is that Lucy can walk to school!? Best thing ever!

 Pajama and Pancake day at school! Made pumpkins. And a puppet show about the 3 little pigs! Have I mentioned that Clara LOVES school!? She's my favorite little morning side kick!

 34 weeks! People keep thinking I'm due any day. It's so fun hearing that every. single. day. 

 And the girls both got hair cuts, but little miss Clara decided to cut hers short! And it's the cutest thing ever! She has been asking to have it short like her friend Julia and Georgia's, and just went for it! The cute girl who cuts my hair did it, and even washed and styled their hair. Watching Clara get her hair washed at a salon was maybe the cutest thing ever! 

 Ty finally made it out Duck/Goose/Pheasant hunting this past weekend! I love this picture... haha! Where's Tyler!? Anyone, anyone!?

 The girls had their primary program on Sunday! I ended up moving 5 minutes in, so I could actually see Clara! Who puts the sunbeams off to the side behind the big wooden pews!? So lame! But the girls both memorized their parts and did so well! It's my favorite Sunday of the whole year! I love these two crazy sisters, and I love that they're wearing sandals and short sleeves in the middle of October! Good work Minot. Good work!

Sometimes Clara is just kind of my favorite!

 Fall break was so nice to sleep in for a couple of days! We had nothing really on the calendar and finally made it to story time this year! 

 my favorite snuggle buddies!

It took us a few years, but we finally made it to Boo at the Zoo! The weather ended up warming up! The candy/activities weren't all that exciting, but the kids had fun none the less!

 35 weeks! Big belly!

 and Clara. the fang teeth are back! Happy soon to be Halloween!

backwards day at school for miss Lucy lu!

Jenny had a little lunch get together for everyone that was at miss Emma's birth! She turned one on the 28th, and it was so fun to see everyone and reminisce about that crazy, crazy, beautiful day! I can't believe it's been a whole year, and that my baby will be here SO soon! 

35.5 weeks.      Cute Emma trying to get her candle!

 cute nurse Sasha- I'm crossing my fingers she is my nurse too!, Christy- Jenny's momma, Jaymie, me, Jenny, Kami, and Tera. Dave even came too! So fun to have friends as our doctors, it really does make everything so much more relaxed! 

Happy Birthday Emma Lu!