#6 for AVA- High School Musical Style
She wanted to be Gabriella for the second time this year and of course Dad had to be Troy. It's darn cute-they both get really into it. It was complete with cousins, a HSM Karoake, and a few close friends-one of which was Troy -more her size :).

We are loooooving this time of year

And visiting with Nani and Grandpa who traveled so far to see us. We will miss them till we see them again.

Ava has had...

A new haircut
and a yummy Thanksgiving Feast

WILDCATS IN THE HOUSE!

For those of you who are High School Musical fans here we are. From left to right -Troy, Gabriella, Sharpay, Wildcat Cheerleader, Ms. Darbis
Dan and I agreed that he and I ended up looking more like a wood cutter and Sarah Palin.
The girls were more than excited that the whole family dressed up and played the partsEven Aunt Katie showed her spirit

The night was complete with Trick-or-Treating with friends and way too much sugar.

Hope you had a Happy Halloween!

I have always said my favorite month was December but Ocotber is trying to move its way into first place-at least this year. Below you will see several reasons why...

#1 Decorating for the spooky holiday-and what better way to do that then with cousins who live so close now. I think we have started a family tradition of decorating a haunted house- kind of like a gingerbread house for Christmas but we get to use black spray paint, googly eyes, and candy corns (oh did Esme looove being introduced to candy corns!)

#2 MOTHER CAME FOR A VISIT

She brought these apples from her apple tree and made us fresh apple juice and yummy apple crisp.

She brought her sense of humor and warm smile

She brought her two youngest which made my three thrilledAnd of course she did what she does best...#3 GOING TO THE ARBORETUM- So, as long as I live where I live you will see pictures of this place throughout the year. There are pumpkins everywhere this month and the girls and their cousins and aunts had so much fun.

#4 SUNSHINE GENERATION-Sophia had her first performance with Ava and loved it. Here they are waiting to go on stage.

#5 ESME TURNS 17 MONTHS OLD-her nickname is Boodgee- may seem silly but I promise you spend one weekend with us and you'll be calling her that too. She is just as sweet as she looks- but she can really hold her own these days (see very large water bottle below that she picked up and took two swigs of without spilling a drop)
My sister Katie is living with us and Esme has really warmed up to her-hmm maybe it's time for a trip away with the hardworking husband...#6 MAKING OUR HOME "US"- this has not gotten my full attention due to the activities above and it will for sure be a long process but we are feeling such joy in our space already. We want our home to show off what we love and cherish most Christ, family, friends, reading, traveling, art, and music. Here is a glimpse at half of our living room-the other half and pictures on the walls to come as time and ideas roll in.
This is one of my favorite nooks in the house. It was meant for a huge flat screen t.v but we found better use for it :)

HOME SWEET HOME

Flowers to water

Grass to mow

Our family favorite spot. The doors leading to the covered porch and backyard are off the living room and thanks to the weather they have been open all day everyday since we moved in. We eat breakfast, lunch and dinner out here.


We love playscapes- especially ones that look like forts- the girls were so excited it was left here

If you want to see the inside don't try to break in... just come visit us :) Sophia is MIA above only because she was napping-she is my little outdoor girl and has spent most of the last two weeks exploring the backyard.

My View

Finally...UTAH!

Part 1: Getting there
Two days of driving, lots of stops at the bathroom, and a ton of m&m's later we arrived in the scenic state- here we got out to explore a bit.

Part 2: Babata and Ken's house

I love this girl. We go way back and I don't think we have spent a consecutive three days together since we were 15 years old. Hiking, Boating, Mountain Biking- these guys know how to show us a good time in their hometown!

My girls could not stop talking about their finished out basement (good job Ken) for days after we got home!!

It was fun watching them use their imagination and make up games-our girls played so well together.

Part 3: Payson Reunion
Almost got him
On Grandma's swingActing out High School musical (Dan plays a good Troy :)Canoe rides