Fall is Here!

Today was a really cold day so we decided to get out of the house and go up the canyon to see the leaves changing. We drove up the Alpine Loop to Cascade Springs.

It was very pretty and seemed to be nicer/warmer weather up there than it was down in the valley! It was also a Free Entrance Day so that made it even better!

As we were driving, we even saw a few deer just off the side of the road! Addie thought that was pretty cool.

Here are a few pics for you to enjoy:

End of Summer Update

We have had a fantastic summer. I'm a little sad it's coming to an end but it will be nice to get back to going to be earlier and hopefully having a little more structure in our lives! Even though no one is in school, summer always seems to be so busy! It's nice because there is so much to do but life has felt very chaotic and crazy this year! We have had a great time and have made some wonderful memories.

Addie is now almost 23 months! I can't believe how quickly we are approaching her 2nd birthday! It seems like we just celebrated her 1st birthday! She is such a sweet little girl and we have had a lot of fun together. She is very busy and active! So far, the only things that will get her to sit still are Barney, ELMO, puzzles and chocolate. She's like the Energizer Bunny- she just keeps going and going until we make her stop- even if she's exhausted!

She loves to "play with you" (play with her) and she is getting pretty good at singing songs- although, never when we want her to! She loves shoes- especially her "play" shoes that are too big for her-because she can slip them on. She is now sporting 7 teeth completely in, 2 molars partially in and a third molar started to break through this week. She is constantly learning new things and loves to talk. I'm amazed at the sentences she puts together and the things she says to me sometimes! Everything is so exciting!

Addie and our neighbor, Bennett, have become such good friends. They play really well together and love being around each other! Unfortunately, they've started into the "posessive stage" and they are frequently referred to as "peat and repeat" or the seagulls on Finding Nemo (mine, mine, mine!)! Hopefully it won't last for too long! They love to eat popsicles, run around and around the light post, throw balls, ride bikes, hold hands (at least Addie does) and chase each other! We have a great neighborhood and we've really enjoyed the friendships with all of our friends here!

We spent a lot of time playing outside, playing with friends, going to the park, playgroup, swimming, and to the zoo a few times. As you can see from the pictures, popsicles were pretty much a staple around here! Here are some of the other fun activities and events from the summer:

Aidan joined the family~Father's Day~Family Pictures~Fireworks~2nd visit to a hospital~Oakley Rodeo~Cabin~Secret Lake~Butlerville Days~Lagoon~Clayton & Brandi's Engagement & Wedding~Hogle Zoo~Picking the garden with Grandpa & Grandma~Carson & Rachelle's Engagement~BYU Games!

We are looking forward to a fun & exciting holiday season this year!

Allison

Addie has officially named her Cabbage Patch Doll! Most of the time she's just been referred to as her baby. The other night, I asked her what its name was and she told me it was Allison.

The only Allison she knows is our neighbor across the street- so we figure that's where she came up with the name. I'm a little surprised she didn't name it after one of the other real babies in her life.

Here is Addie with Baby Allison:

The Elbow Strikes Back

About a month ago, we had a small accident that dislocated Addie's elbow. The doctor referred to it as nursemaid's elbow and said that she would now be more prone to it since it happened once.

Fast forward to yesterday.

Addie and I were playing around and I had her walk up me and then I flipped her over. We did it once and she thought it was the coolest thing ever and asked to do it again. I agreed and she walked up and I flipped her over. When both feet hit the ground she was giggling uncontrollably, but then grabbed her elbow. That's right. It was dislocated again.

I took her to the urgent care and they popped it in, but said that she (we) needs to be careful with it and give it six months to heal. Needless to say her monkey bar career has been put on hold.

Our Readers Have Spoken

We have listened. The old blog won, 7 to 5. Thanks to everyone who voted in the poll.

We have taken the banner from the new blog (which I created using www.scrapblog.com), and put it on the template of the old blog. The only other thing I really liked about the other one is the little boxes it put around the pictures.

Special thanks to my friend, Jeimi, who helped us make the new banner work on this blog (it wasn't easy)!

Good combination? Is this the best of the three? Any other feedback?

Snail

We've got live blogging, folks. Addie's at her grandma's today and just had her first encounter with a snail -- at least I think. Here's the story according to grandma as well .

"She watched the snail by the garden for a bit, and then she wanted me to hold it, which I did. Finally she took it from me, and held it by the shell. I actually came in to get the camera, she carried it from the garden to the back porch. Then we took the pictures, and then accidentally touched the soft part and freaked out a little. She wanted nothing more to do with it -- prior to that, I had showed her how to touch the soft part, but she wasn't interested."

Clayton & Brandi's Wedding

August has been a busy month for us so I haven't had a lot of time to blog. Luckily, Clay's been able to post some cute videos to keep you checking!

On August 18th, my brother Clayton got married! He married a great girl, Brandi, and we hope they will be so happy in their life together!
We had a busy week leading up to the wedding and there was a lot of family time but it was fun! The night before the wedding, we had the wedding dinner down at Thanksgiving Point and it turned out very nice. The food was yummy and it was great to spend time hanging out with the family.

The next morning, we had a big family breakfast with Brandi's family and then we went to the temple for the wedding. After pictures at the temple, we came back for a little relaxing and eating (and my early birthday present- a new digital camera!) and then we headed out for more pictures and the reception. It was a long day but weddings are always exciting and fun. Addie held up remarkably well despite only getting a short 1 hour nap all day. She was definitely a bit silly by the end of the night though!

Here are some of our favorite pics from the events! Congratulations Clayton & Brandi! Welcome to the family, Brandi! Thanks for a fun time!