FALL

In the spirit of this amazing autumn season, I am changing the look of my blog for a few months to celebrate. The color is brilliant everywhere and the sun and blue skies make our mountains appear on fire. It's been a beautiful week and I have felt SO blessed to live in such spectacular surroundings. We have two of the best kept secrets in the SL valley right here close to home - parks where I take the kids that are such gems I finally took my camera this week to get some pics to remember how breathtaking these mountains we call home truly are. Here are the pics from Monday's outing . . .

Liza and friend Gracie enjoying lunch in spectacular Granite Park - such a fun bike ride down on Monday.

The playground

Amazing views of Little Cottonwood and Bell's Canyon

Bike, scooter, roller-blade trails around the park.

Coming back home . . . our neighborhood in full autumn splendor - LOVE IT!

I failed to mention . . .

Sophie's CORN STALK! Yes, it's a corn stalk growing in our make-shift garden (i.e. the flower beds that get the most sun). Anyway, in the spring, Sophie's 1st grade class germinated some seeds. Sophie brought the seeds home and we planted them - one was a corn seed and I figured it wouldn't really amount to much. Well, low and behold - we have corn this fall (along with tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, pumkins, peas, basil, and carrots) and our neighbors are scratching their heads in amusement at our newest landscape design - "suburban farmer" :-).

Too Short Summer

It seems we're not the only people on the planet that thought summer went by much too quickly. Fall is in full swing now with the mountains full of brilliant color, baseball, hockey, and football every weekend, and of course pumpkins, ghosts and other ghoulish creatures adorning doorsteps throughout the neighborhood.

But before I get too immersed in the wonderful autumn season, I want to take a moment to remember what a great, albeit short, summer we enjoyed. Here are some pics of a few moments I failed to mention when summer was here . . .

Sunny days swimming and goofing off at the club . . .
Caroline and her friends' many baking projects . . .
Ryan's lacrosse games - go Skyline!
A little friend we found in a tree at Liberty Park one afternoon - it's a porcupine!
Spending 4th of July morning with Chris' dad - hiking at Solitude . . . .
That night it was a bbq at the Elggrens and the 4th Annual "Alta Ridge Circle of Fire" - thanks Jay and Tara!"
BEES GAMES!!
Sophie and her favorite new friend this summer - Jenny Sandoval
Caroline and tennis coach/friend Tanner Evans
Getting the royal treatment on fireworks night . . . sitting on the field and meeting the players - thanks Terry!
Caroline and friends having a ball at Snowbird . . .

Good-bye dinner with Chris' mom before her she left on her mission to Philly. after the farewell - we'll miss you Sister Pat!
Pat entered the MTC on September 8th and is having some beautiful experiences on her mission and enjoying all the new people she's meeting in Philidelphia.
Other memories of summer 2008: Ryan and Caroline out practically every night playing night games with friends, Ryan's scout overnighters and especially his trip to Moab to bike Slick Rock, spending afternoons at the club, Bear Lake, Julie's tennis, Liza and Sophie's swim lessons, and the best part of summer with the kids - NO school or schedules!

Tagged!

I was tagged today by my dear friend and neighbor from Provo, so here goes -

Give one word answers with no explanation, then tag five bloggers with the "i love your blog award"...

1. Where is you cell phone... car

2. Where is your significant other... gym

3. Your hair color... brown

4. Your mother... talented

5. Your father... patient

6. Your favorite thing... nature

7. Your dream last night... sweet

8. Your dream goal... travel

9. Room you're in... office

10. Your hobby... tennis

11. Your fear... spiders

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years... organized

13. Where were you last night... home

14. What you're not... cautious

15. One of your wish-list items... furniture

16. Where you grew up... Bountiful

17. The last thing you ate... popcorn

18. What are you wearing... t-shirt

19. Your tv... off

20. Your pet... Daisie

21. Your computer... distraction

22. Your mood... mellow

23. Missing someone... always

24. Your car... Beast

25. Something you"re not wearing... jewelry

26. Favorite store... Costco

27. Your summer... lovely

28. Love someone... family

29. Your favorite color... blue

30. Last time you laughed... friend

31. Last time you cried...personal

OK, I'm tagging: Adrienne (because it's high time you put something on your blog!!), Carrie, Linda, Sister Pat, and Katie C.

Only four months . . .

without SNOW!! Is that it - is that all the time we get from winter ending to winter beginning? Wasn't I just writing this post about how much I just love snow in June? Believe me, I'm not ready for temps in the 20s and white stuff - not yet - rrrrr, dang this snow!

Oh this is classic . . . are they really building a SNOWMAN before narrowing down their Halloween costume choices?!

YOSEMITE

"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves."

- John Muir-

Yosemite was the perfect choice this year to celebrate our life together - time in the mountains surrounded by beauty, staying out late and sleeping in, laughing so hard it hurts, and the best part - enjoying our conversations without interruptions . . . priceless!

September 21st

Then . . .
Now . . .
Has it really been 17 years?! After looking at these pics side by side I believe there has been some improvement during those years :-). I'm finally back on the blogging bandwagon and wanted to mention our years together as "JulieandChris." It's been a good run and I'm blessed to have Chris by my side. Like many couples, we compliment each other quite nicely - my "yin" to his "yang." For Example, last month Chris came home from work and said, "I never even noticed the sunflowers until I read about them on your blog." My response: "What?? Are you kidding, they are everywhere, how can you NOT miss them?!" Then I remembered about a week before when Chris asked, "When are you going to clean the mud off Liza's boots and bring them inside? I believe they've been on the steps for over a month now." My response: "Really?? I never noticed."

So, there you have it - "JulieandChris" in a nutshell . . . he notices the practical, I, the ethereal . . . and it's worked out quite well over the years. Love ya Chris!