1. The Fall Season

Everyone who knows me well knows that autumn is my favorite season - LOVE it! So much to be grateful for during this time - it just lends itself to gratitude, so I'll begin my list today with this spectacular season (if you have no idea what i'm talking about, read the post right below this one). Everything about fall makes me smile: the leaves changing and falling, the cooler temperatures, Halloween, apple trees, crisp air, harvesting the garden, Thanksgiving, family, baking autumn treats, the brilliant blue sky . . . the list goes on. It is such a relaxing time of year for me and every time it comes around I can't help but feel like a kid again as I walk through the falling leaves, dress up for Halloween, or get up in the mountains to breathe the autumn air.

Speaking of kids - here are some pics from our Halloween:

Elizabeth before her Halloween party at pre-school in her first costume creation: "a little girl dreaming she's riding a unicorn."

Liza's class watching in awe as their teacher stirs up some Halloween brew.

Liza and a little friend during their pre-school program.

Caroline and Sophie off to school for the Halloween festivities. The 6th graders dress up in what they would like to be in 30 years - then have a "reunion" on Halloween.

Sophie in the school parade - marching with her 2nd grade class.


Caroline and friend Sophie in 30 years - the pastry chef and the clothing designer.

Elizabeth and friend Gracie helping out at the 6th grade reunion party . . . Liza now in her 2nd costume choice - a rhino!

Later that evening . . . The witch, the rhino, and the cowgirl

Liza and Sophie gearing up for some trick-or-treating fun!

The gang . . . don't you just love these girls!

The DICE (Caroline and friend Kelsey) . . .

What a FUN night . . . I'm just disappointed that I didn't get any pics of Ryan and his friends at their party. Oh, well, he had a great night as well and only dressed up for about an hour as a football player to grab some loot :-).

To live each day with a grateful heart . . .

“The grateful man sees so much in the world to be thankful for, and with him the good outweighs the evil. Love overpowers jealousy, and light drives darkness out of his life. How much happier we are in the presence of a grateful and loving soul, and how careful we should be to cultivate, through the medium of a prayerful life, 
a thankful attitude toward God and man.”

- Joseph F. Smith

It's officially November and I've decided to be more faithful in my blog entries and try to post something each day during this month of Thanksgiving to express my gratitude for the countless blessings in my life. There is so much to be grateful for . . . so many beautiful reminders every day of how blessed I am, that I figured it was time to take a moment and document a few of them. Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin said, "Gratitude is a mark of a noble soul and a refined character. We like to be around those who are grateful. They tend to brighten all around them. They make others feel better about themselves. They tend to be more humble, more joyful, more likable." (Ensign, Sept. 2001).

These are the attributes I try to cultivate in my life daily, and by recording my gratitude I hope to brighten the lives of all those I care about . . . so stay tuned!

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!

Quite the week, Caroline

Our Caroline is a girl of contradictions . . . terrified and freaked out by ladybugs (really, she screams and runs for cover if one gets near her - we've even seen her in tears if she finds a ladybug crawling on her shirt), but is fascinated by those huge, furry bumblebees and even tries to "pet" them. That's just one example that hopefully won't embarrass her, another example is the family blog . . . she doesn't want anything about her in full public view, but then complains that Liza is getting all the attention on the blog - go figure.

So, in celebration of Caroline we'll highlight her great week. First, she began pointe in ballet. For those of you not familiar with little girls and ballet class, getting your first pair of toe shoes is HUGE - so exciting. Caroline isn't one to talk about herself, but she couldn't help but tell grandparents, aunts, and good friends she was starting pointe. She was fitted with her first pair and began working in class at the barre with her new shoes . . . "ouch" is all I can say! Mom finally figured out how to sew in the ribbons and we're getting them broken in, so hopefully Caroline will stop coming home from ballet with the revelation that "pointe shoes hurt." Um, ya, could have told you that :-).

The same week she was taking care of ballet business, she entered her first girls' 12 tennis tourney. She competed in the 10s earlier this year, but has been a little wary of competing against the older girls since she aged up. After a discouraging loss in the semi-finals, she came back to play a great match and win the consolation finals - YEAH Caroline! She was grinning from ear to ear and now has the confidence to continue competing. We're so proud of our sweet daughter.

This picture about sums it up - pointe shoe fitting after a tennis match . . . the ballet store was on the way home from the tourney. The funny part was that her friend from dance class showed up for her fitting in her soccer uniform. Gotta love the girls!

Happy Birthday Chris!

43 TODAY - wow, who would guess?!? Really, not many can look this great in their forties. I hope you don't mind the hot pic I chose for the blog :-). We love you and are missing you while you're away. We know how much you don't like the spotlight or attention in any form whatsoever, so that's precisely why we're doing this :-). Everyone out there needs to know how wonderful we think you are, so here goes . . .

Birthday wishes from the peanut gallery:

"I love my daddy because he gives me good treats and reads me stories. Oh, and he sings the funny potty song too." - Liza

"I love him because he takes me swimming, reads REALLY funny stories and makes up silly songs." - Sophie

"He's fun because he lets me do his hair all crazy on sundays, introduced me to 'cute overload,' and he makes me laugh." - Caroline

"He's cool." - Ryan

"He never fails to tell me how beautiful he thinks I am, even on those days when I KNOW for a fact I'm not looking that great! I couldn't live without you - happy birthday love." - Julia

The following is in celebration of our dad - who is in fact part Jerry Seinfeld, part Ray Romano, and part Adam Sandler. . . a clip of one of our favorite Seinfeld episodes. Chris has many "golden boys" hiding in our closet that are a step away from the trash bin, but the minute I mention their demise, I get the "golden boy" routine, and because it's so dang funny, I let Chris keep his favorite shirts despite the wear and tear. Enjoy!

The latest from our Liza

"If you're a boy and you play tennis you HAVE to wear one of those bands right here around your head (as she points to her forehead) - it's the rule."

"Ohhhh, gross, did you see the hairy guy in that car? So freaky!"

"Sophie was way nicer when she was six."

Liza's response when I told her last night to come inside for a bath: "Why don't we just rinse off with the hose tonight." (a sign that we spent too much time at the lake this year :-).

The conversation the other day in the car that about made me crash because I was laughing so hard. . .

Liza: I am missing my cousin.
Me: Oh, I know, I miss Becca too, hopefully we'll see her soon.
Liza: Oh, no, not that cousin.
Me: Really? Who? Rachel, Spencer, Avery. Miriam??
Liza: No Mom . . . Bernie, I miss Bernie. When does he get to come stay at our house again??

Now, for those of you waiting for the punchline, that was it - BERNIE - because Bernie isn't technically a cousin (i.e. a human who is the child of one of your siblings). Bernie is my single brother's DOG, a cute boston terrier that the kids absolutely adore and who stays with us every few weeks or so while Travis is out of town, but a DOG nonetheless. Liza has come to the conclusion that since Travis has no children and treats Bearnie like a kid, that makes him her cousin. Welcome to the family, Bernie.

The Twiddlebugs!

Flashback . . . Liza and I were watching classic Sesame Street videos this morning on youtube (I'll put some others on another time), but for today here's a favorite - the twiddlebugs. I was laughing so hard I was in tears because I forgot how much these funny creatures were part of my daily comedy routine during high school. When one of my friends was having a bad day, I would lean over in class and whisper, "how do we get to the zoo?" in my very best twiddlebug voice . . . it was too much to resist and before long we would cause quite a disturbance inacting the entire "Let's take the family car" episode.

Makes me smile just thinking about it and reminds me to be a twiddlebug a little more often on dreary days! So, this is for Wendy and Jamie, the biggest fans of "let's go to the zoooo . . . "

You know it's been a bad day when . . .

you are so wiped out by the end of it that you don't realize you've put sunscreen on your toothbrush instead of toothpaste . . . BLEAH! At least it makes for a good laugh before bed :-).

It's pre-school time

It was Elizabeth's first day of pre-school this week . . . finally. She figured it was about time she got a turn to go to school after watching the big kids head off last week.

Walking to Mrs. Carol's house in her new "Hello Kitty" shoes she picked out herself, just for the occasion.

With her little friend Clara . . . gotta love the look of anticipation on Liza's face - too much!
Her favorite part of the first day of pre-school: music time with the instruments - she got to play the sticks :-).

Sunflowers

Have you seen them? All the clusters of bright, cheery sunflowers in full bloom lining the sides of the road - everywhere! Each morning and afternoon an array of happy flowers greet me as I make my way back and forth into the SL valley. Who can resist a smile as the sun lights up these radiant spots of color. Such a fun reminder that fall is just around the corner, with the blue skies becoming brighter each day and the colors on the mountains beginning to change.

With the cooler weather we're having and the quiet days with the kids at school, I'm officially over my "let summer stay longer" phase . . . I LOVE autumn, everything about it and all the sunflowers have only increased my anticipation. It is such a simple thing, these flowers, they don't do anything but smile at us when we drive by, and if we're not so caught up in a conversation on our cell phones or worried about getting to our destination on time, all they ask is a delightful smile back to spread the cheer. They remind me that it truly is the small and simple things in life that bring us the most happiness.

"How necessary it is to cultivate a spirit of joy. It is a psychological truth that the physical acts of reverence and devotion make one feel devout. The courteous gesture increases one's respect for others. To act lovingly is to begin to feel loving, and certainly to act joyfully brings joy to others which in turn makes one feel joyful. I believe we are called to the duty of delight." - Dorothy Day

Love this quote . . .

"I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the deciding element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis is escalated or de-escalated, a person humanized or dehumanized. If we treat people as they are, we make them worse. If we treat people as they ought to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming.

-Goethe

This is the message of a powerful book - The Book Thief - a narrative that makes us step back and take a look at ourselves and what we are ultimately capable.