Fall is in the Air

We started off fall the best way we know how.. The Land!!

We did all our favorite things at the land. Can you believe how grown up this cutie is looking. She's a pro at driving the side by side. 

We played lots of games 

And Caden and Tyler fished. 

The kids saw this kitten hanging around. At first we thought it was feral, and despite Tyler telling me not to feed it, I couldn't let it go hungry, so I gave it some food. It was a very friendly kitten and I don't think it was feral. Makayla got kind of attached to it and was so sad when we had to leave. Terry and Craig haven't seen the kitten since, so we don't know what happened to it. but at least we have this cute memory.

Bella is such a spoiled dog. This is how she spends the majority of her day. 

It's that time of year again when I make raspberry jam with my parents. We made so much jam this time. I feel bad for my parents because they grow the raspberries, clean them and then we make a mess of their kitchen, which my mom ends up cleaning up and then I take the majority of the jam home. 

If making jam that day wasn't enough, I decided to go home and make zucchini bread and zucchini casserole. This was the aftermath of my cooking

But look at this amazingness!!

The kids did not share my enthusiasm about the zucchini casserole. From the looks of their faces you would think I was trying to serve them rotten food. 

But ice cream from Menchies they manage to eat just fine. Kids these days. 

Caden's basketball team had a few games at this basketball facility. They had the coolest mural of Michael Jordan with the best quote: "I've missed over 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost over 300 games. 28 times I have been trusted to take the winning shot and missed. I have failed over and over again. And that is why I succeed."

Good perspective on all aspects of life. I hope as my kids read this they will remember that failing is a good thing. It's how we learn and grow. 

Caden makes the cutest comics after all of his games. He gives a play by play of how he did at each game. 

This picture is so exciting and so sad all at once. Craig and Terry sold their house and moved all of their stuff into our garage and Tracy and Jeremy's garage. This is the last picture at their house that they lived in for over 40 years. Its sad to think of all the fun parties and memories at that house are over, but we are so excited to make new memories at their new house. 

Their new house is coming along slowly. Thanks to covid, supply chain issues, and lack of workers, the house is taking longer than anyone anticipated. Hopefully they will be in their house a few months into the new year. In the mean time, Brynnli would like to remind you that "poo-da-potties" are disusing. 

Ok, this is just gross how flexible she is. Seriously, who can make their let go like this?

Guess who's nails match her Stanley cup? And if that doesn't scream "Utah mom" I don't know what does. 

So Tuesdays are rough for Brynnli. She has dance for 4 hours, then we have to wait in the car for about 30 minutes until Makayla is done with dance. Don't worry though, we have really great conversations with her. This particular day she was telling Tyler that all she talks about with her friends at lunch is boys. 

Heaven help us. 

Aww.. look how cute these kids are walking to school. 

Do you know what makes watching the Utes even more fun? Watching the game outside on our projector with the fire going. I love fall nights like this. 

For years I have trimmed Makayla's hair, but as she is getting older, she is wanting more of a stylish cut, which I obviously do  not know how to do. So I took her to get a real hair cut and look how amazing it looks and how grown up she looks. 

Well if this isn't truth. Never thought this would be me, yet here we are with room rocks. 

Just a little pep talk from Dad at one of Caden's games. 

What, you don't sleep with a unicorn tie die eye mask at night? Only Brynn does? 

The most exciting thing this month just might be the fact that this handsome boy got his braces off!! Here's a little before picture. 

Oh, wow. Look at that California dream boat. 

It's amazing what braces do. Here's our handsome boy just one year apart. 

Tyler had to go to Toronto for work and they all went to the Blue Jay's game. 

Another double rainbow... isn't that two double rainbows that I've seen this year?

This year celebrates 50 years since Title 9 was mandated by law. It protects people from discrimination in education and allowed for women to play more equally in sports. Tyler's aunt Jo spoke at a event the U of U hosted so we all got to get dressed up in fancy clothes and go to a fancy dinner. 

The kids were so great to try the interesting salad

But they loved their steak. 

Jo did a great job talking about the impact women's sports have had on her life. Go Utes!!

Holding on to the Last of Summer

Here we are in the middle of August trying to hold onto the last little bits of summer. 

The girls have started up dance again. We are so excited for this year of dance. The girls dance about 7-8 hours a week each, so we spend our nights driving back and forth to their dance studio. Makayla is on team Peridot and her hip hop team is Platinum. Brynnli is on team Mercury and her hip hop team is Maximum. 

While the girls are at dance we get to go to the park and hang out with Caden and Bella. 

While Caden is at basketball practice the girls like to hang out at the park. Check out these amazing moves by Makayla. 

And how cute is this little dancer all ready for hip hop class. 

These are my birthday nails. I love the rose gold color. 

Spending one last day at the pool before they close. Don't let this sun fool you... about an hour after I snapped this picture, a summer storm came rolling in. The rain was so bad they closed the pool. 

The rain didn't deter Brynn who was happy to run out in the rain to get in that last handstand. 

The other two opted to hang out under the cover and try to dry off. 

We love chocolate cake. 

And snuggling with Bella in the morning. 

One of our favorite end of summer traditions is to go to a drive in movie. Apparently none of us drink water or soda during the day, but when we go to a drive in movie we all need each a water jug, extra water jug, and soda jug. Why yes you did count correctly; that's 11 jugs for 5 people. 

The movie was some animated movie about superhero pets and the second movie was Jurassic World. The kids liked the first movie, but fell asleep for the second one. 

Fun fact: did you know that I love the Jurassic movies? Like, I love them!! They are so cheezy and dumb, but the t-rex always dominates in the end and saves the day by attacking the other dinosaurs. 

Also another fun fact: we did not drink all of the 11 jugs of various drinks. In fact the kids did not drink any of their water and opted for just soda. I also did not drink my water, but managed to drink 2 Dr. Peppers. Luckily Tyler drank all of his water as he usually does. 

Oh Lagoon. We have had so much fun this summer. This may be the last time Caden is able to ride this one. 

Hey, look who got her hairs did. I love it!!

My work was offering free family passes to the Bees game. We had a great time despite the rain delay. 

Look for the rainbows after the rain. In this case there was a double rainbow. 

So my favorite concert of the year may have been the Thomas Rhett concert. We had good seats and sang along to all the songs. 

But then he came out to the audience on a small stage that was like almost right in front of us and sang 3 of my all time favorite Thomas Rhett songs! I was loving every moment and took so many pictures. 

Now that we are in full swing with dance and basketball, this meme has new meaning and truth. We opt for the 4:30 dinner. 

Fun night with the neighborhood kids playing night games. 

And these two just get cuter by the minute. I love how well they play together. They put on quite the fashion show. 

Hey, guess who turned 39 this year? This girl. This is my sophisticated selfie. 

Dinner was Cheesecake factory, then shopping, and dessert at the Melting Pot. I am really embracing my last year in my 30's. 

I may not be an English teacher anymore, but do you know what makes my little English heart burst with pride? Saturdays we go to the farmers market and then to the library where we all pick out an armful of books. The kids look so forward to it every week. 

Terry and Craig are in the middle of selling their house, packing up and moving. We usually end up stopping by Culvers by our house for dinner. I snapped this cute picture of Craig and Brynnli walking home from dinner. 

Who's getting sick of seeing pictures of Bella in the blog? No one? Oh good, then I'll continue to take lots of pictures of the cutest little puppy around. 

Have I mentioned that Craig and Terry are building a house in South Jordan in a 55 and older community? They put their house on the market in June and after a few months of stress and lots of showings, they finally got an offer on their house that they accepted and their house is now under contract. 

Well Summer of 2022 treated us well. We're excited for Fall!