A Taste Of Fall

It seems like for the past few weeks there will be one day out of the week that gives us a hint of fall. Yesterday was a perfect fall day with the sun shining but the temperature being a perfect 73ish. We followed it up with a nice whopping 90 degree day today.

Brooke and I had a busy, fun week that ended with a great trip to the zoo. (meaning-I don't have any pictures from the week except for the zoo trip). She loved seeing all the animals and her freedom of walking the whole park. She didn't sit in her stroller until we had to leave to meet Troy for lunch. If you ask her what she saw she would say "bears, roars, giraffes, mongoose, tigers, monkeys, elephants, seals" and many, many more.I'm so glad that we got a membership there and that she loves seeing the different kinds of animals.

Yesterday was a pretty nice and relaxing day. We didn't do much at all. Troy has been training for his half marathon and ran his 11 miler. He is doing awesome training and I am so impressed with him. He's doing his training all on his own and he has kept up with it.

Uncle Jonathan came down to visit today. Brooke got to show him some of her new tricks.

Squishy has also been showing off some of her disappearing tricks as well.

Oh rise and shout?

We had a full house on Saturday as friends and family descended on us for the BYU - Air Force game. Here are the highlights:

Brooke enjoyed having a couple of other kids around, and she and Declan ran laps around the backyard. That boy is fearless!

Taylor and Riley drove out from Orem and we enjoyed their company all weekend. It was great to get to know Riley, and Brooke had a lot of fun with the both of them.

We couldn't get them to hug for the camera, just a couple of big smiles!

As for the game, the biggest highlight was the $5 food voucher and the halftime show with the big American flag. Seriously. That was possibly the last BYU game we get to watch at that Stadium?!?! We need at least one more game to redeem our poor performance, the high winds that meant no skydivers and missing man formation, and the horrendous traffic.

Sunday we got to hang out with just Taylor and Riley. We had fun playing games and Tracie enjoyed her new fur shawl.

A Butcher, A Baker, and A Candlestick Maker...oh, and a Photographer

Okay, so maybe not a butcher or a candlestick maker but I think we have a budding baker and photographer in our home. Just within the last week, Brooke has shown a real interest in the goings on in the kitchen. She is not satisfied anymore with sitting on the opposite side of the island watching. No, she has to push the stool over to be by my side and even insist on helping. Her favorite thing to do is "turn" which in the culinary world is stirring.And in this case, mash.Just thought I'd throw this one in here to show how much Squishy wishes she could help out. Luckily, Brooke knows how to take control of her kitchen.Along with being a budding baker, Brooke is also an aspiring photographer. There have been many of times, where I have left her to take a shower and have come back to find at least 30 new pictures on the camera. Amazingly enough she somehow manages to focus and produce some great pictures like these:

I may have assisted in keeping her hands still of this shot.

We managed to have a fun filled Labor Day complete with seeing some family and friends. Jonathan came down Saturday for some Brooke time and Monday, we had a Labor Day BBQ. My mom would be so proud of me. We had 7 families come which included 14 kids under the ages of 6 running amuck. We had a full spread of food and everything went off without a hitch. I didn't think I could do it but I did. Now bring on Thanksgiving!!!!

Lastly, I just wanted to show proof that Lexie and Squishy are now starting to get along.