Happy Birthday to the Beast!

We all gathered at Sizzler last night to celebrate Denise's 19th birthday. It was a typical family affair; chaotic, rowdy, insane and filled with laughs. We love our Beast!

Naptime

She came upstairs, arranged her pillow and blanket by me feet, and put herself down for a nap.  I love when she does that!

Roberts Family Fundraiser

A member of our community recently passed away due to complications during childbirth, leaving behind her husband, a newborn baby girl, and a 4-year-old little girl. The community rallied behind her husband and organized a community fundraiser yard sale/bake sale. I spent the entire day saturday at the local charter school, painting faces to help bring in donations. At the end of the day (and they're still not done raising money), we'd raised over 15,000! Insane! It goes to show what a community will accomplish when one or two brave people say, "I will make this happen". The husband was about to lose their house, and I think now he and the kids can stick around.

BYU

What a fun Friday night!  We started off the evening eating at our new favorite restaurant.  Jason's Deli!  We love their salad bar and their soups and sandwiches.  And their banana pudding is pretty divine. 

Dad gave us tickets to a pre-season BYU basketball game:  BYU vs. Southeastern Oklahoma.  As we headed to the game, the sunset took my breath away!

It was a fun night (even if it was bitterly cold).  And, have I mentioned how much I love LOVE that I have an iPhone now and can use Instagram to capture these random moments that I wouldn't otherwise capture because I don't take my DSLR everywhere?  LOL  Love it!

Aubre and Natalie

Preview of Lyle's sister and her adorable family!

Preview of Lyle's cousin Natalie and her cute family! They're expecting #3 sometime in the spring/summer.

Random

It must be fall! Check out our front lawn! All from the neighbor's trees.

Even when it's 30 degrees outside, she wants to strip down and put on her swimming suit!

Wheeler Farm

We went to Wheeler Farm last week to get new family pictures. My family are such great sports...they're always willing to get all dressed up for new family pictures ever six months. LOL While we were there, I took pictures of Aubre and her family and Lyle's cousin Natalie and her family at the same time.  All of them turned out so great!  Wheeler Farm is a great place for family photos!  And the photo fee is affordable ($10 compared to Thanksgiving Point's $75)! 

Ava loved the geese and the ducks.  I would turn around and she'd be climbing on the fence, or "telling off" a goose for giving her attitude.  LOL  She was so adorable.  She loves to be outside!  She loved shaking the tree with Daddy to get pictures of the kids in the falling leaves.  I sure love my little family and how much the make me smile!

Pumpkin Pickin'

We went with Lyle's family to a pumpkin patch in WJ last week.  They had donuts, hot chocolate and we got to pick our own pumpkins!  It was kinda cold as the sun was going down, but it was still a great fall activity!  We had been out running errands all day and I didn't bring the kids' costumes, a fact I was grateful for as Ava fell in the field several times. 

We all picked out our pumpkins and as we were leaving, the lights on the Jordan River Temple across the street came on.  It gave a peaceful feeling to the semi-quiet neighborhood.  We ate dinner at Gecko's (a local Mexican Restaurant) and crashed into bed.  What a fun night!