Another Tuesday

So I have sticky carpet. Only in the small hallway from the garage to the rest of my house. How on earth - may you ask. Well from syrup - of course! I walked in this morning to find Sophia happily eating from syrup and fuzzy covered waffle peices carefully strewn across this small stretch of carpet. Who on earth would have given this child small waffle with syrup in the hallway? No one is fessing up. It is going to be a long day.

I CAN CAN!

Okay, so I saw on her blog that Lauren can can. Then Andrea told me she and Julie can can. I thought, okay, maybe... So 50 lbs of tomatoes and several hours of work from my sisters later - I can CAN!!!! Salsa to last us through the millenium. :) And more freezer space - since I figured out how to use my tomatillos. Now we'll all just pray we don't die from botulism. Thanks, Amber and Lynzie. I never could have done it without you.

Girls Date at the Theater

Hale Theater in Gilbert is showing "Wait Until Dark" for the next month. I love this story, and I'm going Thursday October 9 at 7:30pm. The tickets are $17. If you want to come with, let me know and I'll buy your ticket at the same time. Bring a friend! Here's the website info: http://www.haletheatrearizona.com/home/51-shows/68-wait-until-dark.html

School Life

Well we've settled in a little to the schedule. We are ready for the weather to pretend we're really in fall. The girls have had a bunch of adventures. I cut Sophia's hair. I usually just mess up on my own bangs. Unfortunately, Sophie fell victim. Strangers have been asking - did her sisters get ahold of the scissors? Nope. just her mom. Also a new bird named "ernie" - Beth earned him with points. Then Grace pulled all his tail feathers out. I felt horrible. He is recovering. We went to Dbacks game. Beth loved the cotton candy. Sophie loved that she got to stay home with Grandma. The girls are in dance and having fun. Dave is keeping his lawn pretty. And I am working on QUILTS!!! :) Here are some pics.

End of Summer

My baby sister finally came home from her mission!!!! She served for 18 mos. in the Oakland California Visitors Center Mission. And I must say, she came home sounding like a Spanish speaker trying to learn English. I am loving having another sister around!!! She also got to meet Sophia for the first time. Sophie was accomadating, but a week later, I think she is really starting to like Aunt Brittney. My other girls also wasted no time at all in getting tight with aunt Brittney. Katie Grace was nervous going to the airport. She said, "How will I know what she looks like?" I forget how little she is some times! :)

This is a few days later when I found Dave in the music room with Soph. He was practicing three flutes at once. My favorite is always when he is fiddling around on his guitar though.

I finally convinced my cousin to come down for a visit. Why she finally agreed in JULY was an unusual thing, but we were all so glad she came. The girls loved playing with their cousins. It was nice to have someone to be kill these last days of summer with. It was especially humorous that Brooke's baby, Drew, came terrified of high pitched noises (he only has brothers), and left somewhat agreeable to Sophie. Sophie spent the week trying to pick him up. And he spent the week crying when she came near (because she is always screaming). We're so glad the Larsons came!

ADOPTION! (Not Mine)

Okay, so it has been the worst day in a long time (don't these seem to follow amazing vacations?). And Dave took the girls to my mom's to swim tonight. Can I say, I have an AMAZING husband. I couldn't get along without him.

But, next to note: My sister is looking for a baby!!!! Lynz and her husband have recently gotten approved to adopt, so they are on a search. They are a really neat set of people, and I know whatever baby is coming to them is going to be very blessed! So, if you know anyone looking to find a home for their little one... http://www.providentliving.org/ses/birthmother/viewsingleprofile/0,12272,2133-1-10074-1-1,00.html

and here is a link to their blog
http://www.danielandlynzie.blogspot.com/

I know that a lot of adoptions happen because someone knows someone else, so I thought I'd throw this out. I'm excited to get a niece or nephew!!!!

We HAVE RETURNED!!!! No, our family did not somehow get sucked into outer-space. We are just coming back from the longest vacation we have taken in a LONG time. The girls and I began almost three weeks ago with Grandma Ardy in SLC. Here's a sassy shot of her and Beth (I couldn't resist).

Grandma took us all over the valley (and then down to Mt. Pleasant) to have fun. We loved the aquarium (thanks, Andrea), and also the LDS Museum of History and Art (Grace loved the baby dolls). I loved going to Utah and finding new exciting things to do. I also finally got Sophia's hair into piggies! She is going to be a little girl in no time! Sophie did not love the pigtails, but she did love Mickey. They actually had a love affair between the two of them.

then once Dave finally decided to show up (work is such a wonderful thing), we hit the town for the 4th. My girls were thrilled with the parade and fireworks up in Salt Lake. Beth only asked a few times for Hannah Montana tickets. Oh well, next time! :) after the parade and a picnic in Little Cottonwood canyon, we visited a ski resort. Don't ask me which one. I think Purgatory. But I know Dave is going to correct me when he sees this! :) There was still SNOW! (Dave was shocked - I enjoyed telling him "I told you so")After the 4th we headed down to see our cousins in LaVerkin, Utah. My Aunt and Uncle were more than gracious to put us up for the night and show the girls the cows and tadpoles. And I have always wanted to see inside the old home next to them. It was a blast! While we were leaving Beth asked why we couldn't live in LaVerkin so we could have cows too. But I think she mostly loved playing with the KIDS! We finally ended up in San Clemente for a wonderful week at the beach. It was completely unplanned - and thus a perfect end to our vacation. We stayed in a wonderful condo close to the beach (so close that everytime we came home, Beth asked why we had to WALK home - why couldn't we drive). They all enjoyed the LOVESACK...The girls got very tan (so much for my grand ambitions of sunscreen), and Grace dug for WAY too many sandcrabs. She was just VERY sad that she wouldn't be able to take them home. Luckily, Sophia didn't enjoy eating the sand as much as my other girls did at this age. So it was WONDERFUL. (She did remember the beach bag when we would get home at night, though).

This is how I enjoy the beach.This is how Dave enjoys the beach. We also got to visit my Grandparents and Aunt and Uncle who live in Oceanside. MORE KIDS. It was a fun day together. Uncle Jason got wild (thank goodness!). We have seen a lot and done even more. But I have decided that although Katie Grace did not want to come home, our house is the BEST!