.fall.

Fall is officially here, and it is a beautiful thing.  I'm keeping the windows open to let in the cooler air, and we have packed away the summer shorts sandals.  I always feel some excitement as the seasons change and usher in a different pace and rhythm of life.  Fall feels like a deep and vibrant breath before the hibernation of winter.  I look forward to it every year!

At the end of August we celebrated by Grandma's 91st birthday.  She is still full of so much joy and energy for life.  She holds a special place in our hearts!

 The last day of summer vacation, we lived it up by going to the park, splash pad, lunch date, and a big back to school feast.

These little humans sure are something else!

Finn and the neighborhood gang that all entered Kindergarten.

In September,  we had our annual neighborhood block party with plenty of food and fun for the kids.

Labor day, we met up with some old friends for a day a Wheeler Farm, lunch, and swimming.  Again loads of fun for the littles.

E might be our little water baby!

Meg started pre-school, and hasn't looked back.  She adores her teachers, and can't get over the fact that they do crafts AND have a snack every time...her dream come true.

We've been enjoying the cooler weather with plenty of hikes and excursions.  The kids particularly loved the top of Butterfield canyon where they could look down on the copper pit.

Three little lumps on a log

Another favorite place is the Bonneville shoreline trail.  Finn triumphantly climbed this rock by himself, and of course Meg and dad had to follow suite.

E and I taking in the view.

My world!

Finn has been the garden steward this year, and has been diligent about picking the produce as often as it appears.  Despite his best efforts, the zucchinis was still quite elusive.  These behemoth zuke was finally plucked when it grew to big to hide.

Amongst all the parties, was our stake's harvest fair.  We thought it would be a fun thing to do with the kids, but sometimes reality has a way of slapping you in the face.  The little dudes were so far gone by the time we got there, that we only lasted about 30 minutes before they were all in nuclear meltdowns.  AT least we have one happy photo with all of us before it all fell apart.

Finn ran in his first jog-a-thon fundraiser for his school, and knocked out 1.5 in  20 minutes...not bad for a 5 year old.

Last week we experienced our first vomiting in the car.  I know...three kids and this is our first time.  I'll count ourselves lucky.  We were stuck in traffic for a good 35 minutes and poor Meg kept crying out that it was so stinky.  Finn was just relieved to be feeling better.

General Conference weekend, we made the most of the nice weather on Sunday evening, and drove over to suncrest to check out some new places to walk.  Being out in nature sure brings a lot of joy into our world.

Last Monday I was feeling frazzled and frustrated with life.  I was just about to loose it after Meg had spilled a cup of juice (I absolutely hate spilled juice!), when Finn ran in to show me the rainbows out side.  I was still fuming about the juice, but looking at those rainbows helped put things into perspective again.

We will be out of town visiting my parents for Halloween so I haven't really put too much effort into our fall festivities, but my kids would not forgive me if we didn't go pick out some lovely gourds.  So we made our way over to a cute little local farm and picked to our hearts content, and munched on donuts in the process.  It's a beautiful thing to be a kid!