Fall Pictures

We love fall! I love Brandon's jean jacket, his aunt Jodi gave it to him.

Oooo!

We have so many leaves!

I love his happy face!

Brandon loves pumpkins, even though he calls them balls, there round right?Look mom leaves are falling, YEAH!

Bah, Yeah? I love listening to Brandon talk!

Look at those beautiful eyes, they make me melt!

The Cutest Animal in the Petting Zoo

Jared and I planned on going to the "Boo at the Zoo" this year with Brandon, but when we got there, the lines were outrageous! So we went to plan B instead and decided to go Gardner Village. What a fun little place! We looked at many shops, and resisted buying everything we liked, and had fun looking at all of the witches and decorations, but our favorite part was the petting zoo. (I know you are all suprised). Looking at these pictures can you guess what our favorite animal was?
You guessed it, it was our little Zebra, and can you blame us for liking him the best, he is so stinking cute!!!!

Piano Recital

I am so relieved to finally have this years piano recital out of the way. I currently have 19 students so planning a recital for them was a lot of work. I am please with the way it turned out, and how everyone performed. We had a Halloween recital so all the kids got to dress up, and then we ended the recital with treats, all of which I made, and I was way over prepared (4 double batches of sugar cookies, and 1 double batch of pumpkin chocolate chip cookies). Thank goodness my mom and grandma came up for the recital and they were able to help, I could not have done it without them! My mom even came up to perform, I am so impressed with her for learning how to play the piano, (not many adults do, even if they want to), and for performing for the first time, Way to go MOM!!! I must not forget to mention the tremendous help I received from my husband, too often I take him for granted. Thank you Jared for helping with the set up, clean up, operating the microphone, and most importantly taking care of Brandon. I love you!

Girls Night Out

Last Friday my sister, mom, and I had a little party. We spent the evening decorating my mom's house, baking Halloween cupcakes, and playing games, but the highlight of the evening was dressing up the only boys who were invited (Brandon and Chandler) in their costumes and trying to get pictures of them, unfortunately the pictures do not do them justice. Brandon is a Zebra and Chandler is a Giraffe.

McKells Par-"Tea"

Brandon's little friend McKell turned one years old, so she had a darling little tea party. Happy Birthday McKell!!

Congratulations Jared!

The firm that Jared works for just opened up a new office space right here in Heber. Jared and one other attorney will be working in the office, so Jared has his own very large office space. We had a lot of fun last week decorating and getting it ready for the open house that was last weekend. Brandon even had a good time looking out the window at all the cars that passed by.

I am so happy to have Jared working so close to home, (he is only a few blocks down the road from our home) and I am thrilled for him to have this new office.

The windows right above the people, and the awning are the windows to their conference room, and the window to the right is Jared's office window. I forgot to take pictures of his office, but when I do that I will be sure to post them for you.

Bath-time Buddies!

Brandon and Chandler had such a fun time playing the bath together I thought I would share the video with you. Remember to pause the music below so you can hear their cute giggles and splashing. :)

Uh? Makes you wonder what they are thinking when they look at you like this?

I love Chandler's smile when Grandma Julie squirts him with the water. :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAGGIE!!!

Our little Maggie has turned 2 years old, today. We love this little puppy! We love her huge personality!

Maggie is a great friend to Brandon even if she gets tired of him from time to time. Just yesterday while I was attempting to practice the piano, she entertained Brandon by running circles around him and then stopping just close enough to him that he could reach out and try to catch her, then she would bolt off again, she had him laughing harder than Jared or I have ever managed.

Maggie is a favorite with all the neighborhood children. I frequently have little kids stopping over at my house wondering if they can take her for a walk, Maggie loves to pull them all around the neighborhood.

Maggie is such a great addition to our family, so to celebrate her birthday we bought her the fancy Ceasars dog food, one for each meal, a dog bone, and a squecky toy that will probably only last a day. We are going to take her for a good long walk, she gets to have a bath, and we will play with friend lots! I wonder if she will even understand what all the fuss is about? If you have any other ideas of how to make her birthday special let us know. :)

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We love you Maggie!!!

Dress-Ups

One of my favorite things to do as a child was to play dress-ups. My mom frequented garage sales and the DI looking for the most bizarre clothes, and we would do our best to dress-up as oddly as we could. There was nothing traditional about the way we played dress-ups, but I liked it better that way!

One of my favorite memories was when I managed to convince my high school friends (about 12 of us, boys and girls) to dress up in crazy clothes and then we all went shopping at Dan's Food, we got some terrible glares but that is okay, it was good clean fun!

I had such a fun time playing last week with my little sister, she is keeping the tradition alive and well. I think Brandon and Maggie even enjoyed themselves. :)This is my little Hawaiian Pirate. :)I am not sure what Maggie is supposed to be, but that is kinda the point. :)I love the pose in front of the mirror with the plastic weave hat, the patches dress and the baggy purple jump suit underneath.My sister the jail bird?

Our all time favorite was scarf lady, we found every scarf in the large dress-up trunk and tied it onto her. I sure love my little sister Lindsey, what a fun addition to our family. We celebrated her 11th birthday yesterday, So HAPPY BIRTHDAY LINDSEY!

Naughty or Nice?

I love the tail way up in the air!
Yummy! Whatever she found must have been great, just look at that tongue liking her face. Well, I ask you, is she a naughty dog, or nice dog? Warning your answer may determine how many presents she gets for her fast approaching birthday.

Terrible Two's Allready?

If my son is in his second year does that mean he is starting his terrible two's, because yesterday sure felt like it! I began my day with a post all about how wonderful Brandon is, how much he is growing, and how smart I think he is, and then he spent the day doing things I never expected to have happen so soon.

Brandon learned how to climb into the tub! YIKES!

Brandon learned how to turn on the stove! DOUBLE YIKES!!!! (We have a gas stove so the knobs are within his reach)

Brandon observed me checking the calzones in the oven and thought he would help by opening the oven, while they were still cooking! AAAHHH!

I thought a good way to keep him out of trouble would be to put him in his excer-saucer, but not wanting to miss anything he just climbed right out, fortunately I caught him before his head hit the ground, he has also figured out how to get out of his stroller, even when it is moving.

Brandon has learned to climb onto the piano bench and the coffee table, by moving anything over for an extra step.

And, while we are blessed to have a very patient dog, he has learned that pulling on Maggie's fur will get an exciting reaction. He has not been bitten yet, but it is only a matter of time.

Seriously after a day like that I do not know how people have more than one child? And for those of you who have had more than one at the same time (Jen, Camille, Jodi, Janie, Heather) I admire you! Needless to say, Brandon will no longer have access to the bathrooms, kitchen, or any other room unless I am in there with him.

Brandon update

I am amazed at how much this little guy is learning, and how fast he is growing. I thought I would fill you in on all of his new "skills". Brandon is walking everywhere forwards and backwards, and he finally learned how to pull himself to a stand without the aid of furniture. He recently learned how to stack the rings (you know the fisher price toy) this is amazing to me, he can even occasionally get them in the right order. Brandon loves to throw, roll, kick and bounce balls, and he is very good at pushing chairs, his toy lawn mower, and his trike all over the house. My new favorite skill is one that Jared taught him while Brandon was having a bath, Brandon was playing with the boats and learned how to buzz his lips to make a vroom vroom sound, it is so cute!!! Brandon recently had his one year check up with the doctor and he is doing well, however we learned that he is under weight. Jared and I are not quiet sure how we managed to have a child that is under weight but we did it, so now Brandon gets to eat all the fattening foods he wants, lucky kid. :)

You know I always looked forward to being a mom, but I had no idea it would be this fun, and entertaining! I love this boy and his dimply, toothy smile!

Look at how cute this is, Brandon's Great Grandma Bowman found out that he has a little bank account so she sent him a dollar, with a cute little card full of shiny stickers, he seemed to really like it. I can't get over the funny feeling I get when I get mail addressed to Brandon, he isn't just my little boy, he is a real person, who will someday grow up into a man, I am in denial, and probably will be for a very long time!

It's Autumn Time!

It's autumn time, it's autumn time.
The leaves are falling down.
It's autumn time, it's autumn time.
It's all around the town.
It's autumn time, it's autumn time.
There's yellow red and brown.
It's autumn time, it's autumn time.
Bright colors can be found.

Autumn is my favorite season! I just wish it would last much longer.
Some of my favorite things about Autumn are:
* the colors on the trees
* you can were a sweatshirt and flip-flops at the same time
* carmel apples
* pumpkin chocolate chip cookies
* chocolate chocolate chip zucchini bread
* raking the leaves and then playing in the leave pile
* the cooler temperatures
* collage football
* Halloween
* a pumpkin patch
* fresh corn out of the garden
* corn mazes
* and fresh baked pies

Jared took us on a fun little outing last weekend. He packed a classic European picnic with yummy cheeses, grapes, sparkling juice, very fancy ham, and a baguette. Then we drove through Provo canyon which is breathtaking this time of year, and we picnicked at Bridal Veil Falls. We had such a fun afternoon eating, and strolling through the park. I am not sure who had the most fun, Maggie who could not slow down to catch her breath, Brandon who liked kicking his feet in the water, (for a short time) or me, who loved being out in the fall air with my family. It was a great get away!

I thought I would share with you my one of my favorite fall recipes.

Mix: 1 C. sugar, 1C. brown sugar, 1C. vegetable oil, and 3 beaten eggs

Add: 2C. grated zucchini, and 1T vanilla

Blend: 3C. flour, 1/4 C. coco, 1tsp. salt, 1tsp. baking soda, 1T. cinnamon, 3/4 baking powder, and 1C. chocolate chips

Then add to first mixture. Bake in well greased and floured loaf pans for 1 hour at 350*

Then try to share, I know it is hard, but try.