dallin had his first little preschool fieldtrip yesterday. destination–the pumpkin patch. he rode the big yellow school bus. whoo-eee! and perhaps this was the highlight of the event. he woke up at 5 am in the morning anxiously awaiting the hour he could climb aboard the bus and be a big boy.

i remember looking forward to my day on the bus as a little girl too. what is it about riding on buses, trains, and planes that makes us feel giddy excitement? maybe it’s the adventure. maybe it’s the journey. maybe it’s staring out the window at whatever. i love it all.

here’s a little photographic recap of our adventure yesterday.

only i just realized i didn’t take any pictures of the pumpkins. silly girl!

poor lil bloggy. october has been lacking in the journal entry department. seems like i haven’t had too much to say lately. not that there has been an absence of things happening around here. i guess sometimes i talk a lot. sometimes i don’t.

but i do have something to say about my little man.
he really does amaze me on a daily basis. lately he is obsessed with “working” as he calls it. strangely enough, this boy would rather play with office supplies, paper, pens, staplers, etc. than action figures or cars. he sits at his desk for hours coloring, stapling papers, or folding them. whenever we call him down to dinner, he usually says, “i can’t right now guys, i’m working.” he used to come into our room in the morning to snuggle. now, he wakes up and goes to work. funny little kid.

and you can only imagine my surprise when i walked by the kitchen table the other day and saw this on his paper!

i had no idea he could do this!!! i knew he could spell his name, but i didn’t know he could write it!!!
this is one proud mama, folks.

that is something good to say!

dallin has been saying some pretty funny stuff lately. he has a keen mind. no doubt about that.
so here is a little installment of a few of the things that have made us laugh.

while driving in the car on the way home from utah, i was on duty entertaining the kids and taking care of their needs. after many hours, i was pretty tired of constantly turning around. so i told the kids i need a little privacy and faced forward. after a few seconds, dallin chuckled and said, “mom, i can see your privacy.”

daddy was leaving to work one morning and dallin was standing at the garage door waving goodbye. as jeff was pulling out of the driveway, dallin yelled out, “dad, why do you have to go to work?”
jeff replied, “so you can eat!”
with a contented smile, dallin said, “you’re cute, dad!”

we were reading in the book of mormon about jesus being baptized as an example for us. we talked about jesus going under the water and after the baptism the holy ghost descended as a dove. as you might imagine, this was a difficult concept to explain. i thought he understood pretty well. later, dallin was telling jeff about what we had discussed. when he got to the part about the holy ghost, i reminded him that it was a dove. he turned to jeff and said, “yeah dad, some guy shot it and it fell out of the sky.”

and when dallin is really mad at his little sister, he says angrily, “ella, you’re a genious!”

funny words from a boy who knows more than we think he does.

the trip? well, the trip to utah was as good as any that i can remember.
perfect fall weather and every day packed with something big.
mission reunions, birthday parties, retirement parties, conference sessions, family visits, and good ole fun playing with grandpas.
can there be anything more fun in this world than a grandpa? i think not.

just a few memories from the weekend:

where’s grandpa? i noticed he happened to be in the picture. 🙂

dad’s retirement party. getting a family photo is a rare occasion!

hasta luego, utah! until next conference!

although no carolers will be out in the snow…

but leaves will be falling from the trees. and a little more chill in the air.
heading out for utah today. this really is my favorite time to be there. can’t wait for conference. after such an incredible relief society meeting, i’m excited to fill my bag with even more spiritual inspiration.
and it also doesn’t hurt that we get a double dose of grandparents. hot diggity dog!!

only one thing i am not looking forward to. 12 hours just like this…

hopefully a little curious george will give us some peace! either that or a lovely dose of benedryl. 😉

off we go!

for birthdays!

september is by far our busiest birthday month of the year. between both of our families, we have a whopping 17 birthdays to celebrate this month! i remember asking my mom once why everyone is always born in september. she smiled and said, “it’s probably because people are keeping each other warm during cold, winter months. either that or it’s a holiday!” i have subscribed to her theory ever since!

so i decided to run a few stats on the occurances of birthdays in our families. the findings show that january is the least populated month with only one birthday.
which brings me to a conclusion (albeit not statistically significant), april must be a pretty lonely month.
😉

in any case…i’m wishing all of the september babies a very…

our family circa 1982.

yep, that’s me and my mushroom haircut. i loved it. at least i think i did.
“the mushroom” defines my childhood. it is what i remember most about me. that and strawberry shortcake.

when i look at that little girl, i smile. she was happy. quiet. helpful. friendly. obedient. loved to make others laugh.

all the qualities that a mushroom might possess. 🙂

oh, and in case you didn’t know. september is national mushroom month. so, go hug a mushroom!

just a few shots from dallin’s birthday.
he’s been asking for boxing gloves ever since he saw a little clip of Rocky in arizona. he’s been training hard with dad and, no kidding, the boy packs a punch!
every day he continues to ask me if he is still four.
yep, buddy, 4 is still your number!