Lack of Posting, Not Lack of Things to Post About

So I was looking back at my blogging history, and I realized that I never really blog much in the fall. Which is really too bad, because half of the birthdays in our family and a lot of fun holidays happen in the fall. I take pictures and enjoy all of these things, but they just don't make it onto the blog. I enjoy reading and looking at my friends' blogs, and think, "I should post about things like that", but it just never happens.

So this fall has been great! We have had fun with school, dance, piano, soccer, preschool, Halloween, cheer and tumbling, Thanksgiving, family visits, painting, Nutcracker rehearsals, fishing, volunteering at the school, stitches (twice on the same kid), snowman building, birthdays, and graduating (with an MBA, no less! Way to go Darren!!). Life is good.

First day of school

Christiana doing what she loves to do

Alyssa and Emma with their double 7 B-day cake

Yeah, Julia is a mermaid superhero

2nd Annual Y Hike

The older girls and I got up early on the 24th of July to hike up to the Y in Provo. We actually woke up late (we were supposed to leave at 6 am, but ended up going about 6:45), so we didn't get to go with all the cousins, but we saw them as they were coming down and we were going up. This hike is not for the faint-hearted (which, unfortunately, I am). Sally was kind enough to hike the last bit again to the top, so we had her company as we went back down. It is a fun tradition though, and hopefully next year Darren and Julia will be able to be with us!

Showing their exhaustion

Success!! We are all showing our "Y"s

California!!

We took our summer vacation to California in June and went to Disneyland and the beach. It was a lot of fun. We went on rides,

watched Princesses,

LOOKED at souvenirs,

and even got to be in a parade down Main Street!

Then we went to the beach and had a blast building sand castles and jumping in the waves. What a fun trip!!

Swim Lessons

We decided this is the summer that the twins are going to learn how to swim, so we have been doing swim lessons once a week and going swimming as a family once a week. It has been fun to see their confidence grow in the water--even Julia is making progress.

I bought these swim suits to cut down on my sunscreening time and I have loved them!! We also get complements everywhere we go on how cute they all look.

Of course, we needed goggles for everyone, and Darren and Julia were kind enough to model them for us.

Storytime

This is a familiar scene that we have each night as Darren reads to the girls before bed. They all want to be as close as possible and share time with him. And he is good-natured enough to be a jungle gym/couch/pillow for them.

Camping!!

We decided to try out Darren's scouting skills that he has been honing through camping every month with the Deacons, and went camping overnight. (Above is a picture of what Darren brought home from his last adventure). It was a lot of fun--even though it was freezing and rainy. We had the girls in long sleeved shirts, jackets, and coats, and they were barely cold. But we were happy to see that our tent did not leak when it rained for four hours in the night. We found that hot chocolate makes all the difference on a cold morning!

Busy Month

May is always a crazy month around our house. So far this month has been the same, if not worse. Christiana has been busy with an award ceremony, piano recital, rehearsals and performances of Swan Lake, and a dance recital coming up this weekend. The twins were in the Missoula Children's Theater production this last weekend, field trips, kindergarten graduation and a dance recital this weekend. Luckily, Julia has just been along for the ride. I am grateful for the opportunities my kids have. They get to participate in some really great things. It does make for a busy mom, though.





Christiana w/ Opa Wright


Emma showing her normal enthusiasm


Alyssa is the blue knight in the center (w/mustache!)



Christiana after her performance in Swan Lake