Jason Plays Rugby???

Mom called me on Saturday morning to tell me that my baby brother Jason had a Rugby game at UVU... Jason plays Rugby???  Who knew- I  obviously didn't!   But because I am an awesome big sister we went and watched him play.  I don't know all of the rules, but it is pretty physical and it looks like when someone tackles you (and you are not wearing pads or a helmet) it really hurts.  Olivia cheered him on and even though she kept saying Go Cougars (daddy has trained her well) - her heart was in the right place. 

Here is her say cheese face:).

Boots

Olivia loves shoes.  She tries on my heels, my flip flops, and daddy's tennis shoes and then stomps around house making as much noise as she can.  It is most likely my fault as I can not resist a cute pair of baby/toddler shoes.  So when daddy found these purple boots and wanted to get them for her-I didn't argue to much- they are completely impractical, but oh so cute...  

The Rest of September

Earlier this year I made a goal to have all of my Christmas projects and shopping done by the end of September. For the last several years I have been working on projects right up until Christmas Eve and I haven't been able to enjoy the Holiday season as much I would have liked so this year I decided things will be different. October starts tomorrow and unfortunately I still have one really big project left, but I am so close.  So this month I have been busy working on Christmas projects.

Another project our family has been working on this month is completing the paperwork necessary to adopt another baby.  I finished our profile a couple of weeks ago, which was the final piece needed.  Everything has been turned in and we are now officially back in the pool waiting for a sweet little spirit to join our family. Olivia can't wait to be a big sister. 

The rest of September has been spent watching BYU lose three football games (basketball starts in a month thank heavens), playing in the park before it gets dark (boo that it is getting dark earlier and is dark when I wake up in the morning), eating tomatoes from our garden (the only thing that actually survived this year), and enjoying every minute with this beautiful little girl...

Eating tomatoes fresh from the vine...

Happy Birthday Daddy

Scott's birthday was on Thursday.  He is getting pretty old... I can only say that because I am 2.5 years younger than him.  Olivia thought his BYU football cake looked yummy. The first picture below was not posed... she couldn't wait for us to cut it.

Here she is cheering for the Cougars- Go Cougars!

Colorado Springs

For our anniversary this year we decided to leave Miss Olivia with grandma and went to Colorado Springs to watch the BYU-Air Force game. We spent an afternoon at Manitou Springs and Garden of the Gods, attended a fireside at the chapel on the Air Force Campus and watched the Cougars lose badly to the Falcons.

At the Air Force Game.  Scott's brother has some connections and got us seats on the front row.

Scott, Chad, and the kiddos.

Garden of the Gods... simply breathtaking.

Half Time at the game... the cadets did a tribute to those who died during the 9/11 attacks.

Balanced Rock at Garden of the Gods.

Going Home

On Saturday Olivia and I made a quick trip to Idaho for a family reunion with my Mom's family. We got to spend much of the day at my Grandma and Grandpa's house and it warmed my heart. Growing up we spent a lot of time at my grandparent's exploring the barn, swimming in the ditch, jumping on the tramp, picking apples from the trees, reading under the weeping willow tree... I could go on and on. My parents moved from the little town where I grew up when I was a senior in high school and have moved a number of times since, so my grandparent's house is where I come "home". It is the place where I have roots- the place where I can take Liv and tell her this is where your mom grew up. On Saturday I did just that -we picked raspberries in the garden, we feed the horses, Uncle Dennis showed Olivia the baby calf, Liv played with second cousins just her age, and I enjoyed every minute of it. There is nothing better than going home.

Uncle Dennis showing Liv how to ride the baby calf- she wasn't too sure about it.

Olivia and Lena (Lena is my cousin's daughter and about three weeks older than Olivia).

Liv watching the baby cow eat his corn.

Feeding the horses with Dann and Lena ...

We had planned to go boating and waterskiing during the day on Saturday, but the weather did not cooperate so we went to the zoo instead...

Liv with her cousins Lena and Kirsten at the zoo. Kirsten is about three months younger than Liv and is my cousins daughter. She is a lucky girl to have so many cousins her age.

$2 Tuesday (and other stuff from this week)

During the month of August Thanksgiving Point is having $2 Tuesday for the most of their attractions. I have been wanting to take Olivia to see the farm animals all summer so tonight we headed north and took advantage of the reduced entrance fee. At first she wasn't too sure about the whole thing, but then she fed goats, petted the horses, and quacked at the ducks.

Olivia likes to "help" me while I am cooking. Lately I have been letting her stand on a chair while I am cooking and help me mix things. On Sunday I was making some scrambled eggs for breakfast and she kept trying to eat lick the fork she was mixing with. I remembered reading somewhere that pudding was a good thing for toddlers to help with, so I pulled out some instant chocolate pudding and let her have at it. By the time she was done I had pudding everywhere.

I got the rest of Olivia's 18 month photo shoot pictures tonight. I love how they turned out. Too many fun ones to choose from. I found Carli on a random blog that I was stalking one night and I have been so impressed with her work.

At her 18 month check up on Friday she weighed 25.2 pounds and was 32 inches tall- both in the 75% range. She is talking up a storm and has become quite the parrot. I have already learned that I have to be very careful about what I say around her. She started nursery on Sunday which was a little sad for me, but will make church so much easier. Some of her favorite things at 18 months:

• Elmo
• Singing songs - five little money's jumping on the bed, five little monkey's swinging in a tree, popcorn popping, the wheels on the bus,
• reading books
• popcorn and avocados (these are the two things that I know I will always get her to eat)
• blankets (I think blankets became the new security item when I took away the pacifier in July)
• Mommy