New York (Part 1)

I am so glad that today is general conference- not only do we get to hear from our prophet, but we just got back from a fun filled busy week in upstate New York, Canada, and Ohio and I really need a day in my PJ's.  One of Scott's best friends and his family live in Rochester, New York and they were gracious enough to let us come and stay for a few days.  They have a little girl (Lillian) just older than Olivia and the two became fast friends- Olivia cried and cried when we left for Ohio on Friday morning.  Here is the highlight of our adventures:

 

Saturday: Sept 29, 2012

 

We went to the grape festival in Naples.  While there we got to experience Cindy's grape tarts (my favorite), grape pie, and grape ice cream. 

 

 

Sunday:  October 1, 2012.  Sunday was a rainy day.  After church the kids played and the adults caught up.  That night we got to visit our friends, Jack and Melanie Christiansen.  Jack is serving as the mission president in the Rochester, New York mission.

Monday:  October 2, 2012

On Monday we visited Power's Farmers Market.  While there Olivia got to ride a spooky (not too spooky says Olivia) tractor ride, the kiddos feed the llamas, we looked at pumpkins, and had some pumpkin donuts.

That afternoon we drove to Canada so that we could see the African Safari in Guelph.  The normally three hour drive took us a little over four hours thanks to potty breaks, dinner, and gas stops.  The last hour Olivia and Lillian who had been playing so well all afternoon decided they had enough of each other.  Also Nate had had it with his car seat.   Let's just say mommy was as ready to be out of the car as the kiddos.

Tuesday:  October 3, 2012
The drive to the safari was breathtaking- most of the leaves had turned and the colors were amazing.  The fall colors were one of the main reason I wanted to come East this fall and I was so happy we didn't miss them.   The African Safari was so much fun... we saw Elephants, Lions, Baboons, Giraffes and lots of other animals in their "natural" habitat.  At one point we had an ostrich pecking our window and a baboon on the roof- awesome.

 

 Wednesday: October 4:

On Thursday we drove to Mt. Morris in search of antiques for me along some more fall leaves... while there Olivia and I did a small hike to an amazing waterfall (Dad stayed with Nate who was sleeping in the car).  It was so pretty- the leaves were changing and falling from the trees.  Olivia keep saying to me "the leaves are falling??" as if she had never seen that happen before - she probably doesn't remember last year.  She kept stopping and picking up her "favorite" leaves.  I found a fun old breadbox that cost me a small fortune to send home, but will be perfect in my kitchen.  As we were leaving Mt. Morris on our way to Dinosaur BBQ we got into a small fender bender- thankfully everyone was okay and our insurance covers damages to the rental car.  Our rental car was a 2013 Ford Explorer and I have decided I want one- someday.  Stay tuned for more adventures.

Cute Kids...

I have two cute kids that make me laugh at least once everyday.  Here are some things about the kids right now...

Nate is getting to be quite the talker... most of it I still don't understand, but he is starting to put  words together.   My favorite phrase right now is "Mommy where are you?"  I have heard this from his crib several mornings this week.  He is really into cookies right now... this is what he wants to eat for breakfast lunch and dinner.  He is a very determined little guy and convincing him that he is not eating cookies for breakfast is sometimes challenging.  When either Olivia or I kiss him at night he says "Eww Gross" - thanks daddy.

Olivia knows all of her alphabets by sight and sound and is now learning how to write them.   She loves to write and is constantly asking me how to spell words so that she can write them... some of her letters are looking pretty good.  Her teacher told Scott that she is one of the smartest kids in her class.   She is really into "running shoes" right now.  I bought her a pair of sneakers for fall and she wants to wear her "running shoes" everyday so that she can run fast.  In the last couple of months she has started playing with her babies a lot.  She keeps telling me I need to be quiet because her baby is sleeping.  Daniel Tiger's neighborhood is her new favorite show- it is a new PBS based on Mr. Roger's Neighborhood.

We sure love these two little people!

Birthday Time

Scott's birthday was on Sunday.  We planned to celebrate over dinner with some neighbors, but Mr. Nate came down with a nasty flu bug and only Scott and Olivia made it to dinner.  Audrey at Aud Cakes made an amazing minion cake that was not only adorable on the outside, but tasty as well.  Happy Birthday Scott- we love you.

 

About Temples and Football

For the last several months as we have driven past Brigham City on our way to Idaho I have said to Olivia-" there is Emma's temple" (Emma's is Liv's cousin that lives in Brigham City).  She was so excited when we got to visit Emma last month and take a tour of the temple.  The temple was beautiful and it was fun to spend the afternoon with Brittany's family and Grandma H.

 

 

 

It's football season.. this last weekend we were able to go to the BYU-Weber State game.  Scott has been working with Nate and he now knows part of the Cougar fight song.  Nate only lasted about a quarter of the game, but it was fun the them to be able to go to the stadium.  Go Cougs!

 

More Summer Fun

As much as I enjoy summer- I was a little excited when I looked up on Y Mountain yesterday and noticed some patches or red and orange amidst the green.  Fall is coming...my favorite time of year- football, sweaters, pumpkins, cooler weather, Halloween, back to school, apples, - love it all. 

But since there is still a bit of summer of left we will enjoy every moment of it...

Last weekend we made a quick trip to Idaho for a family reunion with my mom's family.  It was fun to see my grandma and grandpa along with my some of aunts, uncles, and cousins I haven't seen for awhile.  The kids had a lot of fun playing in the water and  jumping on the trampoline.  We love Family.

Last Friday Olivia's school class went to Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake.  Since work was a little slow, I decided I would tag along.   They were short on adults so I ended up being a group leader for four little girls (including Olivia).  It was hot and by the end of the day all four girls were complaining their feet hurt, but overall I think they had a fun time.  It was fun for me to see Olivia interacting with her school friends and to spend some quality time with her.   

 

We have been doing lots of swimming this summer... here are the kids at Seven Peaks last night.  

 

Olivia is part fish...I see her like this a lot at the swimming pool.

Olivia and Scott crafting.  I found this fun website called Kiwi Crate. Each month Olivia gets a box of craft projects we can do together.  This month is was all about Robots.

 

 

 

Banker turned Race Car Driver??

I have a pretty good job... I have banker hours, never work on Saturdays, gets lots of vacation and 10 federal/state holidays per year.   Oh yeah and sometime I get paid to be a race car driver... literally.  The EVP over my division has a passion for race car driving and so when the opportunity came up he invited several of us to experience what race car driving is all about at Miller Sports Park.  I am not exactly sure why I was invited, but I have a hunch it is because I am female and since there are not many of us in my world that I was invited by default to fill a quota, which I am totally okay with. It was a lot of fun; however, I am not a very good race car driver as I hate driving sharp corners, get pretty motion sick, and haven't driven a manual car for over 10 years.   But it was awesome and I am glad I got to experience it because it would not have been something I would have signed myself up for.

We love the Olympics at our house... especially the summer Olympics and so we decided to celebrate by hosting an Olympic Opening Ceremonies party.  We invited most of our street and ended up with around 30 at our house to play games, eat pizza cooked on the grill, watch some opening ceremonies and get to know each other a little better.  It was a lot of fun.  Next time I will remember to pull out my camera.  Olivia has really liked the gymnastics, swimming (diving) and track.  She keeps practicing her gymnastics and diving off of the couch.  It has been fun for us to watch Gabby Douglas win gold for the United States.  Olivia keeps telling me... she looks like me mom and she does good tricks on the bars.  She has also been learning about the Olympics at school and even came home one day sporting a crown of leaves just like the real Olympians. 

We have been playing in the water a lot this summer.  Both in the backyard and at Seven Peaks (the water park up the street in Provo).   So much playing to do and so little summer left...