A Place with Trees!

And water! And fall colors! And grass! Utah rocks!! Just check out this gooooorgeous view from my kitchen window. It's hard to tell, but the mountains are splashed with orange, yellow, red and green. Can't wait to see the view in winter! I know, I know. You're jealous.

For our very first Monday family night together in Utah, auntie Lyssa took us for a jaunt up through Provo Canyon so we could check out the purty autumn colors before they're gone. We couldn't resist stopping when we saw the cute little horsies (worthheees, as Lucas would say) alongside the road. I think my favorite part about these pictures is the way the flash made the horses look like some sort of evil alien creatures ready to attack or swallow my children whole. (look at those yellow eyes! weird!) Wondering about Livvi's hair? She leaned too close to the barbed wire fence and a barb caught the front of her head and pulled the hair out of the bobby pins which had so neatly been placed in her hair. I wonder, why do I bother?

Thanks auntie Lyssa for taking us up there. And thanks auntie Jenna, aunt Beffie, auntie Lyssa (again), uncle Phil, uncle Jim, and mom for sooooo much help with driving and unpacking. I'd be sitting in the corner, sucking my thumb and crying right now if it weren't for all the work you did. And I can't forget Terry. You're all the best...Love you!

This Is the Right Place...I think.

First of all, if you're not a mormon, that Brigham Young reference in the title most likely blew right by you...

Now, here's the latest development: The kids and I are headed to Spanish Fork, Utah next week..for good. I have the promise of a job waiting there for me, and the perfect little house just sort of fell into my lap. Alright, that's oversimplifying a tad. Jenna ran her tail off for me last week and looked at every house I found online. She snapped tons of pictures of every single house and posted them in their own separate web albums for me so I could check them out. But she and I agree that this one is practically perfect in every way. Click here to see it. You can even play with the little arrows on the house pic and see the neighborhood and THE GIANT CITY PARK RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET WITH ALL THE GRASS!!!!! YES, THERE'S GRASS, people! Sierra Vista: rocks, dirt. Spanish Fork: GRASS!

Now, these fun little pics are from a play that my children put on for me the other night. Please don't ask me what the plot was. I have absolutely no idea. I mean, I was there. I watched it from start to finish, but still, no idea. I know there were animals involved. And apparently a mean hunter was trying to kill them. They spent the majority of the production running around the back yard (the one with the rocks) jumping up and down rejoicing that the hunter was gone. And don't get me started on the frisbee-playing bear (portrayed by Benjamin). As you can guess, Lucas was not in the play. He lacks too much in the way of cooperation to be an actor just yet. And take special note of Lukie's shoes...he's wearing Hallie's beaded flip-flops. He makes a habit of walking around in his sisters' shoes. I should be worried, shouldn't I?

At any rate, I mostly share these pictures because I was rather impressed with Hallie's costuming creativity. She did a really good job for an 8-year-old with very few supplies and even less help from her MOTY (that'd be me, Mother of the Year). In case you can't figger it out on yer own, Hallie's the fox, Livvi's the Deer (named Deery Lou by Hallie--??) and Ben is a little black bear. Tiny Lucas is...well...Tiny Lucas, doing what he does best. Do you not just love these little animal faces...and tooshies?! In my own defense, MOTY or not, I DID assist with the make-up. But I'm sure you can tell.