Fall Fun

We had a great - and busy - weekend. We started with a trip to the Pumpkin Patch.

Each child picked a perfect pumpkin.
Then we headed to Farnsworth Farms, for the Pumpkin Festival.
Located in Sandy, it was a great little spot. A free event, that will take place again this weekend from 5-9 p.m. There are vendors where we picked up fresh kettle corn (lg bag $4), face painting ($1 per cheek), food (really inexpensive), hay rack ride (.50/person, under 3 free), bounce house (.50/child), and the outdoor showing of "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown". We ate before we went, so we only spent $10.50 at the event!On Sunday we headed to downtown Salt Lake for our regional conference. Held at the conference center, we were a little apprehensive about taking the 3 kids. Amazingly enough, they were great. We were amazed that we didn't even have to take Reed out for the entire 2 hour session.
We had great seats right up front, the kids were able to wave to the Prophet, and we were so happy we were able to attend.

Where did the summer go?

We had a fantastic summer - enjoyed every degree of it! Here are some highlights of the many things we did.

We did a lot of yard work. It went from looking like this:
To looking like this:
And oh so much more yard work to go!

Went to Taylorsville Dayzz, and rode lots of rides.We also went to the Salt Lake County Fair, and rode rides there too!

Spent time with cousins and LOTS of family.

Played dress up

Played store
"Free sapel be carfol with the yellow plese take one of each."

And enjoyed nice warm days with nice cool water.
Goodbye summer. I'll miss you dearly!

Visit from Kansas

We had Grandma & Grandpa Orr and Aunt Debbie come to visit this month. Mom & Dad came up for BYU Education Week, which they loved, and then stayed for a fun visit.We took Aunt Debbie bowling, and went on many fun outings during the time they were here.

It was great having them here - and the kids loved getting to know them better. It's hard when they live so far away and we only see them about once a year.They stayed in Reed's room, and Reed was in our room. After they left, and we put Reed's crib back in his room, he kept saying "sleep in grandpa's room?" It was too cute.

A Fabulous 24th!

It still boggles my mind as to how we celebrate the 4th of July and then a couple of weeks later we do it all over again for the 24th of July. At least we get double use out of those cute red/white/blue shirts huh?We celebrated Pioneer Day with the annual "Dana Family Celebration". We all gathered at Aunt Carol's house and ate tons of yummy food, socialized, and had so much fun.

The kids enjoyed pioneer games:

And dressing up:

And we all had a fun mini trek down Aunt Carol's street:Thanks Carol for hosting a fun event we look forward to each year!

This is the Place

We love visiting "This is The Place", and have gone each summer since we moved here.

They always have a variety of activities for the kids to do. This happened to be a "free admission" day - due to the "Days of 47" week that's going on now. It was a little crazy - lots of people, but we still had a ball.
It's always entertaining to see Jeff try to stuff himself into tiny kids rides!

The Buzz

So on the news they're talking about how Africanized Killer Bees have been found in traps in and Southern Utah. They want to alert Utahns that the Bees have arrived to the state, and to take some precautions. Don't panic, just make sure that your home is secure without any holes through the exterior walls, and call emergency workers if you suspect you have some on your property.

What do they expect? After all, Utah is the BEEHIVE state.

Snow anyone?

Snow? Oh, we have lots and lots of it. It's all been too wet to build snowmen with.After one of these many snowfalls Jeff was out shoveling. Reed was insisting on going out with his daddy (as he often does). So I bundled him up and sent him out. He was a bit hesitant at first, but quickly grew to love it.
It was hilarious watching him follow Jeff around. My favorite photo I took of them is blurry - but I think you get the picture.The other day Bella went sledding with her little friend Mikayla. Typically her friend can stay out for 3 hours. Bella came back into the house after 30 minutes. After being sent back out by Mikayla's mom, she lasted another 30 minutes and was done. She told her mom, "I guess I'm just not a snow kinda gal". But yet when she came home, she told me over and over again how much she loved sledding. She's hilarious.

And today, on Christmas Day, this is the storm we received.It was so, so windy, snow just clung to every little surface. It was crazy how you couldn't see hardly anything because the snow was just blowing everywhere. It almost looks like there are little reindeer tracks on our porch.

Dear Anonymous

To the person that doesn't like the fact that I don't like Utah
(see comment on post below)

#1 This is my journal. Therefore I can write whatever I choose. You can either choose to read it or not.

#2 I don't care for Utah, and anyone that knows me, knows that. I live here, because we have chosen to live here for good reasons. That doesn't mean that I have to like it, or say nice things about it. Once again, it's my journal and I can write what I choose.

#3 Imagine if you were to move away from Utah, at this moment, and go to Arizona. You would leave behind many friends, most likely family, places you are familiar with and enjoy. You would have many ties and wonderful feelings about Utah. That's how I feel about Arizona. It's more the ties that I have, the emotional ones, that draw me to the Phoenix area. Even if the summers are killer, I love it because of the people and the places I enjoy. I hope you can understand that.
I'm sure someday I'll feel the same way about Utah. It's getting better, but 14 years vs. 18 months, it's got a long way to go.

Sweet Sixteen

Yesterday Jeff & I put 13 plants & shrubs, and 3 trees in the ground. Needless to say, every part of my body is sore today.

And not a moment too soon, the wind is blowing, it's raining, and pretty nasty outside. Yesterday the weather was gorgeous. So sad to see our indian summer end, simply because I know what's headed my way.

We did all that with 3 little kids that had "Halloween Hangovers". So glad it's out of their systems now, and today will be back to normal.

Boo at the Zoo

Saturday we decided to go to "BOO at the Zoo", along with the rest of the city of Salt Lake! It was a gorgeous day, almost a too warm for their costumes. (Jeff stayed home to get some yard work done)
We went with the Nuvan's, to celebrate Samantha's 3rd birthday.
It was so, so crowded. Insanely crowded. So crowded that I didn't really care for the zoo, even though it was my first time to visit. There were just tons of people . . . and kids . . . while I was trying to keep an eye on my own little animals.
I hadn't finished the girls costumes yet, so we decided to go as animals to the zoo (+ 1 monster). We borrowed some costumes from Challene, and the girls had a ball trying to find the animal like their costumes.

Sofie found the elephantsAnd the frog we found was so little, we decided to take a photo next to something that talked about frogs.

The fall colors have been absoutely gorgeous this year. And the fact that you can go outside and enjoy them, because it's not snowing, is a huge perk.

Need your help!

I had so much success with asking people to help me get tickets to the Osmond's concert, I need your help again!

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert is coming up, and tickets are hard to find. If you aren't in town, or interested in going, please register for me! I would love to go!

Click here to go to the website.

In the upper right hand corner of thepage, click on "register for tickets".

Thanks for your help!

Blast from the past

Recently we had playgroup at "The Gale Center". It is in South Jordan, at Redwood road and 104th South. We had so much fun!

They have a great mining exhibit that the kids loved, and exhibit on the heart (was a little old for them, but they loved pushing the button to hear the loud heartbeat), and some antiques set up to look like a little house.Their favorite part was in the play area. There is a schoolhouse (Bella nominated herself to be the teacher), complete with sacks for potato sack races.
A house with a front porch, kitchen, dining table, living room, and dress up clothes.Out in back of the house is a dog house, chicken coop (you can collect the eggs), clothesline (to hang clothes), cow (to practice milking), and a stream (complete with a footbridge) to fish in.Then there's the country store where you can buy groceries. The kids loved weighing their vegetables, and loading up wheelbarrows and baskets full of goods.
There was an old telephone booth, and a gas station with a couple of cars you could sit in.
The kids did not want to leave (we stayed for almost 2 hours) and were immediately asking when we could return. The best part is - it's FREE!