College Prodigal...

Our college girl returned home for a wonderful fall break weekend!  Alyssa's birthday was earlier in the week (19yrs old!!!) so we celebrated it over her fall break.  She and I went to lunch, shopped for a couple new outfits (she left a cute white jacket home, and I've been wearing it...shhhh!!) we went to yoga together, then to the temple.

She is awesome!

For her birthday present we bought her a ticket to see Wicked this summer!  

Of course I bought one for me too!!!  

I got married at 20, so the fact that she is 19 is making me a little crazy!

A month ago I found this cute book shelf at a garage sale for $8.00!  It was navy blue, so Alyssa and I painted it a beautiful yellow (a little darker than what it appears in the pic).

My mom and I took it down to Ephraim to her apt.  It looks awesome with her yellow, gray and turquoise blue quilt!  Alyssa loves her books, so this is a very needed addition to her room!

Ash

Do you have a child that just simply beats to his/her own drum?  Ashlyn is my confident, I don't care what other people think, trendsetter, off the wall kind of kid.  She is always doing something that makes me laugh, or my mouth drop open...but at the same time, I am constantly amazed at her creativity and "coolness" for lack of a better word.
The other day she and her friend were talking about what they were going to wear for picture day, and since we go to a  uniform school, the question is really, "should we wear our blue shirt or our white shirt..:)  Anyway, they decided they would both wear blue, well, others around them heard them, and said, "oh, we want to wear blue too..." She said the next day, the class all showed up in blue!  This kind of thing happens all the time.

Ashlyn loves to bake!  She made these cute little Halloween cupcakes and took them to the neighbors.  She has a kind heart and loves to visit some of the older folks in our neighborhood.

Ashlyn and Eva...2 peas in a pod!

Where did you get that BLUE eyeshadow???

Last week was the end of the term and Connor was working hard to finish his children's book for English.  Ashlyn could see that he was crunched for time, so she offered to color his drawings for him.  

Such a great girl!

Flying High!

 A couple weeks ago Connor, my mom and I flew to Denver over fall break.  It was Connor's birthday present, and so fun since he had never been on an airplane!  We had 5 fantastic days with Matt and Ally, Emma and Isaiah!

Getting ready to get on the airplane!  I forgot to properly prep Connor for what he can and can't bring in his luggage, and he had a few things confiscated...:(  hair gel..toothpaste...etc.  At least he didn't bring any weapons with him..:)

Friday we spent the day at the Denver Zoo, then we drove into the city.  We happened to catch the "Beer Festival of America" going on, so awesome!  

NOT!

Saturday we went to the Pumpkin' Chunkin"  Apparently people prepare all year to enter the pumpkin catapult competition.  They rig up their contraptions and see how far they can send their pumpkin by cannon like invention, or a catapult thing.  There were pumpkins flyin' everywhere I  tell ya!

On Monday we toured the Air Force Academy.  It is a beautiful campus and Connor wants to be a pilot, so we thought we'd just take a look.  Connor loved this day!!

We uh..sort of... snuck onto the AF Academy football field.  It was deserted, and we had a blast!

Well...the back door was open!  :)

We probably have a record now.  

Honestly, it was such a highlight for me to just be with Connor and have some mom-son bonding time.  

He is an extraordinary person!

Farm Freash...

If you're in the market...

Ashlyn and Taylor are trying to earn money for Christmas this year.  

Ashlyn put together this flyer all by herself.  

Conference Weekend

I love General Conference weekend, and I know many of you do too.  There seems to be a good spirit that rests on our home, and we as a family seem to have more time together.  Ashlyn is done with soccer...until indoor soccer begins, and Connor did have an away game in Logan in the afternoon, but the morning was ours.  We spent it cleaning up the garden and trimming the flowers and bushes in the yard.  Karl took the boys to Logan, and then to the Priesthood session at a local Stake Center up there, while I continued to work late into the evening on the yard.  I even got to mow the lawn!  I know it's crazy, but I really like mowing, it just takes forever.  We usually start our boys at 8 yrs. mowing the lawn, so it's been a very long time since I've done it.  I also love working in the yard, then getting up the next morning to enjoy all my hard work. I even took Karl on a little "fieldtrip"...

"and then I trimmed this, or weeded that...:)" 

 He gives me just the right reaction...

"Wow!  It looks amazing, you worked so hard yesterday!" 

"Yes I did".

It was great to have Alyssa home for the weekend as well.

By the time we were done, this little truck of ours was over flowing!!

Karl re-stained the chicken coop, doesn't it look amazing??

On Sunday we had a beautiful breakfast of German pancakes, eggs, sausage and hash browns, then watched General Conference, had delicious Cafe Rio for dinner, and homemade raspberry ice cream for a yummy dessert.  Featuring our home-grown raspberries that Ashlyn has been picking and freezing.

   It is the yummiest homemade raspberry ice cream you will ever taste!!

Parker's Party Phase II

So a couple weeks after Parker officially turned 16yrs old...we celebrated with a friend party.  He invited about 8 friends to come party with us.  Karl bought a bunch of pvc pipe and connectors for the boys to assemble their own marshmallow guns.  He also bought different colors of duct tape so they could decorate and tell them apart.  To say the party was a success is an understatement.  He began by ambushing the first guest to arrive, then one by one they all joined in quickly assembling their weapons and getting the next guy.  When I went out to check on them, they were shooting the marshmallows into the air and trying to catch them with their mouths...it was hilarious!

Later they had tons of pizza and junk food, and played night games in the back yard (it was a little cold, but not bad).  I had moms pulling me aside and telling me how much fun their son had, and "thank you so much for inviting them...:)"

Great boys, fun party!

Right after this picture was taken, the boys all pelted me with marshmallows!!!  

I know, right???