I mean, Seriously!!!

Okay, so for those of you who do not know Miss Autumn personally, this photo wraps it up!!! We were doing a huge Stake Service project, wearing our new "Helping Hands" T-shirts and feeling a bit hot and tired. Sensing it was time for comic relief, Autumn began to fire up her over-the-top personality. She was being super cute and I wanted to take a picture of her dirty, happy face. However, knowing this would please her siblings immensely, every time I tried to snap a photo, she gave me one of these looks, get a laugh from her audience and then go about her performance.

I really am 50/50 with this girl, never knowing if I should laugh or cry. I am simultaneously 100% concerned that I have lost any chance of reigning her in and 100% impressed by her thought processes, cunning and natural humor (though she uses them for disobedience) She is so stinkin' smart, so socially advanced and SO TOTALLY NAUGHTY!!!!!!!

One thing for sure......I look forward to watching this one take the world by storm!

And They're Off!!!

I have had mixed feelings as usual about my kids heading back to school.
I LOVE getting them set, packing their packs and feeling their anticipation.
I MOURN them growing up so fast. I try to put together some semblance of reality on how fast my babies are growing older, growing taller and growing farther and farther from my protection.
I WORRY about the obstacles that each one must face. One has trouble with friends, one struggles to stay on task and one is so shy that he hides his perfect smile way too often. It's hard to let them face these things alone and to trust them to figure it out. I am the one to look back for one last look. I am the one giving last minute hugs and inspections. They all just went straight ahead, they are not worried, they are facing things head on!!
I say SILENT PRAYERS all day. Let them make good friends, learn good things and make good choices. This agency thing can be hard for me, but luckily, they hold tight to their right to it and force me to let go a bit more each year.

Oh yeah, and this is Miss Autumn. She is sure to never miss a photo op. Here she is, 3 years before she starts kindergarten.

The Sweetness at the Bottom of Pie

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book had cleaver writing and a clever heroine. It was a murder mystery with dark subjects, but the novel never felt heavy to read. With eleven year old Flavia as the narrator, her fascination and matter-of-fact approach to death, kept me intrigued but not burdened by it. A fun read, a few twists that caught me totally by suprise.



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Engulfed in Wild Flowers!!!

One of the benefits of Jason's profession is that his signature seems to be quite valuable. Well, not like super valuable, but much more than mine at least. All it took was a one hour meeting and his signature for him to be called the "Medical Director" for a company based out of Boulder called Avid for Adventure. His payment..... a free trip for the crew!! (Except Autumn, but she had a lovely time with both grandmas)




Now this was camping!!!! They set up the tent, did all of the cooking and took our kids each morning from 8AM-2Pm. The kids went hiking, canoeing and on a ropes course. As for Jason and I, we were able to hike, explore, read and mountain bike at our leisure. I personally loved it. Jason on the other hand, did not love being a part of a group and having to do "appreciations" around the camp fire at night. Can you see his disgust for warm fuzzies right now?




Anyway, the best part, by far, was the scenery. This was my first trip to Crested Butte, about 5 hours South-West of Denver. This is a town to visit! It is both "the last great Colorado ski town" and "the wild flower capital of Colorado" The elevation is 8924ft. so, even in August, we were comfortable. The kids played camouflage in the flowers and played under a water fall. Jason had to stop several times on his ride, so he could take the flowers out of his spokes, but said it was the best ride he had ever done. It was truly amazing and almost Jurassic Park-like.










(Oh yeah and the lake was a bit chilly)

A New Do

Oh that Autumn!!! She is such a diva, and loves nothing more than getting glamed and having her picture taken. As for me, I tend to get an idea in my head and need it done that moment. I had made an appointment for her with my favorite hairstylist, Alisha, but I couldn't wait one more moment. So, out came the shears and I just whacked off her scraggily locks for her first big-girl bob. She just kept posing, so I kept on taking pictures. Here she is, quite grown up no?