Haloween Night

Heading out to trick or treat. Kayla with her favorite bag.

Aubrey and her friend Rachel stayed home to pass out candy so Robert and I could both go out with the other kids. It was a little cold and drizzling, but not enough to hamper our usual routine.

After going around the island in our neighborhood we picked up our cowgirls (Aubrey and Rachel) and drove to another long cul-de-sac in our area. We also had Kayla's friend Megan with us.

The girls leaving our friend Agatha's house. If you look close you can see her at the door. It was such a fun night. We love being together!

More Halloween

Our crew headed off to school

Emily with her cookie creation and a sucker in her mouth. There's nothing quite like Halloween.

Brenna must have taken this picture at the school. Mom in action.

Halloween-Princesses

Belle

Forever friends

Lindsay behind her teacher at the school parade

Jasmine

Halloween-Jessie's

This year we had two Jessie's from Toy Story. Brenna was very happy with her costume, especially the Jessie braid.

Here she is with her preschool teacher, Miss Alyssa. She loves Miss Alyssa and going to school. I love how they have the same naturally curly hair. We tell Brenna she may look like Miss Alyssa when she grows up.

Kayla was our other Jessie. She looked great!

They are good partners.

Fall View by AJ

This is fall in Utah, the end. Ok it really is not the end. I went to the end of our street and took a picture, looking towards our house. Our front door is right smack in the middle if this photo. I love taking pictures outside, especially of flowers and leaves.

I love Fall. Adios.

Primary Program

Today was our Primary Program at church. It is always such a wonderful meeting. This is the 3rd program that I have written and I ablsolutely love the process of putting a program together. I feel God's hand in that process each time as I pray for inspiration and pray for each of our Primary children.

The kids did a remarkable job and the warm, peaceful feeling of the Spirit could be felt in our hearts and seen in their glowing faces. I love our Primary kids . I am so grateful to be able to learn alongside these precious children. I know that each one of us is a spirit offspring of our Heavenly Father and that he loves us infinitely and unconditionally. I pray that we will be able to feel the joy and love that comes from Him.

Brenna's 1st Race

Today was a special day for Brenna. Dad got back from New York last night in time for her 1st race. She has watched so many races in her life, and awhile back she said she would like to run in one. We chose a 1K that went along with the 'Beat the Heat 5K' supporting the Salt Lake City Police Dept. Here she is with Chief Burbank before the race. He was so kind to her.

And they're off. Just so you know, a K in racing is about .6 of a mile. Brenna and I have been practicing running that distance, which is 1 1/2 times around the island inside our neighborhood or the distance between our house and Aubrey's middle school. This particular K seemed a little short, but she loved it! The six of us were all there cheering her on.

Here she is just after finishing with her sticker and Subway card.

Our proud runner. We are sooo proud of you Brenna. You rock!

Ice Skating

I haven't blogged in awhile because I was trying to get some pictures off my phone that I wanted to write about, but no such luck. You'll just have to imagine it in your minds - ice skating at the Olymipic Oval, a BYU football game on a gorgeous fall afternoon with the Holts, our last day of swimming before closing the pool. All pictureless.
This one is about taking the girls ice skating. Robert was out of town so it knew it would be me leaning over Brenna most of the night helping her skate, but oh, that wasn't how it turned out.
When we got her skates we checked out a 'walker type device' for the ice. I would show you a picture, but...yeah, here it is below. Anyway, Brenna took off with that thing and I was able to just skate along side her. After awhile, she said she didn't want the walker anymore. Being more protective than I usually am, I questioned her about if she was really ready to let go and skate on her own. (I think I get more worried when Robert's gone) As we both leaned on the 'blue walker' she said something that 'hit that special soft spot in my heart.' She said, "Mom, I can do this. I can do hard things."
I know she can do hard things, and that all our girls can, and I am so grateful for her forceful reminder. I am so very proud of these girls and so grateful to share my life with them.


As for the rest of the ice skating, it was great, Aubrey had a group of friends with her, and we all had a fun night. We'll be back there soon to show off our new skills for Dad.

Litttle Haunts

It's Fall Break in Utah and the weather is perfect. I love having the girls home. Today we decided to go up to 'This is the Place' (which is a small village replicating what the valley was like just after the pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley and is located in the spot that Brigham Young put his cane down in the dirt and declared, "This is the Place". Their journey was complete. Amazing!)

Well, our journey to 'This is the Place' was pretty uneventful in our air conditioned, smooth riding Suburban. The girls were all 'costumed' up (minus our teenager-she was going as herself) and ready for a fun day.

Here they are panning for gold in the river. Can you just imagine what panning for gold on the banks of a flowing river does to a halloween costume?? Oh well... They did collect a few nuggets of gold, which they exchanged at the Bank for treats. We rode the train around the village, marched in the costume parade, listened to scary stories told by a witch, and trick-or-treated throughout the village.

Here we have Aubrey J., Mary Poppins, and Belle.

And Jasmine, Belle, and a super cute ladybug. At this house the girls were doing a pumpkin roll race. Can you just imagine what doing a pumpkin roll race on grass does to a halloween costume?! Oh well. We had a great time together and I really am thankful for the blessing of 'laidbackness' that I have been given - that I am able to just enjoy the kids without trivial worries. We had a fun, fun day together, and that's what it's all about.

Girls in Motion

Aubrey and Kayla both tumble - and love it. Aubrey has also been a flyer on her cheer squad (though her season has been unexpectedly cut short by scheduling conflict) These girls spot each other and push each other to do better. They will be sad when the grass is covered with snow, and we will miss watching them tumble.

I love Aubrey's hair in this back flip into the pool, as Odie looks on.

Such fun times! There's nothing like watching your kids grow and progress. We are very blessed!

Tomlinson Wedding

Today my cousin Brian married his sweetheart Melissa in the Los Angeles Temple. We were able to be there for their beautiful reception. Brenna insisted on having her picture taken with the bride and groom and thanks to Bob we were able to get this picture. I love it because you can see on their faces the pure joy and happiness they feel in their hearts, and Brenna looks pretty happy too.

Brian is the last of the 7 Tomlinson's to marry and they were all able to be together in the temple today. That is something we so strongly look forward to, and I am so happy for their family. We got to visit with all the Tomlinson crew and hope that they know how much we love them all.

The 'beach crew' was happy to visit with their cousins and eat some of Aunt Sally amazing cakes. We send our love and best wishes to the ever growing Tomlinson family!

Beach -Day 2

Day 2 was full of more beach adventures. Watching surfers and fisherman on the pier.

Strolling the coastline.

Renting a bicycle-built-for-7 and switching places every few minutes so everyone could drive and everyone could peddle. I'm sure we were quite a sight to see.

And a few games of Frisbee. Look at Brenna's throw back to Dad. She's got a pretty good arm, and we've had some pretty fun days at the beach. We will miss you.

Beach-Day 1

We spent the day at Huntington Beach. With record high temperatures and no crowds, it was a great day.

The girls have always loved the ocean and could spend hours running in and out of the waves.

I spent much of the day like Kayla and Lindsay, digging my toes into the warm, soft sand and smiling.

Aubrey and Emily spent much of the day boogie boarding and having a blast.

One more big smile for our awesome day at the beach.