Too Long...

Wow, I can't believe how long it has been since I have done a blog. September was so long ago! So much has happened since then! :0) Lets see... I am the Customer Service Manager at Franklin Covey, Aaron and I are both in the full swing of school, and we moved. Those are the big ones I guess! We have a zillion pictures to post so I will try to get them all in with some kind of caption so you know what they are.

Yesterday after Aaron and I got home from work we went over to Grandma Beal's to spend some time with my Uncle Brett and his family. My mom and sister and brother met us there with our Cousin Nora. (Lara was watching Nora while Eric and Vic were in McCall). We made ginger bread houses out of graham crackers, candy and merengue icing. It was super fun and super sticky! After we made our creations, had dinner, and played some games it was time for the munchkins to take a bath! Eliza (age 3) had been playing with a "touger" (couger aka- a plastic lion/tiger that my uncles had when they were kids) all day and insisted that the touger needed a bath too. So Brett made a " touger bath" in Grandma's sink while Eliza took a bath in the tub! :0) What a lucky touger!

This is Miss Nora Jean - she is skipping crawling- she loves to walk around instead. She was so fun to play with this past week while they were visiting from Jackson. I am so jealous that Lara got to spend the whole summer taking care of the little girl!

Gretel and I were quite the construction team! I was in charge of the pastry bag full of super sticky icing and Gretel showed me where to put it! We built a pretty fancy gingerbread house, complete with trees, fence, a pond with a waterfall and a rock path. We had so much fun turning candy and cookies into a masterpiece of construction and landscape :0) P.S. I didn't know that Aaron was taking the picture, otherwise I would have turned the right way!

Eliza wanted to make a choo-choo train instead of a house with her crackers. Her train even had a funny face on it with ears and everything! She insited on carrying it around the house until everyone saw her train. Then she passed out the left over candy until we all had some. She is such a cutie! We are going to miss having all the munchkins around to keep us on our toes and make us smile and laugh!

The day before Thanksgiving we were scheduled for Family Pictures with Tyler Cazier at Kathryn Albertson Park. It will still be a few weeks before we get the pictures back but Justin was able to snap a few afterwards. It was so fun spending time with my family, I am so glad to have such a wonderful family and a wonderful Husband who loves spending time with my family.

The past few months living in Boise, Aaron and I have taken advantage of the wonderful weather and living so close to the great outdoors! We love to take strolls down on the Green Belt and on the ridge to Rivers Trails by Camels Back Park. It is so peaceful! We can drive just 10 min. and be in a whole different place!

The Boise River Green belt

The Ridge to River's Trails

For Halloween we went over to my moms to carve pumpkins! It was closing night for the musical "Kiss Me Kate" at Eagle High. Justin was in the musical so he didn't get to finish his pumpkin, so we all carved different parts of it. We had a blast getting covered in pumpkin guts, even Cocoa (the chocolate lab) had fun fetching chunks of pumpkin.

Lara was helping carry out the smaller pumpkins. She looks great in her gym shorts and Justin's milking boots :0)

This year I decided that I should learn how to can my own things, we canned applesauce, peaches, and apricot jam. I had so much fun spending time with my mom and Grandma.

While we were packing, cleaning and getting ready to move Cleo wasn't quite sure what to do with all the craziness so she frequently hid under the couch, in the boxes, and even in her paper bag! She loves the new apartment, there are lots of windows with wide window sills that she can sit in and look out and see the squirrels in the trees.

Mom, Lara, and I ran in the 5K Women's Fitness Celebration. It was pouring rain the whole time and while we were at the starting line we saw lightning and heard thunder! We had fun and were soaked to the bone!

So, we are all setteled into our new apartment and enjoying the wonderful week we have been able to spend with my family for the Thanksgiving Holiday. We are truly so blessed to live in such a wonderful place and to live so close to my family! Christmas is right around the corner and I can't hardley wait to spend more time with my family! I am so lucky to have such an amazing husband who loves me (even when I am having a bad day). I am grateful for the extended family who take care of us and especially for the people who keep watch over my mom. The holidays are still a pretty rough time for us, everytime I turn around I expect to see my dad standing in the kitchen with a apron over his columbia fish shirt, or out in the back yard throwing toys for Cocoa, sometimes I think that if I turn around fast enough I might actually see him. I am so grateful for the gospel of Christ and the testimony that I have that one day I will get to see my dad again.