Bozeman

We took a trip to Bozeman, MT a few weeks ago. It was so fun, and so beautiful. Anton works quite a bit up there, and has really fallen in love with Bozeman. And, he loves the people he works with. Elizabeth and Jurgen are like family to him, he just adores them. They were kind enough to let us stay with them. I am sure we (meaning, the girls) wore them right out. The trip started a little rough with my car giving us fits (again!), and then once we were up there, Claire fell and gave herself a black eye. No surprise there! Jurgen had a clever idea for a photo op:
 

 

They took us to the Missouri Headwaters State Park. It was stunning. The girls could have stayed for hours throwing rocks, and collecting rocks with Elizabeth.
 

 

 

We stopped at what looked like a charming little burger joint on the drive up there...so disgusting!!
 

Claire organizing all her toys to show them off.
 

They also took us to the Museum of the Rockies. It was incredible. The dinosaur replicas were so life like, Claire was shaking. It is a great museum!!

It was so much fun, and so beautiful up there. I can see why so many people love Bozeman. I am really looking forward to spending a lot more time up there!

What we've been up to

My mom came over and taught me and my sister how to can. So fun!! And, can I mention how fun it is to have a "real" kitchen so I can do these things now?! The peaches turned out delish!
 

We took the girls to Lilly's school Fair. They loved it. Of course.
 

 

Primary Program. Lilly sang her little heart out, and knew most the words! She is such a cutie.
 

On Claire's school days, I have about 45 minutes to spare until I drop Lilly off. So, we started doing lunch at the park. Just the two of us. It is so good to spend one on one time with her. Sometimes I forget how little and innocent she still is. This particular day, she brought her very favorite stuffed animals with us and played at the park with them. She talked to them, went down the slide with them, shared her lunch with them. I love these days with her!
 

Daddy daughter date to dinner and movie! The girls were in HEAVEN. Anton came home and couldn't say enough how great it was to be with them. Love my little family.
 

Fall Hikes

I can't tell you how much I love this time of year!! I am loving it more this year than I can remember. And, I think it is because now that our girls are older, we can take them more places and do fun things. For one, we have been going up the canyons more than ever before. The colors are stunning, and we love going on hikes! That is one huge benefit of having a hiker of a husband, because he knows just the right trails to take us on. I never thought I liked hiking, but that is slowly changing. I think the main reason I never enjoyed it is because I always hurt afterward. But since the surgery on my knees, I don't dread going. I actually look forward to going because I am completely pain free when I am done. (And, I have been trying to get into better shape, and it is a nice exercise that is different from the same old stuff at the gym.)

Anyway, we have really enjoyed this fall, it is such a perfect time of year!! 

 

 

 

 

End of Summer

One of our very favorite outings in the summer is to go to This is the Place Heritage Park. I love it up there. We always go the week most kids go back to school, but the little ones haven't. It is so quite and nice. The kids love to do the laundry, search for gold in the river (forgot to post a picture of that), go for a ride on the train, see and pet the animals, go get a shave, and of course stop and get some ice cream! It is always such a fun day!
 

 

 

 

 

 

Disneyland & Newport Beach

This past Spring, Anton and I decided it would be fun to take our girls on a vacation - just the four of us. We decided upon Disneyland and the beach. It was the best trip I can remember!! I thought my heart would burst with happiness. Sounds cheesy, but the whole trip (with the exception of my dumb car breaking down) was perfect. The girls couldn't get enough of the beach, and Disneyland of course was so magical. We invited my parents to join us, so they flew down on a Monday and flew out on Wednesday. We had such a ball together. We laughed so hard playing games, and laughing about the girls! They joined us for one day in Disneyland, and the girls loved every minute of being there with them.
We were gone for 9 days, so we thought when the trip was going to end that we would be "so ready" to get home, but just the opposite. We were all a little melancholy that this trip we had been so excited for was over. We spent the last day at a little beach we found in Laguna Beach. It was amazing!! It was one of the  highlights of the trip for Anton (the other was when Brave took Claire by the hand and walked around with her). We stayed there all day long. The water was so warm, and clear that we could see fish, and even two little sharks. We went tide pooling, which the girls went insane over! And, we also saw hordes of star fish, and sea anemones...which were Lilly's favorite.
I will always remember this trip. I am sad it is over, but look so forward to many more trips with my little family! Life is certainly so sweet.
 

 

 

School!

School has begun, and off to a great start! Lilly started Kindergarten over at Oakwood, and so far she is really happy. She is a big time homebody, so getting her to go anywhere is always pulling teeth. She doesn't fight going to school though, which is a big relief because that was the only thing I was worried about. The only complaint from the first several days of school is that it was too hot! I don't blame her for complaining about that. She gets to see her cousin Annie every day, and she always tells me how fun it is to play with her at recess. They are such cute little girls! Lilly has always taken an interest in music...in fact, if you ask her what she wants to be when she grows up, she will tell you "A Rock Star"! So, at school I signed her up for the Owl Choral, which is the school choir. How cute is that?! So far so good!

Claire started preschool this year! She was SO excited to go. As soon as we got there, she marched right down the driveway and into the house - she didn't look back, hesitate or even say goodbye. She was so happy when I picked her up. She talked and talked and talked, and couldn't wait to show me her fishy she made. I think it helped that she knew her teachers, and had seen Lilly go there for the past two years. There is a 45 minute gap from when I drop Claire off, to when I drop Lilly off, so Lilly and I packed a lunch and took it to the park before I had to take her to school. It was fun to be with just Lilly - and I think it will be good to have a little bit of one on one time with her.

Cutest little girls. I can't believe how quickly time is flying by. I love my little squirts!!
 

 

 

 

Cousin Outings

One of my very favorite things about summer is the time we spend with cousins. My girls are in heaven, and it is so fun to spend time with my sisters and sisters in laws. This year we spent a lot of time at Willow Creek swimming, we went to Temple Square, Thanksgiving Point, The Salt Lake City cemetery (no pictures), and the V Chocolates factory, the Zoo, and This is the Place - all with cousins! We sure do love summer, and I am sad to see it go - but I am looking forward to the cooler weather, that's for sure!