It must be that time of year....

The temperature's getting brisk, the leaves have fallen from the trees, lights are appearing on homes, the house at the top of our hill has bedazzled the heck out of itself--it's AMAZING that every year they still add something new! (In this case more is not necessarily better), Lauren and Alli's violin practice music sounds suspiciously like the holidays, I'm busy making candy and dipping chocolates, and yes even the pillow cases have a new theme--It's beginning to look a lot like--CHRISTMAS!



I don't know why Alli didn't want her picture taken first thing in the morning...hmmm...weird. Lindsay didn't seem to have a problem!


We had a family dinner on Sunday at Grandma and Grandpa Barrett's newly remodeled home. It looks beautiful and I think we broke it in for them! We were celebrating their 41st Wedding Anniversary! At the end of the night, Grandma got the Christmas Season started early by handing out gifts--darling hand sewn Christmas pillow cases for each grandchild--12! Grandmas are the best! Thanks Grandma Barrett!

Let it Snow!

About a week ago when I came home from an early morning workout, I was greeted by an excited Lindsay saying, "Mom, it snowed on the roofs and the grass!" Then she quickly and sweetly asked if she could play in the snow. She has been waiting since the last snow that we had that didn't stick around long enough to do anything with. Now she saw her opportunity!





Big sister Alli was good enough to bundle her up and take her outside to play to her heart's content. Fun!

Budding Photographer

Alli is 11 years old and loves to take pictures! We are always finding funny pictures of her and other family members on our phones and cameras. She took Lindsay outside earlier this month and these are the results. I think the lighting was great! It helps that she has a willing model, too.







Fun Fall pictures, Alli!

Happy Halloween!

The weather turned out so mild for Halloween this year! The kids all got to go Trick-or-Treating--last year we had some sickness, so our showing was poor! Lauren thought she might be too old, but the draw of full-size candy bars in her friend's neighborhood was way too strong! She was a "cute" witch. She made her tutu and it did turn out cute!


Alli was a dead volleyball player! Scary! Of course she was also a Fifties Girl, a Scary Ghoul, and an Indian Girl--complete with red dot on forehead. What can I say, the ideas just kept coming!


Lindsay was a Ballerina. Her pajamas were perfect to keep her warm and still ballerina-y. She really liked Trick-or-Treating with Alli. It made a bit more sense to her this year.


Calvin was Short Round. Oh, I'm sorry, you don't know who that is? That's okay, neither did anyone else, even after he told them. Short Round is the asian boy in Indiana Jones. "Docta Jones, Docta Jones!" Does that ring a bell? Look closely--I know, the likeness is scary!

Super Bowl Champs!

You may be thinking to yourself, "Julie is off her rocker, the Super Bowl is in January!" But as far as we are concerned, the REAL Super Bowl took place a couple of nights ago at Springville High School--and the BRONCO's took the trophy! Calvin has been playing city league football for the past couple of months (it seems like longer! That might have something to do with the fact that the games were dark and cold--Jeff and I ended up wearing our subzero puffy coats so we could last!) and he has really loved it! He ended up with several "tackles" and learned a lot about football--his new favorite sport. We'll see if that changes when basketball comes around! Proud of you, Cal! (He's the one with the orange arms!)




Just a little bit older and tougher than a couple of months ago! Love my boy!

Wow!

We went on a family drive to see the awesome leaves last Saturday and look what we happened upon at Squaw Peak! If you listen closely you can hear Lindsay getting excited about flying.



Now, that looks crazy to me, but I guess that's how some people enjoy the journey! Amazing!

Hey Dog!

I don't know how I let this happen, but I was in charge of Reflections again this year. (This year it was at the Junior High instead of the Elementary School--for future reference--it's much easier at this level!) I "hired" these cute girls to help me with publicity the final week.


Aren't they adorable? Alli and her friends, Tori and Cora were so nice to advertise Monday and Tuesday morning this week as the kids were arriving at school. They were good sports cause it was COLD! And they came relatively cheap--Hot Cocoa, Belgian Waffles and a ride to school made them happy afterwards.



They said lots of kids were taking their pictures and they were sure they would hit YouTube. I couldn't quite tell if they thought this would be cool or not. Thanks girls! You were just what the Reflections Program needed! A Hot Dog always gets people's attention! Now, Who's Hungry?