Family Pictures

 It's been two years since we've taken family pictures, so I decided it was time for some new ones. :) Al was so nice and came to take the pictures of our family and Paul & me again. We sure appreciate you Al!!

I had scouted out this location but wasn't totally prepared for the time of day that I decided to actually take the pictures, and it turned out that we were stuck in one spot of shade which made it so we didn't quite get the background I was hoping for. Luckily Al had us go up onto a trail for a few pics because this is the one that I liked the most and decided to frame in our library.

I love the one of Paul and me. :)

I took the pictures of the kids down a little further in a different spot. I thought I would use more of the fence there, but again we were limited with the sun where it was.

They're just such cute kids!

I sure am grateful for this family of mine!

Birthdays

 Paul and I really enjoyed our birthdays this year. Katie and Al came over and spent the day with me for my birthday. We sat in the hot tub and got some lunch. Paul got me some of my favorite treats and some very thoughtful presents. He said they were from the kids, which was his way of getting around the fact that my bike was supposed to be my only present this year. :) He got me a necklace that has the ocean, mountains, and sun on it. All of my favorite things. He also got me a bracelet with pine trees all around it, and the inside says "The mountains are calling, and I must go..." It's so true! :)

The kids each wrote me a very sweet note. I will treasure those forever.

After dinner we watched family videos. I love watching our old videos.

I took some lunch over to Paul on his birthday. It was nice to spend a little time with him in his library. He opened his presents when he got home from work.

I was pretty excited to surprise him with this one. :)

Paul chose Texas Roadhouse for dinner and then we stopped and bought some pumpkins on the way home. We turned on some music and the kids painted their pumpkins. It was a really fun night.

Everyday Adventures

 Tessa was so excited to dog-sit Sadie for a whole weekend. She takes great care of her and loves it!

Rockwell went to Classic Skating with some friends one night and was thrilled that he won enough tickets to buy a stuffed penguin!

I have been riding my bike up to Vivian Park a couple times a week. I absolutely love this ride. The scenery is gorgeous and it's just good for my soul to exercise out in the beauty of the canyon. I'm really going to miss it this winter.

Matt & Lori came to town at the end of September. We celebrated the September/October birthdays and Elena was so excited to get a party at Grandma's house.

Tessa and Hallee spent their evening doing each other's hair. They sure are seeming older these days!

Our annual birthday picture with Jonah. :)

Rockwell was so excited to be chosen to work at the Book Fair at school. He spent a lot of time there and bought quite a few Wings of Fire books. He's loving that series right now!

Mel and I bought tickets to the Kane Brown concert months ago. Since then, she has dislocated her shoulder and had to have surgery to repair the damage caused. She is still recovering from her surgery and didn't feel like going to the concert would be wise. We were both so bummed. We have been wanting to see Kane live for years. Paul came with me instead and was pleasantly surprised with how many songs he knew and liked.

It was a great concert! The opening acts went on way longer than we wanted them to, but once Kane came out, it was so much fun!