life happens...

and at lightning speeds it goes by. The months have just flown by. Last thing I remember it was a few weeks into summer (and I was kind of bored and a little stir crazy to tell the truth). Now, all of a sudden it is the middle of October- fall is upon us, our routines are back in full swing, and I am FAR from bored. Where did the time go? We have most definitely not been idly passing our days... we have been busy, busy, here, there, home, gone again, and back. I finally have just a moment to breathe and to do some SERIOUS catch up...

1. The end of August, the girls and I drove to Oregon to attend my brother's white coat ceremony upon his entrance into Oregon Health Sciences University Medical School. It has been a long fought road to get him there and I am so very proud of him. I am so happy we made the trip to be there to share in that event.

We figured that if we were going to drive 12 hours there, we were going to stay a while. We were gone for almost a full 2 weeks enjoying beautiful Oregon summer evenings, spending time with family and friends, and having a blast.

On the way home, my sister drove with us down to Loomis, CA so we could visit with our grandma. It was wonderful to see family!

We missed Paul terribly by that point, and were very excited to get home again. However, the drive from my grandma's house to my mom's house that usually takes 1 1/2 hours ended up taking 4 hours because of road construction (at midnight). At one point, everyone was screaming at the same time, Avery had to go to the bathroom, but we weren't near an exit, she wouldn't use a cup, I tried to put a diaper on her- she wasn't going for that either. I had to take Emerson out of her car seat to nurse ( we were at a standstill). When we finally got off the freeway, the gas station's bathroom was out of order, the 24 hour McDonald's was closed, but we finally got her to a bathroom on our third try. Whew. That was exhausting. Comical looking back- not so comical in the moment :).

2. Home for a week, crammed in dentist, doctor, and hair appointments before heading out again. We went to Utah (early September), with Paul this time, for round 2 of visiting with family, friends, and enjoying our time together. Another LONG drive, but we had a great time.

We stayed with our good friends the Clawsons for a couple of nights in their beautiful home... (Kelli is the most wonderful hostess- thank you my dear friend!) and then went up to Park City for the rest of the week. Had fun visitors come up and enjoy the pool with us. We finally got some updated family photos too- thanks Kelly... we love them!

Kelly also introduced me to tres leches from Cafe Rio. I came home and HAD to find a way to recreate it. Found a good likeness HERE. Made it, LOVED it. Heavenly yumminess. Truly.

Stopped in Vegas on the way home. Stayed HERE. Had a great view of the Bellagio water show. The girls were glued to the window the whole night. Finley liked it from our room, but was NOT a fan of it up close (or it might have been the crazy people she didn't like down on the street- the angel and satan street performance pair were more than a little creepy).

3. Avery started back to school ...tiny tigers again- minus Mrs. Waterbury :( She is loving it. Finley wants to go so badly- but she is still pretty far down on the waiting list. Oh, how glorious it would be to have them both at the same place at the same time- for 2 hours I would just have one!! I know the day will come, all too soon, that they will all be in school all day and I won't know what to do with myself... but, that moment feels very far away at times. I can't believe that this time next year Avery will be in kindergarten!? She is getting so good at recognizing and writing letters and simple sight words. She wrote BOO on a piece of paper the other day after pointing out B-O-O on my halloween banner. She is growing up so fast.

4. I turned 30. It is done- nothing more to dread. Now, moving on. Thank you to all who helped me celebrate this milestone birthday (including my husband who wasn't going to do anything, saw the error of his ways, and then surprised me with a spa day at the last minute... good save babe! It was lovely). Beautiful flowers courtesy of my thoughtful sister-in-law and brother-in-law. Thanks Jodi and Chris- they were gorgeous! Smeared writing on my cake (and notice the piece with my name is completely missing?!) thanks to my girls :)

5. Avery started back at dance class- after months and months of asking, pleading, and begging. I told her "in the fall" and now it is fall and there is no escaping my promise. Our favorite dance teacher Miss Daniella is not teaching now, so we found a little class at the Avila Community Center that is great. Miss Kristy is great- she is teaching them well, but overall it is more low key. The recitals are small and on a weekday evening (instead of at the cal poly theater with a big stage, lights, and $35 tickets). Avery is just happy to be dancing again. Finley is still dying to get in on the action. Soon baby girl, soon. For now, Finley gets to have one on one with Gramma Lee while Avery is in class. It is a win for all!

6. Emerson is 5 months old already (actually she is almost 6 months old now). I am not sure how that happened?! She is so squishy and just adorable. She has the. best. smile. EVER. Oh, it melts me like nothing else.

7. Our dirt plot is finally looking more like a real yard. Only 2 1/2 years in the making! There is still more to do, but at least we have a good start on it.

We are enjoying the new play space we have. Now we just have to replace the trampoline... almost a year later:)

8. Paul turned 32 and we went to Disneyland to celebrate. We discovered Avery is 42 inches tall and was able to go on Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain Railroad and a few other rides that were off limits before. She LOVED splash mountain- went 3 times. She tolerated Thunder Mountain once, but did not want to go again. It was fun for us because we got to go on something other than dumbo, the teacups, the carousel, and small world. A welcome milestone!

Paul then stayed in L.A. to go to a Laker's preseason game and a Oregon/UCLA football game while I went home with the girls to execute craft day :) Fun times were had by all! (there might be just a hint of sarcasm in there)

9. I have been keeping crazy busy with my church responsiblities (craft day was this past Saturday. I found planning and executing it to be very time intensive and exhausting), photo shoots (it is family photo time again :), and mom duties. NEVER a dull moment. I take moments as I get them... which isn't very often. Might be why it has taken me 2 months to get this post up?!

There it is...a "quick" recap of our past few months. Just for you mom! I think we are up-to-date now:)