Pumpkin Patch

Happy Halloween!

Enjoy some pictures from our trip to Pumpkinland —

a charming little pumpkin patch that might just become a yearly tradition.

(Thanks for sharing your pics, Dayna!)

 Love that man, and love that handsome little boy.

Seriously. If I were a kidnapper, I'd have my eye on him.

(Lucky for you, Dayna, I'm not.)

We came away with a pumpkin for everyone in our little family and a sugar pumpkin, which I made this coconut pumpkin soup with. Yum.

After Pumpkinland, we went to Kneaders for lunch. It is my favorite lunch spot ever. It also sells my favorite dessert ever — the French pastry "Napoleon." Delish.  

It was so fun see Jayne and Ellie run around and have fun together!

All dressed up and nowhere to go . . . yet

This little cupcake is excited about Halloween.

Leave it up to her Halloween-loving dad to teach her all about trick-or-treating.

Check it out:

(sorry it's sidewise.)

We can't wait for all the Halloween festivities that are starting this week!

Happy Birthday, Clay!

Ellie sang "Happy Birthday" to Clay, albeit distracted by opening his presents and pretending like she was going to school (not sure where she picked that up.)

Clay and I celebrated with a yummy dinner at Rodizio and the rare luxury of going to a movie.

We had some friends over for soup and cake and ice cream.

(Ben and Mollie, Micah and Rachel, Jessie and Danny and Jeff came too.)

Ellie and Jayne had a blast together running around screaming (their favorite) and playing hide and seek in the pantry.

These two cuties had fun playing together too. Aren't they adroable?

Happy 28th, Clay! You are loved!

Pullin' a Provo

My little sister, Haley, who is at UVU right now, introduced me to the above phrase when she jokingly said she and a boy she's dating are going to have their first kiss at the altar.

I've been "Pullin' a Provo" for the past 10 years. But the other night, Clay and I pulled one big time when we finally hiked the Y for the first time after these 10 years of living here!

Haley stayed with Ellie and we headed up the mountain at 8:30 pm.

You didn't think we forgot our headlamps, now did you?

I know, I know. We look like major nerds. We embraced the nerdiness with our awkward expressions.

Sittin' on the Y at the end of a very steep hike

I felt very accomplished after checking "Hike the Y" off of our eternal to-do in Provo list.

I highly recommend hiking it at night. The view as you hike and especially one you reach the top is pretty incredible.

Kinkle, Kinkle.

One day, Ellie brought this tire pressure guage up to me and asked me to sing a song. Ever since, she has started using it as a microphone. I don't know how she learned that, but we kind of love it. Here she is singing "Twinkle, Twinkle." ("Kinkle, Kinkle," according to Ellie.) 

There are a couple of other things she has started doing that have cracked me up:

• The other day she and I were driving to Hobby Lobby and I let out a frustrated "Why?" in regards to the random traffic. Ellie piped up and said, "Don't freak out, mommy." She has never said that before! I finally figured out where she got that little phrase: Tangled. Rapunzel says it multiple times to Flynn when she is showing him her magical hair powers.
• She picks something up like shoes or a bag and says, "Bye mom, I'm goin to school!" This girl is going to love it when Kindergarten rolls around.
• She says, "Mommy, (or daddy) you're the BEST!" (screaming BEST pretty much at the top of her lungs.)

It is so fun to see what this girl comes up with every day.

Mom stuff.

Oh, how we love this little nugget.

But the last couple of days, she has decided naps are not for her. We call her No-nap McGee.

This is the girl who never puts up a fight for bedtime or naps and sometimes asks for them.

I mean, she does a happy dance when we put her pajamas on.

When I put her down yesterday and the day before, she went down easily (as usual) but ended up talking in her crib for an hour and eventually crying for me. I knew the naps weren't going to happen, so I got her out and we went on with our day.

Of course this is the week I committed to take on more work than usual.

I love to play with my little girl, but I cherish those two hours of time to myself. Even if I have to spend both of them working, I at least get a little break from being the constant entertainer of a lively toddler (Which is so fun, don't get me wrong. Just tiring at times.)

This talk and this book have helped me have more patience and gratitude for my precious baby—napless as she may be right now. It really is a small thing compared to the blessing she is in my life.

Oh, and I refuse to think this is actually the end of naps. 

It is just a phase. 

I credit several things for this phase: The change of seasons and daylight? The colds we have been battling? All of the new things she is learning?

I have been writing this post while Ellie talks to herself in her crib, but now she is quiet ... no joke! 

I think I may have just regained my sanity. 

I'll keep you posted. (Pun intended.) 

And here's another picture just for kicks.

Ellie miraculously let me take the curling iron to her pigtails, so I thought it was a photoworthy occasion.
And yes, we match. I'm cheesy like that sometimes.

Beaches.

I have been having vacation withdrawl.

Clay and I just got back from Florida and I fell in love with the place.

As in, I would really like to move there.

The weather reminded me of being in Australia and that made me happy.

The beach made me forget all of my troubles.

{I wrote about my addiction to vacation here on page 4.}

Clay was in Florida on a 9-day business trip and his boss kindly flew me out to meet him for a few days.

Ellie stayed with my mom, so it was just the two of us.

Get ready for some extra large pictures—I had to make them big enough for the captions to be visible.