We had the cutest little babe deliver our tree to us this year! Jk-ing. Since my giant 14 ft tree is packed away in Utah (and it would not even come close to fitting in our apartment right now) we went to the tree lot and picked out our tiny Charlie Brown Christmas tree.  I didn't have any decorations so I put it in a cute little brown wicker basket and it was perfect. 

This is Halloween

It may take some convincing for Tenley, but I'm totally all for converting to the pumpkin painting tradition instead of pumpkin carving.  Just like every other activity I do with this crazy, she was only interested in painting for about 2 minutes....ok let's be honest, it was more like 30 seconds. But look at that masterpiece! Makes my momma heart proud.  

Later when Dave got home from work we took our little Dalmatian trick-or-treating.  

 She was only brave enough to actually make it all the way up to 3 doors, but she was absolutely thrilled with those 3 pieces of candy!

We live in such a fun neighborhood right now. So many homes were decorated all spooky and there were seriously hundreds of trick-or-treaters.  It was fun to watch Tenley observe all that was going on. She kept looking at my hair and giving me this funny look.  I tried to teach her to say "trick-or-treat" but I failed. However, she was blowing kisses and saying "baahy" [her southern version of goodbye] to everyone who walked passed us. 

Getting a good view and soaking it all in.  I'd like to put this night on repeat a few times. It was so much fun!

Pumpkin Patching

 I took T to the McGrath's Brother's Great Pacific Pumpkin Patch and she had so much fun running around and getting covered in dirt. I think her favorite part was all the rocks.  This child is obsessed with rocks. Everywhere we go, she has to pick up a rock and carry it with her. I laugh because I was such a rock collector growing up as well. I even had one of those super awesome rock tumbler polishers. When my parents would go on a trip, I would make them bring me back a rock as a souvenir. Super strange I know, but it appears that "rock obsessions" are genetic. I mean, they must be. While Tenners baby may not look a thing like her momma, she is totally her mommas girl. 

Utah Weekend

I have been missing my Utah sooooo much lately.  I live for colder weather....not freezing cold weather, just perfect Utah fall weather.  Lucky for me, BYU had a home game last weekend, so of course we had to go! Tenners has been on so many airplane trips now I lost count how many times its been, and she is usually so easy and wonderful. This time, not so much. Let's just say it was a very long hour and 20 minutes and we were all really happy to land in Utah (including the lady in front of us who glared at Dave in 5 minute intervals the entire flight.) 

Our first stop was for food and we of course chose Cafe Rio. Mmmmmmm. Later we bundled up and headed to the BYU football game and on the way made a little pit stop at Swig and I devoured an entire sugar cookie.  I was off to a good start on my mission to enjoy as much yummy Utah food as I could in our short 2 day trip.

Good thing we took this picture before the entire BYU team got injured including Taysom Hill who is out for the season.  Needless to say, the Cougars lost and the rest of their football season seems a bit hopeless with all the injuries that happened from this one game. 

The next day we had a few things to take care of at our house.  I played with Tenley outside while Dave did some yard work. It felt so strange being at our house and knowing someone else was living inside.  Weird.  I think I'm still trying to wrap my head around this move to California being more permanent. 

After we left our house, we went to Park City and I was in heaven admiring all the pretty colors of fall on our drive up the canyon.  We ate at Baja Cantina and walked around Park City Mountain Resort. 

It was such a perfect weekend and I'm happy I was able to get my "Fall fix."  Utah still feels like home to me and I think it always will. 

Widows of Fall

Football season has officially begun, which means I'm a widow on Monday night, Saturday and Sunday night.  I'm kidding, sort of.  This weekend BYU plays University of Texas and Dave went to Texas with his dad to cheer on the Cougs.  I'm so glad he got to be there to watch BYU dominate the Longhorns!  

I always get crazy productive when Dave leaves town so we got ready and headed out for a long day of shopping. (Not the Nordstrom kind of shopping though. Boo.)  First things first....food.  I am a cranky lady when I am hungry and my sweet little Tenners definitely got that same trait from me.  A quick stop at In-N-Out and we are both so much nicer to each other. 

Next stop, Home Depot.  I have been wanting to re-paint our kitchen table and chairs FOREVER and I deduced this would be the perfect weekend.  Everything is a phone to her lately, so she "talked" on the paintbrush the entire time we were in the store. I should quit buying toys. 

Finally we made our way to Target.  Because I figured with a newly painted table, I would want to add a rug, and some pillows and some storage.  This is normal, right?!  

Most days she is just a dreamboat and makes me want to have 10 more just like her.  She was getting a bit restless by now, but she just laid her pretty little head on these pillows until we left.  Now home for nap time while I attempt to paint. 

Kelli & Jason Wedding

My little sister is now Mrs. Larson! 

It feels like just yesterday we were taking this picture on my wedding day. Kelli was such a beautiful bride. 

Kelli & Jason had their luncheon at Heritage Gardens, which is where Dave and I had our reception. It was fun reminiscing of our wedding day almost 6 years ago!

Tenley was loving her dress and was dancing and twirling all day long.

So glad Dave could join us for the temple sealing and luncheon.  He's my hard working man and had to get on a plane back to California after the luncheon. 

Later that day, we went to Heber for their reception. T's favorite part was the Cold Stone ice cream.

Logan Temple

I can't believe my little sister is about to get married! I'm so lucky I was able to come to Utah for a few weeks before her wedding.  Today we drove up to Logan so she could take out her endowments and have all my grandparents and relatives there.  It was such a special day.

Growing up in Cache Valley for 16 years, I've always loved the Logan temple. 

I love the feelings of peace and clarity I feel within these walls.