Snapshots in Autumn

The kids were angels for me and posed for some pictures up Maple Canyon at Whiting Campground. It was a beautiful day to capture a moment in time.

Pumpkin Patch

As if the fire station wasn't enough fun, the preschool next headed over to Mapleton's pumpkin patch & corn maze. Sorry about the weird colors. My camera was on the wrong setting.

Fire Station

Ana's preschool went to the Springville Fire Station yesterday. Everyone got a turn to pull the lever on the hose. Ana's an expert because she went to Firefighter Dave Chase's fire station last week and did the same thing!

Young Women's Choir

I got this picture of the Young Women's choir off the Church website. It's kind of crummy because it's captured from a video file. However, for those who missed conference, here's an idea of what Meili experienced last week in the Conference Center, as one of about 300 LDS girls selected to sing from this area. They are standing just below the organ pipes, where the Mormon Tabernacle Choir usually stands. The Conference Center holds about 28,000 people and the accoustics are amazing.

Leaving for Conference

Last Saturday, Meili sang in a Young Women's choir at General Conference. Here she is as I dropped her off to catch a ride up to Salt Lake--five hours early. Daryl, Eliah and I had tickets for the session so we drove up later and got in to hear them sing. They sounded so beautiful. What a great experience.

Mirror Image

Meili snapped this picture of herself with my camera and I was happy to find it. I've always loved her in gray. Well, actually, I love her in anything.

Not So Tasty

I served Ana an English muffin for breakfast this morning. After one bite, she pushed it aside and said, "This is not tasty to me."

Pretty in Pink

Ana went to preschool today and looked so cute I just had to take her picture. She's holding her favorite puzzle in the first one.

Snow Angels

Snow in September!

Ana dressed herself for this surprise snowstorm. She had the boots and gloves on before I even knew it, and she dismissed my suggestion that she wear long pants. Lincoln came by just in time to play outside for a couple minutes. Ana just loves to stand and watch the snow fall around her.

Lounging

I took this picture of Ana the other day. Can't remember what she was doing, but she looks happy about it.

Lonely French Fries

We went out to dinner tonight and Daryl shared two French fries with Ana. She held one in each hand and said, "They want ketchup."

Overheated

Feeling quite confident and full of himself, Eliah bragged recently, "I'm so hot!" Ana looked over at him and sympathetically said, "Take your shirt off, Ya."

Sore Throat

Ana said this a few days ago:
"I talked so much my throat is coming out."

Fault-Line Pie

Meili took 3rd place for her chocolate pecan brownie pie. She calls it Fault-Line Pie because the top tends to collapse a little as if there's been an earthquake. It's so yummy, and she made it all herself!

Harvest Festival

Here's Ana at a petting zoo that was part of last Friday's stake Harvest Festival. Feeding the goat was fun, but it made her nervous. She loved Myrtle the Turtle!

Ana Dances (video)

http://youtu.be/Y87Xk5NYsmg

Dance Outfit

Ana started her dance class today. Adorable!

Casual Family Picture

Ana needs to take a family picture to her preschool, which starts on Thursday, so we had Katie take this one after our Labor Day dinner extravaganza. Poor Spook!

Makeover

I left to get my hair cut and came back to find Meili and Jessica giving Ana a makeover. (Look closely. She's wearing lipstick.) They even taught her this glamorous pose.

Girls Night Out

Meili and I attended the entirely sold-out Josh Groban concert in Salt Lake City last night. It was fabulous! Here she is just minutes before Josh came out and personally serenaded us for two hours. I've been rethinking my Zac Efron crush.

Mowing Katie's Lawn

Happy Birthday, Katie

We surprised Katie and took her to a movie with "Mystery Guest" Debbie. (Here's a shot of Meili on the first day of school.)

Mr. Cool's 1st Day of School

Here's Eliah looking sooo excited to be going back to school on Tuesday. He has a cute teacher and lots of friends in his class, so it should be a great year. Meili's school picture day is today and she left this morning looking gorgeous. I'll snap her pic when she gets home.

Last Summer Party

School starts next Tuesday, and tonight was the last big event of summer -- the premiere of High School Musical 2, for those of you without tweens. Eliah made this cake with just a little help from me and Meili. So that nothing could interrupt the show, Daryl and I took Ana to the park and then around the corner to Polar King for a cheeseburger. The kids had a blast on their own, and Ana got to have a special outing.

Ana's Thinking Arby's

Ana with her cup of water at Arby's restaurant last week. She's so excited to start preschool and a dance class in a couple weeks.

Speaking Her Mind

I was rushing through a bedtime story for Ana tonight, paraphrasing the story (very badly) instead of actually reading the words. I got to the last page and hastily finished, saying, "And the little girl made a beautiful picture for her grandpa. The end." Then I set the book down and turned to put Ana into bed. Well, she went straight after the book, tossed it back at me, and firmly stated, "That wasn't good enough. Try it again!"

Also . . . the cat threw up on the kitchen floor this afternoon. After I'd cleaned up the mess, Ana reflected, "That was the most disgusting thing I have ever seen in my life!"