Visit to Santa Monica & Harvesters

I was so happy that I was able to go early to Santa Monica with Rob 

to be with my friend Tesha as she delivered her sweet baby, 

Julian Jonathan on October 10th

On Saturday the 12th my mom and I took Rob and his buddy Jadon to the LA Zoo...

While we were at the zoo, the other two kids were at a pumpkin patch back in Utah with friends & I was sent texts of their fun time together...

Back to our SM adventure...

Rob had a sleepover at Grandma Debbie's with cousin Zeke

Out to IHOP for breakfast and then a local farmers market

Mom, Jenn, Rob and I went to play miniature golf and then a special visit to see Jenn's mom, Grandma Ray

Rob was so happy to hold Paige!

Jessy, Susan, & I went for a walk down to Starbucks and the beach with some of our kiddos

Marcus enjoying a great time in the Jacuzzi with his cousins

It was awesome to hear Markell preach his first Harvesters sermon...

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Marcus loves to hold Markell & Brandie's baby, Aliyah

And Allie couldn't wait to hold cousin Maggie, Adam & Bekah's adorable baby

We had the incredible opportunity to visit Josh's old house that most of his siblings and him grew up in!

The house is for sale and there was an open house on Jenn's birthday. So, after her birthday lunch celebration almost all of us were able to go & walk through it.
I've heard so many stories that happened here & I was so excited to be able to actually see it.

Rob discovered hand prints in the backyard.
My kids were all seeing who's uncle/aunt hand print theirs fit inside the best!

Bekah & Jessy inside their old bedroom

A sentimental visit...

Afterwards Marcus & Allie went off to play at Zeke & Lucy's

One last visit at church with Mrs. Luz and Carla before going back to Utah

Meet Mac

Isn't Mac cute?!? 
We were blessed to get Mac back in July when Markell and Brandie were so nice to give him to us. I had said many months before that if we were going to get another dog it would be a dachshund. 
And we got one! 
Allie absolutely loves to take care of him and he has been a fun addition to our house.
Thank you Markell and Brandie!
Mac is getting lots of love!

Stomp, Starbucks, and A Smile

Grandma Debbie blessed us all and took us to an amazing show on Saturday night called Stomp in celebration of Josh's birthday! 

The group of eight people made music with grocery bags, brooms, inner tubes, basketballs, buckets, grocery store shopping carts, lighters, their hands and feet, and even the kitchen sink!

You should have heard the music being made in our car after the show!

When Grandma is in town there is a long standing tradition to go to Starbucks everyday!

She lets everyone get what they want.

We made sure to have time to stop there before church on Sunday morning.

After we took Grandma to the airport everyone was feeling bummed. Marcus asked if anyone wanted to play catch with the football when we got home and I said I would. Marcus doubted my skills at first, but afterwards he happily said that I could be the quarterback anytime. 

Thanks Marcus ;)

Allie came out to join us in the front yard and it put such a smile on my face to see him stop to teach Allie how to throw a football and where to put her fingers. I wish I could take pictures of every single moment that I'm thankful for, but they happen so fast and often unexpectedly. 

I don't think I will ever get the image out of my head of him so kindly helping his little sister, encouraging her, and even taking it a little easy on her while we played so she would have fun.

Thank you for being such a terrific big brother, Marcus!

Fun and Games and Grandma Debbie

LOTS of things going on around here...

Thursday we started at the church for morning prayer

Allie's class had a field trip to the library

Picked up Grandma Debbie at the airport

Grandma and Allie went for dinner and shopping while six of us went to the UCLA vs. Utah football game to watch Jordan Payton play-a member of our mother church in CA.

It was a close game, but of course UCLA won!!!

(UCLA quarterback's grandma behind Danny)

(notice the lack of blue and gold in the stands--glad we could represent)

Jordan caught a touchdown pass right in front of us. 
It was incredible!

(images courtesy of the internet)

Thankfully the 40 degree weather held up until after the game and we walked forever to our car in the rain and snow. 

Which we weren't complaining at all about for we just won. 
It's all good when you win. 

Friday we had the privilege of going to the Utah vs. Washington State women's volleyball game to see another member of our church family play...Kate Sommer. She is an incredible athlete and so much fun to watch play. The Cougars came back after 2 sets to a tie breaking set in the end, but barely lost. So bummed! 

(Kate in the white shirt in the middle)

So great to see Kate and it was very sweet of her to hangout and talk with us after the game. 

We went to another great football game today as Marcus the Mighty Warrior took on another strong football team. They came back in the second half to win the game by won point! 
Go Marcus!

Where Did September Go?

Time has been flying by and I have not posted throughout September like I wish I could have. 
I thought I'd share a few things from the month...

Speaking of things flying by...earlier this month Josh learned to fly fish!

He was invited by one of his clients at the gym to go on an escorted day trip into the mountains to learn how to fly fish.

He was a success and became hooked ;)

 Grandma Jenn and I took Allie to a farmer's market and she got to go on a pony ride. She also LOVED looking at all the cute little animals there.

Every Saturday morning has been spent on the sidelines of a football field watching Marcus play football. His position got changed to inside middle linebacker. He loves football & he loves to hit!

Rob and Allie have been caught playing "In N Out" lately...they are getting pretty good at it. Marcus thinks one of the kids should work their when they get older so our family will get a discount. HaHa!

We like that thinking Marcus! Four more years for you!

This past Sunday morning the kids that I've been teaching on Sunday mornings performed in front of the whole church. I've been working on teaching them fun Christian children's songs. It filled me with such joy to hear from various parents that after my first class of teaching them that their kids couldn't stop singing them at home. 
There favorite was Pharaoh, Pharaoh! 
I'm so proud of all of them. They did such a great job!

Other things to mention...

Josh was blessed with the opportunity to preach a revival at our mother church in CA. It was the first time since we've lived in UT that the kids & I didn't go with him :( We missed seeing everyone, but we were happy the revival went well.

I've really been enjoying helping at Rob & Allie's school twice a week.

I'm back on the tennis court! Yay! I haven't hardly played at all since we moved to UT. I've realized how much I love (and have missed) the sport and look forward to more tennis days...even throughout the winter on indoor/covered courts!

A new women's Bible study has begun which I'm very excited about.

Josh took the boys to an area wide Men's Discipleship meeting.

We all went to Marcus' parent teacher meeting at his school and heard outstanding reports about him from his teachers.

We were given an electronic basketball set up for outside where it keeps your score and you can compete against another person. It's been getting a lot of use in the last few weeks!

Fall has begun and it's starting to cool down. 
Fall is one of my favorite seasons in UT!