Cute, not smart

Today we were at a store and Alexa was talking up a storm. Her favorite question is Why? The lady checking us out commented that Alexa speaks so well seemed very smart.

Alexa looked at her and said, "I'm not smart. I'm cute!"

Today while I walked away from the computer...

Ainsley dedcided to play a trick on me. She said it was October Fools Day.

She turned everything into Japanese, but had no idea how she did it or where the button was. I have to be honest. It took me a good 20 minutes to figure it out. I clicked on every button I could find until something worked.

She is always playing little jokes on us, that stinker!

Our Last Minute Trip to Utah

Last week we decided to take a trip to Utah to visit the family. We had the whole week off for Fall Break and we really miss having that non-existant-in-Arizona season. (Fall.) We stayed with Ryan's dad and his wife, Lori. They have a beautiful house and I was so excited to see this view from their front. It's been a really long time since I've seen trees change color. And the weather was so perfect. I could walk outside and breathe the cool air. Aaah. Heaven. We enjoyed our Sunday evening with Ryan's Dad, step mom, grandma, Aunt Leslie, Uncle Randy, Julee and a few of her kids.

(and again, I love the colors!)
Monday we met my little sis and headed to Mt. Timpanogas. It's always great to see her. We remembered to old days when our dad took us hiking up Timp.

I can remember getting to the top of the mountain as a child and my dad feeding us a snack and heading back down. I had no idea they did tours and you could actually ENTER the mtn.

So we did the tour. It was so interesting. Ainsley recently visited Kartchner Caverns with school, so she knew everything the ranger told us. It was fun to listen to her tell us about it. She has such a great memory.

That night we visited our friends from our first house in West Valley.

I can't believe these girls are so old!

Brandon got to eat under the table. Between that and the cute girls he was in heaven!

Tuesday we visited my friend Cassie and had a great time. (See the kids pics in the previous post.) Her kids are so nice, I kept thinking they were going to be tainted by my smart mouths.

Wednesday we visited all of Ryan's great grandparents. The Sims and the Phillips. My kids LOVE their Grandma Joy.

They are all smiles when we are there.

Look at that HUGE pumpkin Grandpa grew! The kids got to roam the pumpkin patch and pick tons of pumpkins and gourds to bring home. I love decorating the house with them.

(just a beautiful flower in their garden)

Children of the corn

Brandon was trying to look scared like he was lost in the corn field. :)

That night we met up with my brother Joe. (No pics???? What was I thinking!) He took us to the nickelcade. Holy Cow. The kids LOVED that!! Brandon's favorite part of the trip was spent at the Nickcade with Uncle Joe.

Megan, Ainsley, Emma, Malissa, Claire and Alexa

The girls decided to visit Gardner Village while the boys went fishing to Strawberry. I met Cassie and her girls there, along with Julee, Megan, the twins and Grandma Joy. Wow! It was almost as crowded as Disneyland.

We also got to visit with the Parkers. (Again, no pics????) It was fun to see how the kids just jumped right into their friendships when they were so young when we moved. Another great family we were so glad to visit.

We had a great trip and are so sad for school to start again tomorrow! :(

Thanks everyone for playing with us and letting us enjoy your beautiful weather with you!

Family Pics

While we were in Utah we visited my good friend Cassie who has a photography business. She did a mini session of my kids at the park in front of her house while we were waiting for dinner. I absolutely LOVE how they turned out! Click here if you would like to check out her photography blog.

Thanks Cass!

Pics just because...

Finished Living Room

Before: After:

Another project because I don't have enough

Ryan is ready to kill me. I get these inclinations to do something and quite often dive in head first. Then when I start drowning he has to rescue me. :)

But here's the story. My grandma had this room in her basement. Maybe your grandma had one, too? It was SO SCARY! The Black hole. Her laundry room had this freaky hole in the back and my cousin Aaron would draw pictures of the monster that lived in the hole. Then he would leave the pictures around the house for us to find when we visited. If we had to get anything from the basement, it was as fast as possible and usually included screaming.

Well, we have that room here. It is (ironically enough) also the laundry room. The kids won't walk in it. Alexa screams at the doorway and makes someone pick her up to cross it.

It's dirty. Filthy. There are moldy patches on the walls. The ugly linoleum is peeling all around. Except the part the previous owners GLUE GUNNED to the wall. There are random huge gaping holes all over the walls. And I was SICK of it.

(my first cut patch of drywall with bleach spray close at hand to kill the mold.)

So I started by cutting the moldy patches out of the drywall one day when Ryan was at work. I tried to cover it with a laundry basket but it didn't work. He noticed. Wasn't happy.

Then I went to Lowes and got a lesson on patching drywall and did it myself. :)

Then I started peeling back the floor. I couldn't stop. Moved the washer/dryer.

I am hoping to have a finished picture for you by the end of the week. Hopefully...

Hot Dogs soaked in Tuna Juice and liver

Ryan and Brandon decided to do some male bonding the other night. Fishing in the Dark. They caught these awesome catfish with bait of hot dogs soaked in tuna juice and liver. Nasty!

Brandon had a great time, though. He is already talking about going this Friday, too!