..8 is great..

ashlan turned 8, and was baptized on saturday. we are so proud of the sweet young lady she is becoming. we were thrilled to have nandy & papa, aunt mimi, reagan and nellie here for her special day. (we missed you Heather and Hoyt)

my mom made her dress.

malorie, nellie, ashlan & reagan

..inseparable..

we had so much fun surprising reagan! these two cousins have so much fun together. i love to listen to them play...wish we lived closer.

..surprise trip to arizona..

the end of october i surprised the girls with a trip to arizona for reagan's baptism. the girls were in heaven when we took them to get "manis and pedis!"

the ladies that worked there were sooo cute with the girls. they made sure all nails and toes looked perfect!

..the red barn ..

fall is not complete without a trip to the pumpkin patch.

we met the cousins at South Ridge Farms in Santaquin,

and took a wagon ride out

to the pumpkin patch to select our pumpkins.

(we like to call it the "red barn." it's a fabulous place. i highly recommend it)

cousins and aunt heidi waiting for our wagon ride

pumpkins, just waiting to be selected

the girls figuring out how much their pumpkin is going to cost

back on the wagon with our carefully selected pumpkins.
Thank you red barn, for a wonderful afternoon!

..loving fall..

this is our first fall back in UT after being in reno for the last 11 yrs. we have been in awe at the amazing colors. the mountains are glowing. we are loving it. (winter will be a different story!)

i think i need a new camera. these pictures don't do it justice.

..the property..

labor day weekend matt and i packed up the kids and went camping at "the property." (matt, his brothers and dad purchased 3 acres up mt. pleasant canyon). matt's dad has spent a lot of time up there building, clearing and making it a great camping spot. i had never been up there and the girls had never been camping before so it was the perfect time to go, before the weather turned too cold. here is our weekend in pictures.

malorie's face says it all!

..sundance..

while my parents were here visiting, uncle mitch wanted us all to go to sundance and ride the ski lift. it's been a lot of years since we have been up there, the views were breathtaking.

we are loving being so close to the beautiful utah mountains.

you can still see a patch of snow

family at the top

matt and the girls. malorie was a little freaked out getting on and off the lift, but we managed to get a smile out of her once she calmed down!

mitch and mason, mom and dad. mom was a good sport also, she is not a fan of heights! thanks uncle mitch, we had a great time!

..new home, salem, utah..

it's not camella park dr, but it is our home for now! it is starting to feel more like home instead of a vacation in someone elses house. we love that it is in a cul-de-sac, and the school is just down the street and around the corner. the boys love that our back yard is literally the ball fields! here is a little tour...


front view...loving the long driveway and the mature landscaping

family room...this is the room you walk into from the front door. currently not loving that, but i can live with it! loving the wood floors, but not the moose sconces! (they are so not me, i am currently trying to find replacements for them!) I am also looking for a big rug that we can put down in here, because the ceilings are vaulted and with the wood floors it is soooo noisy...everything echoes!

kitchen...the kids are loving the built in chairs. they each have their designated seat. (and they swivel which makes them even cooler!) i had another view of the kitchen, so you could see my pantry but somehow it disappeared. not sure how that happened.

girls room...it was nice to have it painted with a color that already matched their bedding. it is just the opposite of what they had in reno!

another view of the girls room.

this is my favorite room in the entire house...the storage room! don't you just love it! it is a little disorganized right now, because we just kind of threw things in here so they wouldn't be piled up in the garage. my next project is to organize it, and fill it with wonderful #10 cans for food storage! now i have no excuses for not having the room or a place for food storage! (it keeps going around the corner!!!)

another great plus is the finished basement, with another small kitchen. i have designated this as my canning kitchen. it still needs a stove, and there is space for a small fridge under the counter. the boys rooms are off to the right, they are still a work in progress, therefore no pics! there is also another half bath on the opposite side, with 2 more small storage rooms under the stairs.

this is matt's favorite room. eventually it will be the "theater room." if you have any great ideas as far as decor goes, i'm open for suggestions! (the door you see on the left leads to the awesome storage room)

this is our back yard...kind of small but who needs a bigger yard when you have the ball fields right behind you...

we even have our own private steps that lead to the fields! i'm sure with time we will get tired of the bright lights and noise from baseball, soccer, and flag football games, but for now i am loving the idea of not having to drive to baseball games! mason is already on a little accelerated team and this is where he will be playing...he has a double header tonight and i don't have to drive him there!!! yeah for me :)

hope you enjoyed a little tour of our home. if you are ever in the area and need a place to stay, mi casa es su casa!

..camella park dr..

we couldn't have picked better neighbors in Reno. every summer evening you would find us sitting out in front of one of our homes (usually Mike and Wendy's because they have all the latest and greatest toys!) watching the kids play while the adults visited. before we moved they had a barbecue for us. a lot of great memories were made on camella park dr...it was really hard to say good-bye...

lainey, brandon, lucas, jack, malorie, audrey, ashlan, holly, trevor, jack, mason, dallin, dustin

don, steve, mike, amy, john, loraine, matt, allison, laura, wendy, steve, julie

the girly girls...holly, ahslan & audrey

best buds...jack & mason

..almost an update..

just sat down to update my blog with some new pics. of the kids on their first day of school and of our new home, but i can't seem to find the device i use to transfer pictures from my camera to the computer...not quite sure what box it's in. i will keep looking and i promise pictures soon for those of you who still get on my blog in hopes that there will be a new post! stay tuned for pictures...

in the meantime, we are pretty well settled. the boys are enjoying school and their teachers. the girls struggled a little more. wednesday was their first day of school and they came home very excited, but when it was time for bed they both started crying because they missed their old school and friends, and didn't want to go to school any more. ashlan is getting better, but malorie still struggles in the morning, but comes home happy after school. we are all trying to keep positive attitudes and know that it will get better with time.