Jilly Bean

We don't exactly have autumn weather here. When it finally cools down, it's in the 90s. So I took my kids up to Flagstaff for some fall weather over a long weekend.

Our nature walk in the crisp air was so great! It helps that Uncle Neal plants crystals in his rock bed. My sweet aunt and uncle let us stay at their house. They were out of town and we missed playing with them. Carter was particularly bummed that Grandpa Neal wouldn't be there.

Gathering leaves, sticks, rocks, pine cones, and the like.

Cuteness!

Carter wouldn't smile for a picture. So I said something silly like, "There's a booger on your earlobe" and it got him smiling.

It snowed!!!! It was only a very tiny bit, and it melted when it touched the ground, but to us that was pretty darn exciting!

Hazy's first fall nature walk.

Lily sat down with a book, a mug of hot chocolate, and she was a happy girl on a cold afternoon. My daughter is just like me! She's a complete bookworm! I would read as much as she does, if I could. But I can't, because mommies have a lot of work to do. She's read over 2,000 pages for her school's read-a-thon in the last 5 weeks!

Carter was happy on this cold afternoon too: building for his vehicles. He played trains and cars all afternoon.

Hooray for long weekend trips!

We went sledding with our friends, Andy and Andrea last week. It was so much fun! This is the first time the kids have ever been sledding (except for when Lily was a baby) and they loved it!


Andy and Lily are just about to go over a steep little ridge. Look at the apprehensive expression on her face.

Then they're over the edge and Lily realizes it's just plain old fun!

Cutest snow baby! I love babies bundled up in puffy snowsuits. Hazy loved being outside in the fresh air. She enjoyed seeing birds flying around and seeing the tree branches move in the wind.

Andrea played a lot with Hazel.

Aaron and Andy became friends in the first grade. I think it's so cool that they're still close.

Carter's been dying to do this for months! He's been practicing at home: grass angels, carpet angels, rock angels (just kidding!).

The adult to child ratio (4:3) was perfect for a day in the snow! I could handle the extra help more often! My kids love how Andy and Andrea play with them and teach them.

Andy and the kids made a snow man.

On our afternoon walk. Carter loved throwing snowballs at everyone!!

I love that we live in the desert, but in less than two hours' time we can be in the snow. It's fabulous! We loved the snow trip and the fun with friends! As a side, I didn't take any of these photos. They were all captured by Andy, Andrea, and Aaron. I think they got some incredible pictures that weekend.

More of Awesome October. Here are a few pictures that I loved. My Grandma and Pops are so dear to me. It was special for us to spend an afternoon with them.

Papa read the coolest construction book to Carter.

Hazel and her little cousin Ian.

I love BYU! It's my alma mater. I learned so much there, in the classroom and out. I had so much fun with friends there. I met the love of my life there. I am utterly grateful for the time I spent at BYU. I would love for my kids to have similar experiences there as young adults. And so, I've started early to instill a love of BYU in their young hearts.

Whenever we go to Utah we spend a day at BYU: eating ice cream at the Creamery, bowling in the Games Center, getting a souvenir from the BYU Bookstore, hunting animals in the Bean Museum, listening to the carillon bells, and walking around campus. I always point out where I lived as a freshman, including the freezing cold concrete outside that their daddy and I sat on late at night, talking and sipping hot chocolate. I love that place and want them to love it too. How can they not when it includes BYU ice cream and chocolate milk??

I came across these ferocious cougars in the Bookstore. I stayed far away from the second one...it was particularly wild. They both calmed down, however, after I took them to the candy counter and let them choose some candy.

On this trip we went somewhere new: we meandered through the HFAC and briefly enjoyed some exhibits in the Museum of Art. The memories came swarming back to me as I walked through those buildings. (The MOA got me all lovey dovey and missing Aaron because we used to go on dates there all the time.) Those buildings smell exactly the same as they did 10 years ago!

I wanted our day at BYU to be perfect, but it was much more like the above picture. :)

I told the kids about the amazing library. They thought it was so cool that they were walking on the sidewalk, and there were people under them studying in the library! Carter was enthralled by the sidewalk sweeper pictured above. He thought it was so dang cool!! I told him that when he grows up and comes to BYU, he can get a job on the maintenance crew and drive one of those sidewalk sweepers. He was in heaven. He looks forward to that day!

Like I said, I'm instilling the love of BYU young. Isn't it great?

I love seeing so many cousins together! We live far from these guys and miss them so much! Four of these boys belong to my big brother, Jaren. The other little guy belongs to my little brother, Jordan. I adore this picture because it's all kids and babies, no grown ups. It's fun to see the little kids growing up enough to help take care of the babies.

Run!

One little person cried in the maze because we kept hitting dead ends and he thought we were lost. Poor kid.

The unnamed little person was relieved when we saw the exit sign, and absolutely ecstatic to see a huge excavator dumping dirt onto a conveyor next to the maze!

As soon as we got home from Flagstaff, the kids and I turned around and headed up to Utah for my Grandpa Clark's funeral. It's sad for those of us left behind, but Grandpa was ready to move on. While we miss Grandpa, his funeral provided the opportunity to get together with lots of family. I loved seeing my Grandma Clark, my dad, aunts and uncles, cousins and their cute kids. I absolutely loved the time with my family. It was a short trip and there was not enough time with them all!


I love this picture of my dad (far right) and his siblings. He's the oldest of the six. His sisters are the wee babes. The other boys are somewhere in between.

This picture makes me smile!! All of my dad's kids (5 boys and 3 girls) were able to come for the funeral except one. I loved being with my siblings, even though it was so quick. I wish I'd had more time to spend with them.

A family funeral gathering isn't complete without a funny face by J.J.

This saddle belonged to my great grandpa. When my grandpa inherited it, he put it on this big old spring for the kids to ride. It is so much fun. My grandma brought it to the family luncheon and the great grandkids were lined up for this thing!!

Our fun friends invited us up to enjoy the cool air in Flag. Our goal was to see leaves changing colors and teach our kids about autumn, since we don't really have one here. We were a little early for the leaves, most were green, but we caught sight of a few colored ones. We enjoyed the cool air and the company of our friends.

Andy and Andrea took us on a fun hike.

Lily was a great little hiker and found lots of leaves, sticks, and pine cones to bring home.


Carter had some technical difficulties...relieving himself in the great outdoors proved a little challenging. :) But he sure is cute anyway!