October

 For conference weekend we took a pause between sessions and had a beautiful hike up Crimson Trail in Logan Canyon.

 This event likely took place in September, but we'll pretend it was October, close enough.  Andy and Chelsea came up and we had a great time biking around Utah State and barbecuing with the Jensens.

Emma and Lydia's favorite reward....to drive around while standing through the sun roof.  I will say that we only do it in neighborhoods, try to minimize the danger.  When I was little we could have got away with driving like this down the highway.

Oh, ya know, we had some spare time so we assembled this little scene for the enjoyment of those who were driving by.  

I got to see this bestie of mine three times this month, that's a lot for a friend who doesn't live in the same county as me.  Here we took our families out for pizza at the Ogden airport.  The yummiest BBQ chicken pizza I've ever had!

SOMETIMES I actually do Lydia's hair. 

Mostly I just curl it and leave her hair down.  I mean look at this little fluff ball!

Saturday morning muffins

Emma got to have two sleep overs with her bestie as well.  I just love these two girls together!

We went to Ogden and let the girls enjoy some Disney princess time at a Smith's marketplace promotion. 

I volunteered for Lydia's school field trip to the Art Center on Utah State Campus.  We brought butterfly grape snacks, rode the bus, and had fun meeting up with Ryan after his classes. 

Check out Lydia's face in this top photo.  It's every expression that playing in the leaves should be. 

I LOVE volunteering in Emma's classroom on Mondays and then sticking around to join she and her friends for lunch.  I hope she never outgrows wanting to show me off to her friends. 

Let me just say that our backyard is totally awesome.  I mean really, a buck that lives in our backyard field, come on now, doesn't get much better. 

Bundy is going for the beard.  Heaven help me!!  I'm CRAZY about this guy, and I don't HATE the beard, but that's about the nicest thing I can say about it.  

I decided to try something new for Halloween....re-purpose one of the girl's dolls.  Weeeellll, this doll now totally freaks me out, I kind of wish I would have never created her.  Creepy huh?

The Skeen's annual Halloween party, the photos pretty much speak for themselves. Annie outdid herself once again. 

We were in charge of a science experiment, this is what Ry whipped up.  He calls them Boo Bubbles.  They're dry ice filled soap bubbles.  Pretty fantastic if you ask me :)

Look at this man of mine.  I think this costume is sexier than a fireman's or doctor scrubs.  It takes a real man to dress up like a clown for the delight of his little girls.  

The Boo Bubbles before and after.  You have to wear gloves or else the oil on your skin will pop the soap layer. 

Also, I adore my mom.  I mean look at her!!  She really let herself get into Halloween, even when she looks this frightening.  I was a last minute throw together of Penelope from Wreck it Ralph. 

My dad did his spook alley.  It truly was disturbing.  The flash on my camera makes it not seem so creepy, but even as an adult I didn't want to enter.  We made everyone enter one at a time to add to the effect.  Lydia refused and stayed snuggled up with her new Uncle Mike, who I think just might be her biggest fan, and that's saying something. 

 Door to door trick or treating inside the house.  Oh, and that coffin on the bottom right, yep, just something Papa Trace threw together for the party.  Yes.  He is as awesome as they come.

Annie's science experiment had the kids putting mentos in coke liters and then shooting them off the balcony to the kids who were standing below in rain parkas.  A definite hit!

This whole theme this year for our Halloween costumes started because we already had the Alice costume from four years ago when Emma went as Alice and Lydia as the Cheshire Cat. 

 This time I had to jazz it up and then having us all coordinate just got the better of me.  Ryan and I are Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum for the Tim Burton version of Alice in Wonderland. 

  

 You know how America's Next Top Model always says "And here is your best shot."  That's what comes to mind when I see the above and below photo of the girls. 

 

Although the above photos are my favorite, I couldn't resist adding all of the following below. 

What I adore about my girls and that I definitely don't take for granted, is at the end of a long photo shoot I can still get them to be happy and playful as they are in this photo below.  This is the last one I snapped for the day. 

This is just a little example of the work and editing that goes into creating a final result.

Check out this comparison of our little Alice girls.  Emma was 3 years old and Lydia is 4.  We would have done this theme last year, but shockingly (not really) Lydia was too small to fit this costume. 

So we carved pumpkins one night.  I let the family do the carving since I learned a few years ago that pumpkin doesn't make everyone break out in hives, just me.  I need to draw special attention to Bundy's pumpkin this year.  I mean check out that detail!  We have loved watching the Breaking Bad series and are crushed that it's over.

 I let Emma invite some of the neighbor girls over for a last minute Halloween Party.  I love all of these little girls.  They have so much fun together.  They all live within biking distance of one another and are all in our ward. 

 I let Lydia invite her best friend/only friend Jaycee to the party as well.  I thought the two girls would love to get in on the older girl's activities, but they happily played by themselves in the other room.

Above: Lydia's preschool Halloween party.  We did the Boo Bubbles here too, another hit!

 We took Sophie Trick or Treating with us and loved having her join us.  Don't the little girls look like they could be off to a play or something?  Their cute coats really cover up what their costumes are.

Work at B-Dubs this fall season has been super busy which has made me some great money.  

Just a few of the fall decorations going on in our house this season. 

September

 We started this month off by traveling under a rainbow, that really did happen.  We left the girls with my mom and the Jensens and drove to Fort Collins to stay with Kylee and Brody.  The drive was amazing, not having to change movies, get treats, make potty stops.  Plus I got to lay down, with a pillow and blanket in the back seat and nap for three hours, I was in heaven!!

 We had the BEST time visiting the Hatches.  They showed us such a great time and we seriously could never get sick of them, ever! The food was amazing.  Each restaurant totally unique and delicious.

 We LOVED the culture of the city.  We happened to be there for the Tour de Fat.  It's a bike parade where people dress up all sorts of cray cray. 

 Check out all these bikes!!  I would LOVE to live in a biking city, love it!!

 After the parade we went over to the little festival they had and I checked off a pinterest bucket list with a life size Jenga.

We spent the rest of the weekend biking, hiking, visiting, eating out, watching movies, and staying up really late talking.  I can't believe they've lived here for two years and this is our first time visiting.  We definitely hope to make it a much more common destination for us, especially sans kids ;) Kylee is my cousin who is 7 years younger than me but she has always been my closest cousin, even as a young girl I always wanted a little sister, so I just took her on as that and have seen it all the way through into adulthood.  It really works out for me since she doesn't have a big sister, besides me that is. We could totally be sisters, I mean look at our hair, you can't even tell who's it is!!

 I would like you to take notice of Bundy's beard, I believe this is the trip where he decided not to shave it anymore.  Heaven help me!

 Playing games and just being our true selves was my favorite part of this trip.  The conversations and connection is just so deep and so genuine. 

We returned home to help little Miss Lydia get ready for her first day of school.  Here she is waiting for her Father's Blessing that she has seen Emma have all these years.

 

We made some yummy cupcakes for her teacher....

She wanted to have her photo right where Emma always has hers.  Then she was off.  No tears (from either one of us luckily) and just a bright shiny smile.

My favorite activity of the month (besides seeing the Hatches) was when we drove up to Porcupine dam to see the salmon spawn.  Emma encouraged/begged all of us to get in the river and to try to catch the fish with our bare hands.  They were sooooooo fast!!!  Except for the ones that had just laid their eggs as their last act on Earth, they were on their way out and we were much more easily able to catch those.  It was the best activity we've had to date.  We did get the Rzr stuck in the mud for 2+ hours, but all ended well.  I seriously can't wait to do this again next year!!

 Meanwhile, Emma enjoys biking to school whenever the weather permits, and I enjoy picking her up and hearing about her day.  Look at that face, she is even sweeter than she looks.  Never a sassy word out of her mouth and obedient to a fault.

Lydia is LOVING pre-school.  It's right down the street from my Aunt Lee so she likes to walk or ride her bike from Lee's house to school, ya know, like Emma does.  

We had a beautiful RZR ride over Avon back into Liberty where we met the Tippings and their twins for some foil dinners.  Such a beautiful state we live in!!

 And so the medical problems begin.  Above the girls are having their teeth cleaned at our new Pediatric dentist.  Ummmmmm, movies in the ceiling?  Are you kidding me?  Kids these days just don't know how good they have it!  The above photo I found out the girls are missing their adult lateral incissors....can you say Cha Ching!!!  Below was Lydia's well child visit where we started the process of a day that we have always known was coming, she would need to have her tonsils and adenoids removed.  Fun.

Work stays busy with the Football season in full swing.  And although I don't love admitting I am a 32 year old bar tender, I have no shame in the amount of money I make, espcially for Cache Valley. 

 I am seriously in love with this little girl...IN LOVE!!!

For as sweet as she is, and I mean sweet, like dripping with sugar.  She snuggles constantly, can't bare the thought of disapointing anyone, and looks right into your little heart when she smiles at you.  With all that though, this girl's go-to pose is always a sassy super model pose, where does she get it form?!!  Seriously, I don't have Hollywood magazines lying around, it's a strict rule I have.  I don't watch E! or any other ridiculous slutty reality tv show.  It's Disney and the Food Network around here, and Survivor if the girls are lucky.  Kids I tell ya, kids!!

In my spare time, ya know, because I have so much of it, I wipped up this little necklace for the girls.  This might be a new favorite hobby of mine...it MIGHT be. 

Is there anything more memorable in childhood than School Picture Day?

 We LOVE the jump zone!!!

I don't know where this girl comes from.  She loves make-up, sparkles, jewelery, perfume, and anything fancy.  She completely cracks me up, but also worries me with her interest/obsession with beauty products.  She knows right where my mom and Lee keep their lipstick and perfume and will usually sneak off to find it before getting caught.

We closed out the month with many wonderful rainstorms and snuggles from Lydia's favorite blanky, Taggy.