Family Pictures!!

We just got out family pictures taken last Tuesday by a friend of mine-Taryn Bushman. She is the same girl, that took Taylor's newborn pictures and I am soooo happy with how they turned out! I was seriously debating doing these, because I didn't want to have to think of what to wear, but deep down I knew that I REALLY, REALLY wanted a new family picture! I love fall so much too and we have had an awesome fall, so this also helped to inspire me to get these done! Anyway, here are a few of them...I LOVE MY FAMILY SOOOO MUCH!!!

P.S. I do love Taylor's drool so much! She has so much of it lately!

Just in case you want to check out some more of Taryn's work, her website is: www.tarynbushmanphotography.com.

Halloween

Just now getting around to posting about our fun Halloween! On Saturday night, we carved our pumpkin and Lindsey got to help! She wasn't so sure about pulling and scrapping the "guts" out, but she got used to it and was having fun. Then, while Russ was carving it, I took her upstairs to get her ready for bed. Then, Russ brought her downstairs and had all of the lights out. She was so scared of that "scary" pumpkin!! It was so funny!! So here are some pictures of that night! There is even a picture of Uncle Ethan holding Taylor-she is getting a little more used to him now and will let him hold her every once in awhile!

Then on Sunday, my family all came over for a Halloween Party! We had a lot of fun! I made it simple and just did crock-pot chili and some cornbread. I also made some "Ghoulish Punch" that I was supposed to make for tot school earlier in the week, but ended up getting the dreaded flu, so that got canceled. The punch needed to be made, so we got to try it out! It was actually pretty tasty! Then, we got the kids changed into their costumes and we headed out for a little trick or treating! Our neighbor is VERY into Halloween and had his WHOLE front yard decked out in "VERY SCARY" things. Needless to say, Lindsey put her breaks on and wouldn't budge past our front yard. We had to pick her up and carry her past their house and then she was very weary the rest of the street about anything that was even a little bit scary. She has talked about his house for the past week now. What a funny girl! We had a fun night and enjoyed the family time together! Alli was Cinderella, Lindsey was a princess, Nick a firefighter, Makenna a Dalmatian, and Taylor was a monkey.

The Girls!!

I have been trying to be better about catching pictures of the girls lately, since I know that they will grow-up way too fast! I realized that I have been a bit lax about getting pictures of Taylor and then I won't have anything to remember this fun stage by. So, here are a few of the cute pictures I have gotten lately.

Taylor having fun with the paper towels. Anything to keep her occupied while I cook dinner.

These are my 4 month pictures of Taylor, she is such a smiley girl!

Lindsey LOVES to blow on Taylor's tummy and make her laugh, so cute!

We went to a corn maze with some other mom's and kids from our ward. Nick got sick that morning, so I picked up Alli and took her with us. It was a fun morning, not to mention this awesome weather we have been having!!

I snapped these cute pictures yesterday! I love Taylor in red, especially with that smile!

My poor attempt at a picture of the three of us! Maybe next time, Lindsey makes it kind of difficult.

This is actually a picture that Lindsey took of us! Not too bad. I did erase several pictures that she took, that weren't quite so wonderful.

Lindsey insisted that she and Taylor take a nap on my bed. She took all of the pillows down, closed the blinds and turned on the fan.

Taylor's 4 month stats:

Weight: 13 lbs. 9 oz. (50th%)

Height: 25 1/2 inches (92nd%)

Head: 16th inches (77th%)

Just Perfect!!

San Francisco

Russ and I had the opportunity last weekend to get away and go to San Francisco! Russ' mom was awesome and came out to stay with Lindsey and of course we took Taylor with us. My parent's also went with us and we had a great time! My brother and his wife, Natalie live right in the city of San Francisco, so it was a perfect excuse to go and visit them! We had a blast and when I think about what we did while we were there, I can sum it up by pretty much saying we ate some really good food and lots of it! My family LOVES food, so this does not surprise me one bit and if you know us well, you would agree. I am going to write it all down for memory sake, if you want you can scroll ahead and looks at pictures!

Thursday:

Flew into San Francisco. Mom and Dad were waiting for us. We got the car-which took forever. Drove to our VRBO (Vacation Rental By Owner)-ended up being a disappointment. Settled and unpacked. Then we walked around the area-the Presidio and Chestnut St. Then, met David and Natalie at their place. We went and ate some awesome pizza, not far from their place. On the way home, stopped and ate some yummy gelato. The pizza and gelato brought back some great memories of Italy.

Friday:

Drove down to Menlo Park and Palo Alto-this is where David & Natalie used to live. Walked around there. Ate some Indian food-1st time and it was really good. My dad and Russ ate at "The Counter" a really cool burger joint. Drove back to S.F. and toured Golden Gate Park/Botanical Gardens. Taylor was super cranky, so we decided to stay in the city for dinner. We found a super yummy "hole-in-the-wall" Mexican joint down in the mission district. Right up our ally-we LOVE good mexican food!!

Saturday:

Met David and Natalie at their apartment and walked to a bakery for a "special treat" kind of breakfast and then walked up to the dog park for Jack (their cute dog). The park was at the top of pacific heights and it was amazing. The views were to die for. Then, we went to the farmer's market at the Ferry building. The weather was soooo nice this weekend, that I think all of S.F. was at the farmer's market. It was crazy busy, but still a lot of fun. David insisted that we try a porchetta sandwich (spelling may be wrong). It was a seasoned and stuffed pork tenderloin that they cut up and put on this great bread with parsley on top. The line was crazy long, but worth it! Then, it was Golden Gate Bridge time. So, we drove over it, got out took some pictures and looked around. The views are so beautiful and there were so many sail boats out, because of the beautiful weather. Then, it was time to eat again. So, we drove down to Half Moon Bay and ate at the Flying Fish Grill-soooo good. This was my request, that we eat some fresh seafood. I had the halibut and it was so tasty.

Sunday:

Went to church with David and Natalie. Packed up the VRBO-so glad it was overbooked that last night. The Grand Hyatt was so much better! Met a long time friend Craig for brunch. Drove around with Craig and caught up on the past 17 years with him. It was really nice to see him again. David and Natalie made us dinner that night-some really good grilled Lamb and some roasted potatoes. Another great meal. Went to Sophie's Crepes for one last great dessert.

Monday:

Packed up and came home. Lindsey did really well without us. She had so much fun with her Grandma Moses, that I don't think she really missed us. We did miss her, but it was really nice to get a break from her for the weekend.

Peaches and Tot School....

My parent's were nice enough to share some of their last bit of peaches with me and they were amazing! My mom talked me into freezing some more and I am so glad that she did. I got 22 bags of peaches with 2 cups each! What a busy afternoon this was! Don't they look good!

This is Lindsey and Taylor riding the horse. Lindsey insisted on having Taylor ride with her. Lindsey has some crazy eyes, but Taylor was happy!

My turn for tot school was last week....my theme was manners. I do not have pictures from the first day, it was a little bit crazy. But, I got these pictures right before snack time on the 2nd day. I decided to do a sharing snack: each kid got a snack and had to pass it around to all of the kids. Before the snack we used the placemat's we made from the first day and practiced "setting the table." It was fun and this day just went so much smoother!