356 Zoo Lights

Tonight we met up with a family from AZ for dinner, and a night at the zoo. The LT went to high school with them, and I knew the husband as well, because we had mutual friends way back in the day. They live a little over an hour from us now so we were excited to meet up with them!

The kids all hit it off well and had a blast running around and checking out the animals.

We are looking forward to spending time with them again!

334 Temple Lights

We took a trip out to the Mesa Temple to check out the lights with Grammalicia tonight. It was a was a gorgeous evening and we enjoyed the lights as well as the company so much!

326 Cousins

The LT's cousins came in from Colorado for Thanksgiving. Bean has sure enjoyed playing with the girls. It has been super for her to have kids closer to her age to play with!

325 Surprise!!

Tomorrow is a big birthday for the LT's step-mom. Tonight we surprised her with a huge party! She had no idea it was coming. It was a fun time. The LT's dad, sister, and step-sister really went all out for a phenomenal bash!

(and I'm so glad it's over and now I don't have to be careful about what we talk about!)

317 Sud Run

Auntie E signed the kiddos up for a Sud Run that her friend's husband had organized. They had an obstacle course that involved a large pit full of suds. They had a great time. Bean especially loved the bubbles. She was soaked from head to toe! (This is outfit #2)

We are so loving being here!!

306 Glow Show

The girls are having fun with their left-over glow sticks.

Tonight they put on a dance show for me.

300 Everybody Dance Now!

The DQ went to the Halloween dance at school today. She is still involved with several clubs there, and has been helping organize the event. She even went early and stayed late to help out!

The kids wore costumes and she was really excited to wear hers. She reminded me several times that she was going to enter the "most creative" contest.

And guess what!?

She won!

Well, she technically tied, but the boy she tied with had a store-bought costume, so in my mind, she won.

She still got a super cool "Most Creative" sash and another sash made out of candy.

Can you guess what she is??

Hint: She is not wearing the mask or snorkel...

She's a diver entangled in a jellyfish!!

298 Pumpkining

The DQ's church activity tonight was carving pumpkins. The girls got into groups to plan, clean, and carve. They had a blast! Afterwards, they were treated to brownies and hot apple cider. Getting into the fall spirit! (in a t-shirt and shorts of course)

276 Road Trip!!

We took a field trip today to Providence Canyon in Lumpkin, GA. 

It was SO much fun!! We brought a good friend along and ended up hiking 5 miles around and through the canyon.

Bean brought along her notebook and took some notes, but was just too busy looking around to take many.

My favorite was when we found some mushroom looking things, that I finally just said were some kind of fungus. She got out her notebook and said, "How do you spell haggis?" 

"Haggis!? What are you writing about?" 

"The stuff here on the tree!"

"Oh! Fungus!!"

266 Temple Day

Five of the six kids...the DQ didn't really want to sit on the curb with them.
Also, I gave up hope of trying to get them to look and smile. This picture makes me laugh!

We planned a Temple day with friends today. We took turns watching the kids, so we were able to attend services. There were six kids total and they had a blast running around in the grass and blowing bubbles. It was fun too, for the adults to hang out!

We all grabbed lunch at Chipotle afterward, and of course, that was a perfect end to a great morning.

247 Happy Birthday!

We celebrated with the girls' favorite non-family babysitter and church teacher today. Her birthday was last week, but Labor Day made for a fun BBQ/gathering day.

238 I Have NO Idea What Goes on in a Music Studio...

...as evidenced by this picture the LT sent me today.

Is that a gas mask??

233 Family Game Night

Bean wanted to play a board game. She chose Life. We were too lazy to get all set up so she consented to play the Wii version. (It's more fun anyway, because you get to see the creepy spouse they pick for you and how many children you have.)

It is really silly and fun and we enjoyed it.

*Note* The LT would like you to know that I actually won the game. He came in second.

230 Family Fun Night

We haven't gone out and done anything fun together as a family for a while. 

Dinner at Five Guys was a perfect solution.

YUM!

221 Another Boy in the House!

No surprises here, he was only temporary.

We babysat tonight for a couple who had to attend a social on post. This little guy was so much fun. I seriously fell in love. He loved watching the girls play and giggled at the silly things they did. He loved Lola and got so sad when she would walk away from him. He got fussy for a little bit, so I made him a bottle. He hungrily grabbed it out of my hands and drank it down so fast. It was adorable. The LT enjoyed having another male in the house, although he couldn't really do any "boy" things with him. We really didn't want him to leave!

(Although it was really nice to wake up in the morning and not have a baby to entertain all day...I know. I'm selfish)

We also made sure that mom and dad know that they are to take full advantage of date nights or solitary trips to the commissary any time and he can come play here. 

219 On the Medal Stand

The party was a success!! The girls had so much fun bumping balloons around, throwing frisbees, and knocking down cups with water guns. 

Even the rain held out until we were done!

218 Duh duh dut duh da, dun na na duh dut duh dat dun daaa

(did you get that that was supposed to be the Olympic theme song??)

We are celebrating Bean's birthday tomorrow, and at the very last minute, the party went from "spa" themed to the Olympics. I think we did a pretty good job of whipping up a fun party. We'll see how tomorrow goes!

201 Fun with Daddy

The girls don't get to see much of daddy on the weekdays. He is not usually home until 5, and sometimes much later. Then he needs time to unwind, then it's dinner and bedtime routine and bed! Tonight he was home a little earlier, and he grabbed pizza on the way home. We ate it quickly, and then took the girls to the pool.

They had so much fun swimming with daddy!

195 A Much Better Day

photo courtesy of the roof of my car. I decided I need to be in a picture now and then.

I was determined to get out of my funk today. A friend said she wanted to learn how to make headbands, so she came over and we had some good ol' fashioned girl craft time. She left after a while, but the girls and I continued making headbands for a while. The LT was gone to dinner with a friend who is leaving soon, so we had a fabulous girls' day. Around 8 o'clock we went outside and the girls rode around the house and we just enjoyed being outside. It was precisely what I needed!

191 Dinner Out

Our lovely next door neighbors got home Saturday from visiting family and so to thank us for watching their dog, they took us out to dinner. We went to Shogun, and it was a hit with the kids! They have teppin tables there, and aside from the flaming onions, they all enjoyed the show, and the food was delish!