Fall Fun

After Halloween, we were very ready and excited to welcome the holiday season at our house.  The weather finally cooled down, and we've been very busy--but busy with so many fun things!  At the beginning of November my cousin Jerai flew down to visit Jessica and I for a long weekend.  She was able to come without her son, and our husbands pitched in with watching our kids a lot as well while she was here.  The time flew by, but we had a blast going shopping, giving Jerai some fresh highlights, and going to "Time Out for Women".  Thanks for flying down to see us Jerai!

Scottsdale Fashion Square--oh what fun :)

Mia was such a happy camper while we shopped--all girls like to shop..right?

 

Mia still loves her Ergo Carrier...when she's not trying to dive out of it ;)

So..not my best picture..but its the only one I have from "Time out for Women"  It was an all day event on Saturday at a convention center downtown.  I came away from it feeling very uplifted, inspired, and empowered :)

With the holidays soon approaching, I've begun doing some more baking.  Some of it's healthy, some not so much.  But it's all been yummy, and totally worth it :)  Jake loves to help me mix all the ingredients together.  In these pictures we were making our special German Christmas bread called "Stollen".  This bread has been a tradition in our family since I was a little girl, and I love continuing it with my husband and kids.  And really, if you combine a yeast bread with cinnamon, lemon, raisins, and more..topped with layers of butter and powdered sugar--You just can't go wrong.

 We made 6 loaves.  (and stuck most of them in the freezer)  Plenty to enjoy all season long! :)

Ok, so this next sequence of pictures is unique in several ways.

1.  Mia's hair is long enough for pigtails.  !!!

2.  She's in a red dress.   I realized one day that I had dressed Mia in something red for like 6 days in a row.  I think my subconscious is missing my cold snowy Utah Christmas.  Bring on the Holidays :)

3.  Most importantly--call me vain if you'd like, but usually I photoshop out the cuts and scrapes on my kids--especially if it's a frame worthy photo.  But I couldn't edit that little forehead scratch away, because my friends, Mia cut open her face with....a Dorito.

...You read that right.  She gets very excited when she eats, especially if she is enjoying her food.  And that day she got carried away with her chip, and sliced a chunk out of her forehead, and grazed herself all the way down to her cheek.

Little Stinker.

Of course, she's one tough cookie and didn't even notice when she did it.  Crazy girl :)

Jake is becoming such a big boy.  Falling asleep random places :)  If I squint, I can almost imagine him as a teenager, slumped over on the floor like that. (ahhhh!)

 Up next, a post about Thanksgiving.  If you read this, thanks for taking an interest in my little family.  I hope everyone is having a happy holiday season, and finding little ways each day to feel joy. :)