Fun in the Leaves

A couple weeks ago, when it was still warm, the gals got the rake out and played in the leaves. I have so many fun memories of playing in the leaves. My parents have a big maple tree in their yard and we would get a lot of leaves from it and our neighbor Donna had an awesome leave tree. My sister and I and the Christiansen gals made some epic houses out of leaves. We would make walls and rooms and have so much fun. The gals had a ton of fun playing, raking, and jumping in the leaves.

A 6 Year Olds Declaration of Love

My little Brooklyn is so boy crazy- I don't know what I am going to do with her. This is her conversation with me on the way to dance.

Brooklyn: "Mom, I have a boyfriend and it isn't even Justin. His name is Peydon."
Me: "He isn't in your class, how do yo know him?"
Brooklyn: "We chase each other all the time at recess. He had another girlfriend before me and she broke up with him. I told him I am SOO not breaking up with him."
(Imagine her using a dramatic voice, head bob, and rolling her eyes and such)
"And mom this is not just a crush- I like like him. And when we pass each other in the hall I'm like 'Hi, boyfriend' and he's like 'Hi, girlfriend'"

Heaven help us!!

HaLLoWeeN

We had a great Halloween this year! We started our festivities on Tuesday when our Ward had a Trunk-or-Treat. Then on Saturday we went to Sean's parents for a little party, did some trick or treating in Wellsville, and then ended our night at my Aunt Paula's for the annual party. The gals decided on what they wanted to be this year. Gracie wanted to be Tinkerbell (and we already had the costume- score!) Brooklyn wanted to be Dorothy and my good friend had the cutest Dorothy costume she let us borrow. All I bought this year for costumes was Brooklyn's shoes- yay!! The gals looked so cute and are loving all the candy they got. Sean looked awesome in his mullet wig and I told the gals I was dressing up as a mom (I am a dud and don't love Halloween)!

Fall Happenings

I have been in somewhat of a blogging slump lately, so I have a lot to get caught up on.

Sean celebrated his 30th birthday. We had a little party at our house and then him and I went out. It was low key, but a nice birthday.

We have also reached a very happy milestone with Gracie. She is POTTYTRAINED!!! Most milestones kids reach are kinda bittersweet, but I can't think of anything sad about her getting pottytrained.

The gals played doctor one day. It was way cute!! They got all the gear out and Gracie was having a baby. She took it very seriously, as did Brooklyn being the doctor. These 2 are the best of friends and I am so glad. They play so well together (most of the time).

The Petersen men made their annual trek up to the mountains to try and secure food for the winter. The gals and I headed up one day after school. The gals were so excited to go on a horse ride. Brooklyn even got to ride her own horse. She was a little scared, but my uncle Ron led and they had a great time. They are still talking about the horsey ride.

We also went up to Stone to visit Sean grandparents. They are so good to us. The gals talked grandpa into taking them on a ride in the tractor and then in the Ranger. I was sad I failed (again) to get a picture of grandma. :(

Tonight we painted pumpkins for FHE. Brooklyn decided she wanted to paint them instead of carving and Sean and I were more than happy to go along with that. The clean-up is so much easier. We also made caramel apples- they were delicious!

This fall has been BEAUTIFUL!!! I love the fall and it seems like it never lasts long enough. I feel like it was perfect this year. It was warm and sunny and dry- until the past 2 days. And we have paid for it. Our window started leaking yesterday and we have a mess! The paint down the wall has bubbled and looks bad. Here's hoping for a perfect winter!

Merry Chirstmas Mom and Dad

For Christmas this year, my siblings and I decided to give my mom and dad family pictures. My sister-in-law Sher's sister Carrie took the pictures and she did a FANTASTIC job. We are so happy with how they turned out! Here are some of my favorites of about the 5000 that were taken.

Brooklyn had a picture that she just had to have done and it was on the loveseat in the back of Carrie and Derek's truck and she is absolutely thrilled with this picture

LOTOJA

We made our annual trip to Jackson last weekend to see my brother Brian participate in his 6th LOTOJA!! I think to finish once would be amazing, but 6 times. I think is amazing! In the words of Brooklyn, "We were such proud of him!" Thanks to the place we were staying overscheduling and offering us a free night, the gals went up the night before and met up with B along the way. We had a blast!! On Sunday, we decided to take a major long-cut and went home through Yellowstone. We were so excited when the first animal we saw was a grizzly bear. Our family LOVES Yellowstone so it was fun to drive through! Thanks B for taking place in this so we can go and make some fun memories!!

With these cuties cheering for you- how could you not get motivated?

So cute!

Gracie and Pops cheering for B

Mal wanted in on the action- so she grabbed Garrett's Magnadoodle and came up with her own picture.

B and Sher at the finish line

The kids were SOOOO excited to see some buffalo.

The Tetons are amazing!! This is the bear we saw and the entrance into Yellowstone!

Random Things

I can't let summer end without posting about some things that happened. I have meant to put Brooklyn in swimming for several years now and then before you know it summer is over. That was the #1 thing that I wanted to accomplish this summer. She took at The Peak in Brigham. I was really happy with her lessons she learned a lot in the 2 weeks and 1 private lesson she had.

The gals had fun in our little pool. I love how Gracie is cheesing it in this picture.

We also sold our Durango to Sean's brother, Brent. I was super sad to sell it and I miss it! It was a good car for us. It took us all over. To California, Island Park/Yellowstone, Jackson. We are on the lookout for another SUV or van. If you know of any good deals let me know. We thought we were going to be able to upgrade. But to our surprise the used car market is up 30% right now. It is really discouraging- making me miss the Durango that much more!

One day I put the sprinkler under the tramp and the gals LOVED it!

There were several nights this summer where there were AMAZING sunsets. I love sunsets.

We had a great summer and now we are moving into my favorite season- fall. Everyday I look at the Wellsville's and see more and more color changing taking place and I am SOOO excited!