Birthday Break

Each year I look forward to my little get-away and break from the birthday madness at home. Jason has an annual meeting in San Diego each year in November and I get to go and meet up with him and spend the weekend! This year we stayed at the Hotel Del Coronado - what an amazing, neat and very old hotel with so much history. I loved it, and it was right on the beach so that made it even better!! We enjoyed great weather, food and alone time while the kids, who were staying with Jason's mom at our house, were enduring the first (and very large) snow storm of the season. They were snowed in for the weekend. My sister texted me a picture of the few feet of snow on her deck, and I sent this - a view from our hotel window:

Jason still had a day of meetings on Friday so I exercised and got breakfast with some of the other wives. Then a few of us took the history tour around the hotel. And then I did some alone shopping - no stroller, no kids and no hurrying back to get kids from school. I think I look forward to that the most each year. Saturday we just spent the morning running/walking along the beach, eating a late and delicious breakfast and exploring Coronado. We actually went to a movie that afternoon - another thing we only seem to do when we are in San Diego.

But we got home on Sunday afternoon as the snow stopped and Jason got to use his new snow blower to clean the driveway. And the girls played in the snow for hours. I really appreciate Sheila putting up with the snow, the kids and the craziness so Jason and I could enjoy our time in San Diego. Winter is here and we love it!!

Birthday Madness

So our November is crazy with birthday parties, celebrations, dinners, treats, etc. We start on the 6th with both Lily and Jason's birthdays. This year Jason was leaving town on his birthday so we celebrated early. Lily started her partying early, too! We had her "Friends" birthday on Friday the 2nd. She wanted a craft party - I didn't want a bunch of girls in the house with paint, glitter, glue, etc so we decided to have a party at Michaels craft store - what a wonderful idea that turned out to be!! I will definitely do that again. :) Lily got to pick what she wanted to do (decorate mirrors), then picked out all of the decorations (glitter, glue, stickers, etc) and then we just showed up with food and had a great party. At the end, I got to leave and not clean up one thing! The girls had a ball, and Lily loved her Lalaloopsy Craft party. She has made some really, fun cute friends in her kindergarten class, so I enjoyed getting having them all together and getting to know them better.

Sunday, the 4th we continued the party for Jason and Lily with a "Family" dinner here at the house. Lily requested her favorite - my meatball pizza. And then we also had grilled chicken alfredo pasta. YUMMY! And of course we ended the night with our usual birthday chocolate cake - and lots of presents. Lily finally got the present she has been wanting - her very own American Girl doll. Big thanks to meemaw and pop-pop for that one!!

So by the time we got to the actual day - November 6th - I was kind of done cooking and entertaining. But we had a happy birthday breakfast (cinnamon roll waffles with a candle) before dad left for the airport and then I took cookies to Lily's school class (which I bought because I got lazy) and then Lily had her weekly lunch bunch friends over after school for lunch and games. I was very happy that she chose to go to gymnastics that night over going out to eat. I think she was done celebrating, too. It was a great week of fun and now we have a dad that is another year older - and Lily that is now 6.

Not So Many Tricks, But Lots of Treats!!

Well, our Piper really got into Halloween this year. She loved wearing her costume (which was a total treat for mom) and she caught on to holding out a bucket for candy real quick. She got the "treat" part down no problem. And did I mention of ADORABLE she was -- Piper the Poodle!!

Mia - the zippy ZEBRA and Lily - the fancy FLAMINGO!!

It was a great night with perfect weather! Piper kept right up with the big girls and filled her bucket with treats. When we got home she barely made it in the front door before she sat down to go through her candy.

We had a church Halloween party a few nights before Halloween that was a practice run-through on the costumes. Lily and I didn't stay very long because she had a Spook-tacular dance performance. She changed from a flamingo to our little dancer in the car. But Mia and Piper brought her home lots of candy from the trunk-or-treat.

I have loved the fall season here - and with Halloween over I feel like it is coming to an end and Christmas (and winter) will be here in no time. My mom was able to be here for almost 4 weeks during September and October - we did lots of fun things and enjoyed the fall weather. My dad came for a bit, too and we can't wait for them to come back at Thanksgiving. Piper loves her "nana" and "pop-pop." Here are some photos of the late celebration we did for my dad's birthday - delicious breakfast at Ruth's Diner and then an afternoon at This is the Place park. They really go all out for the fall and Halloween season there. We met up with some friends, and the kids had a blast.

The girls didn't wear costumes to school for Halloween - it was crazy hair day. My talents in creating crazy hair are lacking so Mia and Lily told me I needed to practice so I could create something more original next time. But overall I think they looked darling. Here are the girls waiting at the bus stop.

And now we are moving onto the BIRTHDAY MADNESS in our house. Lily and Jason's birthdays are next week and Piper's is after that. Time to bake lots of cakes.

Our Animal Kingdom

Our yard is quickly becoming a kingdom of "crazy" animals - each day we are finding more. We have had a lot of deer from day one. The best part now is that we have expanded our yard into their regular daily path so we now have deer found footprints on our trampoline in the mornings. I am waiting to catch one jumping and enjoying the tramp. We have a mother and baby bunny that have been living in our front yard since the spring. We always look and see the baby waiting for us when we get home. But try as they might - that bunny is too fast for the girls to get very close. Chipmunks have now made their homes in our rock wall. They come out and play with each other - chasing and jumping tree to tree. They are actually quite entertaining to watch. Piper gets so excited to see them when she is outside! They are really cute. And of course we have the occasional snake here or there, too. New this week (just in time for Thanksgiving) - TURKEYS. There are 7 that roam the yard and get up into the trees that line the driveway. So cool!! But I won't let my brother-in-law and his gun anywhere close to them. I don't want a thanksgiving dinner from my backyard - I like to buy my turkey at the store. (Stayed tuned for pictures - I have not been able to get a good one yet...) Today we we found this:

A tiger salamander - cool, huh? Mia has taken over feeding it and researching it online to learn more. The girls are really pushing for a dog, but luckily with all of the "natural" animals running around we have put that on the back burner for now!! Besides, with mountain lion sightings in the area a little dog would not be safe in our yard. Now onto the FALL colors around here!

I have really come to love this time of year here in Utah. The mountains look like they are on fire with the red and orange glowing in the sunlight. Fall is in the air. And now comes the anticipation of the first big snow...and lots of cold weather (and skiing). But for now I will just continue to enjoy the amazing colors at our house and keep an eye out for any additions to our animal kingdom!!

We Love SPAIN!

Jason and I just returned from an amazing week in Spain! It has been on our "places to visit" list for a while now. Some of our good friends (Christine and Fred) moved there three years ago and we have wanted to go visit, but with having a third baby and moving to Utah we kept putting the trip off. Well, Jason was invited to a conference in Seville, Spain so it finally was our time to go! We had a few days in Madrid, and a few days in Seville. No kids, no real schedule and lots of time to eat, explore and enjoy being together. It was just what we needed!! And I loved every minute of it. Some of our favorites parts of our trip in ESPANA: - Spending time with Christine and Fred - Discovering my new favorite dessert - churros con chocolate! - Eating our meals at outdoor cafes on the quaint Spanish streets - Enjoying olives before each meal - Joining in a Madrid city running race at Retiro park like we were locals - Visiting old churches, palaces and buildings with incredible architecture - Spanish tiles (awesome colors)! - Taking high-speed train from Madrid to Seville and seeing the beautiful countryside - Going to a bull fight - and realizing how gruesome those can be! - Sleeping in and staying up way too late! - Sitting by the pool in Seville while Jason was in his conference - Being with Jason (and no kids) for a week!

The time went way too fast, but I was ready to get home to my little girls. Not that they missed us much - they had a fun, young couple with their cute little boy staying with them that kept them entertained all day. And then my mom came in for the last few days and spoiled them. It is always so fun to go away, but even better to come home and be all together again. :)