Piano Lessons

Lauren started taking piano lessons last month.  I am so excited!  She has been wanting to take lessons for awhile now.  And I have been wanting her to take since she was born.  There is absolutely no pressure on her to excel (okay maybe a little bit)! 

We found a great teacher Lauren loves.   Her teacher actually comes to our house each week, which is so nice.  In order for Lauren to sit properly at the keys, she has to sit on a phone book with her feet resting on a stool.    

Let's cross our fingers that the desire to practice will continue!  The Christmas recital is a few months away.

 

It's Autumn Time

My favorite season of the year is fall. I love it when the weather cools and you start to actually FEEL fall in the air. I love pumpkin cookies and pumpkin bread. I would rather wear a jacket than shorts any day. I love it when the girls can wear cute tights with their skirts. The start of fall also means that certain favorite holidays are near.... my birthday, then Halloween, then Thanksgiving, and then Christmas. 

A really fun part about being a parent is experiencing holidays with your kids. It's like being a child again and being able to enjoy the kids' activities all over. For example, I have no desire to dress up for Halloween, but I love seeing my girls in their costumes and I can't help but share their trick-or-treat candy!

Yesterday I noticed how covered our lawn was with leaves. It was literally inches deep. A very large tree that sits on the edge of our lawn and the road has shed millions (is that possible?) of leaves onto our yard, the road, and the neighborhood. I think I really paid attention to this because the neighboring condo community had their lawn crew out cleaning up. They had their air blowers and made their property look so nice. I don't think there was one leaf left on the ground. However, there was literally a straight line of leaves that marked the beginning of our property.

So I thought that the girls would have fun raking leaves after school. We had a fun time raking the leaves and making a large pile. We then bagged the leaves and decided that was not too fun. Elle "helped" rake and then decided to play horsey with her rake. Lauren was actually a HUGE help. I was very impressed! However, complaints started as we neared the end. I'm not sure if she will be as excited about this activity the next time I ask her to help.  

The sad part is we haven't done the back yard, and today there are almost as many leaves as we raked yesterday. Maybe a large wind storm will blow our way.  We can only hope.

Been Cheating

Dear Blogger,

I'm so sorry.  I've been spending time with Facebook.  I hope you will forgive me.  It has been fun reconnecting with old friends, and I just haven't had anything to post about for so long.  Our life in Utah is nice and we are getting settled, but there hasn't been anything too fun to post about.  We haven't been taking any pictures (because B has been working so hard).... and that is the best part about blogging!   So, I hope you will understand.  BUT keep in mind that Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas are coming, and I would never desert you.   Oops, I better go check to see who has signed onto Facebook this morning.

I Was Tagged....... Funny Names

My sister Kristen, tagged me... so I'm indulging her.  This is a little wrong and kind of funny. 

1.    MY ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car) Sophie Pilot

2.    MY ROCKSTAR TOUR'S NAME: ("The" + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”) The Reading Sun Tour


3.    MY GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie) Rocky Road Sugar

4.    MY “FLY Guy/Girl” (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name) K-Fer

5.    MY DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) Green Lion


6.    MY SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born) Bond Rexburg


7.    MY STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first) Ferka


8.    MY SUPERHERO NAME: ("The" + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink) The Blue Diet Coke


9.    MY NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers) John Thomas


10.  MY STRIPPER NAME: (the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy) Cinnamon Butterfinger


11.  MY WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names ) Gail Lee


12.  MY TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter) Terry Toronto


13.  MY SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower) Autumn Rose


14.  MY CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”) Peach Sockie


15.  MY HIPPY NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree) Special K Maple


        I laughed the hardest over my stripper name, my superhero name is lame, my Fly Girl name is eerily similar to K-Fed, and Rexburg does not make for a sexie soap opera name ...this was funny. 

Views of Idaho

Summer is beautiful where I grew up.  It is always so relaxing to visit my parents.  My parents live in the same home were I was raised and do such a great job of maintaining and improving our home and yard.  Here are some pictures B took while we were there this summer:  

Dad and I

This rabbit has been spotted going into the garden many times this summer.  

I keep thinking "Don't go into Mr. McGregor's garden."  I wonder if his name is Peter.  It looks like he has already lost his blue coat and shoes.

The new Rexburg Temple

Can anyone, not from Rexburg, tell me what this is?  I'm very interested to see if you would know this.

Canning with Grandma

I have such positive memories of growing up in Rexburg.  I especially loved the summer.  My family always had a large garden with plenty of corn, potatoes, peas, carrots, beans, zucchini, and an occasional pumpkin.  While I will admit that Mom and Dad did most of the work, we kids definitely remember many mornings of planting, weeding, picking, shucking corn, snapping beans, etc.  When it was harvest time, we would help in canning or freezing our bountiful supply. 

It was a lot of work, but having a garden is such positive thing for a family to work on together.  And because of our efforts, we had "fresh" veggies all summer, winter, spring, and fall.  Before I was living on my own, I had never knowingly eaten veggies from a can bought from a store.  It has literally taken me years to buy canned corn (my Mom is cringing right now).  

So while we were home this summer, the beans "were on."  Dad picked the beans from the garden, snapped off the ends and my Mom started to bottle the beans.  Elle was VERY interested in what was going on (Lauren was interested for about five minutes).  She helped pack each of the bottles with beans and loved working in Grandma's kitchen.

I hope that Brandon and I will work on having a garden once we buy our own home.  I don't know, do people have gardens any more?

A Day at Jackson Hole, WY

Because I'm still sorting through photos, I'm posting about things we did this summer.  I hope you don't mind.  Since I like to see photos on my friends' and familys' blogs, and because this is basically a journal for me, I'm going to post this entry (and maybe other entries will follow to get me up to the present).

While visiting with my parents in Rexburg, ID, we drove up Jackson Hole, WY.   It has always been a fun "day trip" for our family.  A typical day for us in Jackson is to take in the beautiful views of the Grand Teton Mountains.  We like to eat lunch at Bubba's BBQ and walk around the town square.  We also like to visit photography galleries and tourist shops.  This trip Brandon took some great pictures of the landscape, but I'll only post a few because I'm sure he would like to share his photos on his own blog.

(This photo is funny to me, because of the picturesque old west wagon and horses along with the expensive modern car parked nearby).

(This buffalo is fake)

(I did not coordinate the girls' outfits.)

(This one is fake too)

(This is such an amazing view of the Tetons with the Snake River below).

(This one is REAL and it was very close to us)

Rafting down the Provo river

Last month before Brandon started working, we met up with new and old friends for an afternoon of rafting down the Provo river near Heber, UT.  We weren't quite sure what to expect, and because B and I aren't the most adventurous people, we were a little apprehensive. We basically knew we would be able to handle the ride, but because of the girls we were hoping it would be a mild.  

(Pictures taken from High Country Rafting)

It turned out perfect.  There were 10 of us, 5 adults and 5 kids.  The adults had the ores to help maneuver the boat through the water, and the kids just had a fun time.  We used a "9 man" raft that fit us all.  We rented the raft from High Country Rafting.  We left our cars at the bottom of the river and then the company bused us up to the beginning.  The ride was very mild.  No guide was necessary.  We passed several people floating on tubes and fly fisherman trying to fish, despite the screams of the little girls in our raft.  My friend Angela and I rowed on the left.... we heard many times... "Row harder on the left!!"  If we didn't row like encouraged, we ended up traveling down the river in circles or heading off to one side of the river.  I could tell the bodily effects the next day!

At the end of the two hour rafting trip as we neared the bottom where we pulled out, there were a group of teenage boys sitting on a large rock in the middle of the river.  So we rowed hard to miss the rock.... but they were waiting for us.  As we passed, they cannon-balled into the river to make sure we got wet from our trip.  A few of us (Brandon) were more upset than others.  We all had a really fun time, and next summer I think the adults will try to do it again on tubes... without the kids.  Or maybe the Ferneys or Bonds would like to get together?

(Ci Ci, Hannah, Lauren, and Elle)

After the water fun we drove back to Heber to Angela and Steve's house.  The girls played and played, the men talked politics and the women cooked.  We BBQ'd marinated steak and chicken, cut them up and put the meat into tortillas, and had fresh guacamole for our tacos.  The company was nice, and the atmosphere was beautiful.  It had been a fun experience.  It was a nice way to end the summer before school and work started for our family.

(These girls are the best of friends)

Tiny Bubbles

Before we were able to move into our Salt Lake City home this summer, we spent some time with Brandon's parents in Logan.  One afternoon, Brandon's Mom brought out some bubbles for the girls to enjoy.  They had such a fun time, and as a result we ended up with some beautiful pictures. 

 

(This is a typical interaction between the girls...... mischievous Elle with exasperated Lauren).  More posts from our busy summer to come!