Contacts

Oshyn got the "yes" to being prescribed contacts.  We went in and got fitted & have a new challenge.  He's doing awesome, but it is definitely an adjustment.  I told him one day he wouldn't remember it being hard to wear them for a long period of time...

DOWN-SET-HIKE

Football has been life over here for quite a few months.  To hear even Tyce say, "Down, SET, HIKE" and go off running is a normal occurrence.
Oshyn started playing flag football this season and has REALLY loved it.  I mean, he sleeps with his football LOVES it.

He has had a great coach (Coach Peterson) that has really instilled in him all aspects of the game and life.  It has been quite an experience and I'm wondering whats going to happen when the season comes to an end.  It might not be as easy to sleep with a basketball...

The Good Life

It's moments like these--when my four-year-old comes out front, having slicked down his hair with water so he can wear his googles to ride his skateboard in socks (and so many others) that I just sit here and try to soak in all of the goodness of having little people.  I am so in love with them and the craziness that they bring to my life.  I feel as though life is rushing by and one day I am going to wish I could be back raising little ones again...and I'm sad...already.  So here's to more home movies and pictures so that when that day(s) comes I can sit down with a pile of picture albums and a bunch of home videos to laugh and reminisce because LIFE IS GOOD.

The Patch

We did our fall duty and made it out to a Pumpkin Patch this last week with the Joneses.  It's always fun to see how thrilled little people get over pumpkins (and hay rides pulled by a big tractor in mud).

The boys got to make hay bales and pet/brush lots of different animals.

There was a huge hay pyramid, some hay trampoline, and a playground.

They had a blast and are chomping at the bits to carve their pumpkins.  

(I can tell I have done too many posts tonight--man, I am b.o.r.i.n.g. :)

SEA town

The second leg of our fall break travels was a trip to Seattle.  We drove home from Utah on Wednesday morning, had Thursday to repack, and took off on a flight Friday morning with Pop Pop.

Tyce made friends on the way...and the kids couldn't believe how fast we got there.  Multiple 11-12 hour car rides will do that to ya.

We all put on our red shirts and made it out for the Friday night lights to watch Ian & Zach (22& 52) dominate at football.  They played the entire game!!  It was so fun to watch and cheer for two guys we adore. (Plus they pummeled the other team!  Which is always awesome...if you're on the right team)

We all put on our red shirts and made it out for the Friday night lights to watch Ian & Zach dominate at football.  They played the entire game!!  It was so fun to watch and cheer for two guys we adore.

Oshyn loved it, but couldn't make it to the end...traveling hard out will do that to even the biggest football fan.

Saturday we made a trip to Pike's Place and the rest is history.  

 We loved every minute of being with family as usual!

Hiking with (some) Animal Housers

What a beautiful time to visit Utah.  The weather was cool (NOT cold) and the leaves were starting to change.  Tuesday morning we met up with some of my old roomies from college and hiked in the canyon.

 It was just what we needed--a nice leg stretching, nature soaking, good time.  I love catching up a bit with girls women I adore.  Its always fun to see their kids grow too.  Thanks for taking us on a nice little adventure Jill & Sara!!

P.S. We even saw a MOOSE!!

Grandma's and Sunday dinner

Almost every Sunday, Grandma Orchard and family have dinner together in Utah.  The drive is a bit far for us to make it every week, but we took advantage while we were in town.  

We had yummy food and lots of crazy/fun cousins!  

Four generations!

We even got to see our favorite Ali!

Wish we could make it every Sunday!

General Conference

Twice a year our church has a general conference.  During general conference weekend, Church members and others who are interested gather worldwide in a series of two-hour sessions to receive inspiration and instruction from Church leaders.  Normally we tune our computer in to lds.org or byutv.com and watch from our living room couch.  This year, since we were in Utah, we decided to try our luck at getting into the conference center in Salt Lake.  Beau and I left Grandma Annie & the Panttaja's with the kiddos and drove up early Sunday morning to get in line.  We were blown away by the number of people there and the amount of signs that said "Need 2 tickets" (or more!)  They had a standby line by the tabernacle so we made our way over there.  The line was ginormous!  We asked the first few people when they got there...4 am...5:30 am...Wow!  After we walked the line and circled the temple, we made it to the end.  As we were walking we talked about how cool it would be to have some extra tickets one day and just come to the end of the line and start handing them out to random people.  Was there a chance we'd get in this far back?  We weren't going to leave until they told us there wasn't.  We were there for about 20 minutes and continued to watch the line grow and grow.  Then, right behind us this couple randomly got handed a pair of tickets by passerby's.  We laughed and congratulated them.  They were a bit shocked, but didn't know what to do.  Their brother was with them but was sitting across the way on a bench.  They didn't want to leave him.  So guess who got lucky??  Yep.  We thanked them profusely and skipped/ran on our way.

This is how happy we were.  

It was magical to be inside such an enormous building.  The construction of this building is incredible with no pillars to obstruct views and seating for 21,000 people.  TV does it no justice.

We had a great time being so close and feel so fortunate to have gotten to see a live conference session and hear the beautiful music of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

 (Still just a tad excited & shocked...)

 One day we will walk the standby line and hand out extra tickets ourselves to make someone's day.

Tricky Nikki Runs Fast

We started off our two week fall break with a road trip.  We drove down to So Cal--through Vegas--onto St. George, Utah to cheer on Nicole (who was running her first marathon).  It was awesome and she ran like a superstar.  

I could hardly believe that when we saw her at mile 23, she looked as though she had just started.

She is amazing. 

We are so proud of her and she accomplished her goal of under 4 hours.  Yay Cole!!