I love to see the temple!

October was such a blessed month!  Not only did we have 4 sets of visitors but we also got to go on our own little road trip to Southern California to witness the sealing of this special couple:

Emily & Jason

Gorgeous!

We went to the historic Los Angeles temple and participated in their endowment and sealing ordinances.  It was an incredible experience.  The spirit was so strong and obvious throughout the entire time we were in the temple.  These two have been through so much and the adversary worked and worked on them but they overcame it all and couldn't be happier! 

 Emily with Mom and Ralph

 The famous front lawn!

 With Dad and Deb

 David, Michelle, Emily, Jason, and Richard

Emily and her big brothers that she adores.  These 3 are a hoot and a half together. 

A HUGE thank you to Grandma and Grandpa Taylor for keeping the kids overnight so we could make the trip!  I was nervous to leave--I haven't left them much (except for when I was hospitalized) and of course I've never really left Evan. But the kids had a great time and we kept getting funny texts/pictures from them!

 Evan just up from his nap

 BOSA donuts!

And Evan trying his first Chik-Fil-A french fry....NOT.  They know better, just posing him for the camera!

Fall fun

I realized this year that we had never made homemade caramel apples with the kids-FOR SHAME.  So we had a night where we got together with David's work family and dipped apples for dessert.  It was super fun and the kids had a great time!

Grandma and Grandpa Taylor came to town-hooray!  We started off by heading to our local pumpkin patch for some fun activities.

We carved out pumpkins as usual.  The girls were pretty good about cleaning out their own pumpkins this year.

We had such a great time having grandma and grandpa here.  They are always so happy to see us and to play play play!

We also got a fun visit from cousins in October.  Michelle and her kids were here for a week and time with cousins=heaven for my kids!

Cyrena Fall Soccer

This fall Cyrena has been playing in a small neighborhood soccer league.  She has had a lot of fun and learned a lot.  She is not afraid to get in there and be tough!

All about Cyrena

Cyrena has been able to do a couple of special things lately.

David took Cyrena on a date to an ASU football game.  She had a great time with her dad.

She got very sweaty!

 

We are still in awe that we have grandparents that live close by!  We are very blessed.  Cyrena got to attend her first grandparents breakfast.  Grandma and Grandpa came to pick her up early and they headed to the school

They also invited some girls in their neighborhood that don't have grandparents that live close by.  After they ate Cyrena showed off some of her work.  So grateful for times like this for Cyrena to bond with her grandparents!

Grandpa Dean

Grandpa Dean came for conference weekend and we had a wonderful time with him.

 The kids quickly got attached to grandpa and asked him question after question about his missing leg.  He was always so patient and kind and joked around with them about it!

 The girls were so great during conference.  I think this was our most successful as far as keeping them busy the appropriate amount of time.  We had a lot of different activities and varied snacks--not too much sugar.  Here is one of Cyrena's temple drawing during conference.

Natalie is using pattern blocks to make a design

 Anna got lots of back scratches...

 And got pushed in the swing. This picture cracks David up

 Anna used the back scratcher on grandpa

 Anna built towers with grandpa.  Anna was super attached to him, even to the point of wanting him to get her underwear and pants back on after she went to the bathroom.  Ahhh, 2 year olds.

 And it wouldn't be a proper family weekend without a round of Headbandz.

 We took Grandpa to the Mesa temple

 Since Evan came so early we are just now getting around to making his room into a nursery.  David and Randy got Evan's room all prepped to be painted.  David is laughing here because I made him pose for this pic. 

 The girls made a reading fort under the crib-they don't like to be left out of the action.  

We loved every minute we spent with grandpa and were so sad to see him leave.  When Anna woke up and realized he was gone she said "I want grandpa to stay home"  Come back soon grandpa!!

September randoms

Here are a few random pictures that have been floating around:

Natalie loves to climb on top of this playhouse and spy on the neighbors!  Too bad they're never outside.

The girls and Evan in their pirate gear.  He wasn't super happy.

Who doesn't enjoy an impromptu puppet show while they're prepping dinner? Especially by Snow White and a ballerina.

Natalie is slowly starting to read (she doesn't love it yet).  However, she was very proud when she wrote her favorite word: Dad.

 Our swimming has become less frequent as the weather has cooled.  But we sure love our swimming time at grandma's!

I just have to add this so I don't forget.  We don't wear a lot of socks around here since it's almost always sandal weather.  But every time I mop Anna goes and gets socks on so she won't slip.  So here she is in her socks, trying to put her hands in her pockets for the picture.  She cracks me up.