our september at a glance

:: Levi's birthday present came in the mail (he's loved dinosaurs forever!) + chocolate milk fan ::

 :: the 1st phase of garden cleanup ::

 :: the harvest!! ::

 :: puzzles in Adeline's room (notice the artwork she's added above her bed) + playing doctors ::

 :: ♥♥♥ + turkey dinner in september (I really did cook a turkey, it had been in the freezer since last November. The best part: it was one of the best turkey's I've ever made. The sad part: it wasn't even Thanksgiving! I think since the pressure of making a perfect dinner was off, it turned out just right) ::

 :: dinner at Aunt Alayna's and Uncle Jeff's ::

:: their view is AMAZING!! :: 

 :: Sunday reading + Sunday games ::

 :: I was disappointed with the flowers this year, but than I saw this happy spot + our hanging pumpkin ::

 :: found a great solution for the kids to pack their own lunches + Rudger is rocking the 1st grade ::

 :: scout awards ::

  

 :: cousin time is the best time! ::

 :: when the kids saw this jeep in the church parking lot, they were extremely excited! + I loved my september runs early in the morning ::

 :: picnic and cupcakes with friends! + Adeline and her grandpa Packer ::

 :: she's in a picking flowers phase ::

 :: I'll never stop taking sunset pictures ::

 :: daddy was going to the temple so he told us to go buy a pizza and play at the park ♥♥♥ ::

 :: that happy face ♥ + that lipstick face ♥ ::

:: *sigh* the way the light is touching her ♥♥♥ ::

fall hike #2 - september 29

Justin and I started a tradition a couple of years ago where he takes off a day of work (although this time we went early on Saturday), we get someone awesome to watch Adeline (Corbin and Taylor this time), and then we head off into the mountains in Farmington on our four-wheeler. It's one of our favorite things we look forward to. It's so so pretty up there! ♥♥♥ (and I wish we had a picture of the two of us up there)

And technically, we didn't hike. Although I got off the four-wheeler a couple of times because I didn't want to ride down the incredibly steep hill. :)

fall hike #1 - september 22

Number one goal this fall - get into the mountains as much as possible. 

I was talking to a new friend who just moved to Utah. I told her she came at the best time because fall here is so wonderful. I stopped mid-sentence when I remembered that she just moved here from Virginia. I laughed and told her okay, it's a different kind of beauty, but it's SO beautiful in the mountains. 

Our first adventure was a trail near Pineview Reservoir. We didn't have a ton of time and it wasn't the most beautiful, but it was enough to get me excited for more fall hikes!

:: Rudger loved finding lots of variety of leaves, Adeline would pick up any random one she saw :: 

:: where's Corbin? :: 

my list

Last Sunday night, I sat down in bed and wrote out all the things that were in my head for the coming week. I felt super motivated and figured I would get most of the stuff done on Monday. :) At the end of the day on Monday, I had crossed off three things on my list. I was quite disappointed, but I knew I was being overly optimistic. 

By Thursday I was getting annoyed with myself that I had still not crossed much more off my list. I started adding things that I had accomplished to my list, just so that I could cross them off :) 

Justin ended up taking Thursday off and I knew I wouldn't get much of what I wanted to get done that day. I complained about how there is so much to do and I just can't seem to cross anything off my list. Then Justin reminded me of one of my favorite songs. It was the perfect reminder of setting my list to the side and just start living and enjoying life. I reflected on the week and all the happy things that happened, some were on my list and most were not:

Taylor excitedly kept coming home from scouts (which was just a few doors down from our house) and telling me about the best activity and wanted me to come check it out. I'm happy I finally set the grass edger down and walked over. And I was thrilled for him that he was able to walk across that bridge that was a bit too high for my comfort. 

Free chicken nuggets at Chick-fil-A

Day date to get a hamburger and buy a jacket for daddy. Adeline was thrilled to tag along.

Buying a fall candle

Re freshening the front porch

Carpet cleaning at least half the basement family room

Admiring three beds that had clean sheets and were made

Also:

Opening the windows every morning to feel the crisp air blow into our home

Cuddling on the couch and listening to Rudger read books

Holding Adeline and having her hug and love me and tell me she loves me. ♥♥

Eating pumpkin chocolate cookies

Reading Peter and the Shadow Thieves nearly every night :) to the three older boys

Climbing into bed and night and watching our Netflix show at the end of the day

Checking out lots and lots of books about fall time at the library

Running 7 miles with Justin!! The most I've ever ran! and I could not have done it without Justin's encouragement! 

I still love a good list and the satisfaction of crossing things off that list, but I'm going to remember that some of the best memories are not on a list.