Halle turned 4 years old! It was such a fun day to celebrate such a spunky little girl. She wanted a Monster's Inc cake, so I found one that I could replicate from Pinterest. We were lucky enough to have Nate's sister, Jenn, and her family here for the special occasion. Jenn and I stayed up super late making decorations, but it was a lot of fun! We just sat and chatted the night away.... I couldn't think of a better way to get ready for Halle's little celebration. She received a bunch of Brave stuff, which all the kids loved. Halle and Merida remind me a lot of each other. Very spunky, strong willed, and free-spirits. I still can't believe she is 4 years old.
While the Johnson's were here, we went a number of places... the beach, Grilled Cheese Bus, lots of Goodwills, and we also went to Multnomah Falls. I had never been there before, and it's absolutely gorgeous! The Johnson's stayed for a week (Yay!!! Last time, it was only for a couple of days, so we were so excited to have so much time with them!) and it was fun to mostly just sit and talk!
Colbie turned 10 months old! She finally started crawling and standing up. Her little personality is starting to shine through, and we are discovering that she is somewhat of a little diva. Sometimes I wonder what happened to my sweet, chubby, easy-going baby? Oi. This girl can pout, throw tantrums, stare you down, and she loves to be right in the middle of her sisters.... especially when they are playing! She keeps herself busy by causing all sorts of commotion, but she's so stinking cute that we love her anyway.
Nate ran the Warrior Dash with his man pal, Jeremy. They looked like they had a lot of fun... You can't tell by their faces.... but, I'm sure they did. :)
Ava started Kindergarten! She has been so dang excited to start school... and I can tell that she is going to just blossom in school. She gets to ride the bus, so she gets picked up at 8:00 a.m. and dropped off at about 11:15 a.m. Halle has preschool on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, so it's just me and Colbie some mornings. And after years of having lots of kids home, it's weird to have a couple of mornings to myself. I have been going to the church to exercise... so that's been nice. And sometimes, I just need to go shopping alone (with Colbie of course... but she's easy to take shopping. She just sits in her carseat!) so I skip exercise group....
Back onto topic... Ava starting school. Her friends Emerson and Max are in her class, and I think that's made things a little easier for all of them. Getting the hang of this whole school thing is kinda hard and weird, and I'm not sure what to think about some things. I mean, communication between the teacher and me is based on 6 year old, so sometimes things get a little muggy. Although Ava is a pretty smart girl, she can get her facts a little messed up when trying to tell me things that have happened at school, or things she is supposed to be doing... but we just gotta roll with the punches.
She is already talking about next year when she gets to stay all day at school and can eat lunch there...
Wow.
Early in October, I ran the Neon Run 5k with some people from my ward. My New Year's Resolution was to complete a 5k... and I did it! In 34 minutes! I have been running this whole summer, and have worked my little (big?) toosh off... and it felt so good to accomplish my resolution. I was a little nervous because I haven't been able to run since school started since I can't go to the track anymore, and I didn't know if I would be able to run the whole way. But right before school started, I ran 5k just around my neighborhood, so I knew that I could do it.
About half a mile into the run, one of the ladies said she needed to walk. She has bad knees and also had a head cold, so I don't blame her... but I just had to keep running. I felt bad for leaving everyone in the dust, but I couldn't stay and walk with them... not when I had worked so hard!
Thankfully, they understood.
I definitely want to do another 5k again, or even a 10k... but let's not get ahead of myself!
In mid-October, I flew home to Utah for my cousin's wedding. I also went up to Idaho to visit my great-grandma one last time. She has been put on hospice, and they are just taking comfort measures for her now. I felt it was really important for Colbie to meet her and get one last picture of this amazing lady who has impacted my life so deeply. She knew who my girls were and she was excited to see them! She had just had her hair done and nails done, and she looked so beautiful. She asked if we would sing her some Primary songs, and as we did, I could hear her singing the words along with us. It was a perfect way to end this earthly relationship with her.
While in Utah, I went to Gardner Village with Nate's sister, mom, and sister-in-law. I took these darling (well, at least I think they're darling) pictures of the girls...
And shortly after we got back from Utah, we celebrated Ava's 6th birthday! Since her birthday was on a Saturday, her kindergarten class sang to her on Friday. She got a special crown and ribbon and felt pretty darn important. Saturday morning, she woke up and asked for cake batter pancakes. Yum!
She also requested a beach cake. Well, she really wanted a Mike Wazowski cake, but I didn't have any green food coloring, so we looked through Pinterest... and that was a mistake. She had her sights set on cakes with 4 tiers and oodles of fondant... and this momma wasn't up for making such a cake. Let me tell you, Pinterest can be a blessing, but it can also bring you down. I felt like I was totally incompetent as a mother because I wasn't doing all these fun things for her birthday, and she wasn't going to have a party with fun candies in candy jars, and lots of balloons, and photo booths, and water bottles with cute little labels....
But I did the best I could and we decided on a beach cake. Maybe I would have put in more effort with a party and a cake if I had not just been to Utah for a week, and I was busy getting Halloween costumes ready for the ward party (which was the night of Ava's party... which she wet her pants at the ward party and therefore deemed her 6th birthday as the worst birthday ever... I don't blame her. After she came to me, as I was starting to get dinner from the line, we went to the bathroom, and she was soaking wet. I stripped her down, threw away the underwear, and wrapped her skirt in a huge wad of paper towels. I had gone as a marathon runner, so I was wearing some shorts over some leggings, so I took the shorts off and safety pinned them so they were snug on her. It actually looked kinda like a skirt, but my sobbing 6 year old wasn't going to have any of that. And yes she was commando. And that was awkward.... Nate wasn't going to have her go completely commando, even though she was covered by the make-shift skirt... so we went to the bathroom once more, and I strapped on one of Colbie's diapers... and it was tight! But all was well by the end of the night because one of my good friend's had Ava go up on stage, and the ward sang Happy Birthday to her. Whew! Crazy night!)
Back to the cake.
I thought it turned out pretty cute, and I even made the little umbrellas myself!
Like I said, the ward party was that night. Halle went as Merida... and she looked so stinking cute in that wild, curly wig!
Ava was a cowgirl...
And Colbie was the cutest darn little Indian you have ever seen. She had authentic moccasins and all.
And last but not least, we have been enjoying some beautiful weather up here in the Great Northwest. Seriously, it is indescribable the beauty that is found here.
The colors are just so vivid and bright. The leaves are ginormous, and I love the mornings because they are a little foggy and damp, and it feels like I'm camping. You know when you're camping and you walk out of the tent, and the world is quiet, and you can smell the trees and feel the crisp cool air?
That's what I experience every morning when I walk Ava to the bus stop.
'Til next time, folks. And let's not make it another 2 months, eh?
