We've got some sweet neighbors who treat our kids like grandchildren. Back in June they were nice enough to invite us to come along with them and their official grandkids for a day of fun and exploration at the zoo. We jumped at the chance and had a great time!  The meercats were so fun to watch! Emmie got a real kick out of them. We thought the art they had on display was super cool. The artist used garbage she collected from oceans to make huge creatures! They were actually really pretty and also great for I spy. We got to ride the carousel and the train. We had extraordinary luck in the big cat sighting department. Look at the tiger! We'd never seen it before!  The snow leopard was snoozing in a very visible spot. And you will never in a million years believe what happened in the bird show. Our bird-loving Brynny got chosen as a volunteer to hold an actual dove! It was the greatest day of all our lives! Th...

Ah how I've missed blogging. It's quite therapeutic for me to sit down and write about the good times that our little family has. Otherwise, I tend to forget about them! We are so busy all the time, and I frequently feel like all I ever do is drive/clean/grocery shop and hound my kids to do this or that. So it's really nice to be able to look back and say, "Hey, we did something really fun as a family." Or, "Wow, we really do spend quality time together sometimes!" Nate trained really well for the St. George marathon this year. 26.2 miles! I want to die just thinking about it. He ran a great race, which maybe he'll blog about sometime. I'm so proud of him. That's so much training. And he was really, really diligent about it. Way to go, lover! Brothers-in-law, both first-timers. We got to spend that weekend with the folks in St. George, and it was such a lovely time. We hit all our usual stops, plus just enjoyed being at ...

I love Thanksgiving! The smells, the nip in the air, the opportunity to express gratitude more readily, the promise of Christmas around the corner, I just love it. Here's this year's thankful tree. We each put up a leaf almost every day in November. It was wonderful to be reminded, each time we walked by the tree, of how very richly blessed we are. It was hard to choose just one blessing to write down each day. You may notice the one in the center here that says "Alex." He's a classmate of Bryn's. Bryn says maybe she'll marry him. He did ask, after all. This year we scooped Jenna up and headed to St. George for Thanksgiving weekend. It was lots of fun. We got to see all of Nate's family, including the newest addition, tiny Elaina. Because the house was packed with visitors, we stayed at a hotel nearby and enjoyed playing games with the kids at night, watching movies once the kids were in bed, and taking advantage of the pool. I sho...