Rolling into Fall

I kind of love that my birthday happens right after the beginning of school. We took the day to celebrate...had lunch at Cheesecake Factory with my mom and sister, came home to a candy trail and balloons from Mike, had my door decorated by sweet neighbor girls, my parents came up to sign Happy Birthday and eat dessert, and everyone was so loving and kind. It was a great day!

Just a little side note here...I am still teaching Zumba. It has had its ups and downs, but overall I am so grateful to be able to make money exercising and doing something I enjoy. It was a wonderful blessing during grad school and continues to be a blessing in my life. 

Pierce and I had a very easy time rolling back into a school routine. He had lots of extra attention, love, games and books from mom. He is such an easy and enjoyable boy to have around, I hardly know what I will do when he goes to school. This particular day, he wanted to eat salad with tomatoes and balsamic on chairs on the driveway...it was an easy request to fulfill. 

I had a great trip to the humanitarian center with my Activity Day girls. They are awesome. 

 We were also able to celebrate Grandpa Olsen's birthday! Love this picture of all of them.

 One Monday we ended up at Discovery Children's Museum with cousins...such a fun day.

This little plant in our backyard was completely dead in the middle of the summer, we thought it was lost forever, but I never did pull the plants out and throw them away...then after serious late summer rains, we saw small blossoms and green tendrils again, and in about a month it was once again in full, beautiful bloom. It was such a beautiful metaphor about not giving up on people, sometimes leaving them be for a bit, but coming back with nourishment. You never know what might happen with a little love and patience.

 I had the experience to go to Camp Kiesel with my little Activity Day girls. The are the cutest.

The Taylor Swift show had been sold out for months and months. I kept bugging my dad about tickets since he has great connections, but he kept coming up empty. Then, on the morning of the concert, he called and had two tickets!!! One for me and one for my cute sister. As a little girl, I always thought my dad could do the impossible, but now I am sure of it. It was an amazing concert and an amazing night. I felt so lucky to be there...Dad of the year award!

During the Mayor's Cup, over Labor Day weekend, we played a lot of soccer (Jace's team didn't place, and Parker's team took second), but the activities were crazy fun. They have all been wanting to play bubble soccer and they finally had the chance, plus Goalie Wars were a blast to watch. I love that we try to do as much together as a family as possible. They boys support for one another is one of my favorite things to watch. 

A almost never lazy morning that was worth documenting. 

This little boy had been waiting for weeks for his first day of school. He went in with a smile and was ready to make new friends and learn. I, on the other hand, was a little bit sad about my last little guy heading off to school, even if it is only for 6 hours a week.

His first day did deserve a celebratory McDonald's ice cream cone and play area!

With the Payne's in town for the BYU v BSU rivalry, we all had to meet up at the game. It was such a blast being back in Provo at Cougar Stadium for one of the most fun wins I have ever seen in person. I just love that place and that team! It was a gorgeous night with people I adore.

Sometimes our crazy, busy days and night are too much for our favorite 4 year old and he cries Uncle. I catch him asleep every now and then. 

With Jenny and Jed living in Utah too, it will be so great to see Rick and Marci a little more often. They came to town to try and catch all the grandkids in their various fall sports, and they did it! First, they joined us for a night at Boondocks.

Then, they watched all 3 boys play soccer, and Mike coaching (not sure why Jace isn't pictured)!

We got to spend a little family time with Jenny and Jed and their cute kids!

They checked each of the boys out and took them to yummy lunches!

They shopped for and celebrated Pierce's 4th birthday!

 And even got to see him play his awesome soccer game! It was SO much fun to have them here cheering on these cute boys. 

Sometimes, as a mom, you get frustrated, like when your kids put all their clothes in the dirty laundry and you know they aren't dirty. It is hard to prove, but this time, I was absolutely sure. 

We loved celebrating my darling mom. We were going to do something nice, adultish, and fancy, but she chose instead to take the whole family to Sweet Tomatoes and then go back to her house to watch the BYU game surrounded by all these crazies. I love her. 

I got to go watch Parker in the jog-a-thon one beautiful fall day. Even though there were no prizes for the most laps, he never stopped running, clocking in over 4 miles in the 30 minutes he ran. He is awesome.