BOO!!!

I imagine it could be frightening to come to my blog and actually find an update - it happens so rarely these days. I am actually typing this as we drive to Disneyland - gotta love a laptop. It isn’t often that I have 2 hours of uninterrupted time (aside from changing movies and handing out snacks) to sit without cleaning and laundry screaming at me ... figured I should take advantage of it! We are headed back to Disneyland for Fall Break and couldn’t be more excited - we need a little time away as a family :) It has become an annual trip for us and we never tire of it!! I think this is the 4th or 5th year that we have made this trip now. Last year we didn’t actually make our trip in October like we usually do because we made a BIG trip out of it with my entire family in December, but we invested in season passes at that time and this will be our third visit since then. Kinda sad to realize this is the last time we will go with these passes :( The up side of it? Today is Steve’s birthday so we get to spend it together, as a family, at the Happiest Place on Earth!!

September brought lots of good times for us. Ashton started playing soccer, officially making me a “soccer mom” for the first time. She is really enjoying it and actually played in her first game on Saturday - I forgot the camera. Seems like I’ve been doing that a lot more than I should lately. They lost in a horrible way, but she had a great time!
Brinley has been taking a swim stroke clinic and is really improving in her skills. She loves it and I know it will pay off next summer when swim team starts up again. Kendyl took a session of tennis lessons during September and they were TERRIBLE!!! The program was really unorganized - I don’t even think they got to practice actually hitting the ball over the net until the last day. Needless to say, we won’t be signing up for those particular lessons again - we’ll go back to the city that Ashton and Brinley took from last year ... MUCH better program! Lucky for us she didn’t know the difference and still enjoyed herself ;) All three girls are now taking piano lessons and played really well in their recital this month, too! I'm glad they still seem to love it since quitting is not an option ;) Cougar got to spend every afternoon of September (except Tuesdays) in the car running everyone where they needed to be and sitting through lessons. Oh, and he got to take a road trip to Utah with me and a few of my peeps ... but there will be more on that later!

We started September with a visit from Steve’s parents. They were able to come to town for his ordination to High Priest and his setting apart as 1st Counselor in our bishopric. What a wonderful weekend!! It was such a treat to have them there for such a memorable occasion. We were able to attend the temple in the afternoon after we picked them up at the airport. His dad was able to ordain him and join in the setting apart. It was an incredibly emotional and spiritual experience for all ... even the children were crying! There was added emotion because Ed has been having a lot of health problems lately that have recently been narrowed down to the fact that his kidneys aren’t functioning (among other things). He will be starting dialysis soon so it may be a while before they are able to visit us in Arizona again. Steve was able to give both of his parents blessings which was a unique experience that we are so grateful for. If Ed is actually reading this (since he only checks in for pictures) we want him to know how much we love him and that we are praying for him daily.September also brought a visit from my sister Kristin - another annual trip! She comes to get an eye exam every year and is always here to help us celebrate Kendyl’s birthday ... even if we have to do it a few days early :) We always love to have her stay with us!!

Kendyl turned 6 last month and thinks she is MUCH older than that! I’m sure she’s not the only 6 year old who asked for a cell phone, iPod, and laptop ;) Oh, the things she learns from her older sisters!!! Cougar and I went up to the school to have lunch with her on her big day. She asked for Paradise Bakery (did I mention she only turned 6?) complete with a salad. She scored some cash, a few new CDs - Mitchel Musso and Hannah Montana 3, and a Liv doll with accessories ... she was thrilled!The end of the month brought an A*MAZ*ING girls’ week to Utah for Spraguefest and the Digital Scrapbook Experience!! I could go into a lot of detail but will save it for a separate post once I get more pics ... remember what I said earlier about forgetting my camera? Well, I actually had it with me and snapped a few the first day, but after I saw everyone else going mad with their cameras I made a conscious decision to let them document my trip for me (since I knew we were sharing pics) - figured I might actually be IN some of them that way!! It was a spectacular week reuniting with dear cyberfriends, meeting new fabulous friends, sharing lots of laughs, enjoying all of my favorite Utah restaurants, making endless Sonic runs, playing tour guide (including some great Provo details that some probably wished they hadn’t heard *HA*), and learning some fantastic new digi skills!!

While the mamma was away the rest of the crew got to play!! Steve was in the driver’s seat for the entire week and came out on top again :) My dear, darling friend Beth was my hero and picked up the girls from school the first few days of the week. They got to play at her house until Steve arrived to get everyone to their activities ... she even taught Kendyl a little on the violin (which she now wants to play constantly)!! She deserves a medal for always being there when I need her! Steve got to play SuperDad all week which ended with the ultimate Daddy Daughter Campout. How perfect could it be that the ward DD Campout was scheduled the week I was out of town? The girls look forward to it all year and said this year was the BEST one they have been to!!

So there’s September in a nut shell - hopefully I can be better in October, but I’m not holding my breath! Who knows - maybe I’ll surprise myself and find some blogging mojo! What I do know is that I’m living life and keeping busy ... enjoying most of it ;) Just wish I could squeeze a few extra hours into each day!

P.S. I've only added a few pics since I'm using my laptop, I have limited photos on my EHD, haven't downloaded some from September, and really don't feel like editing tonight since it's late and we've been at Disneyland all day. I'll have to update photos later ;)