how do you like dem apples?

Football is consuming our television time, the leaves are falling, the jackets and coats are coming out and our tummies were aching for a delectable fall treat. We had our 2nd annual caramel apples with the Perdues. It was so easy and so yummy. Get a bright green Granny Smith apple, lather it in freshly melted caramels, drench it with white chocolate, and mix it up with a few different toppings. We had crumbled up Reese's, graham cracker crumbs and a bit of cinnamon and sugar to top it off. Yummy!

date night

Because of yesterday's awesome weather, we decided last minute to go golfing before the sun went down. Because we didn't have a tee time at Cascade, they said we could do the back 9 holes. She said that it was a little harder, but that didn't scare us. But after I lost 2 balls on the first hole we started to think twice, and decided not to keep score. But Ry told me not to get discouraged, and to just laugh about it and have fun, so we did. It was so much fun. And what's funny is that the more fun we decided to have, the better we played. It was such a beautiful night and such a wonderful course, no wonder they call it the "mountain course". What a perfect night - fun game, great weather, wonderful hubby.

Lil' Pumpkins

Brittany had a cute idea for a little fall craft. So we got a little creative and made a ...

In case you're wondering, those little tufts of burlap are supposed to be little pumpkins. We had fun trying to figure this out. I'm sure if Martha made these pumpkins they would've turned out a lot cuter, but what can I say my crafty skills have many more years to mature. I'm already looking forward to making a little something for Thanksgiving. Any ideas?

Just the girls

My new favorite tradition is making cards while all the men are at priesthood. It was so fun to be with my mom, mother-in-law, 3 sister-in-laws, 2 nieces, sister and cousin! I loved being with all the women that I love! We're missing Shanna, Kenna, Addie and Amy in the picture below, but I loved having them all there. This is quite the efficient card making session. If you've ever made cards, the part that takes the longest is designing it! So we design a few cards in advance, and punch out all the parts for the card for everyone ahead of time. By doing this everyone goes away with a whole bunch of cards instead of just a few. Afterward the men came up and joined us for some fabulous dessert. We love priesthood session.

Gettin' Crafty

The last few weeks I had a bit more leisure time than I was used to, so I decided to try and keep myself busy with a few random projects here and there. I made a baby blanket for brand new Tate Bryant Tingey, some of our best friends' Shannel and Tyler new little adorable boy. It turned out perfect for the little boy.

Then I decided I wanted to figure out how to make those cute little flower bows, so I got my hot glue gun and went at it. They turned out pretty darn cute! I made some bigger flowers too. It's so fun and so easy, and a lot cheaper than buying a bow at the store.



Then, with a hint of Fall in the air I wanted to do something cute for our front door. So I grabbed my mom and we headed to Michael's and got creative. It is so much more fun to make something than to buy it off the shelf! I made this wreath below, and I love it.

Ode to all mothers

Since graduation I've turned into a part-time mother substitute (as much as that is possible). I watched my two neices and nephew for 3 days, then my other 2 neices for 12 days, and now I'm watching Ryan's cousin's 4 kids for 6 days. I have learned so much from this experience, here are a few things to name a few:

No one can replace your own mom.
No one can do things the way your mom does it.
It's ok to sit down and watch a movie, at least for the mom's sake.
Sweeping the floor for the 7th time that day isn't necessarily a bad thing.
When you finally get to sleep, take adavantage of every moment because the kids will be super-charged by morning, and they won't ever stop.
Don't breathe when changing diapers.
Become an expert in multi-tasking, and doing things one handed, because there always seems to be something in one hand (a child, a bottle, the broom, a backpack, lunch, you get the point).
Find a good book or some kind of hobby that you can enjoy doing when they finally go down for a nap.
Drive in the car, go on walks, the kids are strapped in and you don't have to chase them :)
Give kids options, they like to choose and not to be told what to do.
Everyone needs to be loved.

And the biggest thing I learned is that being a mom is tough work! So to all of you mothers, I don't know how you do it, but you don't get enough credit, you're all so absolutely amazing!

Graduation gift to us

After graduation we decided we needed to reward ourselves for all of our hard work. So we decided to drive out to California and have some good ole' relaxation time and fun. My brother Ryan lives in downtown LA, so they were kind enough to let us camp out in their apartment for the weekend. It was so great to spend time with Ryan, Shanna and Kenna.

We started the weekend off with a bang by watching the Cougars come away with a huge and exciting win! On Sunday we had a wonderful, breezy afternoon at the beach. To celebrate the Labor Day holiday we went shopping and went out to eat at the ESPN Zone.



We spent a day exploring southern California. We drove down to the Rose Bowl, around Hollywood, and Beverly Hills. We strolled Rodeo Drive and ate yummy cupcakes at Sprinkles.



Then that night we drove to Anaheim and went to an Angels game. The Angels pulled out with the win after the Rally Monkey made an appearance. We loved the baseball park atmosphere. Plus we went there on a promotion night, so we all got free hats!


And to top off a great vacation we went to Disneyland! If you're wondering when to go to this magical place in order to beat the crowds, go the week after Labor Day weekend. It was so awesome. We got a park hopper pass, and thank goodness we did because we had so much time in both parks. The longest we had to wait in line was about 20 minutes. It was pretty hot, but we had so much fun. I felt like a kid again.





What a great weekend. The best part of it all was that I was able to spend every single minute with my honey, and I loved it. We had so much fun together, and I fall more in love with him every day!