Some catch-up

I need to do some catch-up from the past month or so and it's just going to have to be a post with lots of unrelated randomness and cuteness! Here we go!

First off, this past Sunday our ward did their annual Primary program with all the kids. This was Kaiya's first program and she was asked to share her testimony. We practiced for several weeks, but were still a little unsure of how it would go in front of such a large group of people. She did soooo well and as her parents, of course we were bursting with pride and love for her! This mama was fighting back the tears. She went up and though she talked a little like a mouse, she conquered her nerves and shared her tender, sweet, precious testimony. I'm pretty sure there is nothing that touches Heavenly Father's heart more than to hear His sweet little children sharing their love for Him. What a special girl! We have had such a beautiful and fairly warm fall this year and we are enjoying every minute of it! A few weeks ago, we went to one of our favorite spots to let Chase go swimming in the pond. It's an activity that he loves (soooo much) and the girls love it equally as much because they love to throw the ball out in the water for him and then wait to get sprayed when he shakes off! And you can never throw enough rocks into the pond either and watch all the ripples! They could do it for hours! It was a beautiful and relaxing day! This one is precious to me. My calling right now in church is somewhat of a busy one. I love it, but it's busy. It provides the opportunity for me to go on a lot of visits to people in our ward and that is wonderful. But I always miss my family while I'm gone. This particular day, I just really wanted to be a homebody and not leave. But I went anyway. When I got home, everyone was gone, so I called Chris and he said to come outside and they would be by to pick me up. They pulled up and Chris said we were headed up to the canyon because they had a job that they weren't finished with yet. Then they handed me an old water bottle they had found and worked into a little vase that was full of wild flowers! Hand picked by my family. They had gone exploring for as many colors as they could find and had created the most beautiful bouquet I had ever received! It was so, so sweet and touched my heart. So simple and yet something I will always remember. Glad Chris got pictures of it too! Probably the best thing I've come home to! Of course there's been lots of dancing -- there's ALWAYS lots of that around here! Daddy's had some fun playing dress up! Some pretty intense, concentrated play time -- evidenced by the tongue! This is where the girls have eaten lunch literally every single day this summer. Even now that the fall chill is in the air, they still want to put their coats on and eat on the porch. It's their daily routine together and hey, a lot less mess for mom to clean up! It's kind-of monotonous to update, but also fun to look back at all the fun that we've had lately! And I can happily say that I am finishing off the updates with the memory of visiting the temple yesterday with my sister (very special and something that I really loved doing with her) and dinner with a dear friend. I feel fortunate for my friends and family, for the wondrous world we have to enjoy, and for the simple comforts and beauties of life!