Skinner Events!

 I love my Skinner family! They are truly like family! I can't believe that we have been friends now for over 13 years! And I was honored when Mallory invited me and Brianne to her birthday party to celebrate 19 years! She is a gorgeous girl and is enjoying working and going to college at UVU! I know that she'll be amazing at whatever she sets her mind to!

 After dinner at Mimi's cafe Brianne hopped in the car with them and went to Gardner Village to the witch festival! They had a blast there dancing and checking out all the decorations! The Skinners fill that "sister" role that Brianne wasn't able to have in our own family! Those Skinner girls are ALL her sisters! :)

 Another big event was that Brittany passed the bar exam! I am so proud of her!! She has worked SO hard for many years and is now OFFICIAL! She was sworn in with all her family around her!

Such a big day for them! I can't wait to see what the future holds for my friend! Brittany your a rock star!! :)

Surprise Text

One Saturday in October I received a text from an unknown number and when I opened it this picture was there! It also said that these Elders had just given his sister a beautiful blessing in the hospital after an accident. Messages like these are so incredibly thoughtful! it's so wonderful to see your son doing good in the world and is doing it with a smile on his face! He is so happy serving the people of Orlando Florida! He is in the Daytona area now serving as a Zone Leader and loving it! He is constantly challenging himself and striving to do more. I couldn't ask for a more wonderful missionary! We are so proud of him!

Fall Yard Work

 After my parents left town the fall weather kicked in! We had a couple more days of "warmer" weather and figured we'd better get out in the yard and get it cleaned up! I usually spend MUCH more time in the yard but this year I was a HUGE slacker! I hadn't even trimmed the tree/bushes all summer! So they were pretty bad! The grass was also rather sad looking! So Chan and I got out early on a Saturday and got busy making it look decent again!

I was also anxious to go and get corn stalks and put up my fall decor on the porch! The smell of fall is in the air! I love it! :) It's my favorite time of year!

Alta vs Provo

 Like I said in my previous post Alta played Provo the week my parents were in town! I was excited for them to be here and to see Will play. For this JV game they switched the Sophomore game time and they played at 3:30 and the JV played at 6pm. So I didn't get as many good pictures because it's harder when it gets dark. That and I was talking to my parents! Haha!

 Alta JV came out STRONG and played an incredible game! We ended up winning BIG!! The final score was like 58 to 7!! We were feeling bad for them by the 4th quarter!

The Varsity game at Provo was a different story! Chan said that he was pretty sure they were out for us since we had humiliated them at that JV game! So at this game Provo had the upper hand. They played TOUGH and we had a very hard time defending them AND running any offense on them. They ended up winning that night! It was a tough loss for us, but they were a great team! Oh well! On to the next game!!!!

Unexpected visit from Mom and Dad

 My parents had an unexpected visit in October to come out and attend my Aunt Pam's funeral. She had been fighting cancer for some time, and after a tough battle, she returned home. Her service was amazing. She was able to help plan what would happen and my favorite thing she asked was that her children speak along with their spouses. It was really cool! They stood together to speak about her and it was truly touching. They were ALL her children. I was also honored to participate in singing a song at her service. It was called "My Shepherd Will Supply My Need" and it was a beautiful song. The lyrics were perfect. It was difficult to sing because the spirit was so strong and emotions were welling up. After the service there was a luncheon at their home Ward. It has been years since I have been on the receiving end of such service and I have to say what a wonderful thing that is. To be able to sit and eat a lovely home made dinner after such a tender time is a beautiful gift. And those women were lovely and you could FEEL their love- truly Christlike love! It was also wonderful to see all of my Dad's siblings together! That doesn't happen often since they live all over. I was glad that we were able to get a picture of them all together. My Uncle Gary is not pictured because he is in bad health as well and my aunt Kathy is also not pictured. She was unable to attend.

Since my parents made it all the way out here they decided to stay for a few extra days and spend some time with us. It was really nice! My Mom and I went shopping for Heather's kids since they all needed clothes and this was a good spot to find church clothes etc! Haha! They also took Brianne to a shoe store to get some new Converse for her birthday! She was THRILLED about that! And one of the best things was they got to see Will play in a high school football game!! And get this... for that game we played Provo High!! That is where my Mom and dad met! Isn't that crazy! It's the first time we've played Provo since we just changed from a 5A program to 4A this year! It was a meant to be! And we won BIG!!! The score was 58 to 7!!! WOW!! And Will played a great game too! :)
 

 We had fun while they were here. Went out to dinner at Iggy's after the game and they also were so thoughtful and went out and bought me some much needed groceries while I was working one day! It was awesome!

This picture is one that my Mom sent me on my phone. They had it taken during one of their last vacations together and I loved it. It captures them both perfectly. I am grateful for them in my life, and even though it was a sad reason for them to come, I was grateful to spend some time with them. :)

October Spruce Up!

In the spring and fall I ALWAYS get a major need to clean!! I will de-junk drawers, go through closets, sell unused items, touch up paint etc etc! And even though it wears me out for a few weeks I am ALWAYS glad I did it!

Over the years I have also drastically tapered down on decorations! I only have a few things for the holidays, with exception of Christmas. I still have quite a bit of that! Haha! I have decided that the piano will be my "seasonal decor" area. I have a new craft that Brianne and I are working on to go here all year round. Pictures to come when it is done...

 This was one area I changed. I was tired of what I had on top of my buffet so I took most of it to DI (with exception of the good silver stuff) and moved some items around until I got my desired look :) I didn't buy anything new, just shuffled things around that I already had.

 We also got these new stools from Chan's Grandparents. They used to be in his parents home years ago and have been passed along! They are very nice and much more comfortable to sit on. But we needed more space around the island for them so I took the floor rugs out of the kitchen. I think it looks nice :) They also gave me the picture that is hanging by the window. It's a pastel drawing and painting that I did of lake powell YEARS ago! They even have a photo of me at lake powell doing the drawing. I thought it was sweet of them to let me have it back. It's a priceless memory!

I also FINALLY painted behind the stove! YAY! It didn't take long to paint, but it did take long to CLEAN! It was super nasty under there! But I am glad I did it! These little spruce ups help keep our home up to date and CLEAN! And for anyone that knows me well this is a MUST! I can't have a dirty house! Yuck!

Crafting!

A few weeks ago I went to the Wood Connection with two of my besties Kelly and Jennie. I have been wanting to go for a long time! There is a football door hanging that I have wanted to make for years and so I was going to get one to make! Plus spending time with friends is always a blast!

 Here is my finished door hanging! I love it! I was going to distress the sides a bit but forgot- so I may still do that! We'll see! It's supposed to have a big "U" or "Y" in the center but I wanted it to be universal since I have an Alta player too, so I just painted laces in the center. :) However, I made it during the Utah vs Oregon game and Utah just SMASHED them! It was insane! They beat them IN OREGON!! We were all so excited to tell Carter all about it! Haha! It was a BIG win! We even out out our light up "U" in the window of the house to celebrate! Haha!

Not totally sure what Brianne Snapchat was supposed to say there?.... I know it is "when your "family" is Utah (and I think it should say)... fans!" Funny!

 While I was there I saw these wood crafts, paper and pedestals etc and I couldn't resist getting that to make too! And I'm glad I grabbed it because Brianne wanted to craft with me so she made this while I made the door hanging! She painted all the pieces and then used mod podge to put the cute paper designs on either side.

She did a great job and I LOVE it! I will put this out with my fall harvest & Thanksgiving decorations after Halloween. I'm not a huge Halloween decoration person, in fact most of my holiday decor is slim except for Christmas. I just don't have the time and/or space for a lot! I've decided that the top of my piano will serve as my holiday area. I rearranged everything else that was there to accommodate it! I'm excited! :)