the end of another season

...soccer, that is. both megs and isaac played awesome this season. they still love this sport and when we're not out on the pitch watching them, we're playing a girls v boys game in the back yard. when it gets too dark for that, isaac is you tubing any Man U clips he can find. it's so fun to see them so intense about this game. to love everything about it. i hope they continue.

isaac and his new soccer buddy, simon. this kid can BOOT the ball. he scored while playing goalie on a drop kick. kicked it over everyone and bounced over their goalie. hilarious!

isaac got a better feel for defense this year, too. which was a change for him. he still loves to score but slide tackling has become his new joy. if he can do both in one motion, all the better:)

megan, on the other hand, never saw the backfield this season. she always was out front, just how she likes it:) practicing against isaac definitely shone through this year. she was way more confident in her dribbling skills and took the ball around many a full back to find the back of the net. it's fun to watch her develop into a good little ball player.

scoring her last goal of the season. she had been held scoreless this game and with one minute left, tapped this one past the goalie to put the score at 2-1. i'll let you just imagine her excitement.

fall festivities

the pumpkin getting, above, and the pumpkin carving, below.The beauty of moving to a new city is you can get away with the same halloween costumes from last year and no one is the wiser. this year, both mal and isaac were gems and allowed their mother to take a creative break this season by going with their "old trusties" from last year. Cheer bear for mal and isaac as a skeleton. megan was harder to convince and in the end, was "cindy lou who", easily made from a DI dress and stuff around the house. eli took the cake, though, as our resident chicken. he was destined to be last year's frog until aunt dana offered up the chicken for him to borrow. am i ever glad as he was so funny, wadling around.

mal at her preschool party, and with eli and her bestest friend

off track campout

the kids have been home for the past three weeks and we've been able get out a bit and to do some fun things. this early fall off track time is slowly becoming my favorite. the weather is great--not too hot and not too frigid. it gets darker sooner than in the height of summer and they can play outside with friends in the dark without it being too late. they've rallied the neighbor kids for all sorts of night games on our street the past few weeks and have loved every minute.

last weekend, though, we took advantage of probably the last good weekend of the year and headed south for a little family camping trip. matt had been a few weeks earlier with the young men and he wanted to show the kids all the cool stuff he got to see.

as i've mentioned before on this blog, we're "white trash campers". no cool, high tech gear. no camper or rv. no atvs or motocross bikes. everything either bought on clearance or borrowed. not even a truck to load everything into--just a honda odyssey, packed to the gills. and four overjoyed children.

we camped in the san rafael swell next to this prime climbing wall...

then drove in a bit and hiked the narrows for a few miles until we hit an impassable (well, impassable with 4 small children) trench of water and turned around...

then at sunset drove into goblin valley to explore and play hide and seek. and for megan to take some pictures to enter in the reflections contest.

we got filthy dirty but loved every minute. this could easily become an early fall tradition.

reflections of christ

just to brighten your day
http://mabrystudios.typepad.com/reflections_of_christ/2008/03/reflections-sli.html

new family pics

ok they're finally here!!! and there are too many to choose from--so i'll put it to a vote. which family picture should we blow up mongo huge to hang on our otherwise empty front room wall?
a big shout out to my cousin rachael who did the honors. check her out. she's all the rage.

i'm waiting.............

crazy hair day

last friday was crazy hair day at school and this is what the kids came up with

megan couldn't wait to take this out after she got home!

bring on the harvest and other tidbits

we're up to our armpits in tomatoes, zuchinni and cucumbers as of late. we've finally been successful at getting to taste something that we've grown. we weren't so lucky in colorado. we've also devoured all the corn, raspberries, apricots, and lettuce and looking forward with mucho anticipation for the grapes and peaches--they look awesome!!!!!! if only we could keep the birds from thinking they look awesome, too. we also have 3 huge watermelons that we are going to sample this weekend. i'm crossing my fingers that they'll taste ok as they've taken over the whole of the garden. it has been fun for the kids to see the long term benefits of hard work and patience with gardening this year. they've all been really good to help with every step of the process, from planting, to weeding, to watering, to harvesting, and especially eating! eli just walks out there, picks whatever and chomps away. corn especially!!

speaking of eli--i thought i'd just add this pic as it is my future blackmail material--he has had quite an august. in the past month he as moved out of his crib, forgone the bink, and is in undies 24/7!!! talk about a month of transition. he's done really well with all that comes with growing up as of late (except he longs for the bink now and then) and i can't believe that after 9 1/2 years i have no diapers to buy or change. this frees up $ in the budget for mallory to take tumbling which has been her obsession for the past few months. she starts this week and is bursting with excitement! it will be so fun for her.

she's also started preschool again. something she's missed out on since we left colorado 8 months ago. she goes with all the other kids in the ward to mrs. jean (ms. jeans as mallory calls her) and she loves that it is something all by herself. she is so social and independent (from me, at least) that she really thrives when i'm not around. reminds me of my other daughter;). speaking of...megan just found out today that she made the riverton children's choir. we went down to the high school to audition on monday. she sang "away in a manger"--her first ever solo-- for the directors. she'd been a nervous wreck the whole day but did great. i'm hoping it will be a fun and rewarding experience (and that she'll learn a thing or two about singing because she's not going to get it from me).

with school started it also means the onslaught of soccer. we moved the kids to new teams this year and already love their new coaches and that their games are 2 minutes away!!! they are ready to get back into some regular exercise after not having much to do after school for the past few weeks and i'm ready for them to drop into bed at night instead of running me ragged and then still not being tired.