Conference!

Jon and I were the proud recipients of tickets to the Saturday Afternoon session of General Conference.  We were super excited to go see conference in person.  Neither of us had been before, so it was new for us both.

I think we were both kind of expecting it to be really different from watching at home...maybe more real?  Or that we'd feel the spirit more strongly?  Well, while it was a great experience, and I'm glad we went, I actually like watching it at home more!  You certainly can't tell from watching on the TV or listening to the audio, it is LOUD.  There are all these people around you, and so there's coughing, and sneezing, and rustling, and people moving around.  It's really distracting, and you don't feel like you can just relax.

It was a very valuable experience, but I'll stick to watching at home!

Afterwards we met my parents out in Herriman and showed them the parcel we are looking at, and took them to the model home to see the floor plan we've got our eye on.  While we were in Herriman, we noticed the spectacular color in the canyons nearby and went for a bit of a drive.  This fall is shaping up to be absolutely breathtaking.

Today was Grandparents' Day at the elementary, and the girls requested that Grandmere and Bapa come to eat lunch with them.  Grandmere and Bapa are always happy to oblige where they can, and met the girls to wolf down some food.  Grandmere was super sweet and sent me pictures with each of the girls.

Mac and Mimi were super excited to have visitors!!

We discovered knobby buns for the girls' hair.  They are pretty fun, and come out differently each time.  We will see how they hold up to a day at school!

Bookmarks

The girls saw a tutorial on how to make page corner bookmarks and they have been hard at work since!  They are actually really cute, and super easy to do.  I love Leiden's little thundercloud.

And I love the eyelashes on Mac's.  They kill me!

Preparations at the Barn!

Party is in 2 weeks, so it was time today to head up to Midway and get the decorations put up for it.  The mountains are full of color this time of year, and we hope it remains for the guests on October 8!

Jon had seen some other properties east of Park City along the I-80 corridor, so while we were up there we drove by.  They are VERY remote, and while they are quite inexpensive for the lot size, they are a little bit too out of the way, as well as being on pretty steep grades, which may explain why no one has already bought them.  It also seemed to be more a cabin community rather than actual full time living.  While we were up there we stopped to look at some views and Leiden climbed up this steep little hill and got stuck.

She could not figure out how to get down so Jon had to go rescue her while she clung to the tree roots!

We stopped by the library today while we were out and about, and the girls were so cute.  Leiden was thrilled to find a book about the care and keeping of Pomeranians.  She is OBSESSED with them lately!  She thinks they are super cute little furballs, and her nose was buried in the book all day.  She is hoping that once we move, we will get her one, and we are trying to explain that that's probably not going to happen!  They are yappy, and super anxious, and just...not what we want!

I did some lettering of signs for the party, and I think they turned out really well!

My mom is having a lot of fun getting ready for this party.  She has never been a super casual party type, generally she goes for elegance and high style, but she has been surprised at how much fun the planning has been, and how beautiful the decorating and other ideas are for such a shindig!

It was carb night, and we had planned on making cider, so each of the girls got to pick a few apples and we put the juicer to work!  I am seriously amazed at how delicious the cider is.  It's JUST several different kinds of apples, and nothing else.  It is absolutely the most delicious thing ever.

I did some trial run cakes today to test out how my ideas would work.  We are doing chocolate cakes with TBD fillings, and they will be naked cakes with just a little bit of vanilla frosting on the outside and dark cake showing through.  This is exciting!

Construction!

Jon began actual construction today, and the girls supervised.  I really think they were fascinated by his fascination!

They just hung around and watched raptly.

Finally, it was complete!

It came with funny little add ons like the landing module and the water landing apparatus.

He is so proud!

First Mail/Gift!

My mom had this for us today...someone in her ward sent it through her as she won't be here for the party...it's the first piece of mail that had my new name on it, and it's also our first non-family wedding gift!

I am doing the cake for the Barn party, and I LOVE the figs I am seeing on wedding cakes on Pinterest.  I haven't known where to get them, or if it were even a possibility, but I wandered into a Whole Foods today, and there they were!  I am so excited I will be able to incorporate them into the wedding cake decoration!

Legos

Jon ordered the Saturn V lego kit so he could construct and add to his work decor.  It came today, and he was so excited to hurry home from work and begin construction!

I think the girls were fascinated that an adult not only liked Legos, but bought a whole set just for himself!  He sure is endearing himself to them in so many ways.

Land

We have been thinking for some time that we want to move out of the rental the girls and I have been living in, and find a place we can call our own.  And also have animals and do what we want with!!  We found some beautiful land in Herriman, up against the mountain, that is large, and in a little dip that obscures the worst of the valley busy-ness, while still affording beautiful distant Rocky Mountain Views.  It's a large parcel, 2.5 acres, but we feel it just might work out.  We are looking at builders and trying to see if this is feasible, but we feel pretty good about this.  I am nervous about moving the girls out of their schools and away from friends, but I also think a new place with a lot more autonomy would be good.  And chickens.  Chickens make everything better!  Not to mention the freedom we would have to have other animals the girls have been missing out on.

We wander out here a couple times a week, trying to scope it out and test how we feel.  It seems far away from everything, but I am also fairly resistant to change, so my feelings are not as reliable as I'd like them to be!

Driving back home FROM THE CAR I saw this little guy on the road.  I've never seen a tarantula in the wild, before, and he was a big one.  Probably 5 inches across, and just minding his own business on the dusty road.

We also saw some deer in people's yards, and wild turkeys running around!  This is what we want!!

Invitations

The calligraphy is all done, and now it's on to stuffing the envelopes!  The invitations were chosen long ago, and have just been sitting waiting for us to use.

This was the picture we chose to put inside the invitation.  Man, every time I look at these wedding pictures that Mark and other family members took, I am STUNNED at how beautiful.  We liked this one because we aren't looking at the camera, and Mimi isn't looking anywhere but at her shoe!

With their pretty wedding stamp, these are ready to go out!

Makeover

Mimi asked Jon if she could put makeup on him.  Being the man he is, he said yes!  I feel Mimi did a very tasteful job!

Leiden asked to have her hair curled for school today, and I obliged.  It turned out so much better than my hair ever does!!  I wish I could get mine to do the wavy thing, but it just goes twirly.  Leiden is becoming a lovely young woman right before our eyes!!

I totally changed my mind to make all this a bit easier, and decided I wasn't going to center the names on the Barn party envelopes.  They are left justified, and this is so much better.

To ensure straight lettering, I have to mark the lines down, but with left justification, once the ink is dried, all I have to do is erase the lines and it's done.  So it turns out I didn't need to letter out all the names, but it was still good practice!

It's Official!

I got my official, real drivers license in the mail today!  Name has officially been changed in one place!  I still have to go to the Social Security Administration office again.  It's a pressing errand that needs to be done, but I'm struggling to find the guts to go and just wait!

Addresses

The calligraphy continues.  I am writing all the names and addresses out for practice and for centering purposes.  It's twice the work, but it sure saves time in the centering!