Saturday, November 9, 2013

A September Summer

September around here can either feel like summer or feel like the beginning of fall. This year it was definitely hot enough to consider it summer. At the beginning of the month our friends the Hollands came to visit again! We are so glad they have family that live here in Utah, in fact Justin works with Janae's brother Jay. Taylor read a book to the kids while we gathered everything for dinner.
 
 
We went down to the Dalton's place and had a barbecue. Everyone brought their own meat and something to share, and we went to the picnic and park area to enjoy the sunshine. Molly had lots of fun playing on the slide, and playground.

 
Once we discovered the splash pad we had very happy kids!

 
JJ tried a splash pad in August and wasn't really a fan, but this time we left his shoes on, and the water didn't squirt as much as the other one, he didn't ever want to leave.



 
We had lots of fun watching the kids play and are realizing that more and more of our gatherings will be around a bunch of kids.

 
I am trying to teach JJ to help with "chores" I would love to have a helpful older brother someday. (I'm not hinting at anything by the way... seriously though...he is an only child...)

 
JJ also learned to grocery shop at the Urban farm and Feed store in our area, our favorites there are the eggs, produce and of course the awesome tortilla chips from Salsitas Mendoza.

 
Since farmers markets are booming with delicious fruits and veggies we picked up half a bushel of delicious peaches for canning.

 
Justin surprised me with tickets to James Taylor, well it wasn't just James Taylor but that's who I was there for. Justin had never really heard James Taylor before and didn't know his songs quite as well as I do, thanks to my dad of course!

 
The concert was held in the conference center, with the Utah symphony and Mormon Tabernacle choir there to back him up.

 
He sang some of his most popular songs, fire and rain, shower the people, sweet baby James, you've got a friend, the water is wide, and lonesome road.


 
I saw James play a while ago at the Minnesota state fair, and am still proudly rocking the concert T shirt that is older than I am.

 
After the concert we stopped by the Cheesecake Factory for a cheesecake to go. It was a wonderful night and I'm grateful for a thoughtful husband putting the date together.

 
I adore the way JJ crosses his legs while he colors on the floor.

 
Our little one has quite the gourmet tastes, I made a balsamic reduction to go with dinner one day and JJ decided he wanted it on his food too. He ended up loving it and even dipping his fingers in it when his food was gone. I am very grateful that he eats so well.

 
Another fun mommy activity JJ and I did was chalk paint, part cornstarch and part water, with a touch of food coloring.

 
He had so much fun making a "mess" and being able to paint wherever he wanted to.

 
One day JJ and I went to meet Justin for lunch at Jimmy Johns and JJ was doing just fine when I took this picture but had a major meltdown the moment after.

 
it was raining that day and normally after a meltdown I would put him straight down for a nap, but this time I took him outside and we played in the rain for a little while until he got cold.

 
He loved getting to play in the rain and our day ended up better than if I would have put him straight down for a nap.

 
I recently got back into painting, this time watercolors. Its nice since it requires very little space and I can go back to my work whenever I find some spare time. This first one has found it's home at my parents house.
 
 
The next went to my lovely "sis" Joycelyn for her birthday.

 
This one went to one of my relatives Nicole Looney for her birthday, since she has a cupcake collection in her kitchen.

 
In order to make the amazing flavor of fresh peaches last till next summer, I was determined to learn to can. Luckily Sue and Leonard have done quite a bit over the years and were willing to tutor me in the process. The Alberta peaches we found at the market were the biggest peaches I had ever seen in my life.

 
JJ really liked our giant peaches too!

 
Look how wonderful the peaches turned out! we used apple juice instead of sugar water and they'll be so much healthier and even taste delicious!

 
Since I love Ikea so much I figured I'd share the love with our friends the Hopes.

 
The kids had fun playing with their vegetables.

 
My Ikea tradition is an ice cream cone at the end, and now that JJ is big enough he gets one too! This time he let little Melanie sneak some ice cream.

 
and then he decided she liked it and needed more.


 
she wasn't satisfied with a little taste and I'm sure cant wait till she can have her own cone.

 
On our first slightly cold day we broke out the sweaters and decided to get out of the house. We went to drop something off at the storage unit and I decided a garden center was the perfect place to run off some energy and be outdoors at the same time. We talked about the colors and names of the flowers. When I was little I used to walk around my grandmas yard and ask what the name of every flower was, and I cant wait to do that with JJ.

 
Sometimes this little cheese ball realizes I'm taking his picture and he lets his true colors show. I wonder where he got that from? Daddy I'm sure!

 
another one of this kid's many goofy faces.

 
There is something dangerous going around among our kids, it is only welcome if they are sleeping. it posses them to do crazy things like unroll all the toilet paper, color on couches, and get out all the Tupperware. This affliction is called "Silence" you have been warned.

 
This little boy and I had quite the crazy hair that day, and I love it!


 
When we went up to Morgan to visit Justin's grandma Hugie we picked some apples to add to our applesauce later on that week.

 
One morning with breakfast I caved and gave JJ syrup with his pancakes...

 
a bath immediately followed to remove all sticky-ness. I absolutely love the way his eyelashes look when he's in the tub.

 
Some days you look at you kids and realize they are getting so big, this day was one of those days.

 
One day I needed to shower while JJ chilled. So I put Wreck-it Ralph on (his favorite movie so far) and bundled him up in a blanket thinking he would escape quickly. Once I got out of the shower I found him still bundled and ridiculously warm!

 
to finish off September we went for a picnic at the Peace Gardens in West Valley.

 
It is a great place for kids to run around and even get a lesson on different countries.


 
there are places like Switzerland, Germany, Japan, Italy, and China.

 
JJ loved running around and looking at all the statues, buildings and even the lions.

 
Over the course of the summer we made homemade pasta sauce, raspberry freezer jam, and fresh peaches.

 
The summer seems to have flown by around here and the winds have changed bringing colder days and more colorful leaves.
 
 

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