We love Harvest Break!

For harvest break, we were able to head to Northern Idaho for a week. My aunt and uncle were generous enough to let us stay in their cabin on Coeur d' Alene Lake. It was so nice to kick back and relax. We spent a lot of time cuddled up watching movies, LOTS of reading, playing games, and just enjoying the view on the deck. We also spent a night with Travis' brother, Trevor, and his family. Stacy and I had fun bargain shopping. :)

The first day we were there, it was beautiful. We spent the day swimming and lounging on the big deck.

Then, we went for a few rides on the Trails of the Coeur d' Alene. This trail is seriously amazing. It is 72 miles of an old railroad that has been paved for biking, which was so perfect for a bike trailer. We would use this all the time if we lived close to it. It was so pretty with the fall colors and the sounds of the elk bugling. And the chilly weather topped off the fall feeling.

We also drove up to the old Cataldo Mission, which is the oldest standing building in Idaho. We love our Idaho history. It was really neat to see how they built it without any nails- talk about miracles. :)

We then biked the Cataldo section of the bike trail and had a fall picnic. This part of the trail was seriously amazing. We biked almost 15 miles this day.

Sun Valley

After backpacking, the girls and I stayed in Sun Valley with Travis' family. Makenna was so excited to see her cousins. Seriously, I don't really even see her when she is around Maddy, Jackson, and Parker. We had fun relaxing, eating chocolate apples, swimming, biking, and walking around.

Makenna's Big Day

Today was Makenna's first day of preschool. She was so excited and seemed so big with her backpack. She wasn't nervous at all and didn't even notice me leave. It helps that she already knew half the class from church. I was surprised by how sad I felt when we got home. It seemed so empty and quiet without her here. But don't worry, Hadley still keeps me busy. I don't think I realized how much Makenna entertains her little sister. Let's just say we read a lot of books this morning (her favorite thing to do). It really is good to have time with just Hadley, but I was happy to go get Makenna. We are so proud of this little, or should I say big, girl. She has brought us such indescribable joy since she was born and we are so excited for all of her "firsts" but hope this year slows down a little bit before her first day of kindergarten next year.

Little Hadley

I came across this picture that we took of Hadley almost exactly a year ago and was taken back by how much she has grown. First of all, we can't believe that was a year ago. This past year has gone by in a flash. It honestly feels like yesterday. And now she is almost 16 months old and she just keeps getting more and more fun.

I love this recent picture of her because it shows her FOUR new teeth. Yes, you heard right- she got four teeth in a week and a half. We didn't even know they were there until we noticed them when she was laughing one morning. She went from two teeth to six in a little over a week. Thank goodness she is a good teether. She looks so adorable with four top teeth now. It just makes that sweet smile even more irresistible.

She also has started talking A TON, which we absolutely love. Makenna gets so excited when she says something. Here are a few of the words she is saying:

• "dog"
• "cup"
• "Waaa?" (What?)- Whenever we call her name, this is how she answers us, with a lot of attitude I might add. So funny! (for now anyway)
• "ba ba" (her soft sippy cup that she gets milk in before she goes to sleep)
• "ba" (ball)
• "mom" or "mom-my" (instead of mama)
• "up" (which she found is very effective when she wants to be held)
• "hi"
• "gum" (Makenna asked for gum in a store and so Hadley of course wanted some and said "gum" throughout the rest of the trip. It's even cuter that she holds out the "m" sound at the end)
• "cat"
• "shoes"
• "gamma" (grandma)
• "gapa" (grandpa)
• "don" (don't)- usually said to Makenna
• "nu" (no)
• says a lot of animal sounds, but our favorite is her "now" (meow)
• tries to say cracker and cookie
• "bu bu" (bye bye)
• "shhh"- when we tell her to be quiet at church or somewhere, she shushes us back
• "ya" (yes)
• "car"
• "tee" (tree)
• "rock"
• "wa wa" (water)
• "whee"- when she thinks something is fun
• "eye"
• "fish"

We can't wait to watch her continue to grow and learn. We love you little Hads!

Alturus- Reunion #2

We went straight from Island Park to Alturus for our favorite week of the year. And, as always, it flew by. We could have stayed another week easy. We have so much fun with our family and spent the week relaxing and eating great food. Makenna played the entire time with her cousins. Seriously, cousins are the best babysitters- we barely saw her for two weeks. We spent the day lounging on the beach, diving into the water, going in or behind the boat, and then around 5 or 6, we would head back to camp to get ready for dinner. After the kids are in bed, we enjoyed our hilarious campfire chats and games (we are totally hooked on Blokus thanks to the Nicholls). Now we have to wait a whole year to go back. :(

7 Years Later...

Today is our 7 year anniversary! It has flown by, but at the same time it's hard to remember not being together. It has been 7 truly great years. We love reminiscing about our dating days and when we first got married. But even more than that, we love to look at the family and the life we have built up over the past 7 years and feel the joy and pride that we do. Here are 7 favorite things about our marriage that we came up with:

1. Our cute little family that we have created

We are so blessed to have each other and our sweet little girls that bring joy to our lives every day. We are so grateful that we were married in the Logan temple 7 years ago to begin our eternal family.

2. We love being outdoors together!

Camping, hiking, cross-country and downhill skiing, backpacking, biking... we love it all. Every summer, we head off for weeks at a time to be in the mountains and we wouldn't trade those adventures for anything. We enjoy sharing our love for the outdoors with Makenna and Hadley and look forward to family backpacking and skiing trips as they get older.

3. With every year, things just keep getting better.

I remember someone telling us before we were married that our love would constantly be changing. I just didn't realize at the time that he meant that it would get better and better.

4. Perfection is not expected

Let's face it, neither of us are perfect or even close to it in our

relationship, individually, or as parents. But we love each other

despite our flaws and work at things each day.

5. On a Friday night, we still love to cuddle

up on the couch and watch a movie.

After 7 years, we still look forward to

Friday nights when we take the back cushions off the couch and cuddle

under warm blankets to a good movie and popcorn.

6. We have come to be a very good team

We have learned that marriage is made of teamwork, from working

to finishing school to cleaning the house to putting kids to bed. We are a great team and there is no one else that we would rather have by our

side (well, maybe a maid too :) ).

7. There's no place we would rather be than

together.

We love spending time together whether it is a Monday evening or one of our little trips. I feel so lucky to be married to my best friend. I

love you Travis and look forward to the years ahead of us!!!

Hadley Singing

I love this video of Hadley singing with her crazy nap hair. She sings and dances all day long. She is such a funny little thing. The ending is a crack-up.

(I sound lovely in the background with my cold.)