September

In September, we:

*went boating one last time.

*hung out with grandparents. We watched football games at the Andersons

and helped Grandma Law finish off the garden and freeze some corn. In return she gave us corn, pickles, applesauce, potatoes, and promised us pumpkins.

In September, Ed and I:

*ran away together! Ed had work in Miami again, and we have the best parents who agreed to take on our kids for a week. We left Grandma and Bonka and all our girls sleeping at 0-dark-30 Monday morning and caught the early flight to Salt Lake. Unfortunately, SLC had just hosted the DoTerra convention...all flights out were overbooked on Sunday, and they were playing catch-up on Monday, which meant there was no way we were getting on our super-easy flight to Orlando. Instead we had to go SLC to Vegas, Vegas to Atlanta, and finally Atlanta to Orlando. We had a little time before we could get on the flight to Vegas, so we took TRAX downtown to the organ recital at the Tabernacle.

We stumbled into the hotel in Orlando super late, and were up super early to go play. 2 years ago on my birthday Ed was with his simulator partner at Harry Potter World and I was home in Illinois pouting. This year he more than made up for it.

The butterbeer was the best thing ever.

Ed caught me pointing out the "U No Poo"

Lunch at the Leaky Cauldron

The infamous platform 9 3/4

The other days of our trip Ed had to work and I spent my time on the balcony

or at the pool

and when Ed would get back we'd go for long walks on the beach before dinner.

Everyone in Miami is super skinny with perfect tans. Not me. I flaunted my farmer's tan and didn't put on makeup or straighten my hair once. It was heaven. I spent my actual birthday racing through airports trying to catch my 4 flights home (Miami to Atlanta, Atlanta to Phoenix, Phoenix to SLC, SLC to Boise), and came home to a last-minute ride from my mom (I left the car keys with Ed in FL...oops) and happy, well-cared-for children. I am the most spoiled in the history of spoiled.

*Ed spent massive amounts of time and money on our stupid lawn. Dumb fungus and bugs. We will figure out how to take care of our desert lawn eventually.

*I played the organ for Sacrament Meeting for the month. There are several of us in the ward assigned to rotate. No big deal...except for the first time ever I was told I was doing it wrong! Our sweet chorister likes it "fast and light" and above all else, she expects to be followed. I always thought I was pretty good at following the chorister, but apparently I'm not. It was humbling. I'll get better. In the meantime, she kicked me off the December schedule because she doesn't want me to mess up the Christmas hymns. (Blogger needs emojis. I'd put a "laughing til I cry" right here.)

In September, Kimberlee:

*fell in love with thrift stores. She found this hoodie at DI.

I told her there was no way that could come in our house. She said, "Why not, what's wrong with the state of Utah?" Now she wears it to bother Ed and I. She claims she's still a BYU fan, but the hoodie is warm and comfortable so...

*rocked the high school scene. She joined the Writing Club, then changed her mind and joined the Art Club. She's making new friends. She has nothing less than a 96% in all her classes. She is begging to take Driver's Ed. My baby is all growed up.

In September, Keira:

*ran and ran and ran cross country

Keira did awesome again! She was almost a full minute faster than last year, and was the 11th best average time for her school. They take the top 10 for varsity, which to her meant she would get 1st at JV Districts. That's not quite what happened (it was a tough course for her), but she was still happy with how she finished.

Now she's running on her own and looking forward to Track in the spring.

*cut off her hair.

In September, Krista:

*was the Student of the Week. She had to fill out a "Superhero" poster all about her ("Who is your sidekick?" "What would your theme song be?") and present it to the class.

*Decided Challenge (G/T) is not where she wants to be on Wednesdays. She was missing some important and super fun things from her regular class, and got tired of being the odd one out (she is the only 4th grader at her school who is participating in the pull-out GT program this year). She has a fantastic teacher who seems to do a really good job of challenging Krista in the regular class, so I had no problem with her dropping the pull-out program. Maybe she'll want to go back next semester.

*spent a fun day at Art in the Park with Grandma and Bonka

In September, Kassie:

*also cut off her hair.

*surprised me every day with her sense of style

*sent her beloved primary teacher off on her mission to California. Her last Sunday she brought "mud pie" kits for the kids. Kass was so proud of how she made it all herself, crushed oreos and all.

In September, Karoline:

*started the month by throwing up all over me. I knew she wasn't feeling well when she followed me into the laundry room and fell asleep on the floor while I folded a load.

Minus the puking, the cuddling and sleeping and quiet were a welcome change from normal.

*Repped the Y. Cutest little cougar I've ever seen. I came home from Florida to a little girl speaking in complete sentences. She is working hard to say her "s" sound - it usually comes out as a "t".

*learned how to watch TV. Karoline spent the first couple weeks of school following me around and whining. She couldn't be left alone to play, she wouldn't even sit next to me and play. She had to be sitting on my lap and making it difficult for me to get anything done. I never had to teach my other girls how to watch TV, but I finally sat her down and made her watch a movie with me. It worked...a little too well. Now she must watch "Tangled" at least once a day, and won't consider any other movie. I created a monster.

(This is our own attempt at making butterbeer) Happy Fall y'all!