Welcome First day of Fall!

So last Monday for FHE we decided that we would make caramel apples to celebrate the first day of Fall, which I think is my most favorite part of the year. I love how the air feels light and crisp. We had a good time, didn't make as much of a big mess as I thought we would and I satisfied my craving for something sweet!

First we dipped the apples in caramel and then rolled them in honey roasted peanuts. Cooled them, and then as if that wasn't enough we dipped them in chocolate. YUMMY! My mind was just racing that night thinking about what other flavors we could dip them in. I suppose I have a few months to try some out. :)

OUR WORK IS DONE, TIME TO INDULGE!

PURE SATISFACTION!

DOES THAT JUST MAKE YOUR MOUTH WATER?

UH-OH!

WHO DOES CLAIRE'S FUNNY FACE REMIND YOU OF?? HA HA SHE'S SO ANIMATED!

Go Speed Racer!!

So, let me tell you a little about Jesse's newest addition to his Lexus car family. This car is a Lexus SC 300. But, it's no ordinary SC 300; this car has one rocket packed engine. It has 650 horse power on low boost (Turbo turned down low) and when it's juiced up with high boost, up to 800 HP. Just to give you an idea how fast that is just think of the new corvette and it has 650 HP. Yeah, I know. I got to ride in it for the first time yesterday and I must say that I had an interesting experience. I'm sort of a speedster myself, but I must say that I nearly had tears in my eyes I was so scared!! Jesse put it into 2nd gear and we took off quickly, and I'm like o.k. cool this is fast and then he shifts and then I hear the booster and the tires spinning, then I'm looking for the OH S*!#$ bar but is wasn't there! We got up to 110 mph in like 5 seconds. I seriously thought this car was going to sprout wings and fly! Or I felt like we were blasting off into a rocket! When Cody (my sister-n-law) took a ride her words were, "It made my toes tingle!" Well, let's just say that I was having that tired, groggy feeling you get on Sunday afternoons, but after that ride I felt wide awake! Jesse's going to have a lot of fun with this car at the El Paso drag way. Thankfully he's a great driver and that it has a roll bar inside. I know, crazy!

Here's a look at the engine. I know nothing about engines, but I do know that this engine looks fast!

Bellissimo!

I'm experimenting with my new camera and with some props to have some glamour shots of Bella. She's supposed to look like a little bouquet of flowers, but it didn't work out the way I planned. I made the headband myself...don't make fun. :) ha ha. She can pull it off.

I love this picture of Claire. She's totally in deep thought mode. I love how her left eye is seen through her hair. Such a beauty...inside and out.

Our 2nd Try at Hiking...Success!

Hiking was much better this time. We went at the later part of the day and the weather was PERFECT! We tried another trail this time and it had a stream that I'm assuming is usually dry, but with all of the rain we've had it was a fairly deep. The boys and I got wet trying to cross, but Jesse managed to push the jogging stroller through the stream absolutely dry. The kids always look forward to all of the insects we see as we hike, but this time around we noticed about 6 baby frogs and of course tons of grasshoppers! We've been trying to make it to the Mountain every Monday since the weathers great, but I have a feeling life is going to get pretty hectic now that Fall is approaching and all of the activities that are involved with the season. O-well, I'll enjoy it while I can.

This is the Trail we took.

I guess this was how the Grand Canyon was formed! ha ha

This is when we decided to turn back. Pretty difficult to get the stroller through.

Un-Prepared & out of shape!

Last weekend the weather was so nice. It was in the high 70's and cloudy; a nice break from the summer's heat. So, I thought it would be nice if we were to go hiking. I've always dreamt of our family being the kind to be a bit more adventurous and go and do a bunch of outdoor activities. So, after getting a lunch packed and everyone finally out the door (a few hours later than expected) we were as Jesse says, "Out like a heard of Turtles." We didn't go far. We just went to Dripping Springs, but it feels like your packing for an all day trip!

On the way over Claire fell asleep which was my first uh-oh moment, we got out of the car and the sun was blazing hot (the weather man was wrong that day!), I forgot to bring a back pack to put our big jug of water in so we had to use whatever bag I had in the car. To top it all off it was lunch time which meant that my visions of having a picnic by the springs was shot since it was going to probably take an hour to two hours to get there! Needless to say this hike was not turning out the way I had envisioned it.

Luckily, Claire was happy even though her nap was only 10 minutes long. We ate our lunch and started up the trail thinking what are we doing making this hike with a bunch of little kids. We totally looked unprepared. Although, while on the hike I couldn't help but think of the Mormon Pioneers and others like them who just had to leave everything except what they could carry or push behind. I kept thinking how much easier it would be if I were in better shape and not 4 WEEKS POST PARDOM, but the Pioneers didn't have the luxury to "train" for their treck across the west either. (Although, I'm sure they shaped up pretty quick) Anyhow, it made me appreciate their sacrifice that much more. We obviously didn't make it the whole 1.5 miles that afternoon...Jesse ended up having to carry Claire and the boys started getting tired, but all in all it was a funny memory and a lesson learned in preparedness. We're hiking the trail again tomorrow for Family Home Evening and hopefully the experience will be better.

Look -a- Like

It's amazing to me how much my children look like each other when they're born. Now that they're older they're much more different with just some similarities. But, I was organizing my pictures and thought it would be fun to compare all of the newborn pictures and see if you guys can guess who is who. This is actually going to be pretty easy.

A)

B)

C)

D)