Labor Day Weekend

Still not posting many pics, but wanting to write about this week's happenings.

• Today (the day has been so long that if feels like yesterday) was our 1st Sunday with 1:00 church. Mike has continually tried to point out the positives... the only one he's been able to come up with is space. Which is a good point. Our ward is over 600 and the size of two. We'll probably split for the 4th time in the last 4 years within the next year. So, being the last ward in the building means we don't have to share with anyone else which means that maybe James will be in a small classroom with 6-8 kids instead of 14-16. A definite plus-- if he's there on Sunday and not napping. I told Mike that before we move again we'll have to make sure that the ward shares the building with a single's ward that always wants the 1 pm time block.
• Mikey went to a Brandon Sanderson book release and signing at the BYU bookstore Monday night at midnight. Here is what he said about it "I like going to these because I feel like cool. Compared to everyone else I'm like the captain of the Football team.
• Go BYU Cougs!! Hooray for the first win of the season. I don't know any of the new players, but hooray!
• Drove the alpine loop (twice) yesterday and the leaves are changing. I look at sunny days and pictures like the one here and can hardly believe that such beauty can turn into frozen awfulness in just a few months from now.
• Mr. Daniel is growing up. In addition to Mama and Dada, cat and tractor he is also starting to repeat words that we say. He doesn't know what a lot of them are, but he's loving all these new sounds and words he can make. He's also taking a few steps and sometimes tries to walk. I'm actually ready for that day so I can dress him in his white pants before he outgrows them.
• James and Daniel have reached a new phase in their relationship! They totally enjoy each other-- and they totally PLAY together! It's so fun to watch plus I've actually kept the house a tad cleaner than usual. I love how they light up when they see each other each morning. I think it probably helps that the playroom is an absolute wreck with toys out of all the bins and strewn ALL over the floor.
• Went to Farm Country for play group and super excited to start that up again. We have a group of 5 boys, all within a few months of each other that love to get together every Tuesday and play. Not to mention us Mom's love the break in routine. 
• Went up the canyon for dinner with some friends and love this beautiful area we live in. We're a 20 min drive from our door to where we like to cook our tinfoil dinners-- and it's a gorgeous and a peaceful drive. The boys love getting outside and we love driving back home to our beds once we've had our camping fix.
• I've experienced a major technological learning curve in the last few weeks. I have finally graduated from a dinosaur phone to the new iphone. We're also doing the PC to Mac switch which is taking some getting used to. But, a very good switch.

• Yesterday we went to Swiss Days. We left early to make it to the Parade. It has been the summer of parades for our family, as James cannot get enough of firetrucks and Daniel just loves watching and taking it all in. That was the 5th in the last 3 months and it was one of our favorites as there were tractors and lots of old cars in it. At one point Mike got this amused expression, turned to me and said, "Some of these people live for this parade every year." It's true. Midway Loves their Swiss days but so do thousands of visitors! 

• Although, I have to admit that Mike and I had this realization yesterday... here was our day: 10 get to Midway and watch the parade. 3/4 into it leave for the booths because all James really wanted to see were the firetrucks which were at the very beginning and we missed anyway. 11 Visit old GJ friends who have a booth every year then walk a couple of aisles and see cute crafty stuff that all these stay-at-home moms make and sell. My favorite was a sign on one craft that read, "No Pictures Please." First of all, it was like the most basic thing to make that I doubt anyone would really need to take a picture anyway, and Second, there are the other half of crafty moms who go to this, take pictures, and then go home and make the cute stuff. Well, after wandering a bit in the heat and crowd we sat down to listen to a couple songs from a local band and snap a few more pictures. By then it was noon and lunch time so we hopped in the car and drove to a favorite Mexican restaurant with a delish salsa bar... and that was it, kind of anti-climactic. 1 leave and driv into town for a few errands. 2 There was still so much day left and we didn't want to just go home, so we brainstormed our options. That's when I mentioned Gelato at Zermott in Midway. Mike couldn't believe that we had gone to Swiss Days without getting our Gelato. So, what did we do? We drove all the way back up the canyon for our annual gelato and Zermott fix. We walked around the resort, rode on the carousel, and ate pizza at their restaurant. 6 hop back in the car, turn on the BYU game and drive over the Alpine loop and home. So, after 6 years of going to Swiss Days, we realized that the fun is in a combination of things including our Gelato!
• Wrote a book of an entry and am going to go get my husband to bed before he starts drooling on the couch cushions-- still working on the book he got last Monday. Either it's not that entertaining or these boys of ours are working us too hard!