The Great Pumpkin Hunt

one beautiful fall day we set out to find the perfect pumpkins.

with these people.

(our friends the spencers)

we searched high

and low

by train

(notice the two spirited travelers who look as if they are doing see no evil and speak no evil in the back car and caboose.)

and by horse

(Ali was using her best cowgirl drawl as she ushered the horse along..."giddy up cow-buah"...everyone was laughing at her antics and she was loving it. Now normally imitation is the sincerest form of flattery but, when the gal behind her started stealing her catch phrase I am afraid she was greeted with quite the snarl.)

even after that long journey on the horses, it seemed the perfect pumpkin was destined to elude us.

but then daddy pulled some strings.

and what do you know!

Cole found the perfect pumpkin. 

and piper found the perfect pumpkin.

and ali found the perfect pumpkin.

but while carrying her spoils...the best part (a twisted stem) tragically broke off!

Good thing every cowgirl is equipt with handy dandy pockets for just such an occurrence.

so the search was over and one hay ride later we were off on our way to the homestead.

Fancy Ali

 have you heard of the Fancy Nancy books?

well, we are living with the real life version.

I wish I had had the camera close by every time she has emerged in her hilarious get ups, but I think these few can give you a pretty good idea of what we have on our hands.

let's just say she changes her outfits 12 times a day and they are usually awesome enough to make me stop in my tracks, giggle, and admire her dedication to all things fancy.

this, for example, is how she emerged from her room when I asked her if she wanted to help me cook something. 

she called them her cooking clothes. 

(she explained that the mittens were so she didn't get her hands too hot.)

  the similarities to fancy nancy don't end there...her letters have extra fancy loops and her vocabulary is enough to make you question her age for sure. 

even her mannerisms are fancy.

the other day I had wheat thins for the kids to snack on. If you ask cole what a wheat thin is he will say "a square cracker". Ali's description..."these diamond cookies are delicious!"

oh and don't worry she is already teaching piper her fancy ways.

piper looks thrilled about it doesn't she? 

dad's are good for...

dad's are good for lots of things.

they are good swinging buddies.

and they are perfect at kissing owies all better.

they are good at finding "smark-el-ly" things in the water.

and they are really good at skipping rocks and teaching you how.

they are experts at holding hands too.

they are fabulous at teaching self defense...

and even better at stepping in and whacking things for you.

(mom say's that will come in handy when I am a teenager, I am not quite sure what that means.)

and they are awesome at taking nice leisurely drives around town so we can chat.

but if I have to pick one thing that dad's are the best for it would be loving me...cause my dad is an absolute expert at that.

a swingin' time

 today I tried something new.

I was a bit skeptical at first, but when dad started to push us, it became super fun.

I am still a beginner at this thing...

but some day I was be a master at it like her.

I can't wait!

wax on, wax off

set, HIKE!

can't you just see him on a football field somewhere, someday?

for now the field is our backyard, and the teammate is dad.

Justin and Cole play football constantly, and I think daddy is pretty proud that his son shows real potential...and interest in the game.

Cole LOVES playing with his dad. and he gets so into it.

check out his tongue after he throws...total concentration.

I just had to document the adorableness...I mean pure awesomeness of this activity.

He makes amazing catches...

and let me assure you, dad throws HARD.

he never takes it easy on him. but I have to admit, it has paid off, look at those fingertips!

he is so into it. I love his faces.

and what you ask do the girls do during this? well, piper is content to watch for now, but al is a whole different story. don't think for a second this girl gets left out. whether its playing...

or goofing around with the boys, she is in the middle of it.

but cole doesn't seem to mind. just look at that face, it's my favorite.

I guess I can handle a lifetime of football if the result is that face.

B.Y.U!!!!!!!!!

ok, so BYU may not have done so well this week, but we had a different kind of victory.

we indoctrinated yet another child into the BYU mania!

after getting all our garb on we headed to bleed blue with some of our friends.

ali is quite skilled at cheering for BYU...and I am sure piper will be trained to do so as well...as if she'll have a choice!

we are so not fair weather fans. BYU football brought me my amazing husband and their fabulous daddy...we can't help but love that legacy!