Random September Happenings

Here are some fun stuff we did in the month of September:

September 4

Erik and I went to try a new Indian food restaurant nearby. It was pretty good. We've been back a few times since. Erik took this picture of me just outside the restaurant.

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Here are a few pictures sent to us by Gabe's YM leaders. Gabe has a good time at the activities, even though he doesn't buddy-up to the other boys very much.

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During the first week of September 3rd-10th, Michael flew in from Salt Lake to visit for a week. Mostly, we went out for lunch at various restaurants. I didn't take a whole lot of pictures during his visit, so I can't remember what else we did besides eating out, bowling, and going to Goodwill. We also saw the move Weapons, which I liked. It was my first in-theater rated R movie haha! Deserved more of a pg-13 rating I think, but there were some gnarly scenes that would bother people that aren't numb to fake gore. I think that's pretty much all we did. In the mornings Michael liked to sit outside and talk on the phone, and the late afternoon was spent doing piano and getting the kids to do their work, and then Michael liked to go to bed a little early. Here are the pictures I took:

We went with Erik to Butter's for some omelets and pancakes.

We of course went to Bobby Q's. And took Ian because that's his favorite restaurant.

Michael wanted to go bowling, so we tried the new Harkin's bowling alley. Ian was grumpy for most of the games. He slowed the game down so much that we almost didn't get our last game in. Michael and I had scores that were really close, but I think he won.

I took Ian and Elisa to the yogurt shop nearby.  Michael didn't have any, but Ian and Elisa made up for that by getting way too much.

We tried the Daily Drip, a fun drink place that I want to take Elisa to someday. There were tons of drink options. I ordered the lavender milk.

We went to goodwill right after picking up Lou Malnati's pizza. I bought a jacket for Michael and a little wooden storage chest.

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Weekend of September 13. Erik's cousin Ginger got married, and Erik wanted to fly out to Kansas for the reception. He asked Elisa if she wanted to go, and she said yes. They flew out to Kansas City where his parents picked them up and drove them to Leavenworth to one of the few buildings in town big enough for a wedding reception: the Carousel Museum. They spent the night in a Hampton Inn not far from the museum. They flew back home early the next morning.

Eating at Wildflower inside Sky Harbor Airport.

Waiting to eat at the reception

Erik's cousins rode the carrousel many, many times.

Elisa and Grandpa rode the carrousel once or twice.

Erik took this video of a train to show Gabe

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Sept. 13

Not sure why I took this picture. I made Gabe some eggs it looks like.

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Sept. 14

Erik and I took Ian to Michaels where we spent a chunk of change on materials that Ian picked out to make himself a Halloween costume, he wanted to go as one of the characters from The Amazing Digital Circus. This smart boy had everything planned out to make this costume--he was quite ambitious! The execution took a while and was extremely messy--my craft room looked like it exploded. Elise helped Ian make this costume a bit, but mostly he was the one who figured it all out. I will post the final costume in my Halloween post! He did an amazing job!

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Sept. 15

I took Gabe to Subway for lunch after one of his counseling appointments.

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Sept. 16

 Erik took this of me cutting jalapenos. I hate cutting them without protective gear on. If I don't, the fumes get in my throat and I can't breathe, and my eyes and mouth burn for the rest of the day if I happen to touch my face. 

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Sept. 19

A friend invited me and a few other ladies to go paddle boarding. I agreed to go, not realizing that I actually needed to own a paddle board. Whoops. Luckily someone had an extra that I could use. We carpooled up to Lake Pleasant. It was pouring rain while we inflated the paddle boards, but stopped as soon as we got on the water and then the sun came out, so it turned out to be a nice day to paddle board! We had a great time and good conversation. I even got in the water for a little bit. It was fun!

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Sept. 20

Last year, I put together almost 30 binders with the new set of hymns. Every 4 months, the Church has come out with a new batch. Erik helped me put the last batch in the binders. Here, I stacked them on a cart that I found in the library, but since then we (we, as in the music coordinators from the other wards that share the building) have decided to just leave them out on the pews. Initially, I paid out of pocket for these binders, and I was very protective of them. But, since I have gotten reimbursed from the stake, I don't worry as much about them anymore, haha.

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https://youtu.be/YQhPwVBwL6Q

September 21

Erik participated in the combined Stake We Must Sing. Mostly Rob Gardner stuff, but a few other pieces thrown in there such as a movement from Dvorak's New World Symphony. The orchestra was out of tune, but most of the singers were pretty good. Erik sang in a quartet.

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Sept. 23

I celebrated the start of Autumn season by making a pumpkin roll! These are so yummy and Ian always asks for them. They're not super hard to make, but they aren't the easiest either. They're medium difficulty I would say. I've never had one turn out bad though!

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