Random September Happenings

Here are some fun things we did in September, after our short trip to St. George:

Sept. 4

I made some fried green tomatoes and grilled jalapenos, all from my parent's garden that they gave me. I thought it was all yummy (very VERY spicy though).  

Sept. 4

I made a peach cobbler with peaches that Erik's family gave us. I thought it was good, but nobody touched it except me.

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Sept. 7

Silly Ian made himself an entire computer system out of paper for his desk.

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Sept. 7

We took the kids to a free jazz piano concert at Riverton pianos. It was really cool, and the kids seemed to enjoy it, too. The jazz pianist was Judy Carmichael, and she's really amazing at what she does.

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Sept. 7

I found Ian sleeping like this. How cute--if a bit strange!

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Sept. 9

A one-hour painting I did randomly one Saturday morning. I don't care for it too much, but I don't hate it enough to throw it away.

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Sept. 13

Silly Gwilly dressed up for something at school--was it spirit week?? She's some anime character that she likes. 

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Sept. 15

Erik flew up to Salt Lake for Joel and Lela's sealing. 

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Sept. 18

My cute Gabe. I don't ever buy the kid's school pictures for obvious reasons. There's just no need when I have so many better ones I can take with my own phone. But I do enjoy seeing these!

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Sept. 19

Elisa had her very first temple trip! I went with her. It was neat that the Temple President got to talk to her. Afterwards, we went to Sweeties for some ice cream.

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Sept 20

Gabe finally let me cut his hair! I think that was the longest we've ever let his hair grow out. I wanted to cut it before, but he wouldn't let me. Look at all that hair!

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Sept. 20-24

I made a colored pencil portrait of Elisa

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Sept. 23

Erik and I ate lunch at the Stillery. We tried the sriracha deviled eggs and the house hot chicken sandwich. It was pretty spicy. Erik recognized an older nurse from one of his outpatient surgery centers eating there.

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Sept. 23

Ian and his cute projects.

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Oct. 28

I met Erik for lunch at Tacos El Gordo inside a refurbished old church. He had to leave to go back to work, but we saw each other for a few minutes.

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Oct. 29

I bought a new skeleton for Halloween! Someone had fun putting mini skeletons all over him.
 

Pentatonix Concert

 September 9

Erik and I went to the Pentatonix concert. His friend Dan and his wife Angie went too, but they had seats further in the back. I made the mistake of ordering some overly expensive, overly salty popcorn. I'm glad I got the "Liquid Death" sparkling water drink to go with that horribly salty popcorn. Our seats were okay, not bad but not amazing either. It was a fun concert! It was opened by Lauren Alaina, a country singer that I never heard of before, but she was pretty good. Of course Pentatonix was amazing, Erik got videos of most of their songs:

A huge crowd!

Lauren Alaina, she was good but nothing too original.

Radioactive by Imagine Dragons

Sound of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel

Daft Punk Medley including Get Lucky

Jolene by Dolly Parton with Lauren Alaina

Kevin the beat-boxer is also a cellist.

Dreams by The Cranberries

Shallow by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper

White Winter Hymnal by Fleet Foxes

Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond

I Want It That Way by the Backstreet Boys

90s medley including What is Love by Haddaway, All Around the World by ATC, and Better Off Alone by Alice Deejay

Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen and later by John Cale

Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen

A Trip to Utah

For Labor day, we drove up to St. George for a quick visit. My mom, Lisa, and Aaliyah were so excited that we were coming, that they drove down from Salt Lake area and rented a room in a hotel for a few days in order to hang out with us. We made sure to visit the good places like Angelica's and Red Fort. Elisa and Aaliyah (and my mom) wanted to go to the mall. We also enjoyed a a yummy meal that Makayla made and of course, swimming! 

September 2:

Eating at Angelicas. Yum!

At the mall. I took this picture for Gabe!

We went out for shave ice at Bahama Bucks after the mall. I didn't like what Elisa ordered (an oreo something), it was actually icky. I don't think she liked it either. I didn't order anything for myself, I just mooched.

Erik went with the boys and his parents to Iceburg for lunch. The boys enjoyed their shakes and ice cream.

My mom made reservations for later that same day to go to Red Fort. Yikes, eating out twice in one day! It was super yummy though, even the kids liked it.

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Sept. 3

Sept. 3

We went to an hour of church in the morning. Erik went up to the pulpit to bear his testimony. Me and the kids only went for the first hour. We walked home, and on the walk home I saw more than a few books scattered on side of the road just as the cul-de-sac started. None of them were good, so I just left them. But what a weird thing to leave by the roadside! The kids enjoyed each other's company and Ian loves, LOVES playing board games with Grandma.

Makayla made us a yummy casserole dinner. My family came to crash the dinner party.

The kids were highly entertained when Bryce brought out his creepy Alien animatronic Halloween decoration. Bryce loves decorating for Halloween! He has so much stuff that he has to start in early September!

For dessert, Makayla acquired a fresh peach pie from Croshaws, along with a chocolate silk pie. Yum!

Later that evening the kids and my mom and Grandpa all swam in the pool. Yep, it was still warm enough to swim. I forgot my swimsuit but I don't think I would have swam anyway.

A nice pic I took of my mom!

Bryce briefly taught me how to do some cool tricks with my phone camera, but I've since forgotten how to do whatever I did here.

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Sept. 4:

Boys still asleep! They always go to bed too late. I came in their room to get Ian ready to bring with me to meet my family at their hotel for breakfast. I was surprised that he was still snoozing; he's almost always the first one up. I woke him up because I knew he'd be upset if I went without him. We had a yummy hot breakfast at the hotel lobby. There was even a prize basket for the kids to choose from.

Going to be a good day!

Saying Goodbye to Grandma, Aaliyah, and Aunt Lisa.

Saying Goodbye to Grandma after eating at Chuck-a-Rama. The kids sure love that restaurant! Erik hates it, I am mostly indifferent, but it's not usually my choice to go. Then back home to Phoenix, since it was back to school and work the next day.

Random August Happenings, Part II

August 20th

We had a cookie potluck after church. I was originally going to just skip it and go home, but the kids really wanted to go. So I went home during 2nd hour and made some bright pink strawberry cookies using a cake mix. They were a big hit with the kids, and by far the most colorful cookies on the table! Here are the kids enjoying their milk and cookies, being photobombed by one of Elisa's friends. Erik was working that day, can you tell I had to tie Ian's tie myself? 

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August 21

Gabe had his dental appointment, and the dentist said--judging by the x-ray--that he needs orthodontics sooner than later. A permanent tooth (highlighted in yellow) is trying to come down but it is blocked by other permeant teeth. I made an appointment for him at the orthodontist that they recommended. He  needed to loose two those two baby teeth asap (highlighted in blue).

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August 21

I finally finished this watercolor painting. And by finished I mean re-outlining the shapes in black sharpie, putting it in a frame, and plopping it on my entryway table.  I had painted this in watercolors at a relief society activity earlier in the year.

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August 22

This popped up while I was doing my Spanish Duolingo!

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August 24

Baby Gabie crying at the orthodontist, because he was scared they might pull some teeth. They didn't of course, but just the offer made Gabe feel all the scaredy feels.

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August 25

Yet another dress for Elisa! I made it from fabric I found at Goodwill. I really like the dress (it's not as screwed up as that purple dress), except the zipper likes to sneak on down while she's wearing the dress, but that is easily fixed (when I remember to do so!).

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August 2

Erik saw some pickup trucks towing some military helicopters on the freeway.

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August 27

This cute little yellow birdie hung around our back porch. It had no fear of us and it even let me pet it. It was so tame I thought maybe it was someone's domesticated, caged bird that had gotten loose. I tried to look up the breed of this bird on the internet, but I didn't have much luck. I've never seen yellow birds in our yard before and I haven't since. In fact, I've never had a bird get so unusually close to humans. So either this bird was bonkers with rabies, or it was a special messenger.  Although I can't seem to find what type of bird this is, I did find this about visitations from yellow birds: 

"In Christianity, yellow birds are often seen as a symbol of joy, happiness, and divine blessings. They are believed to be messengers of hope and encouragement from God. In the Bible, birds are mentioned numerous times as spiritual messengers, and their appearance is often associated with divine intervention.

The presence of a yellow bird may signify that God is watching over you and sending you a message of positivity and good fortune." Source found here.

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August 27

I finally cut Ian's hair! I didn't want his hair cut...and then he did...and then he didn't...and then he finally did! So I got to cutting. I wouldn't have minded him keeping his long hair, because he gets cute ringlets in the back, but I think he was tired of having hair in his eyes. It made quite the pile when I was finished! I cut his hair a little shorter than I liked, but his hair grows fast enough that it's no big deal.

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August 27

I made myself a shirt out of some velvety purple fabric I found at Goodwill. It is a medium to heavy weight and has a slight stretch. I wear it to church with a black skirt.

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I thought this meme was funny. I'm tempted to print it out and hang it in my laundry room haha. Hey, in my defense Margaret, I'm betting that you didn't have baskets upon baskets of laundry like I do.

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