a sunday drive in the fall.

Remember last week when I said that Fall is coming? Well, it's just about here in the mountains!

This afternoon, Zac and I took a drive up Provo Canyon, all the way to Aspen Grove, to see all the fall colors. The leaves up there are just starting to turn orange and yellow, mixed in with the rest of the green.

Near the top of the mountain, Zac and I parked the car and walked down a path for a few minutes, looking at all the pretty signs of Fall. With the fresh air blowing in our faces, it was perfect.

I can't wait until Fall is here to stay for a couple of months, with pumpkins on doorsteps and in desserts, and with scarves, hats, boots, and coats making their way back into appearance. Fall is good.

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aiden's birthday.

Aiden, my nephew, turned three last week. Yesterday we went to his birthday party, complete with a blow-up slide and a bounce house. It was the real deal!

When Aiden came downstairs, I let him take pictures with my camera of everyone at the party. While most of the shots were of butts and boobs, some were pretty good.

We watched him open all his presents, and my favorite part of the entire party was when he got a "fishing rod" and wouldn't put it down at all. It was the first present he opened, and so watching him open the rest while holding his fishing rod was hilarious.

My mom made Aiden some superhero capes to play with, and a mask, too, and they were so cute. I wanted them for my child, and I don't even have one yet. Aiden ran around calling himself "Hero Aiden." It was pretty adorable. That kid can do no wrong in my eyes.

Most of the people there were adults, and watching them play on the blow-up toys in the backyard was hilarious. Zac and I played on them, too, but only for about 30 seconds.

Happy birthday, little buddy! Zacky and I sure love you.

(And props to Steph for running this whole party on her own while Matt was gone!)

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the holidays are so close, i can taste them.

Today a storm rolled in with its dark clouds and sprinkling rain. On my way home from work, I stopped by Hobby Lobby to look at glass canisters, and ended up looking at all the Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas decorations.

While walking through the aisles and aisles of Christmas wreathes, ornaments, and nativities, I started thinking about what colors to decorate our Christmas tree with. This year will be the first year Zac and I have a full-sized tree (thank you, vaulted ceilings!), and it will sit right in our front window for everyone to see.

In the store, I found the perfect angel to put on top of our tree. She had a gold dress, and feathered wings, and she was lovely. My mom had one just like her so many years ago when Christmas came around. I left her at the store, but don't you worry, Zac and I will go back and snatch her up and bring her home.

When I walked through the door, the leftover pumpkin cookies were waiting for me, so I ate four. Hello, Autumn.

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31 great years.

31 years ago today, my mom and dad made their way up to Salt Lake City to be married in the very temple I was married in. Since then, they've had seven children, and watched four of those children get married in that temple. I've been alive for 22 of those 31 years, and I can tell you that those years have been good ones. They are madly in love, and they will be married for the rest of their lives, and throughout all eternity.

It's marriages like these that give me hope, when the rest of the world takes marriage so lightly, to know that my marriage can be everything it's meant to be. Thanks for being my example, mom and dad! I love you two.

And look at what a beautiful family they have together:

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my playlist to end the workday.

Near the beginning of the year, I'd listen to oldies at work almost everyday. And then I stopped. Today, I brought them back. For the last half hour of my shift, this is what I listened to, and I was in heaven.

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cherry hill 2012.

We went to Cherry Hill yesterday for our Family Reunion with my dad's family. If you've ever been to Cherry Hill, you'll know it's a fairly old RV/water park that has the best two water slides in the universe, even if they are trashy.

We arrived in the morning, and headed for the water slides right when we got out of the car. Our day looked like this: tube slide, mat slide, lazy river, way too much Taco Time for lunch, hang out at camp and hold baby Jackson, mat slide, tube slide, mat slide, back to camp. It was a great day.

Near dinner time, Zac and I headed to the bathrooms to change into dry clothes. When we came out, it was raining. I said, "Okay, on the count of three, we'll run back to camp. 1... 2... 3!" And right then, it started hailing. So we waited and waited, and suddenly, as if by a miracle, my brother, Daniel, came with his car to pick up his girlfriend, Erika, who was in the bathroom changing, too. We rode back to camp in his car, parked, and ate chocolate until the storm passed.

When we got out, there were puddles everywhere in the grass. my whole family (including Matt in his khaki slacks) had their pants rolled up, and flip flops on. As a family, we decided to pack up and go out to dinner instead of eating at camp. And we did just that.

We got some really good Chinese down in Murray, where I thought my stomach would explode (remember the "too much Taco Time" at lunch?).

We ended the night at my parents' house, where I fell asleep playing Solitaire on my phone.

To see last year's Cherry Hill trip, click here.

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a saturday in park citay.

Saturdays are like gold over here. Zac and I both have Saturdays off, and when you spend five days in a row without seeing each other for 10+ hours each day, it's kind of annoying. So when Saturdays slowly roll around, we like to do things we don't normally do, and make a big deal about it.

A few Saturdays ago in the middle of August, we packed a picnic lunch and drove through the canyon to Park City. We started the day off with eating our french bread sandwiches (my absolute favorite kind) in the city park underneath some shade. We saw a squirrel there, and tried to feed it some chips.

We spent the rest of the day walked up and down Main Street (we tried to go shopping there, but the stores that line that street are so expensive), where we met a moose, and then drove over to the World Market to look at Japanese food and other cool ethnic stuff. We bought some Brazilian cookies and almost bought some pomegranate soda until we remembered that we promised each other we wouldn't drink soda until after Thanksgiving.

Later in the afternoon, we walked over to Vinto, a modern Italian place, for some pizza and pasta. It did not disappoint. The pizza was grilled, and their pasta was super creamy and delicious. We will definitely be back.

On out way home, we drove right past a fire that had started earlier that day (and when I say right past, I mean I could see the flames from the road). It was kind of scary. The fires Utah has seen this summer is insane. I think I heard there were more than 100 just this year. They've even started naming them, one being the "OMG Fire." Umm, it's been a hot summer.

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