Pumpkins

All month long Lydia has been wanting to go to the pumpkin patch.  Every time we were in a store and she saw the pumpkins she'd tell me that we needed to buy some pumpkins.  Maybe it was due to watching the Curious George Halloween special so many times--but she was obsessed!  She was so happy when we finally were able to make time on a Saturday.

She loved looking at all the pumpkins and riding in the wheelbarrow.

 She especially loved the hayride!

 She knew the next step was to carve the pumpkins so it was torture for her to wait until closer to Halloween.

Lydia really has made the Fall extra fun this year!

Cedar City

Since the beginning of the year when they announced that the Cedar City temple would be completed in the Fall I've been looking forward to taking our family to the open house.  The tickets were gone in seconds and we were unable to get any for the day we wanted to go... so we decided to head up and hope that we didn't have to wait too long to tour the temple.

We woke up really early to drive up so that we could get there when they were just starting the tours.  We made great time and got there around 9:30.  After parking we took a bus over to the temple.

We were lucked out and were able to get right into the next tour.  The temple is just gorgeous.  I love to point out all the little details to our kids.

Afterward, Lydia wanted to take a picture with Jesus.

I'm so glad we had the opportunity to take our kids to see the temple!

After the bus ride back to the car we changed into comfier clothes.

Since we were nearby we decided to take the opportunity to stop at Staheli Family Farm and see what all the fuss was about.

We had so much fun playing outside in the beautiful weather and exploring the farm there.

These swings were pretty awesome.

Lydia loved seeing all of the animals.

They all really loved jumping on this giant air pillow.

And they loved being rolled around in this giant tube as well.

We even went through a giant corn maze.  Unfortunately, everyone was pretty hungry by now so they were a little grumpy when we went through it.  But we did find our way out!

After the cornmaze we went back to the farm and James participated in a pumpkin seed spitting contest.

We ended our outing by stopping by Chic-fil-A for lunch.  

It was a really great day!  I'm glad that we made the time to take our family up to the new temple!

Nevada Day

The boys were out of school for Nevada Day so we decided to head to Springs Preserve and check out the new playground.  I forget that they do free admission on Nevada Day... so luckily we got there right as they were opening for the day and we beat the crowds.  

The new playground is so much fun!  The kids played on it forever.  It was nice to be outside and enjoy the beautiful weather.

There were musical instruments, 

big slides,

and lots of climbing.

This was a really neat part of the park where the kids could paint with water.  I need to set up something like this at my house!  They loved it!

We also were able to check out the new Water Works exhibit.  We need to go back and explore it some more.

Daily Sunshine

 Lydia dressed up in her Cinderella dress and decided she needed a prince to dance with (she's been watching the movie lately).  Since James was the closest brother available she told him, "James, dance with me!"  She thought it was so much fun!  She is a lucky girl!

Lydia's birthday fun

Lydia was so excited about her birthday!  In the morning, after playing at the park, we came home and made a "pink and purple" cake.  She was so happy to help make it--her ballerina bear helped too.

Lydia's nursery leader came by and brought her a balloon and a treat.  She was in heaven!  (And she has the best nursery leaders!! We love Sis. Cook and Sis. Henricksen!)

She was so excited for Dad to come home because she knew that it meant she could open her gifts!  It was so fun to see her get excited about each and every one!

I worked extra hard to get her new quilt done in time for her birthday.

And then it was cake time!

I really loved this picture,

In the end, she didn't really want the cake at all... just the candy sprinkles.

Lydia is at such a fun stage right now where everything is exciting!  We love her in our family!