Playing Catch Up

I didn't realize how long it had been since my last post. In my defence, life took on a whole other level of busy when Rory started school. But I get ahead of myself.

August

Daddy-daughter tea party!

August was primarily spent working on the backyard patio. Matt put in A LOT of hours getting it done and his parents came and helped as well. Despite the weeks of backbreaking labour, we love how it turned out and are so grateful to have it done!

Messy kids!

I can't find a finished product picture. I'll keep looking. 

Can't take one now, too much snow!

We spent part of the August long weekend in Edmonton hanging out with family. My grandparents were in town from Arizona and it was really nice to spend time with them. While we were there, we got to see my parents new house for the first time! It was a really nice house and the girls love that they get their own room and they love the surprise that was waiting for them in the back yard:

 A new playhouse!

It's also just down the street from the park and "papa's woods" which make for great adventures!

We forgot to bring swimsuits, so the girls just went in pant less. Rory was not sure about that at first, but came around in the end. 

 Backyard tea party for the girls.

 While the boys played game cube inside.

 My parents are so cute!

We then drove down to Cardston the following weekend for the parade. Grandma and Grandpa Beazer have a prime spot to watch it! 

 Playing musical chairs...

 Rory and Bentley running after the candy.

Rory had a blast! She got a ton of candy!

Sophie slept through it. 

The next week we got to go out on a date (yay!) and go to a really wonderful stake conference.

Eating frozen bananas.

 Playing in the sun! (I miss it already!)

We had fun hanging out with our ward at a ward campout in Drumheller. It was a really fun time. 

Once we got back from Drumheller it was off to DISNEYLAND!!!

We spent five days in the park with various family members and had a BLAST!! It was so fun to watch Rory interact with all the characters as she had them sign her autograph book.

The rides were fun and the lines were short. It was very HOT but at least that meant we didn't have to worry about bringing coats or sweaters. 

When we got back, Sophie refused to sleep in her crib and has been in a big girl bed ever since!

September

Modelling her back to school wardrobe.

September hit suddenly after all the playtime in August. This year Rory started preschool. That meant for the first time since having her, we actually had places we had to be at a specific time almost every day of the week. But you know what? I'm loving it! I like being busy, though we will see how I feel about making the drive to her school six times a week in the snow. Yuck.

Rory was so excited for school! Her class is MWF afternoons and she has two teachers. She loves them and has developed some really strong friendships with some girls in her class. She is thriving. Its a joy to see. Sophie is not so impressed with all the fun Rory gets to have. Between school, dance (Rory does tap and ballet now), and playmates Sophie sees Rory go off and have fun, while Soph is stuck with me. She can tell she's missing out. But we have a good routine going these days. She falls asleep on the way home from dropping Rory off at preschool. I admit that I engineer this as best I can. (AC and louder music on the way to school, heat and lullaby tunes on the way back.) Knocks her right out. She usually sleeps until its time to go get Rory again. 

Showing off her first (and so far only) homework assignment.

Aside from school, September was full of fun family activities. 

First day of tap!

Celebratory after dance smoothies.

We got to spend one rainy Saturday wandering around Fort Calgary at the annual ReMax party. It was a blast:

We enjoyed the warm fall weather by having picnic lunches in the park by our house:

We spent the weekends visiting family. We went up to Edmonton and hung out with my family. I took the opportunity to visit Lindsey and get a new do, which included bangs! 

I'm still loving them! 

We went down to Cardston and got to go to the wedding of one of Matt's high school buddies in Waterton. It was gorgeous!

 And we had fun enjoying the nice weather playing in Grandma's backyard.

At the end of September, Matt left us for a 7 day course for work. He had a blast hiking in national parks in Colorado and Utah and I kept busy taking care of the girls. It was hard but it's over now! I drove up to Edmonton on the weekend so that I could be there when my brother went through the temple for the first time.

So proud of that kid. He is going to be a fantastic missionary!

While I was up, I got to go to the general RS broadcast with my mom and sisters. It was really nice.

 When Daddy came home he brought the girls these cute shirts!

October

After Matt got back from his trip we all drove down to Cardston to spend a couple days relaxing as a family. We drove down to Kalispell to do a little Christmas shopping and buy material for Halloween costumes. We had a really nice visit with Matt's folks, watched general conference and got our craft on while Matt and his dad golfed one last time!

The next weekend was Thanksgiving and we spent the whole weekend hanging out with family in Edmonton. We hung out, played games, watched Star Wars, listened to Tanner speak in church, had family dinners, and ate lots and lots of food. It was a great weekend and one of the last ones we will have together as a family for the next couple of years.

 Papa's woods.

The weekend after that we had fun visiting with Matt's family at our niece Pippa's baby blessing. 

Sophie showing off her new dress and tea set.

After that I was in full on Halloween mode. I sewed all the costumes and got us all ready for the big Halloween party and dance on Friday night. It was a blast!

The little girls at the party all avoided me, which I thought was funny. I didn't think I looked that scary!    

That weekend we had the Beazer's visiting to help us with our basement reno. We had to take down a lot of drywall in our "partially finished" basement because it was finished so poorly! But after taking out walls and ceilings, we finalized our floor plan and the boys got to work putting up walls and moving electrical. The electrical is not done. But once Matt finishes (his dad taught him how to do it) and once we have money again, we can drywall! I love how well its coming along and the floor plan we've decided on. I can't wait for it to be done so we can use it!!  

This past week was crazy with Halloween! Rory got to wear her costume to dance class, preschool, a friend's party, and out trick or treating. I got to volunteer in her preschool during their Halloween party and had so much fun watching the kids play! I helped them carve a pumpkin and play games and eat treats. It was all too cute:

 Our outdoor decor this year.

 Ghost pancakes.

 All ready to trick or treat!

Look at that loot!

November
After all the Halloween madness, we headed up to Edmonton for one last visit before my brother leaves. The adults (minus my mom who watched the girls) went to see Ender's Game on opening night. It was so good. On Saturday we went to the local craft fair which my sister and aunts volunteer at every year. There was some great stuff there and some really yummy lunch. We drove home Saturday night in a blizzard (go us) and though there were a couple of terrifying moments, lots of prayers and some singing of primary songs to reduce nerves (Rory kept requesting Once there was a Snowman, cheeky kid!) we made it home safely! 
Now if someone can just explain to me why the time change happens so soon after Halloween!! The kids are walking, talking disasters! 

The next couple months will be about spending time together, maybe working on the basement, and getting ready for Christmas. I have about 80% of the gifts bought (thank you online shopping!) and can now relax and focus on the homemade gifts and decorations! I love snow after Halloween! Makes it seem like Christmas is just around the corner!

All in all it was a great Fall! (You see what I did there?)