Parks Etc...

We spend lots of time outside, the baby bumpkins and us. Almost daily we take walks to parks, which the baby loooves. It is quite charming to watch her eyes light up when she sees a playground. In fact, if we are walking anywhere near our favorite haunt, she will start screaming if we don't immediately head in the direction of the park. That is not very charming, I tell you what.

Regardless of Peppity-pepster's ridiculous behavior at times, the fact of the matter is that parks are awesome. We love them so. It doesn't really matter which one we go to, as long as we can romp around outside and go down the Big Girl Slides. As if you couldn't tell, we also love the mountains, so when we can play at a park in the mountains, it's like hitting the jackpot:

My sister tagged along with us on this particular adventure to practice her photo skills, and she is getting quite good at photography, don't you think? It's nice to actually be in some pictures without taking them of myself or ordering Kirk to take them for me. Sweet! How soon do you think it will be before my sister starts charging me?

Welcome Home

My brother just returned from a two-year service mission helping others with family history. We're glad to have him home and are so proud!

No he can freely spend time leaping through the air and playing his favorite sport, tennis. (Just kidding. I don't even know if he knows how to play tennis.) Welcome home, buddy!

3-ring Circus

These days, when my family gets together, we have more and more littles to worry about keeping entertained. Sometimes it can feel like putting on a never-ending circus. We usually go to a lot of parks, romp outside with the dog, and dance to "You Sexy Thing." This visit, though, we decided to introduce Pepper's little cousins to one of our favorite family-friendly places:

It turns out that the grownups enjoyed the outing just as much as the littles. Put that in your pipe and smoke it. That's one point plus two bonus points for the circus folk. What do you usually do to keep your munchkins busy in a good way?

Birthday Girl

My sister who lives out of state came for a visit and we were able to take some photos for what's turning into an annual tradition: birthday pictures!

Things I love about my sis:

• She is a huge goofball and completely irreverent (although my parents still don't believe me when I tell them. How does she always get away with that?!)
• She cares deeply about being a good mother and instilling the best values in her little kidlets.
• She is a beast and can hike to a mountaintop when she's 7 months pregnant.
• She goes out of her way to make everyone feel included and loved.

I love my little sis! Here's to a fresh and fun new year for you!

Battlecreek Falls

We took a little jaunt to Battlecreek Falls, which turned out to be just right for a curious little monkey:

The world is putting on a splendid show for us right now, don't you think? Which begs the question: what the heck are you doing reading things online when the weather outside is so perfect for autumn hikes?!

Buddies

My littlest sister and I may be 11 years apart, but we are kindred spirits and cut from the same wacky mold. We share a love for art and realness and have the same ridiculous machine-gun giggle, which means we crack ourselves up all the time. We usually end up spending our time together teaching one another different skills. Last year, my sister taught me the basics of long boarding. This year, since she has a photography class, I get to teach her the basics of a DSLR.

To practice, we took a drive during the golden hour to capture some late summer treasures:

I love that I have someone special that can do silly impressions with me and inspire me regularly. That's what kindred spirits do, inspire (and do silly impressions). Do you have a kindred spirit?

Baby Bumpkins

We have a new little wonder in our family, a chubby little nephew:

He's such a snuggle bug and I love his Alfred Hitchcock profile. (Silly baby!)

Startling Color

We took a ride on my daddy-o's RZR and enjoyed incredible autumn colors:

Every time autumn rolls around, I'm reminded of what an incredible season it is. It's heavy with nostalgia and the colors swallow me up every time. I could swim in fall colors and never feel like I need to resurface for air. Love it! Is anyone else excited for the new season?