These men like to knock holes in things.

 In the process of making our life easier, we temporarily made our house a little chaotic. We're putting a half bath in our laundry room, and my builder-extraordinaire father decided that the existing plumbing was entirely in the wrong spot. So what simpler than pounding two holes in the floor, moving pipes around, and then filling them back in?

I opted to leave rather than get a headache.

But that part is done. Now just a little framing, sheetrock, plumbing, etc. and we'll have ourselves a brand new laundry room. And two toilets in our house. It's going to be awesome.

That's what I tell myself as I wipe up the fine white grit that has settled on every surface in my home. Breaking up cement is messy work.

This girl likes to dress up.

I started getting out warm clothes last week and packing away summer clothes. Nathan took the opportunity of this clothes orgy to empty the dresser of all clothes. So, warm clothes, summer clothes, too big and too small, all on the floor.

Enter Clara. I had dressed her in a shirt and tried on some new pants, which turned out to be too big and fell off (she has this problem with all pants--does anyone know of a brand of girl jeans with adjustable waist bands? I haven't been able to find them). Then she decided she wanted the butterfly onesie on, so I changed her shirt.

But that was not enough.

She kept bringing new articles of clothing to dad, who obligingly helped her put them on. So, by the time I found the camera, she had the butterfly onesie, the floral tank top, and a striped swimming suit. I'd have liked to see what else she put on, but we had to get dressed to go play with cousin Sofia.

And when I figure out how to get pictures off my phone, I'll post pictures of that fun outing to Jump Around Utah. Also of our trip to Kennecott in July.

This boy loves Halloween.

He loves it so much that he quickly commandeered the Halloween socks I brought home from the witches' party. (I'll have to get some pictures from my sister so I can tell you all about that.) They're knee socks for adults, and so he had to take his pants off the fully experience the Halloweenity of the socks. His father was none too thrilled.

As I recall, I once had some adult-size soccer socks (I was six, the one and only year I ever played any organized sport.) We folded them down respectably over my shin guards. But if it ever got cold, I could pull them all the way up and there would be a smurf-legged blond girl running around the field. I guess some habits are making the generational leap.

Conference Weekend

If only it could all have been this peaceful. I'm waiting for the November Ensign to come out to really experience conference.

Goodbye, September

 Yeah, it's three weeks into October. So what? Here's the last of my September pictures. And hopefully I'll get Halloween up before Thanksgiving.

 On the last day of September we had no work and no school. So what's a family to do except Red Butte Gardens? We also had a Groupon that happened to expire on the last day of September. Happy coincidence.

 I'd never been before, so it was fun to check out a new place all together. Both the kids didn't want to ride in the stroller because it was so fun to run around and explore. Which was fine until Nathan got lost. Like, lost lost. After an employee helped him find us he spent the rest of the outing in the stroller. He's been doing so much better about not running away, and I don't think he meant to this time, but this one was a doozy.  Hopefully it will be a lesson.

 All the gardens were beautiful, but of course we spent the most time in the children's garden. You can see in the background the vine-covered tunnels that Nathan was over the moon about.

And good thing it still felt like summer, because we couldn't keep this little miss out of the water. It's fun to see her branch out and try things on her own.

So, Red Butte Gardens = thumbs up. Especially when you get an ice cream cone with your lunch afterward.

A Sunday at Bisweywand

Sunday evening after dinner Nathan discovered the empty pear box. I canned pears on Friday, and tidy people would have removed the box from their house before Sunday. But tidy people would have missed this enjoyment:

He decided the box was a boat, and that the boat would go over the waterfall (the stairs). He spent some time trying to find a parent to push his boat, then spent some time trying to navigate his boat down the stairs himself. I was a little mystified at where this idea had sprung from, fully formed and so ready for execution. Then he started talking about Bisweywand (Disneyland). Ah.

Recently, a classmate at preschool had gone to Disneyland. Nathan's told me about it a few times. So, preschool + Bisweywand = my son knows about Splash Mountain. And he knows it's scary.

He doesn't know what Disneyland is exactly, but he knows he wants to go to there.

Clara, for her part, claimed the other half of the box for her boat. But she didn't try to convince anyone to push her down the stairs in it.

Labor Day

 This Labor Day, as with every Labor Day, was spent at the Holliday family reunion. And if it's a Holliday reunion, then what better theme than to celebrate all holidays in one weekend? Friday evening was Halloween, also known as the best idea ever. Craft supplies, paper bags, and cardboard were supplied, and the kids spent hours preparing their costumes. It was a big hit. My attempt at a dragon was less impressive, but still Nathan wore it all weekend. The hat was his idea, though. He insisted he needed a hat. I'm not responsible for how horribly it turned out.

 Settling down for bed, reading Curious George by lantern light.

 What's more fun than a woodpile?

We even survived the weekend with only a handful of bee stings. Hornets had taken over the tree that shaded our campsite. Clara was the first casualty--she tried to pick one up. Luckily my wonderful sister-in-law had brought some lavender oil which quickly ended the whimpering.