Miscellaneous Pictures

Those darn headbands can be such a nuisance. I hardly put them on her anymore even though I think they are so adorable. 

My cute girls love each other so much.

Cute big baby watching TV with daddy.

These two love to help in the kitchen, especially if we are making cookies!

This little baby is adored by both her siblings. Good thing she has one hand for each of them!

Cute little cousins, Olive and London - I'm so excited for them to grow up together!

Olivia is only 5 weeks older but she is much bigger!  Ok, but in Olivia's defense, London was born 3 weeks early so she started out very small! :)

Checking out the Halloween decorations with the screaming witch that used to really scare them.

Painting time!

Eden getting her neb treatment.  She has to do these twice a day so sometimes she has to be bribed with the iPad or TV show.  Bentley is a supportive brother.  :)

Olivia loves to play with her reflection.  It's a great form of entertainment when I need two hands for something else.

You can never have enough books!

The girls had a snack in the yard while Bentley napped.

We went to the Botanical Gardens with Grandma, Grandpa, Lincoln and Carson. It was such a beautiful afternoon.

I love these kids...

Asparagus Anyone?

Yes please! 

Balloon Fiesta!!

Oh Balloon Fiesta, how I love you!  I dread the early morning, but once I get there I am always so grateful!  It is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.  I love walking through the crowds listening to the awe coming from those attending for the first time, it really is magical.  The pictures are pretty, but it doesn't really capture the beauty of really seeing it in person.  I love it.

We left the house at just before 5:30 am.  We pulled the kids from their tent and headed out in the cold, dark morning.  Once we got to our parking space, we hung out in the car for a bit and had breakfast and waited for the festivities to begin.

Once the balloons started to inflate, we put on our layers and headed out!  Now I will say, Brad and I both hate to be cold so I think we overdo it a little with our layers of winter gear, but hey - nobody got cold!  :)

I love that in all the pictures of Bentley he is never looking at the camera.  With all those beautiful balloons around it was impossible to get his attention, even for a second.

Bentley really liked this fireman balloon.

I'm sure you'd never guess who was very ready for a nap after lunch :)

So many balloons!  It's beautiful!

We got home from the balloon fiesta just in time to begin the first session of General Conference.  Being out in the beautiful weather enjoying the gorgeous scenery was a great start to an amazing weekend.  I'm so grateful for these fun experiences with my family.

New General Conference Tradition

The first weekend in October is probably one of my favorite weekends of the year.  The weather is beautiful, it's the beginning of the balloon fiesta, and it's general conference.  Such a happy and uplifting weekend!

This year we started a new general conference tradition that hopefully the kids will look forward to each year as we dedicate our weekend to listening to the leaders of the church - an indoor campout!

Friday evening we watched a video and had a quick lesson with the kids about King Benjamin and how the people pitched their tents and listened to the things he taught them from inside their tents.  We talked about him being a wise leader and that he taught his people the things the Lord wanted them to know.  Once our lesson was over, we took the kids upstairs and surprised them with a big tent pitched inside the movie room.  We explained to them about general conference and how this weekend we would get to hear the lessons the Lord wanted us to know from our Prophet and leaders of the church.  

Since conference didn't start until Saturday morning though, we had a fun night in the tent with our pretend fire and s'mores, playing cards, and reading books using flashlights.  The kids got new sleeping bags and were very excited for the fun adventure.

I love his cute little tongue sticking out.

Olivia was really mad that Brad wouldn't let her play in the fire. Brad, you big meanie.

Uno!

Reading books and telling camping stories.

The kids slept really good in there both Friday and Saturday night.

Eden didn't want to part with the lantern apparently.

It was a very fun weekend, and very spiritually uplifting too!  We love new traditions and look forward to conference again in 6 months!