Angela came up with the most genius idea on August 31st. She said that every month we should get a new secret santa! I love it. At the beginning of each month, we pick a new name. Can I just say that I got Angela. It warms my heart that girl loves to serve. Money on my bed. Sweet notes on my bed. My bed being made. I could live like this forever. Thank you Angela for being so sweet to me and thank you for your amazing idea!

  Angela pointed out to me when I found this on my bed that she couldn't possibly be my secret santa! She always forgets the "e" on the end of "love." - which is true!!! :)

 Whoever has Emily (Carolyn?) made her bed this morning. I love this Secret Santa business :)

I love so excited because Angela came home telling me about this beautiful jewel her friend had. It made me think about how I had one just like it. Perfect gift for Angela, my secret person. Excited that it all played in so well. ;) I love this!

I love learning with my girls. Two experiments today! First, Blubber! Whales are Angela's favorite animal. We've been learning all about them. We wanted to experience  blubber so we we made our own "ocean" (a bucket full of ice water). We felt how cold the ocean was with bare hands. Then we put on "blubber" and to feel the contrast (Blubber - shortening in a zip-lock bag. Then put another clean zip-lock bag inside of it to keep your hand clean). It was fun to do and fun to discuss how our Heavenly Father created whales in a way they could stay warm in the ocean.

Why have I never thought of a volcanoe in the sandbox?! What easy simple frugal fun! SOOO fun making a volcano in the sand!!!! Today we were based a lot on what Angela is learning about with me. We are reading a book about volcanoes so it was so fun it went with that learning!

Labor Day 2014

Family Days are awesome. Loved this one. Hike in the Red Rocks. Lar the Bear. Angela and Carolyn liked going off and exploring off the path.

Look at this beautiful girl.

 Daddy is my 2 year old. He even admits that Emily has surpassed his maturity level. He taught the girls how to collect pebbles and throw them at people when they weren't looking....or in this case when Carolyn is giving a huge big beautiful crazy smile.

 This girl was out of control on the hike ;) She wanted to explore every where!

 Beautiful girl!

 As we were hiking, I began singing about the beautiful world He created for us. As I was singing a big gray snake slithered across the path. Carolyn almost stepped on it. To some, snakes probably are beautiful :) We also saw some of these amongst the beauty.

We love hiking! Beautiful! Fun! Great time talking and being silly.

Andrew asked Carolyn to give a lesson about the Priesthood for FHE, I love her notes for the lesson.

I love reading the girls' responses to my letters in their lunch boxes. 

 And love that Emmy is a good helper in the kitchen.

Crazy HailStorm today. I love that when we got home, we prayed for thanks that we had left the park in time before the crazy hail came. Our garden was destroyed. Which is a stinker. It was at the peak of its harvest. Luckily, the corn we picked after the hail still looked pretty darn beautiful!

 Happy Birthday to our amazing husband and Daddy!!! We so love you! You make everything fun and teach us so much about how to follow the Savior. We love you!