I love fall!!!

I ventured out today with a friend to take in the beauty of fall.  I'm afraid the days are numbered.  Most of the trees here are evergreen, but there is an older part of town with amazing treed lined streets right next to the area's largest park.  It's just breathtaking with the trees and the old beautiful homes.  I had a great time taking it all in and I was able to shoot a few photos.  Enjoy the beauty of fall and all it's color. 

Look who's 8!!!

Today is Lucy Lu's 8th Birthday!!!!

We celebrated yesterday with a yummy dinner to PF Changs and then tonight we did cake and presents.  

No birthday in our house is complete with the infamous Chinese candle.  My kids go crazy for this fun flower candle that actually plays "happy birthday" it's so much fun. 

Lucy got lots of new clothes, which makes her very excited.  She has already planned what she's wearing to school for the rest of the week.  

Tomorrow is Lucy's "gotcha day"  7 years!!!!  I can't believe it, where does the time go???  

My ISO on my camera was set wrong, these cake photos are horrible quality...ahhhh, I still have so much to learn.  

Blue eyed B

I'm at it again!  I had a neighbor ask me to take photos of her little guy this past week.  I jumped at the chance.  I never get to photograph blue eyed boys.  :)

I was really fun, but tiring....I forget what it's like to chase after a 2 year old.  

I hope his mama likes them.  

Sugar and Spice

We have these beautiful red bushes lining the road in our subdivision.  I have been looking at them for weeks now and thinking, I need to get some photos.  

I grabbed Lucy after school today to take some photos.  She's in desperate need of a bang trim, so she wore the hat.  :)

Lucy wanted to play with her friends and wasn't too cooperative, but I was able to get a few good ones.  This one is my favorite.  You can almost see the sugar and the spice.  

Lucy will be 8 on Monday....where does the time go???  

Losing our Boston accent...

Some of you know, some of you don't know.....Lucy Lu has a Boston accent.  Yes, that's right, she was born in China, raised in Colorado (now Washington State), but sounds like she's off the streets of Boston.  We realized this past summer it was time for her to lose the accent, it was becoming apparent she wasn't going to grow out of it.  We found an amazing speech therapist, Ms Bethany.  Ms Bethany worked with Lucy for several weeks.   Lucy recently finished her therapy and is well on her way.  She is more confident now and we don't have to ask her to repeat herself.  Lucy has worked really hard and continues working on her pronunciation. We are proud of her.  Thanks Ms Bethany!  

Pumpkins and Donuts

We went to Greenbluff again this weekend, this time for pumpkins.  The S family joined us, we really enjoy our time with them.  They are so much fun! 

 Check out these yummy, fresh pumpkin donuts.  One dollar a piece or a dozen (bakers dozen) for $7.

 This was a friendly face to see after waiting in line for nearly an hour....

 Lucy enjoying her pumpkin donut.  Yes, they really are this good!

 My pumpkins

 Guess who wants a pony??

 These planes flew over yesterday, so cool.

 Our friend, Johnny with the Pumpkin Princess.  It's rumored they are now friends on Facebook.  :)

 It was super crowded this weekend.  We sat in this line of traffic to get to a parking spot.  I didn't mind, it allowed me to take a photo of this great barn.  :)   I hope all of you had a great weekend too!

Wordless Wednesday

Lordy Lordy Look Who's 40...

....Yep, I turned the BIG 40 last week and I celebrated for not one, but 4 days in sunny San Diego with my mom.  We had a fabulous time, shopping, eating and relaxing in the California sun.  Thank you Jeff for the best birthday present ever!  Thanks mom for celebrating with me! 

 Outside the hotel Del Coronodo

 beautiful La Jolla

 My friend, Suzanne came down from L.A. to join us

 We had lunch with our dear friends Jeff and Jenny

 I heart beach cruisers....it's on my want list.  :)

Sunset on Pacific Beach

Apples!!!

Last Sunday we went to Greenbluff (my favorite place) and picked apples.  Since we've moved here, we've gone about once a month to get whatever fruit is in season.  We've been for strawberries, cherries, peaches and now apples.  We plan on going back in a few weeks for pumpkins.  

The kids love picking fruit and it makes for a great family outing.  I have to admit, we got slightly carried away picking our apples.  I woke up monday morning and realized we had 40 lbs of apples.  Whew...that's  a lot of apples!  I made 2 loaves of apple bread yesterday and today I'm making apple crisp.  

I heart barns

We headed up north to pick apples today and I just had to stop and take a photo of this barn.  I love barns and this one is great.  We had so much fun today, but I'm way too tired to post all the photos I took.  More to follow soon....

Brace Yourself....

for the new Olivia.....

Yep, she got braces!  She still has a beautiful smile!