Recent happenings

 Happy Fall! The -ber months are here and it's always a great time! Here's a recap on the rest of August and September! It has been busy but so fun.

Caroline turned 7!! Creme brulee is our favorite birthday dessert!

Also in August I travelled to Chicago with my dear BYU friends for our annual girls trip. We had so much fun sightseeing around the windy city!

The museum of art was amazing! Spent a few hours here!

We loved all of the beautiful architecture. So many beautiful buildings!

The river architectural tour was so fun too. 

Lots of delicious food! And deep dish pizza of course!

We headed up the Willis tower. So fun to do after our architectural tour since we could spot a lot of the places we had learned about the day before.

We also had a blast at the Harry Potter store! We all found something to bring home to our HP obsessed kiddos.

Meanwhile, at home, Ricardo got to deal with an emergency plumbing/broken well situation. He was such a trooper to work on it all weekend and get us at least some water coming into our house for my return home. The kids got to "shower" in the pool that weekend and go to sushi and a movie with dad, so they thought it was pretty great.

On our last day in Chicago we loved roaming around the American Girl doll store for old times sake. So many adorable things there.

And we got to tour this beautiful old home-kind of like the Biltmore of Chicago. It was amazing.

After I came back it was time for my birthday! My beautiful friend threw me a tea party and it was so adorable. So many sweet friends brought delicious food and it was such a fun day.

That night Ricardo made us a delicious dinner and we hung out in the pool and enjoyed some family time together. It was such a lovely birthday! 

That weekend we had Caroline's birthday party. It was a mermaid swim party this year.

The boys had fun being in charge of the piñata.

Other fun moments: sword fighting with friends

Cousin makeup parties

We got a new well after a few weeks of having no water and getting all of our water from our kind neighbors and doing laundry at friends' houses. There was a big clay puddle in our front yard and Ricardo talked everyone into bathing in it.

Fun times in primary with the best music leader!

Thomas learning how to use the grill and making us dinner!

In September Ricardo and I travelled to Maine for our anniversary trip. It was a lovely trip! Many thanks to my parents for watching our kids while we were gone!

We did so many beautiful hikes. This was the first one we did after flying in early Thursday morning.

When in Maine...you've got to have a lobster boil!

We stayed a bit off the beaten path and it was so peaceful. Just a little cabin in the middle of the woods. We loved it!

The next day we rented bikes and biked around some of the carriage roads in Acadia. Another beautiful day!

We had the most amazing lobster bisque for lunch and then watched the new Downton Abbey at the cutest little theater with couches!

Saturday: farmers market shopping

Look at fall starting to come out! 

Meanwhile, at home, these top-notch grandparents took the kids on a dolphin cruise. Ana is still talking about it.

We also went out on the water that day and had so much fun sea kayaking. We had a guide who took us to a few little islands close to the harbor and it was so beautiful. Photos don't do it justice!

Oh, the last morning in our little oasis! Can't beat waking up to that.

On the last day we went to church and then found a lighthouse and one last beautiful hike to end the trip.

Happy 16 years!! 

Someone was happy to have us return!

Visiting our sweet friend and meeting her baby! A lot of Ana's little friends have baby siblings and she loves all the babies.

Church service project making bracelets for kids at the childrens' hospital.

Caroline asked for a lot of pictures of her balloon babies that she and Ana played with for a few days.

My brother and his wife came to visit us one weekend on their way up the east coast. They are moving to Europe! We had fun catching up with them and the kids loved playing with their dogs. Ricardo just finished building this outdoor table so it has been fun to eat outside lately.

Woodworking with Dad:

We had a fun weekend in Miami with several of our good friends. We rented a big airbnb and took turns going to the temple and babysitting all the kids. It was such a fun weekend. 

Now we are prepping for busiest time of the year! Wishing all our friends a wonderful fall!