An Autumn Visit

We had a marvelous time hosting some of our Utah family, and exploring part of our wonderful state with them. While Mommy and Daddy recuperated from the red-eye flight, Grandma took the boys to our local playground. We felt the airplane seesaw was an appropriate first stop, but the swings really are their favorite, so that's where we spent most of our time.

Throughout the week, we spent a fair amount of time enjoying nature, around town, but also in our backyard. The otters were unusually active, but didn't stick around long enough for me to get out the camera. Iguanas are a bit lazier.

We took a trip to the neighborhood pool. Diving rings are a lot of fun!

We enjoyed our trips to the beach (here, here and here) as well as the zoo (here), but also enjoyed playing at home, working around a toddler's naptime. Not pictured: bedtime story time. These boys have a terrific nighttime routine, and are doing great at being reverent for prayers. We're so proud of their parents!

The boys are great helpers. Theo, in particular, loves baking. He made gluten-free chocolate chip cookies for his mom "all by himself" and they were delicious. (We used our regular oatmeal cookie recipe substituting gluten-free flour for the all-purpose flour and almond milk for the cow's milk.)

He helped make pretzels for his dad and special brownies for his aunt (and mom) as well.

While we tried to get out of the house every day, we also spent quite a bit of time at home. You don't have to go anywhere to make wonderful memories.

The local cousins came over for Sunday dinner, and brought an out-grown aviator costume. Isn't it darling?

After a week of fun, it was time for another early morning trip to the airport, but they promised they'd be back someday. We're looking forward to their next visit!