Halloween w/Grandma Day

We were able to visit Utah several times in the fall.  Unfortunately, the circumstances of our visits were unfortunate.  Jordan's sweet Grandma Durfey passed away on September 21 and we went out that weekend for her funeral.  We miss her, her loving hugs and kisses, and her good advice.  She was so kind to me from the day I met her.  I always felt accepted and loved as one of her granddaughters.  I forgot my camera for the event, but it was a very nice funeral with so much posterity that love and miss her. We especially miss her now that we live in Utah.  We wish we could stop by the house and say hi.

Halloween was extra special for us this year.  With Jordan's mother's health declining it was decided that we would have a pseudo-Christmas that weekend.  It was good for us to be able to come out and spend some quality time with her.  She was weak and tired but still able visit and we enjoyed her company for one of the last times.  Jordan's parents had planned to give each granddaughter a doll for their 10th birthday. Knowing that she wouldn't be here for all of their 10th birthdays, each granddaughter was given a doll and each grandson a hunting knife.

It was fun to have the whole family together and enjoy each other.

 Brynlee sported a hand-me-down ladybug costume which was slightly too small, but I think she was awfully cute.

 The Day Halloween crowd! (At least the costumed ones)

Brynlee's doll was special because it is Glenda from Wicked.  Brynlee loves the Wicked songs and sang and danced to them for Grandma.

 Brynlee and cousin Sage

We appreciated all of the good advice and the special spirit that was there over the weekend.  We miss you Mom!

Fall Fun

October was bound to be a good month since we were all together again.  We had a scare at the beginning of the month because the doctor Jordan was supposed to rotate with bailed at the last minute.  Luckily, a family friend who is a physician stepped in and let Jordan rotate with him for the month.  It was so nice to be a family again.  We were able to visit a corn maze/fall festival with Brynlee.  It was a blast and she loved it.

 We also were able to join her cousin Aliyah for her birthday party in Colorado Springs.  Brynlee is jealous of the park they have by their house.

 I swear Jordan has as much fun as Brynlee at the park.  I'm glad he's a kid at heart.

Brynlee was probably more 'helpful' than Aliyah would prefer.  We're glad they are so close to the same age and enjoy playing together.

Happy Birthday Brynlee

Better late than never. Enough said. Brynlee hit her terrific 2's back on September 17th.  Jordan was in Tuscon for the month so he joined us via webcam.  We had discussed pushing it back to celebrate it when we were all together but she was so darn excited. 

 She has continued to enjoy her fun gifts and does make a terrific two year old.....most of the time :)

You gotta love the outta control hair and the dirty face!

September brought one other birthday....its starting to be a drag to get another year older.  I just hope the 20's don't go away for a long time.

Cute Cousins

Since we've lived in Colorado, we've enjoyed seeing my brother Jason, his wife Andrea, and their daughter Aliyah more often than usual.  It has been fun for the girls to play together.  They get along some of the time :)
They made this cute sign to remind my brother Mark who's on a mission in Canada that they really do love and miss him.

One thing is for certain....they do love their Gramie!

Labor Day

So....I haven't posted anything in forever.  Mostly because life is busy crazy and partially because I lack the drive I used to have because my mother isn't reminding me everyother day to post since we live with her.  I'm sure she's in part looking forward to looking forward to posts again.  I am going to play catch up over several posts since this is the best family journal I'm keeping right now. 

Over Labor Day weekend we took Luke up for his first semester at BYU-Idaho and caught the Forsgren reunion in Lava Hot Springs on the way.  We have sure missed Luke!

Clearly, she's a fan of Uncle Gerrit as well!

It was fun to catch up with family we hadn't seen in too long and enjoy a nice hot pool.  We missed Jordan though.  He spent the month of October in Tuscon, AZ and enjoyed that area.

So weird how old we're all getting!  Just Natalie left in my parent's house! (Well, not really yet, but we don't really count either).

Minneapolis

Brynlee and I just returned from Minneapolis where we visited Jordan.  It was good to feel like a family again and we were able to do some fun things!  I really enjoyed the area!  I wouldn't mind living there if that's where Jordan gets his residency. 

Jordan cracked me up from the get go.  On our way home from the airport he suddenly yells, "Bunion!" looking at some lady walking down the street.  At the mall he commented on a group of ladies good choice in footwear and was disgusted by the fact that a baby with club feet were not casted.  There's more too...much more!  I'm glad he enjoys feet and I'm confident he'll make an awesome podiatrist!

MALL OF AMERICA

All I can say is that its huge...bigger than I anticipated.  We spent a full day there.  It was fun to pretend we could afford to shop.  Jordan humored me as we dress shopped in Bloomingdales and dreamed in Burberry and other stores.  We did pick up a few things and enjoyed the lack of sales tax!

Besides shopping...we did some playing too.  We visited Lego Land, rode the carousel and ferris wheel, and visted the aquarium.

LAND OF 10,000 LAKES

We certainly didn't visit them all...but it really is cool how they are everywhere!  I guess I didn't realize that the Mississippi River runs right through as well.  We enjoyed walking around Lake Harriett and visiting Minnehaha Falls.

ST. PAUL TEMPLE

I was very surprised how small the temple was!  It is right next to a stake center and I really think the stake center was bigger.  It shares parking with the building as well.  Still very beautiful!

COMO ZOO & CONSERVATORY

I love it!  It might even be my favorite thing we did.  It was such a beautiful place and a good size.  The best part was that it was free!  They suggest a $2 dollar donation per adult but even that is almost free.  It was such a nice day (especially for midwestern weather) and Brynlee loved seeing the animals.

Awesome butterfly exhibit

MILL CITY

We visited an the old industrial milling side of Minneapolis last Saturday.  It was fun to see the old buildings and walked the farmer's market as well.

Jordan's marijuana discovery...he's still always looking at plants.

St Anthony Falls on the Mississippi.  It used to be natural and much prettier.

SCULPTURE GARDEN

It was so nice of this couple to let us stay in their home.  We only know them through a family connection and they were completely sweet to loan their home to strangers while they are away. Brynlee loved playing in their toy room and in their yard.  It was perfect for us and we're so grateful!

Sorry for the extremely long post!  Hope all is well for all of you!