Bye Bye Aunt Donna!!!

Livy was going to miss her Auntie Donn Donn so much that she just had to give her:

XOXO ~ HUGS ~ XOXO

and XOXO ~ KISSES!!! ~ XOXO

(I'll miss you too!!!)

"It's a WONDERFUL life!"

Saturday

We had such a GREAT weekend! It all started on Saturday when we went to Maine's biggest fair: The FRYEBURG Fair, about 1 1/2 hours away. It was a breezy, beautiful fall day and we were so lucky to be able to spend it together as a family! I've grown up going to the fair every fall and it's something that is a MUST! Chris and Brady love it too!

One of my favorite times of year is when indian summer turns into fall. I love how the leaves change color, suddenly bursting into bright "flames" of oranges, yellows, and reds! The smells of pumpkin spice candles, woodstoves, and the crispness in the air. I love to go apple picking and make apple sauce and apple pie and to enjoy all of the other sights, smells and sounds that accomany this time of year!

Here's Brady at the fair!!!

This year Brady was tall enough to go on the rides and he was soooooooo excited!!! Of course I was the overprotective mother, afraid of seeing her "baby" stuck on a ride crying so I insisted that he go on something "mild" to begin with! He tried out the "semi-trucks" and loved them!

All smiles!!!

Next came the rollercoaster- now this I was very nervous about! Chris said, "Let the boy live!" so I told him, "Fine! But if he cries you're responsible!"

Brady chose the very back of the rollercoaster and for the first half had white knuckles and a worried/scared look but by the second half he was managing half-smile. When he got off he said, "Yeah! That was AWESOME!!!"

From there Brady "gradauted" to the "flying" rides! Again, I was typically nervous and Chris was typically NOT! Brady LOVED it and pretended he was flying his helicopter the WHOLE time! When he got on the plane he said, "Prepare for take-off!!!" I wish we had the "dough" to be able to buy more tickets for him so he could have gone on more rides, but next year we're definately taking him to some amusement parks.

Finishing off the rides on the carousel: the only ride he's been able to go on before

From there we went to "Old McDonald's Farm" and petting zoo where he got to feed some baby goats! Olivia and I stodd outside of the fenced area of the barn and a mother goat came right up to us (like inches from our faces) and she just looked at the goat and smiled! She was so cute and observant!

Brady and Chris then checked out the "Red School House!"

The fair wouldn't be complete without some DEEP-FRIED, COMPLETELY UNHEALTHY, and DELICIOUS food!!! We has some sausage, onion and pepper sandwiches, vinegar fries (a East Coast thing-YUM!!!), and instead of "traditional fried dough" we tried something new: deep-fried oreos (OH YEAH!!! -take something fattening and make it even more so!!! But they WERE GOOD!)

This sign cracked us up! Maybe we'll have to venture a try next year!

Then Brady followed in his Daddy's footsteps with the "basketball throwing" challenge:

The only difference between father and son...Brady made all THREE of his baskets and his Daddy made NONE!!! POOR Chris!!

Onto the Livestock Yard where we saw Jersey cows (and saw some being milked and how the production of milk happens), pigs and (my favorite) the piglets, goats and sheep, Bulls, Oxen, and boars. We were pressed for time to get Chris home for the Priesthood Session of conference so we didn't get to see the horses or the chickens, ducks and roosters.

These GALS were the best-dressed out of everyone there!

This was a litter of 12; for all of you moms out there: this doesn't look like much fun!!! Can I say "Ouch?!" and I think you know what I mean!!!

Livy was so good the whole day and stayed "snug as a bug" in her "bundleme" in the doubler stroller. She took a few naps and came out to see the sights a few times, but mostly she just chilled and smiled!!!

Sunday

We are very LUCKY to have Dish TV so we taped the Saturday sessions of Conference. On Sunday we ALL slept in (can I say MIRACLE!!!???) and by "sleeping in, I mean 7:30!!!)

We then enjoyed a SCRUMDIDDELYUMTIOUS breakfast (cooked by none other than me, of course!) We went all out and had french toast, bacon, eggs, and cheesy herbed breakfast potatoes (my specialty!) and orange juice.

Then we settled in for some WONDERFUL sessions of Conference! We set up Brady's tent in the living room and called it the "Quiet Conference Tent." In the "Friend" magazine there was a story about a little girl who had the idea of watching conference in a tent because she and her famiy read that the people listened to King Bejamin's address from their tents. I thought that was a cute idea so we set Brady up and he did puzzles and coloring while listening to Conference. He knows who President Thomas S. Monson is and we're working on learning about the other Apostles with a Memory Apostle game that I found on www.sugardoodle.net (that is an AWESOME site for anyone who hasn't gone there before!!!)

Brady in his tent- and his view of conference! We're going to make this a family tradition!

Conference was so what I needed! I especially loved President Monson's talk about "FINDING joy in the journey" and how especially as parents we need to recognize to be grateful for all that we have since our children will grow faster than we cna even imagine! It made me think of the song :"You're Gonna Miss This" when he mentioned the dirty laundry, sticky fingerprints etc.!

He talked about "In everything, give thanks" and it made me realize how lucky I am and how much we have to be grateful for! I want to CEIZE the DAY like he talked about and not continue to "push things off until tomorrow" because one day we will all run out of tomorrows and that when you "Pile up enough tomorrows you'll find you've collected a lot of empty yesterdays!!!

I also loved Sister Elaine S. Dalton's talk, especially because it gave me so much inspiration as a Young Women's leader. She talked about hiking up to Ensign Peak in SLC and unfurling a banner or an Ensign to "RETURN to VIRTUE" and focus on the temple. I loved everything she had to say and I truly came out of conference feeling enlightened, uplifted, encouraged and motivated!

During Conference sessions we went down the road to Bradbury Mountain, a State Park, for a short hike (about 1 mile). It was beautiful and we were able to dodge rain showers.

Our dog, Captain at the top. Isn't he so handsome?!

Brady and I talked about "Moss" and how there are all different kinds and how it grows on the north side of trees. I had him find different kinds of moss and tell me how they were different. We also talked about trail markers and why we have them and he spotted all of the blue trail markers on the trees for the rest of the way!

At the bottom of the "mountain" there's a nice playground so we all had some fun there (some of us more fun than others! Can we say that BIG kids can have fun too!!!???)

My brother, Andrew and Brady- he is Brady's buddy!!!

Me, Livy and my dad!!!

This is what a dog looks like when you capture a sneeze on camera! Isn't that so funny?!

The DRIVE HOME.... GORGEOUS!!!!

This is STEPHEN KING'S childhood home- right here in little old Durham, Maine!

And we ended the day with a warm, fall meal: roast beef, red potatoes, onions, carrots, biscuits and applesauce! I even made an apple pie (which I would have gotten a picture of but it got eaten before I thought about it!!!)