Our first fall

The fall is so beautiful here.  Below is the view out my front window, everything looks a little dull & blurred since its out the window, but you get the idea of trees changing colors a few weeks ago. 

This is by no means the most vibrant or picturesque view in Rochester, but it is the one I see every day.  I keep thinking that one of these days that I run around town, I'll bring the camera & snap some shots of the more vibrant trees, but that is never really convenient with 3 kids in tow.  Just imagine big mature trees lining most streets, covered with bright yellow, orange, red, & brown leaves, the streets littered with thousands of leaves swirling in the wind.  Every time I drive around town I feel like I am in a movie setting.  Its such a beautiful place to live, and watching the seasons change feels like magic.  It's very different from AZ that's for sure, and I am doing my best to appreciate and take in all its beauty.  Though I do miss the AZ sunsets.  A couple of weeks ago we got out our fall decorations, also "Sister Student", our adoptive Grandma from our old church ward in AZ who is always SO good to my girls sent us a package with Halloween crafts. The girls were so excited to get  a package from her and loved doing the craft & putting them up with our fall stuff.

 We had a few days of warm weather (like high 60's with sunshine), so we spent everyday out in the backyard soaking up all we could.  It was beautiful & lovely, and now that it has turned cold and all the leaves are falling off the trees, I am glad that we had those days & that we appreciated them!

 If you are wondering why in every picture of Miss Katie she is wearing jammies like this...

 THIS is why!

She pulls down her pants, every chance she gets, any time, any WHERE.  She will walk around all day like this.  And also takes off her diaper if she gets the chance.  So we have her in jammies that she can't take off herself.  We'll start potty training soon & hopefully that will help.  However a side effect of her constant jammie wearing is that she is a toy hoarder.   She grabs toys and shoves them down the neck of her jammies like this:

Which results in the legs of her jammies being filled with toys, and keys, and cell phones, toothbrushes, remote controls, and whatever else she can get her hands on.  If you can't find something, chances are its in the legs of Kate's pajamas.  Every diaper change is like a treasure hunt to see what you pull out.  It can't be comfortable for her to always have stuff in there, but she is a hoarding maniac.  Here is an example of her with a pile of stuff I pulled out of her jammers.  And this isn't even the biggest pile she's collected, just the one I thought to capture.

 

 But she is just so darn cute how can you mind?

 Lily had her first school picture day ever!  Looking forward to the classic cheesy wallets!  Here she is practicing her smile before school.

 And as always, Izzie is still keeping me on my toes.  Notice her pajamas in the pics below.

 Apparently in the middle of the night, "While you & daddy was sleeping", she snuck upstairs, used a chair to get on top of the counter, got the kitchen scissors and cut the bottom 1/2 of the feet of her jammies off, because she "didn't want them".  Never a dull moment with this one!

 

This October is supposed to be the most challenging month of the program for Matt, & he is working hard.  Here is a picture of his study board before a quiz.  It gets erased after one quiz and then filled up the next day for a different classes info.  I wish I would've taken a picture of his chemistry stuff up a few days ago, the board was completely full & all symbols, that were a different language to me!  This pic isn't as full, but you get the idea.

 I tried out something new for Lily's hair, side french twists into a french braid, and I thought it turned out nice, so here is my bragging moment.

 The lovely fall weather has definitely taken a cold turn and gloves, hats, and boots have become a must!  We all come in with bright red noses and numb toes, and Lily has to layer up to walk next door to the bus stop every morning.