Kirkin' O' Th' Tartan

Sunday was the annual Kirkin' O'Th'Tartan. This is a really neat tradition that both Scott and I love to attend. In Salt Lake City it is held at the First Presbyterian Church. The church itself is beautiful inside and out. We get to participate in their church service and the best part is listening to the choir, trumpets and bag pipe band play. It is awesome to hear inside that church. It really booms. The Kirkin'O'Th'Tartan is a service in which each of the clans tartans are blessed. A procession of Scots representing their clan and dressed in their tartan walk up to the minister holding a piece of the tartan and he gives a special prayer/blessing to each one. Scott and his dad lead the procession and each received a blessing on the Buchanan clan. I think it was very special for both Scott and his Dad to do this together.

The minister starts the process by saying:
"Oh behalf of all Scots away from Scotland we present these tartans before almighty God and ask His blessings on these His servants."

The pipe band played Amazing Grace, which is always amazing! My favorite song that they play though is called "Highland Cathedral". It is awesome to hear the bag pipes and the drums playing this. Here are the words:

There is a land far from this distant shore
Where heather grows and Highland eagles soar
There is a land that will live ever more
Deep in my heart, my Bonnie Scotland

Though I serve so far away
I still see your streams, cities and dreams
I can't wait until the day
When I'll come home once more

And so Lord keep me from the harm of war
Through all its dangers and the battle's roar
Keep me safe until I'm home once more
Home to my own in Bonnie Scotland

BOO! at the Zoo!

We got to take Brie and Ava to "Boo! at the Zoo". It was really fun. I think I enjoyed it more than anyone else though. The place was packed with little kids in costumes. It was hilarious to see them all. Brielle was a giraffe and Ava was a pea pod. The parents strolled their little costumed children through the zoo collecting candy at different booths. It was fun to see the real animals and all the dressed up animals. Brie thought it was REALLY fun to get all the candy. She already loves this holiday. Brielle with the real giraffes!
Brielle showing us the giraffes. I love her little tail.
Me pushing the giraffe that was too focused on her sucker to walk and a pea pod out of the monkey house.
Brielle and Scott watching the camels. Brielle saw that one of them was kneeling and kept saying "kneel, kneel, kneel". She made sure that she and daddy knelt with him. I think she thought it was prayer timeMe and Ava in front of the camels. She was a sleepy pea pod.The bears got a halloween treat too.Scott and Brie trick or treating around the zoo. She learned really quickly to open her bag up wide and say "trick or treat".Ava enjoying her "treat". She loves a pacifier.All of the animals were out and put on a good show for us.Scott, a giraffe and some zebras.
When candy didn't quite cut it anymore. This giraffe was ready for a nap!

Discovery Walk

When Brie was younger we used to go on a lot of walks. I loved the chance to be outside and get some exercise. She loved to be pushed in the stroller and snooze or watch everything going by. We would walk around the neighborhood or go to the park and do a few laps. I loved it!

Our walks are different now. Today it took us FOREVER just to get out the door because Brie wanted to wear a short little sleeveless sun dress, so we compromised on a more "wintery" dress. Then Brie wanted to put her shoes and socks on herself and then she insisted that she find her gloves and hat for the walk. Then the walk itself takes forever. I've decided to forget the exercise and just let Brie enjoy the walk.

I call these "discovery walks". It takes us 30 minutes just to go up the street. I don't say "come on let's go", I just let her check things out and take her time. Brielle stops to see every pine cone, every rock, every leaf and every flower. She stops to say hi to any dog that barks, any neighbor we see, any decoration in someones yard and the mail lady. She runs through the grass up and down hills. She jumps off of curbs and wants to throw anything on the sidewalk into the street. It's fun to just let her investigate and discover all these things for herself.

Here are some pictures from our walk today:
A "shaker" leaf! Cool!
We came walking up and saw the church and Brie went running toward it saying, "I'm coming church! Good morning church." over and over. Hopefully that feeling lasts. Sadly, it was locked. She loves church so much because she knows there are toys and snacks behind those doors.

Little Ava enjoying the ride.
Soon enough the fun is over and Brie starts whining and saying, "Nap time! Sleep! Please!". (And we still don't have a double stroller.)We made it home. Whenever we leave the house Brie says, "Good bye scarecrows". When we made it back home she was excited to say hi.

A Project

I am starting a new project and I would love to get your help. Would anyone and everyone please share with me their favorite quote/quotes about love and marriage. They can be from anything - a poem, a saying, song lyrics, church leader, etc. Please give 'em to me. Thanks so much!

Let's Go Red Sox!

Remember way back to April 2 when we wished you a Happy Opening Day to the baseball season? Well, after many, many games that brought some tearful, frustrated times for Scott and lots of excited, joyful times for him . . . . THE RED SOX ARE GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES!

(Scott and Brielle on Opening Day!)

Last night we watched the Red Sox seventh game in a seven game series against the Cleveland Indians. Luckily, we got to have Scott's roommate from Boston, John Payne, with us to help cheer the sox on. It was a close game, but the Red Sox took over in the 8th inning and finished the game 11 to 2. Yahoo!! They are once again headed to the World Series! Scott fell asleep last night with a HUGE smile on his face.

And now, crazy or not, we are going to try this morning to buy tickets to one of the World Series games in Denver. Go Sox!

Growing Up

Brielle is continuing to grow so quickly. She does and says new things every day. Here are a few:

* She is now sleeping in her "big girl bed". We got the rails put up on the bed and I asked her if she wanted to sleep in her crib or the big girl bed for her nap. She answered "the big girl bed". So she slept there for nap and then at bed time. I thought this would be a bigger adjustment/ordeal than it was. She just goes to bed there now with no problem. She's never looked back.

* She can tell us when she needs to go to the bathroom. She tells us "poop" or "poopy" and if we go put her on the toilet, she goes! She seems ready for potty training, but I don't know if I am. I guess I have to do it. (The funniest is when she yells out "POOP!" in the middle of sacrament meeting.)

* She LOVES wearing dresses! She will beg and cry to wear a dress. If I put her in something else, she'll go find a dress and put it on over what she is wearing. I have to hide the summer dresses so we don't have this fight every morning. It's too cold. She puts on a dress then twirls and twirls and then goes to look at herself in the mirror. She then says, "so pretty".

* She is really into dressing herself and undressing herself. She does this with dolls too. She is always trying to put on pants and shirts and dresses and shoes and sometimes she does it correctly. When she does it right she yells out, "I did it!". Mostly she likes to take clothes off and yell, "Naked!". So she gets to have "naked time" (with a diaper) every evening between dinner and bed time.

* She loves to help me cook. She always pulls her stool up to the counter to watch. Or she gets out a pot and spoon and pretends to cook along with me. Don't tell her, but we bought her a little kitchen off of Craigslist for her birthday.

* She can say so many things. I love when she talks to Ava. She says "Good Morning Ava" as soon as she sees her in the morning. She tells her, "be happy Ava" when Ava is crying. She shows her her toys and tries to get a reaction. She wants Ava to walk around with her and eat with her. One day.

*She really likes having a band aid. On Saturday she begged for a band aid. I asked her where she needed it and she kept telling me her head. So, finally, I gave in and put one on her forehead. A few people at Costco asked her about it and she would get a sad face and tell them she had an owie there. Whatever. The next day she found some really cool "band aids" and stuck them on her mouth.

* She can tell you most of the basic colors. She'll tell you that this turtle is pink, this one is purple, this one is yellow, etc. She also knows numbers. She counts 1 - 2 - 3 - 4. If she has two of something she always tells you, "Two turtles!"

* Starting a few months ago she decided she no longer wanted to take baths. She only will take a shower and loves it. She'll stay in the shower forever playing.

Perfect Autumn Day

Today was the perfect fall day. I love, love, love this time of year. I really grew to love it while living in the Northeast. I love when all the leaves change color and the weather is cooler and you get to pull out sweaters again and I even love baseball play offs and college football.

The leaves on all the trees in our neighborhood are changing, so I've been really wanting to go up the canyon and see how pretty things are there. This morning we got everyone ready for church and then left on a Sunday drive. All we had to do was drive up the street from our house to Little Cottonwood Canyon. Just 10 minutes away. It was gorgeous! We drove and took pictures and got out and walked around by a river. We then ate the lunch that Scott had packed for us. It was then time for church, so we drove out of the canyon and right to church. It was great.

These are some pictures from our drive.

After church we came home and changed quickly and then walked to our neighborhood "walk about". It was so fun. All the neighbors started at one house for caramel and apples and then continued together from house to house through the neighborhood. They had scones, hot chocolate and chips and salsa. It was all outside in people's drive ways so the boys threw footballs, the kids ran around and everyone else visited with each other. We had a nice time getting to know our neighbors. And it was the perfect end to the perfect autumn day!

Photographers?

I have blue walls in my kitchen. I don't know if I love the shade of blue I have chosen, but because they are blue I have a Cape Cod theme happening. I really, really, really want two pictures of the sand dunes, tall grass and water at the Cape to hang in the kitchen. I have searched so many web sites and I've found many perfect pictures (like the one above), but they all charge hundreds of dollars for their prints.

So, I have come to you. I know many of you have been to Cape Cod when visiting me in Boston or on your own. Does anyone have pictures from the Cape? Anyone? Preferably pictures that do not have people in them and do have a scene of the sand, grass and blue sky and water. Please let me know if your photography skills can help my blue kitchen walls. Thanks.

General Conference Weekend

We had a WONDERFUL general conference weekend. I was so glad that my mom, Tawna, Landon, Sarah, Aiden and Bryce could all be with us. What a great weekend of eating, listening to conference and hanging out with each other. We loved it.

Saturday morning we made a big breakfast of French Toast and sat to listen to conference together. Afterward, Bryce, Tawna, mom and I rushed out the door in the rain, sleet and snow to attend the afternoon session. It was very nice to be there and I was excited for Tawna and Mom to be there for the first time. It is always a neat atmosphere to be at the conference center with so many others. Bryce and Landon got to attend the priesthood session at the conference center as well.

On Sunday we started out with another big breakfast and then we all watched the morning session together. I loved this session. You know, conference is very different for me these days. I still absolutely love conference weekend, but it has changed. I used to make it a point to dress in Sunday clothes, go to the church to watch (even when it was on at home), take notes in my note pad and then study each talk when the Ensign came out. This time it was all I could do to get us up, dressed and fed by the time it started. I'm sleep deprived so my ability to focus was not so good. And we have kids that are needing attention throughout the whole 2 hours. I look forward to reading the talks and seeing if I can get more out of them.

I did love Sister Beck, Elder Eyring, Elder Bednar and Elder Oak's talks. I love that we were asked to look again at what we are doing and choose the best use of our time instead of just a good use. Conference is always such a great time to reevaluate and make new goals.

Here are some pictures of our conference weekend together with some of the fam:We had delicious white chili with all the fixings for lunch on Sunday.This is why Brie and Bryce love each other soooooo much!
Tawna entertaining Aiden and Brielle with a book. We love Aunt Tawna.
Aido enjoying one of Brielle's precious turtles.
Aiden checking out baby Ava just before the pounce.

And here are the real pictures of everyone enjoying conference together: