Fall Decorating

One of the many things I obsess about and absolutely would love to spend all my time doing is decorating my home.  Well it hasn't helped that I recently came across home decor/DIY blogs.  I love getting new ideas of how to decorate and improve our home and could spend hours reading all these blogs.  But there are a few that have become my favorites.  Not because all the rooms portrayed are picture perfect like a magazine cover, but because they are real, decorated with things they love, but with family in mind.  Here's a few that I frequent:

(She has beautiful style, but keeps it real with all her boys!)


Another one I enjoy is:

http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/
(Such great, can-do ideas, and I love her kitchen!)

This one is based on the address of the home where George and Mary lived in "It's a Wonderful Life".  Remember Mary secretly makes a wish that they will get married and live in that house one day?  Then boy did they make that old house their home!  I love that.  It's a fun blog!




Well, I thought I'd add some shots of what I've done to add fall decor around the house.  I'm gradually getting into the "spooky" items a little more for the kids sake, but really prefer just the fall decorations.  Posting these also helps me as a reference for next year, because I never remember what I did the year before!

Starting at the front door...

Into the family room...

The fireplace mantel...

Oh, there's Maddie watching t.v. on the couch, while mom is taking pics!

The coffee tablescape...

The kitchen... and finally ...

The dining room hutch.

Haven't done much, but just little bits of fall color here and there! 

Maybe next year, I'll do more spooky stuff for the kids, and really get creative and crafty!

(I just realized I have 4 signs that say "Boo!" -- how funny!)

Pumpkin Farm Fun!

Just wanted to add some fun pics of our day at the pumpkin farm!

We have a new Sound in our House!

Tyler is playing the trumpet in band!

(and he's sounding really good already! Probably helps that it runs in the family!)

So cool to have a father and son concert at home, and private lessons for Tyler from Dad!

First Day of Kindergarten!

Wow, I can't believe our once sweet baby Madeline is now ready to start Kindergarten! You can tell she can't wait!


It was really hard for me though, knowing that my youngest is off to school!

Silly girl, sure had fun posing with her backpack!

So excited that Dad stayed home to help send her off!

Just love this -- the two of them walking to the bus stop!

I absolutely cannot believe she actually got on that bus!!

(All those times last year at preschool when she wouldn't let me leave!)

She could have at least cried... :)

Love that nervous smirk on her face as she is getting off for the first time at school.

(Yes, we did follow her there as overanxious parents to see her get off the bus!)

Ready to start her first project in class!

Good luck sweetie!!

(Mom went home and spent the rest of the morning crying :)

First Day of School

Tyler on his first day of school as a 7th grader!  Can't believe how much they have to carry these days, especially when they have an instrument as well!

Funny, how the older they get, the less they smile for a picture!!  It's all about looking cool!

More Pics of Madeline!

Can you tell I'm excited?! I will post these pics here when I get a copy of them, but for now, you have to check them out on www.wishfulthinkingphotography.blogspot.com.

Thanks so much Heidi!! We're also gonna have a hard time picking which ones to develop. You have a real talent for setting up the shots and editing!! I know Madeline, for sure, enjoyed all the dressing up!

Now I'm excited to get some of Tyler as well!

Madeline's Photo Shoot

Yay, I'm soooo excited about these pictures that my up and coming photographer friend, Heidi Lawson took of Maddie. She found the most beautiful tree lined road with gorgeous colored leaves as the setting, and we took advantage of the good weather to get some shots. This is a sneak peak she gave me -- can't wait to see the rest of them! You have to check out her website to see it:
http://www.wishfulthinkingphotography.blogspot.com/.


Thanks a ton Heidi!!

Ladies Weekend in Leavenworth!

Don't you love Fall?

I do and there's no better place to experience it than in Leavenworth, a cute Bavarian town in the Cascade mountains east of us.

I went there on a Ladies Retreat to a cabin of a friend in our ward, Natalie Lavering. She is so amazingly generous and for the past 4 years has invited all the sisters in the ward to spend the night at her beautiful cabin (more like vacation home!) just outside of Leavenworth.



It isn't a RS activity, but just an open invitation for all those who can. I went up early on Thursday with a group of friends, (thanks to Jeff for taking the day off on Friday so I could do that!) There were about 22 of us that 1st night and we all talked, laughed, and played games until all hours of the night.

Here's some pictures of us playing "PIG"! Fun game, but it gets very competive and a little obnoxious toward the end!

I don't think I've laughed that hard for a LONG time!

It's a good thing I brought earplugs to get a little bit of sleep!

The next morning, (after sleeping in!), we all headed over to Leavenworth to do some shopping and meet for lunch. I love Leavenworth in the Fall! All the shop windows are decorated with leaves and everything is so festive! Here's some pictures I got from someone else that turned out better than mine:

Here we are in front of one of my favorite gift shops appropriately called, "My Favorite Place"!

It is the cutest town and the leaves were gorgeous!

After lunch we had to stop at the Gingerbread Factory to get cookies for the kids, and The Fudge Shop to get chocolate Belgian truffles for Jeff (there's nothing like Belgian chocolates for him to bring back the mission days!).

I can't get enough of this town!

That night another 20 ladies (about), showed up and we all had a salad potluck for dinner. We had a great time socializing and playing more games. I have LOTS of pictures of some of the games, but I'd get in big trouble if I posted them! (Maybe I can hang on to them for blackmail purposes, J/K!) It was a fun time, although most people didn't get a lot of sleep, and there were wall-to-wall sleeping bags in all the areas. Luckily I got there early enough to get a room downstairs which helped with all the noise. It's just fun to get together and socialize in a relaxed setting with no worries, stresses or interruptions!

Thank you so much to Natalie for being such a wonderful hostess and sooooo generous!

Here she is accepting some thank you gifts from all of us!

I have to include pictures of the leaves in the mountains on the way to Leavenworth.

The bold reds are my favorite!

Just breathtaking!