"THERE'S ALWAYS A SONG TO SING..."

Last night, Scott and I went to a live-musical!  We saw Steve Martin and Edie Brickell's bluegrass musical, Bright Star.  We loved it!  It was so wonderful to be in a theater again!  And the music was catchy!  And the story was inspirational!  And the acting was great!  It was a great date!  With an amazing guy!

Dating my eternal companion at it's best!

Katia's back at school.  She is enjoying hanging out with her cousins and rooming with two of them.  (They only thing that would make this semester better is proximity to Skylar.  She really misses him.)  GJ took them all out to lunch when she moved Sheila to Rexburg.

The Gang at BYU-I!

On Thursday, Kiara, Reagan and I fed 64 missionaries for a Zone Conference.  It was loads of work.  But it was also loads of fun.  Kiara made 70 homemade bundt cakes.  DELISH!  And they all enjoyed the Santa Fe Chicken Burritos.  The best part: the missionaries marched (stomped) in a circle around us singing (shouting) "Called to Serve."

"MY" Girls!

AND Cake!

Last week, Scott got to go to the Ohio State football game with Chris.  They love this tradition!

Boys will be boys!

Kiara and I got to celebrate Ice Cream's 1st Birthday today.  She is growing WAY TOO fast.  She is adorable!  And we love her so much!  (We love all of our Speedway friends!)  We are blessed!

Could she be more perfect in yellow?!

She loved her cake!

Aaaaand... Scott harvested 160 oz. of honey today.  (With Kiara's help.)  After 5 years of raising bees, this is our first REAL harvest.  And the honey is soooooooooooooooooo good!!!!!  It's light and sweet.  So exciting!

Ready... Here come my bee keepers!  (minus Katia)

Kiara loves photographing these yellow insects.

And the honey comb is truly miraculous.

Oh look.  A bee.

Extracting honey.

We filled honey bears that Scott got from work...

Proud Bee Keeper Moment

And what blog post would be complete without a Skittles update.  Isn't he cute?  He loves riding bikes with his dad... and Cody is awesome at getting pics of him:

Could he be any cuter?!

His new favorite thing is to talk for his stuffed animals.

They ask us how we are doing and say hello to us often.

Of course, he uses a high pitch voice to distinguish the animal's voice from his own.  

Skittles also loves to say, "Doobee Doobee Dah."

We have no idea what it means, but we must repeat it often after he declares it authoritatively.  

HOME AWAY FROM HOME

I LOVE Kentucky!  I LOVE the people!  I LOVE the green!  I LOVE the family we have created!  But I also LOVE Idaho.  It's not the state I love.  It's not the dryness.  It's not the cold.  And it's definitely not the desert.  I LOVE Idaho because of my family!  I LOVE my daughter, my parents, my sister and my brothers - whom all live in Idaho!  When I leave Idaho, I feel like I'm leaving home.

Scott took me to Idaho for the long weekend - Labor Day - to see my family and meet new friends.  It was a fast trip... but so wonderful!  Visiting, playing games, going to dinners, and making candy were all on the schedule.  We got to see everyone we wanted to see!  We got to give our daughter a big hug!  And we got to go to the temple - twice!  It was absolutely fabulous!

We got to meet Skylar at the temple.

The Meridian Temple is absolutely stunning!

And yellow is a prominent theme throughout... which makes my heart happy!

I love yellow!!!

Sisters!  There were never such devoted sisters!

Making candy with our new friends, the Browns.

Zane, Chance and Tara joined us in making candy.

Skylar's smile is infectious!

He instigated the candy making!

Laffy Taffy is delightful!

He made me smile!

Katia (and I) love Bacuri Fruit!

(Yes, Bacuri Fruit is a real food!)

And she is lovely!

My nephew (Kidney Bean), Ian, and Avacado

Scott, Zane and Chance

Tara and my niece, Yogurt

Katia and Skylar

I love these two kids!

Scott and I got a concert Sunday morning from my nieces and nephew!

When we got home, we got pictures from our "kids!"

Both pictures hang proudly on our fridge.

Tara's flower garden is amazing!  I loved it!

But I really liked this lady bug...

and this bee!

For good measure, I added this ADORABLE picture of my grandson!

Skittles has my heart!

THERE'S ALWAYS MORE

 After I published the blog about Kiara, Cody and Skittle's Idaho trip, I realized there were more pictures that needed to be seen:

Aunt Tara gave him a gorgeous flower!

He was very impressed!

Kiara loves (and has always been a natural) with kids!

Skittles, Kiara and Berry

Aunt Shanae with Skittles and Berry.

Yes... Kiara has strength that surpasses her short stature.

Gary is NO baby!

Road Trip to the wedding....

Games with Cousins!

Berry and Skittles

This is my favorite picture!!!

He really is an easy going and good kid!

Also, Jelly Bean and I celebrated our 49th and 9th birthday!  I love sharing my birthday with this AWESOME kid!  

Jelly Bean got me a yellow, LEGO sports car.

I got him LEGO superheroes.

Some of my birthday flowers!

Skittles and I went for a walk....  It was hot, but fun!  Loved his reverence for the flag.

All year, Kiara and I have been making a jelly of the month for my family.  This is Red Hot Cider, Peach-O-Lantern Jam and Pear Pie Preserves for Sepember, October, and November respectively.  Yummmm!