Playoffs + Conference + Family = Great Weekend

Conference weekend is always a weekend to look forward to! Our church leaders gather twice a year at General Conference to give us inspired messages and counsel, and it is just so uplifting. On top of the anticipated spiritual uplifting, we had another reason to be excited for that weekend: The Oakland A's made the playoffs! David has always been a big fan and grew up watching games with his dad and brother. Once they made the playoffs and we realized it was in Oakland, I called my sister and we decided to drive out for the games. David, his brother Daniel, and I made the trip out. It was completely last minute and totally worth it! 

We drove through the night on Thursday and got there just before sunrise on Friday...hello long drive. After we got a few zzz's, we went to meet my brother-in-law for lunch at his work. He works at Apple, which is amazing and we enjoyed eating outdoors in the perfect California weather (while it had just snowed in Utah). Here we are at Apple Headquarters after lunch:

 

 

This is my cutest nephew ever! (Don't worry...he's my only nephew). He loved playing with the stickers from Apple, so got a quick shot:

After lunch, we headed up to Oakland to beat traffic and get there in time for the game. It was a perfect evening at the ballpark and we had a blast!

Plus it was very entertaining:

 

Unfortunately, the A's lost. But it was only the first game of the series so there was still some hope...until the lost the series a few days later. World Series 2014 maybe?!

On Saturday we woke up to donuts thanks to Carrie and Andrew, and then watched the morning session of General Conference. After that, we headed to Santa Cruz to enjoy the beach for the afternoon. It was perfect. Carrie always talks about how amazing the beach is in October, and she is definitely right! It was around 90 degrees and perfectly sunny, which is very rare for California beaches. Here is cute little Ty:

David and Daniel playing in the water. The boys had a blast, but I still can't believe they went all the way in in that freezing water:

My love:

 My sister, Carrie, and me: I love this lady so much!

After the beach, David and Daniel went to another A's game (where they won!), Andrew went to Priesthood session of conference, and Carrie, Ty and I went out to eat with Carrie's friends. It was so great and Ty was just so stinking cute with his "milk mustache" from the ice cream, but he just didn't want to show it to the camera:

Sunday morning we had a delicious breakfast and watched the morning session of General Conference. It was fabulous and Carrie and Andrew were just amazing hosts! I love them so much and always am so impressed with their generosity and willingness to let us stay with them last minute! After that, we hopped in the car and made the trek back to Utah. Although we missed a few sessions of conference, the boys considered this a once-in-a-lifetime event, and we are currently catching up by watching the ones we've missed. Please watch the sessions if you missed them, they are great and will inspire you to be a better person!

New beginnings and the start of fall!

David is officially a dental school student! He has been in school for nearly 2 months and is really enjoying it. The first week, they did a "white coat ceremony" or initiation type thing into the new dental school, which was a great excuse to get together with David's siblings and show them our new place. There was a nice ceremony with a few speakers, then each student was called up to the stage to receive their white coat, and then we ate dinner! Woohoo for free food.

Here is David getting his coat:

 

 Scott, Daniel, Me, David, Jen, and Phe

Since we live right by the U and David goes to school there, I found a job working as a receptionist on campus. So far, so good. Plus, you can't beat the 8 minute commute!

Life is good and we are loving the beginning of fall! Here is a random compilation of photos from the last month or two:

Soup! This tomato basil soup is a copycat of Nordstrom's recipe and was delicious. Great with a grilled cheese and a strawberry salad. I have been addicted to making soups recently and have already made these ones. But there's still a ton of time to make all the others.

• Chicken Tortilla (Best soup in the history of the world- I should put this up so it will change someone else's life too)

• Cheesy Vegetable Soup

• Tomato Basil

• Butternut Squash Soup with Apples and Bacon (I made this recipe up after researching many blogs and websites and must say I am very proud)

David and I did a hike awhile ago up by Brighton Ski Resort. It was beautiful, we saw a moose (actually a few), and I'm thinking we should get back up there now that the leaves are changing.

 The Tour of Utah bike race is a 6 day race that takes place all over the state during the beginning of August. The 4th day was a circuit route, so they did a 6 mile loop around part of Salt Lake 5 times. It was a blast to watch and almost scary because they go SO FAST and would zip around this corner. Good thing no one wiped out, or they would have landed in our laps. We wished so badly my parents were with us because they would have loved it! Here is the peloton:

And the 100+ cars zooming after the racers:

Labor Day Weekend, my whole family came out to visit me! Well, not really because my parents were moving my sister into her dorm at BYU for her freshman year! I just love having her here near me. But while everyone was here, my sisters and I threw a 30th Anniversary party for my parents and it ended up being so fun!

Here is the cake table:

We did a lemon/lime theme and it turned out pretty cute:

My sister, Carrie, and I getting ready for the party:

 It was so fun and great to see tons of family and friends!

We also went berry picking a few weeks ago down in Payson, UT with David's sister Jen. It was gorgeous. Seriously, this may be one of the prettiest views I have ever seen:

Don't mind this horrible picture of me, but it's the only one I got of the two of us:

David and I picked around 8 lbs and I made 4 jars of Blackberry & Raspberry Jam, which is so good! We also ate a ton while fresh and still have a bunch in our freezer. YUM!

 

 David has been really into football this fall (like always) and even got to watch a game with our "Grandpa" Reed! This is the old man we live with and we just adore him. He is a HUGE football fan (especially BYU) so he and David get so excited about watching the games. So far, we have only been to one football game, which happened to be the BYU vs. TX game. That was an amazing game and if it's the only one we go to all season we will be happy. 

Happy Fall everyone!