September 2017

Welcome to September of 2017!

It was a good month.

Fully of good weather,

and therefore,

fun outdoor activities.

First up,

a trip to a cool bridge.

It's called High Trestle Trail Bridge.

Most people bike their way to it,

but we just parked as close

as we could and walked our way in.

Walking long distances isn't always

the kids' favorite thing,

(can you see Tyler giving Ellory a piggyback ride??)

but they thought the bridge was cool.

And some of the sticks and rocks

they saw along the way.

It was VERY windy up on the bridge.

I texted this picture to my mom

and she said it looked like

Ellory was trying to be a model:

And of course,

the kids needed a snack:

It was a fun little outing!

Here is Ellory making a silly face:

And then, it was time for the best

day of September....

my birthday!!

Ellory and I had a picnic:

And she helped me mash some bananas

for banana muffins:

And then we put on some costumes,

and built things with the magnets.

 And, she sang Happy Birthday to me.

Side note, since I do this blog partly

as a journal, let me say something to possible future

family of mine who may read all this.

(Yup, that feels weird to say)

I also have an Instagram account

with pretty much all these same 

pictures, but sometimes I also put 

little videos on there.

My handle is @bryncessp.

One day, way in the future,

I'll give my kids my username and password

for my Google accounts, too.

Anyway, back to my birthday.

When Kale got home from school,

we played a fierce game of 

Battleship:

And it was a great day!

More celebration was to come later.

The next day,

Ellory and I explored a trail in Ames:

We liked it so much,

that we took Nana and Kale 

there when Nana and Pop-Pop came 

to celebrate my birthday.

Tyler and my dad were at the 

Iowa/Iowa State football game!

But this was the fun to be had

along the trail:

It was a bonus to tire the kids out a little.

We headed back to our place

to wait for Dad and Tyler to make their way home.

Look how adorable she is:

Nana and the kids shared a smoothie.

Yum!

And then we went to Hickory Park for dinner!

It was a little busy because of the big game,

so Nana and Pop-Pop kept the kids entertained for a bit:

And then they were able to get a break

and sit down.

Look at this delicious food:

It was a hit!

And then,

for the first time in many many years,

my mom made me my favorite 

chocolate cake for my birthday.

And it was just as delicious as I remembered.

 

It was a great birthday and I felt

very loved!

Say hi to Ellory,

on our way to pick Kale up from school:

School picture day!

Isn't he so handsome???

Since Kale got all dressed up for school,

Ellory and I felt that we just wanted

to have a pajama day:

We started giving Kale an allowance.

And he saved and saved and saved

until he could buy himself this lego set:

I was really proud of him

for being able to wait and save his money

until he had enough.

It took him over a month!

One of my very best friends from high school,

Alison Yanda,

got married!!

And I live in Iowa now, so I could actually go!!!

And the best part? 

Tyler was able to come with me!

We had lots of fun and it was nice

catching up with some old friends.

We had a rainy day,

so that means matching rain boots time:

And rainy days area always a great time

to make the best chocolate chip cookies around.

Look. At. Her:

Tyler was traveling,

and it was time for a movie night:

Ellory loves playing this game 

that Aunt Laura gave her.

It's called Seek-A-Boo:

She's "not tired" until all of a sudden

she is passed out and nothing can wake her:

So Ellory said she wanted to be 

Owlette from the show P.J. Masks

for Halloween this year.

I decided to take her to Target to see

if they had a costume so I could figure out

what size to get her.

She ended up seeing a different costume she liked more.

Unfortunately, it wasn't this one:

Look who's "not tired" again"

Tyler must have been traveling again:

I actually did Ellory's hair! 

Look!

I have proof!

It all fell out about an hour later,

but still.

Ellory and I decided we wanted to have 

a picnic at a park AND read books on the blanket:

And later, smoothies and Snapchat;

Gospel Bingo time!

We had our first week of chilly fall weather,

and I wasted NO time making soup.

Tyler took me to a football game.

It was fun!

Even though we lost.

I don't remember why were

shopping with my parents,

but dad was bored

(shocker)

and after mom and I finished checking out,

this is where we found him:

 

When Ellory wants to do some Snapchat pictures,

she says, "Mom, can we do some smiley faces?"

And it's pretty cute.

Kale dipped his strawberry in ketchup.

 

Back in Oregon, 

we started the tradition of 

Saturday Conference Donuts.

On the Saturday morning of General Conference weekend,

we go to the store,

in our pajamas,

and get donuts.

Ellory has yet to eat an entire donut.

And that was September!