September Misc

A few more fun things we did this September.  Eliza got her preschool pictures taken, but my favorites of all were the ones I took of her and her best friend and cousin Makayla.

We discovered amazing curlers and had a lot of fun working with them.

I went to a book launch with my book group.  It was a grand time!

Eliza and I painted and played a lot of Uno.

BFYR Conference

I had the most amazing experience this July. I went to the Books For Young Readers Conference at BYU with wonderful and brilliant friends. I listened to authors and illustrators speak. I asked questions. I got signatures. I felt enriched.

I had Jason and Laura join me for the dinner. Laura loved getting to meet her favorite author: Sara Pennypacker. She was so adorable with Laura and I came to love her even more!

I laughed my guts out at Tony DiTerlizzi and found my Sara's kindred spirit. I fell in love all over again with Philip and Erin Stead - remember I have one of their pics in my basement? I am incredibly excited for the rest of Jennifer Nielsen's False Prince series. I decided my sister should be the next Karen Cushman and publish through her scholarship. I was blown away by the talent and extreme niceness of Steve Jenkins and just couldn't stop buying his books - Eliza is thrilled.

Authors are celebrities in our house. It was so great to meet them. I also found out one of my BFF's is even more amazing than I thought, as she presented and was FANTASTIC!

Is it time for next year's conference yet? I need some more books for my signatures shelf that I put in the front room.

St. George Quick Trip

We took a super quick trip down to St. George for Jason's neice's farewell in September. We caught up with our good friends and spent the day with their family. The kids hiked, dug in sand, and played up a storm. We adults caught up and laughed.

It was wonderful! Thanks for hosting us, Andrea and Mike!

The next morning, Laura sang "Armies of Helaman" at Keslie's farewell. I wish I had a recording of it. She had worked on it with her voice teacher and was spectacular. She really brought in the spirit as her voice soared and then we all cried. Keslie is going to be an amazing missionary! She is out in the field now and we love praying for her nightly and sending the occasional package her way as she is in the local MTC.

Girls Weekend 2013

Karyn was nursing and couldn't join us, but the Andrea B and Andrea M and I had an AMAZING time at the Shakespearean festival.  There was some scary driving on the way down, but it was worth it.  We saw Anything Goes and got hot pants for that, and survived the rain (we were under the roof) and ate tarts at the outdoor showing of Love's Labours Lost.  Comedies are the best!

We had yummy food and stayed up all hours chatting and catching up.  It was quick and wonderful!  Being with these girls is one of the most renewing things ever; I am so blessed!