Happy Fall!

I love this time of year, especially the cooler weather and the changing colors. I got to examine the trees up close and personally with Ethan recently. He had a school project - - he had to get leaves from at least 10 of 13 specific trees (maples and oaks). We looked in our neighborhood and got some maples, but no oaks. Then looked in another neighborhood. Then went to a big park. Finally we went to a nursery and I surreptitiously sneaked leaves off of trees that I knew were correct (it sounds worse than it is, the leaves were about to fall off anyway.) It was kind of a stupid assignment, but Ethan came to me this morning and said, "Mom, I'm glad we did that project together, because I think our hard work brought us closer together." So it was all worth it after all.

Ethan continues to sprout up like a weed. He is within a few milimeters of as tall as I am, and his voice has somehow deepened. He is really enjoying 7th grade, and is doing well so far. His favorite class is life skills, because he gets to cook food (and then eat it.) He is like a bottomless pit when it comes to food! Ethan recently read "Les Miserables" - - the unabridged, 1200 page version. He started it at the beginning of the summer. I honestly didn't think he'd make it through, but he sure proved me wrong! And I am so proud of him! One thing that really helped him was seeing the movie (it's his favorite) so he knew the story line. I took him and his friend Adam out to lunch and then to a movie yesterday to celebrate.

Today was conference. After the first session we went to Scott's cousin Cheryl's house in Antioch (about 45 minutes away). Cheryl and her husband, Dan, are a great couple. Their kids are in college, and their daughter was adopted, so we had a lot to talk about. While we were there Noah's pull-up overflowed (wet) onto their recliner. I apologized profusely, cleaned him up, and put a new pull-up on him. Sadly I didn't have another pair of pants, and this proved deadly a few minutes later when he had another accident, this one stinky, on their couch. I was mortified! Luckily Cheryl was a great sport. I told her that if Ethan vomited on her loveseat than we would have covered all her furniture. I think I'll send her a nice gift . . .

Other than that Noah is doing great. He really is doing well in school this year, and is reading at a first grade level. We tried spelling, and his first test came back as follows:
(rat) rtq
(sat) lmpg
(cat) aanollqt
(at) alsieonsljiowsjfow

His teacher wrote a little note: "I think we'll hold off on spelling for now." Well he is still doing great in reading and math, and his behavior has been wonderful. He and Ethan both continue to be loving and helpful big brothers.

Little sister Meredith is growing up fast! She is almost 3 months old, and just as cute as can be. I love love love to hear her little squeals and coos! She is so happy and smiling all the time, it is wonderful. She's sleeping 6 to 8 hours at night, which is also wonderful! We are so very happy to have her in our lives!

Scott recently moved his office to a space about 3 minutes from our house. We are all very excited about the short commute! Now if I have something come up it will be so easy for him to come home. On the other hand he has been traveling a ton, and is usually gone 1 to 2 nights every week. So it kind of evens out. He plays a lot of tennis and has some good friends to compete with. Our United flight benefits run out in the springtime, so he is working hard to take advantage of these last few months of ultra cheap travel.

I love being at home with my little baby, although shopping is more of a chore. Meredith had her first "playdate" - - a lady in our ward has a baby boy just a few weeks older than she is. The babies didn't really connect, but my friend and I had a great time chatting!

We wish you all a happy autumn!