Nature & Science Center

Turtles! They had some small critters on exhibit, like fish, birds, snakes, lizards, tarantulas, scorpions, etc.

You can almost see the bobcat in the background.

They had a huge dino pit (a giant sand box, essentially) where the kids could dig for fossils.

She made this face because I said, "Time to go home!"

Getting Ready for Halloween

Lizzie is going to be Fancy Nancy, Heidi is going to be Jessie from Toy Story, and Owen is going to be a pilot. Only 33 more days...

This isn't the best picture in the world, but I couldn't get the kid to stand still!

Sick

(If you ask Lizzie, she's ill... "That's a fancy word for sick.")

All five of us caught a cold over the past week. Heidi got it first, and then it got passed around. :(

Poor guy.

Back to School Night

Southern Hospitality

So apparently East Texas is considered part of "The South." (I guess it depends who you ask.) But our neighbors definitely have the Southern hospitality mindset. Seriously, they're super nice and friendly. Well today they had us over to swim in their backyard. The kids loved it.

Don't be fooled by Owen's serious face... He LOVED riding on "his airplane." (It's actually a sea lion, but don't try to tell him that.) Also, notice the two big bruises on his forehead. The kid hasn't been very coordinated lately.

Lila

Lila is one of our best friends here in the Austin. :)

I love Owen's face in this one. :)

Lizzie's First Day of Kindergarten

With her teacher, Mrs. Kitchens:

New Bikes

Lizzie's Favorite Things

Compare to her answers last year: http://emnscott.blogspot.com/2014/09/lizzies-favorite-things.html.

Family Night at the Ogden Temple

Uncle Richard joined us for family night and took us on a tour of Downtown Ogden. We were amazed to see that the renovated Ogden Temple looks totally different than the original--but very beautiful. Afterward we got award-winning ice cream at Farr's. (They even had four different kinds of sorbet for Liz.) :)

Provo

Mom really wanted to take a day trip to Provo and reminisce a bit, so everyone humored her. :) We got drinks at the Creamery, took a picture in front of the MTC, walked around the temple, visited the Bean Museum, walked through the Wilkinson Center, popped in the Museum of Art, and even drove past the new Provo City Center Temple that's due to be dedicated in March.

Shasta the Liger (For you, Nor)

Salt Lake City

We spent Saturday in Salt Lake with Heidi Baker's family. Her parents were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. We took family pictures at noon and then had a dinner at the church that evening. In between, we went to Temple Square with the Bakers for lunch and some exploring.

At the portrait studio.

Tuckered out, at the food court at City Creek Center

So what used to be ZCMI Mall is now City Creek Center. You wouldn't even recognize the place. It's pretty amazing.

Temple Square

Love this picture!

Isn't this kid handsome?

Grandpa Hadley

So we went on a vacation to Utah last week. We hit a few rough spots (like a five-hour flight delay that meant we didn't get to our hotel till 2:00 a.m., 16+ hours of driving, a fender bender, and a sick little girl), but overall it was a good trip.

We stayed with Grandpa Hadley and Grandma Ona, and the kids had a ton of fun at Grandpa and Ona's house.

Uncle Lowell and Aunt Susie visited on Sunday night, so we enjoyed seeing them. The kids especially loved playing with Aunt Susie.

The kids ADORED Grandpa's dog, Gypsy.

The kids loved the cows and the chickens

Grandpa's garden

Grandpa even took the kids on an ATV ride. After that, Owen kept climbing on the ATV and saying "motorcycle."

Feeding the chickens

Heidi got tummy sick one day, so we bought a bunch of popsicles.

We stayed home all day one day when Heidi was sick. Lizzie was really proud of this card tower that she built. (Her success was preceded by many tears of frustration.)

Lizzie Turns Six!

We had a small (early) birthday party with Dad the day before we left for our trip.

Then when we got to Utah, Grandma Baker threw Lizzie a big "Fancy Nancy" birthday party. (Fancy Nancy is a book series about a little girl that likes to dress fancy and use fancy words.)

The theme was "Bonjour Butterfly." Uncle Seth painted Lizzie's face. Lizzie was spoiled with lots and lots of fun presents.

There were even vegan cupcakes to decorate!

UT Campus

A few weeks ago we went for a stroll around UT campus:

UT Tower in the background

And check out this cool statue made out of dozens of canoes. Made us think of our canoe-loving grandpas. :)