Happy Day to YOU!!

Happy Birthday to my dear friend Michelle! Thanks for all the fun, good food, laughter, and a listening ear any time I need it!

The Month of September!!

I have been off track which means I have taken a break from all areas in my life. So I'm posting a whole month in one. Hopefully I'll pickup with my regular weekly posts now that I'm re-entering the realm of working, responsible adults.

After I went for a little run Preston and Tricia shared in some delicious sherbet treats with me. These are quite the great little things. Costco sells these in a package and the sherbet is in the real shells of the flavor. They are SO delicious!!

On a very happy and some what sad note BYU Football has begun. I love football and I love to go to the games. I was very excited for this season opener. I was very encouraged that BYU won. However, the rest of the month hasn't been as great! I love my BYU football team but REALLY??? Three losses in a row is about killing me. Anyway I'll just think positively for the future. Plus, I get to hang out with great friends while I enjoy the game! Thanks - Kara and Kendall for enjoying the game with me. And Maurianne we miss you and I'm looking forward to seeing you at the next game!

Kendall and I caught these awesome t-shirts! Too bad they were both too small for us. He gave his to his sister-in-law and I sent mine to little Emme who is loving it - or so I hear:)

The Sunday after I went off track I headed to St. George to hang out with Liz and her girls and help them unpack. Something goes off in my brain when I'm off track and I become really lazy so I probably wasn't as much help to Liz as I should have been. I enjoyed staying up laughing with Liz and I was reminded of how lucky I am to have a sister who is such a great friend to me. Can't wait until fall break when I get to visit again!

What a lucky Aunt am I that I get to read stories to these sweet things before bed. I love them to pieces!!!!

After a couple of days in the sun of Southern Utah I headed back to Salt Lake so I could catch a flight to L.A. on Thursday afternoon. Little did President and Sister Ludlow know that they'd never get rid of me when they first met me over 8 years ago. I love to go and visit them. They are always so sweet and I love to just be around them. Sister Ludlow and I went and had our nails done. This was a first for me and I loved it. I've had pedicures before but never just a manicure. - I had fake nails put on once for my senior prom and I hated that but just having my own nails painted was wonderful! It is something that I'll be doing more often in the future! What is it about getting your nails done that boosts your confidence and makes you feel more pretty? I'm not sure but I decided that when I'm having a bad week I'm going to get my nails done to make me feel better. It's good therapy.

The Ludlow's had a wonderful celebration for their 50th wedding anniversary. It was a lot of fun to get to enjoy it with them. Elder Thayne was the only other missionary who was able to make it to the party and I was glad to have someone to sit and chat with for the evening.

The Ludlows have a lemon tree that yields yummy lemons all year round. I volunteered to make dessert on Monday night and whipped up this lemon meringue pie. It is one of my favorite pies to eat and it's fun to make because it looks a lot more fancy than it really is.

It tasted delicious and Sister Ludlow asked for my recipe which is a huge compliment since she's the one I always want recipes from.

On Tuesday Sister Ludlow and I had to ride with President to go and pick up a truck for their company and then drop it off at another location so a tank could be put on the back of it. President kept saying you're going to love these guys! They're the biggest rednecks! We'll get a picture of you with them. I just kept laughing thinking he wasn't really serious. Oh but he was. I only met this guy - can't even remember his name - the other guy was at the DMV so I missed meeting him. Sister Ludlow suggested I show this picture to my students and let them write a story about it. So that's just what I'm going to do we should get some really creative stuff that is sure to entertain. :)

On Tuesday night I flew into Phoenix and Jonathan and Lilly came and picked me up from the airport. I love this picture and love that she put these safety goggles on in the bath tub! What a cutie! She was so excited I'd come for a visit and I was so excited to be there for one. I love that my nieces sneak into my room in the morning and gently wake me up. One morning I kept telling her to come back in 5 minutes until she got frustrated and said, "Aunt Olivia! I need you to get up now!" And you can't resist that and I pulled myself together and got up.

My friend Mellisa now lives in the Phoenix area so we met one afternoon for a session at the temple and lunch. She was one of my mission companions and it is always nice to catch up with her.

Lilly and I accompanied Jonathan on a trip to Harbor Freight and Tools. We walked around the store for about 20 minutes and then did what any sensible person would do - walk across the parking lot and bought two Dunkin Donuts. Lilly happily ate half of her donut- it should be mentioned she ate the top half leaving no frosting or sprinkles. It made me smile.

Jonathan and I enjoyed too many late nights playing Super Mario Brother's on the Wii. I am more of a hinderance than anything but it makes me so happy that my big brother will let me play with him even if it takes him twice as long with my help. I'm kinda like the little kid that wants to help you work but really slows you down. We had some really fun laughter which may have had more to do with the lateness of the hour than anything else.

Annie and Jonathan introduced me to the card version of Monopoly. I really don't like Monopoly but this wasn't bad at all. I think it has a lot to do with the fact a game can be played in 20 minutes instead of 4 hours.

For Lilly's birthday I bought her this cute tuperware cake taker and dishes. So of course we had to make a mini cake. She did a great job frosting it and then eating the cake too.

And don't forget that I got to play with this little angel. What a sweetie! She's growing so fast!! Little baby Ivy won't be a baby for very long - too bad children grow up so quickly!

When I got back to Utah my dear friend Debbie met me at the mall for some fun. I wanted to buy some lotion in the body shop. They have this lotion that I LOVE and that is saying something because I really don't like lotion that much. We bought some suckers in Sees and let the kids enjoy them while we shopped. These were just too cute to not share.

Oh and I must say isn't my little name sake just a doll?? Little Olivia is so much fun!

And my favorite! Coen with sucker everywhere. Deb is so great she just let them enjoy them and then worried about wiping them up. This little guy was one happy camper!!

I don't know if you've heard but Harry Potter comes out in a couple of months! It is exciting! I can hardly wait. To celebrate I'm making Griffindor scarves for Raegan and I. We are going to have a Harry Potter week with our students. I get so excited every time we talk about it. There will be more about this when it happens I am sure!! Oh and notice I'm knitting these scarves - how cool is that? I can now knit!!

Kara and I had a wonderful weekend together! We went to her nephew's first birthday party where we enjoyed yummy cake and other treats. Then I slept over at her house so we could stay up late laughing and talking and watching North and South. So much fun.

Saturday was a busy day! We got up and went for a run. Went to the temple. Cheered on BYU at the game and for the record enjoyed ourselves even though they did not win. Watched the General Relief Society Broadcast. Ate pizza at the Brick Oven complete with big mugs of their famous root beer. And ended the evening watching a little more of North and South - it's four hours long you know so you can only watch an hour at a time. I decided to stay an extra night and headed home the next morning.

And here we are today - with my roommates and our friend Brian at ward prayer. It's been a lovely day.

I didn't accomplish near enough while I was on break but then I never do so what do I really expect. I'm ready to see my kids tomorrow and I expect that October is going to be just as much fun as September.