Just for starters. . . Bill, this is for you. These fat little guys have been pooping under our patio furniture for weeks. Ok, I rest my case. :)

It's been a few weeks of busyness again. Should I be surprised? It all started with a visit from Audrey (who I've been friends with since we were 6!) for a weekend (I'm pretty sure she was coming to see Addy!). We enjoyed mostly laying low, catching up and heading off for a day with just the two of us to explore the Temple Square and enjoy a yummy lunch. We had a great time.

When I took Audrey to the airport, I took Brad as well. Brad went to CA for 6 days for manager training school. As it turned out, the night he left, I spent throwing up all night. I figured it was food poisoning and that I'd never be able to have our yummy Minestrone soup recipe again. Not sure how I was going to take care of Addy, I called our neighbor, Sandy, to see if she could help. She had a busy day preparing for her a birthday party for her twin granddaughters, but she agreed to help as much as she could. As it turned out, her daughter's family had had the chucks earlier in the week (hmm. . . starting to think it wasn't food poisoning) and so she knew how awful I felt. She got me some gatorade and took Addy to her house between each of her naps and entertained her while baking cupcakes and making food for the granddaughters. It was amazing! I got to stay in bed only having to get up to put Addy down for naps. Sandy was a lifesaver! By the end of the day, my friend, Melissa had brought me soup, jello and more gatorade and I was starting to be able to stand up straight.

Right after I called Sandy, I called Brad to let him know what happened and as it turned out, he spent his first day of training school (in a suit!) running to the bathroom to throw up all day! (Pretty sure it wasn't food poisoning!) He had a rough week because he couldn't recover from it and he only got about 5 hours of sleep each night. Who knew I would end up with the better deal.

The bummer was that the day after Sandy watched Addy for me, she got the bug! She really made the sacrifice for me! Thank you Sandy! You know what's weird? Addy never got the bug. . . how strange is that!

Anyway, enough with that. . . the rest of the week with Brad gone was slow for me and crazy for him. He really enjoyed networking and picking the brains of Farmers' leadership. He was really glad to come home though so he could rest!

Before Brad got home, his mom, Lynn came to visit. We had a great time with her and Addy loved spending time with Grandma Lynn. She got a pretty pink pony from Lynn for her birthday and she loves the songs it plays. She's still trying to figure out how to ride it though.

While Lynn was here, she treated us to a southern feast of sweet potatoes, onion rings, collard greens, chicken friend steak and banana cream pudding. Brad loves to cook new things so Lynn passed on a lot of her secrets to him.

These were seriously the best onion rings ever!
I had never had any of these dishes so I enjoyed the new flavors. Addy also enjoyed the sweet potatoes and banana pudding! She pegged Lynn as the giver of sweets! :)

During the week when Brad was at work, we spent time at the park. Addy is learning how to play on the playground and is really funny to watch.

She loves the swings!

Since Lynn's visit, we've started some exciting things at church. I started MOPS and a women's Bible study. Brad started a men's group and we are going to do a short married class. We'll see how this schedule holds up. Addy seems to come down with a cold each time I take her to the kids club at 24 hour fitness so it's hard to stick to a routine. Grr.

We're enjoying SLC and now that we're getting into fall, we should enjoy some pretty fall colors in our neighborhood and much cooler temperatures!

Happy fall!