Finally Fall

Fall is my absolute favorite season! As the Summer sun fades away I can't help but think of my favorite fall things: leaves galore, pumpkin patches, wearing long sleeves, football, walks in the canyon, cute boots, reds, oranges and yellows, caramel apple ciders, time with family, snuggling up to a crackling fire, hay rides and corn mazes! I'm not much of a Halloween person, but I sure do LOVE Fall! Here are some recent Fall happenings in our lives...

Russell's first intramural football game of the season!

It was much hotter then we anticipated...he was sweaty, but victorious!

Little stylin' Sophia in her Fall clothes! I asked her to say "cheese" and this is what she did haha!

Russell on his way to NYU! The interview went well, although he felt the city itself was "stressful." His interview with Louisville also went well, it was relaxed and he liked the idea of preclinical work in the first year. He has an informational meeting with a faculty member from Creighton University tomorrow, which will hopefully produce an interview, as it did last year!

A trip up Provo canyon...it was beautiful!


Our camera has many issues, blurriness is one of them! But you're still so cute Russell :)

Gwendolyn Bisel Stephens
Russell's grandmother passed away last week. It was both a sad and happy time for the family, as she had dementia for several years and her husband passed about 12 years ago (I think that is right). I will never forget her sweet spirit and tiny feet! I am grateful for the many things she taught her children and grandchildren while she was on this earth. She truly left a legacy with us.

Flour Girls & Dough Boys

We finally made it to this cute little shop!

We found this place when we tried to go to a Dollar movie a few weekends ago. After waiting in a terribly long line, we realized they only took cash and checks, of which we had neither! So as we were leaving the Dollar we drove past this place and vowed to come back soon to check it out.

"Baby Cakes"

Loaded with frosting cupcakes :)

Some of the decor

Although the treats looked tasty, we were not in the mood. We got the Creamy Tomato Basil soup, mmm and it was good!

Thanks for a fun date night, babe!

Dental Interviews

Well, it's that time again. Russell has anxiously been awaiting these interviews. He has 4 as of right now: NYU, Louisville, Indiana & USC. We hope to get more interviews if that is what is best for us. Getting into Dental school is a crazy thing, especially our second time around. We'd love it if you would keep us in your prayers :)

Great Chili of Oz

Tonight we went to The Great Chili of Oz at the Salt Palace. My boss gave me the tickets and we represented APX in style :) All proceeds went to the Utah Road Home. 10 different restaurants brought the best chili they could make and we literally stuffed ourselves. Well, actually I didn't, but Russell did...he struggled walking back to Temple Square afterwards haha. But it was SO fun with all the vendors, live music and a silent auction!

Hmm...which to try first?

After we walked around down town, this is the fountain outside Abravanel Hall-I really want to go see a show there before we leave UT!

That makes TWO...

GO COUGARS! Victorious again, as everyone already knows by now! But I had to post these pics from the weekend...

I love my old school BYU shirt! It was Russell's and he wore it when he was 8 years old! His mom even found a picture of him in it ha ha, too funny!

Russell attempting to ride Hugo!

Russell's fam had a yard sale last weekend and they got the double shot out to sell...too bad the boys relived their childhood days on it ALL day and night, so they decided not to sell it. I believe Russell had the high score of 186, or so he says :)
After the game I decided to teach myself to knit! It took my a while to figure it out but now it is so easy. I have two headbands made and am just waiting for my mom to figure out how to do the flower...I'll post pics when they are finished!

BYU WINS

Since we don't have cable (I refuse to pay for it), we went to Russell's parents for the game yesterday! I decided we needed to have our own tailgate party and so I planned some yummy snacks. I didn't know the whole family was coming, but it ended up being enough food for everyone. I had to snap these fast before everyone dug in!

Chips, Salsa, Guacamole, Carrots & Dip, Cheeseball & Crackers and Muddy Buddies!

We also had a Quesadilla Buffet made complete with a cookin' in the Quesadilla Maker!

We played football at halftime with Evan & Becky!
We weren't expecting anything great from this game. We really were just hoping to not get annihilated. But from the start of the game our expectations completely changed! If we could hang with them, we could beat them!

Check out these old school hats from Russell's childhood days! His parents are having a yard sale next weekend so all the kids had to go through their old stuff...Russell had the most, NINE boxes! These hats will not be for sale though, they're too good to get rid of! We also found some sweet old BYU shirts of Russell's...Stay tuned for my "new" BYU GAME DAY shirt!

2 Nephews & A Niece

Russell & I absolutely adore our nephews and niece! They are seriously such a riot! The whole or a large part of the family are usually around when we see them so we don't get as much quality playing time as we would like! This past Monday, Russell & Evan went golfing and I got to play with Becky and the kids! Don't let them fool you, they can really tire you out. We played Hide & Go Seek, Eye Spy, Green Light Red Light, and what I believe is

new favorite, 'Mandy Says.' We honestly played for hours, with breaks of course in between. Our camera was being super temperamental, so these were the only pics I was able to snap.
I forgot, we also went to the park! We found these sleds that I think were left over from the winter! The hill was steep enough that they could actually slide down it!
Sophia was going in for the camera!

In our last round of 'Mandy Says' before bath and stories...I said, "Mandy Says: Make a funny face!"

The new place...

We really love our new apartment. I've decided I'm posting these for Kristin, because she never even saw the first apartment we lived in for TWO YEARS...here you go sis, I'll save you the trouble!

The much larger bathroom :)

The kitchen...check out our old school dishwasher!

Our lovely kitchen shelf!

Dining room...


And the living room! Our bedroom isn't decorated yet :(

Crafts as of late...

This post is mainly for my Mom, so she can see how my blocks turned out :)

They're not perfect but I had to start somewhere! Having a Cricut is seriously the best thing ever, I love cutting my own vinyl and I can't wait to make more blocks, signs, etc. Here's the Family Home Evening sign I finally put together!
I've been in some very crafty moods lately...I've also made headbands with flowers-the kinds you're seeing all over the mall worn many different ways. I think I've just decided that I can make the exact same thing for half the price! My new venture is these headbands I've seen by Academy J, we'll see how it goes!

Soccer Soccer Soccer

Our nephews are playing soccer! YAY These are some pics from their first game a few weeks ago. They have improved so much since then, we love going to their games! See you this Friday...

A little pre-game huddle and cheer! Russell's brother Evan is their coach!

NUMBER 8! There is no better number...it was mine :)

The "sharks" in action

Me & Sophia trying to beat the heat! Notice her shirt: I love my auntie! Given to her by yours truly!

Family Visit

My cousin Brent graduated from BYU in August and almost everyone in the fam was here! It was so fun to be all together. I especially loved getting to see Brynley, Kylee & Kennedy...the cutest cousins ever! My parents were here too and we jam-packed a lot of fun into a few days, as we always do when they visit.

Bryn, Me & Kylee making funny faces-Their first night in Provo

On our way to Park City! We stopped at Dairy Keen for some yummy milkshakes! And I am NOT a mean daughter who makes her mom ride in the back...I just get car sick easily, so I have to ride in front! :)

The boys, me and Bryn rode the new Alpine Coaster in PC. It was SO fun, I highly recommend it! I've done the Alpine Slide before and this is WAY better, we all were surprised at how fast it was! Russell & I totally look like midgets in this pic, but we were standing on a slope! We also hit the outlets, a definite PC must!

Kennedy & Kylee
They came to eat lunch with me at work one day! It was so fun to relax and eat with them...and of course they performed a little song and dance! They also took turns trying on my shoes and purse and saying "Look, I'm Mandy!" The one of Kylee is her saying "Word!" haha

Brynley & Tiff

That night I got to surprise the girls with the new Hannah Montana movie! There was the movie, popcorn and candy in the bag. They new a surprise was coming...I got each out one by one and put something in front of each of them, and left the movie in the hidden bag, I then said SURPRISE! haha and acted as if the candy and popcorn were it! The weren't the happiest and started saying "Ahhh, this grandma candy!" I then said "Well, unless you want to watch THIS too...." And they FREAKED out when they saw it! Thanks for a great girls night! My parents have lots of other cute pics and the best videos of the girls performing, but you know how that goes...I'll get them and post them in about a month!