Everyday Beauties

This morning as I dashed outside to put the garbage cans out (foolishly thought they'd delay a day for Columbus Day) I looked up to see the sunlight striking a snow-covered Mount Timpanogos.  It is such a beautiful mountain.  Even after living here so long, it still stops me in my tracks sometimes.

The past couple of days (maybe as a result of being away from home?) I have been marveling at what wonderful little girls I have.  They are all changing so quickly -- part of me wants to cling to this age forever and part of me is so excited to watch them grow and interested to see the wonderful women they become.  Leah is a master crawler and pulls up on just about everything.


She got two teeth (on the bottom) while I was gone and nobody even noticed -- that's how good- natured she is.
Can you see them?

Sarah is developing smith-like reading tendencies -- she reads almost constantly either alone or to her sisters. She is so tenderhearted and interested in the feelings of others. She keeps me from losing my temper, because I hate to see her look at me with tears glistening and tell me that it hurts her feelings when I use an angry voice. It is not at all manipulative and that's why it is effective =)


Ella is finally moving out of the act-first talk-last phase. She has such wide-eyed wonder about the world and is full of interesting questions ("Do swingsets decay?"). She is loving her school and is also reading really well.


Kate is such a character. Her newest love is writing and coloring (I think she's singlehandedly used an entire ream of paper in the last month). This morning she was following me around asking what I wanted for Christmas so she could make a list for me. Her pictures all have very involved stories behind them and she can sit there creating for a LOONG time. It's awesome.