Fall is in the Air

Fall is in the air and I am so excited. I love fall!!! I think it is my favorite season. I love when the nights start to get a little brisk and the days warm up to a comfortable 60-70 degrees. Fall clothing is definitely my favorite with sweaters, jackets, long sleeved shirts, and snugly warm pajamas. I love the feeling of coming in from the cold into a toasty warm house. Back to school time is also a major bonus. Not too many things beat the feeling of transitioning from the long lazy days of summer into the routine of going back to school.

Vance has started his final year of his masters degree. He will graduate in April and we are anxious to see what life has in store for us after student life. He is continuing to internship part time at UVU in the athletics department, and will be there until he graduates. This internship has been such a blessing to us. Vance was more than a little happy to be able to quit his job at the Brick Oven restaurant and get some real experience.

Austin is growing so fast. He has started to talk a lot more now. His first word was mama, and his second word was "panda." He loves the movie Kung Fu Panda and runs to the DVD shelf chanting "danda, danda, danda" until we turn it on for him. It was really cute at first, but then we started to become a little concerned that at 15 months he was capable of sitting through nearly the entire movie without moving a muscle. We have really tried to limit his movie watching time, but it is so tempting to let him watch movies all day. He is so still and quite and that doesn't happen otherwise! Austin will be 18 months this week and we are so excited for him to be going in to nursery during church. He is a very active boy and Vance and I find ourselves spending more time chasing him through the halls than actually listening at church. We have been going with him to nursery for the past few weeks to try and get him used to the surroundings and last week he stay for almost the whole time by himself. We were so proud and relieved.

I have been busy working for Alpine Storage and have also picked up a few little side jobs as well. I work for two different companies that sell merchandise at Costco. Costco has what they call "road shows" where they will feature local companies for ten days at a time in their stores. Each company is required to have a representative there to help customers and answer questions. I work for one company called The Mod Bod. They sell modest layering tees and Cami's. The other company is called Cultural Hall and they sell beautiful pictures of the Savior and Temples. It has been such a great opportunity because I get to pick when and how long I want to work. I have also really enjoyed being able getting out of the house for a few hours and have some toddler free time.

So that is basically our update. All is well with the Kings in American Fork. Just plugging away and loving life. Here are some recent pictures of our "Mr. Mischief."

Summer Vacations

We have had such a fun summer this year. Vance and I have been working hard but we also found time for lots of other activities. We just got back from our trip to Steamboat Springs Colorado. It is a little ski town about five hours from where we live. We stayed in the Gardner family's timeshare and had so much fun being lazy and enjoying the beautiful outdoors.

One of our favorite things to do every summer is go to the cabin in Island Park, Idaho. We joined the Gardner family up there and had so much fun. We love to play in the river, ride 4-wheelers, and eat Grandma Harrel's famous dutch over potatoes. Austin had lots of fun running around and getting really dirty. Here are some pictures of our vacations this summer.

Brittney and Austin at the bottom of the waterfall in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

Austin hiking in style (aka Vance's bad back).

Family picture at the waterfall in Steamboat Springs

Austin at the cabin in Island Park, Idaho. He loved all the space to run around.

Austin with his Great Grandma Harrel. It looks like he isn't enjoying his s'mores in this picture, but that's because he had already eaten half a bag of marshmallows and probably had a little tummy ache.

We found this Jeep at the cabin. It didn't run but Austin had fun playing in it.

We also enjoyed our trip to the cabin because it coincided with Greg and Jen's wedding! It was great to be a part of such a wonderful temple sealing for two very good friends. Welcome to the family Jen!

Another summer highlight was participating in the King reunion. We enjoyed the outdoor fun, games, and even the skits/talent show. Immediately after the Brent King family's musical tribute to Lawrence of Arabia, Vance has been aching to watch the movie again. Hut! Hut! Hut!

Austin and Gabe loved playing in the pool.

Austin enjoyed spending time with all his cousins on the King side! There were plenty of little kids to keep him company. We thought Austin was the cutest thing around but cousin Gabe is giving him a run for his money. Gabriel is such a good-looking boy!

We feel blessed to have so much time to spend with the King and Gardner family clans. Thanks for making this summer so memorable for us!

Going for a ride in my box car!!!

I thought these pics and video of Austin were so cute. His Uncle Tyler and Uncle Andrew made him a car out of a cardboard box and spent hours driving him around in it. They drew wheels on the sides and even put a steering wheel inside the box. Austin thought it was the greatest thing. He squealed with sheer joy when his Uncles took him for a ride, pushing him all over the living room floor. He tried getting in the car when the Uncles were gone one afternoon and couldn't figure out why it wasn't going anywhere. He didn't understand that it was an "uncle powered" car. Look closely at this first picture. You can see Andrew's face in the background. I don't know who was having more fun, Austin or his Uncles.

These are some pictures of Vance on his birthday. Doesn't the cake look divine? It was a Cindy Gardner masterpiece.

I think Austin looks just like his daddy in this picture. A couple of good looking boys, in my entirely non-biased opinion.

An Update on the Kings

Well, it has been a while since I have posted anything new and a lot has happened in the past two months. The biggest thing is that Vance got a really great internship for the summer. He is doing Compliance work for the athletics department at Utah Valley University. His main responsibilities are making sure that the athletes are eligible to play for the University and that the University is abiding by the NCAA regulations. The best thing is that it is a year-long internship so he will stay on part time when school starts up again this fall. He is really enjoying it and is hoping that this opportunity will open some doors.

I was recently called to serve in the Young Women's program in our ward, and we all know what that means...girls camp!!! It was a really fun experience but I found myself wondering, "When did I get old enough to be a leader". I loved girls camp when I was in Young Women's so I felt extra pressure to make it as memorable for these girls as it was for me. As you can imagine, girls camp is a whole different experience when you are a leader. Teenage girls have a lot of drama that comes with them. The girls in our ward are really great. They are grounded young women and I was very impressed with their spiritual sensitivity and maturity. All in all, it was a great experience. The hardest thing was that I was away from Vance and Austin for five days. I have never left Austin for that long before but he adjusted well to a week of being spoiled by his Grandma Gardner. Austin hasn't been sleeping well at night so I was a little worried for Vance, but Austin was on his best behavior and slept through the night every night I was gone. I wish I could say he kept that up when I got back...the little stinker.

June has been officially designated in our family as "the month of Vance." Vance turned 26 on June 19, then fathers day was two days later, and our third wedding anniversary is on the 29th. Needless to say, it is a little stressful for me. Due to our current limited income, there was no room in our budget for any extravagant surprises, but we tried to make "the month of Vance" memorable regardless.

Finally, here is a quick explanation of the pictures above. Austin loves peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, but he also loves juice. I thought this was so funny. He wouldn't put his sandwiches down long enough to drink his juice so he just holds on to them and makes a big peanut butter mess. Silly boy...