So Much Sewing

I have been sitting at my sewing machine during every minute of spare time I've had for the last few weeks. The outcome this time was a bunch of fall and winter clothes for the kids. I'm happy with how things turned out and I love seeing the kids in these clothes. Here are a few of my favorites:

Long sleeve t-shirts, fun tops, dresses made from pretty floral scraps, and a button up cardigan. Matthew got a couple pairs of pants. And I even made a few things for myself. Only Joseph was left out, but I'm not sure I can tackle menswear just yet. :)

(I really don't know how to use Joseph's fancy camera, so that is why the lighting is off in most of these pictures.)

I love to sew, and wish I could do it all the time. But I am taking a break for a bit to spend time on other things. At least until I start working on Halloween costumes...

US Open

My sis, Robin, flew in to join us the day after we got back from Palmyra. That night we went to the US Open!!!!! I've been watching and playing tennis since I was young, and it was awesome to actually be there in the stadium! We saw Djokovic play, who ended up winning the whole tournament. It was super cool and we had such a fun time.

Besides shopping and sightseeing and bike riding in the city, we also spent a day at the beach. And we ate at Vanessa's Dumpling House, of course. Delicious.

It is always hard to have family leave, but we did so many awesome things and had such a great time while they were here that it was hard to be too sad. We loved every minute with them!

Palmyra & Niagara Falls

My parents came to visit and we all squished into our car and drove up to Palmyra, NY. We stayed at a campground just outside of Palmyra. It was lovely to drive through upstate New York and see the pretty scenery.

The Sacred Grove was such a special place. It was kind of surreal to actually be there, and it was humbling to think of what happened there. You could feel the Spirit right when you walked in, and it was neat to teach Matthew all about Joseph Smith's vision.

We also saw the Smith home and the beautiful Hill Cumorah.

We toured the print shop where the Book of Mormon was published, and visited the Palmyra Temple. The temple was absolutely beautiful, inside and out. You can see the Sacred Grove through one of the windows.

On one of the days we took a quick trip up to Niagara Falls. We rode the Maid of the Mist boat to the bottom of the falls and it was incredible to see and hear the power of the water. We got soaked! The falls were beautiful and it was so cool to see them in person.

I'm so glad we made this trip and that my parents could come along! It was wonderful to get out of the city and see such beautiful places.

So Far, So Good

Our August was just about as good as it could get. It started out with Anna's birthday and our anniversary Yankees game. We made a trip to Central Park, and lots of trips to the beach (I have a tan for the first time in years). Some friends and I ran into a star from Project Runway while checking out Mood fabric in Manhattan. That store is amazing and I want to live there.

Joseph celebrated his 30th birthday and is feeling old. Matthew absolutely loved the Museum of Natural History and we loved watching him take it all in. We survived an earthquake and a scary hurricane. We took the ferry over to Governor's Island and played miniature golf and rode bikes around the island (one of my most favorite experiences of all time).

And to top it all off, my parents came to visit and we spent a few days in upstate NY. I'll share the pictures from that trip soon. August was wonderful and was the perfect end to the summer.