{five things xxii}

One of these days I'll actually be organized enough to post my Five Things on Friday... but it is not this day!  I'm still here, rattling around, it's simply been a challenge to find time to put my thoughts together on the blog.

Apparently, taking care of five kids aged seven and under can be a little time consuming. Who knew? :)

Little by little, though, things are starting to find a natural rhythm-- and I'm sure I'll be back to regular posts shortly. I certainly hope so, anyway.

- one -

This is my favorite time of year, hands down. There is just something magical about the transitional seasons of spring and autumn that speak to my soul, but truly it is this time of year most of all that has the greatest claim on my heart.

Right now you can usually find me in the kitchen cooking something savory, listening to Ray LaMontagne, The Civil Wars, or The Decemberists. I'm a huge indie folk person year round, but during October it's what I listen to almost 24/7. I'm pretty sure that Ray LaMontagne's music is autumn incarnate. Is that just me? Something about the bluesy, rustic nature of it. At any rate, it makes me happy, reflective, and pensive. A good combination this time of year. My all-time favorite song of his starts 5 minutes into the following video.

- two -

In all honesty, this month has been a very difficult one for me and my family.
Reilly has had some more health set backs (visit here for a recap of her condition), and while she is doing much better now it has made for a very stressful few weeks while the doctors decided how best to approach this new curve ball. Basically, the bacteria causing her infections has grown resistant to the daily low-dose antibiotic she is on. So after a couple of weeks of being very ill, she is back to her old self after a change in medication.

Some days I'm not so sure if surgery wouldn't be the better option when she has these issues flare up. But then I remember the good statistical odds that she will grow out of it, and I try to stay positive. It's just so difficult to see your baby girl in such misery and pain.

Adding to this, the twins both came down with rotavirus (a truly awful stomach flu), which they promptly shared with Bryson and I-- just after I had recovered from a bad case of strep throat!

Needless to say, I am so very happy to have everyone healthy under our roof once again.

- three -

Despite the crazy health issues we were dealt the last few weeks, I was able to take some family pictures over the course of a few days. During this we discovered just how difficult it is to get five little kids to all look at the camera at the same time. I have many, many wonderful pictures of all seven of us... except that just one person is unhappy, or dancing like a crazy person, or pulling a silly face... you get the idea. I suppose it didn't help that it was just us and a camera-- normally I rope Bryson's brother's family into coming with us so that there is someone to stand behind the camera for our family portrait (and then I return the favor by taking their family pictures). But aside from that, I was very happy with how they turned out. I love taking pictures of my family. I get those genes from my Grandpa Ensign. Here is a sampling of a few of the pictures-- if you are facebook friends with me (on my personal page) you can take a gander at the whole lot of them if you are so inclined.

- four -

Construction on the temple continues to move forward.
It has been so fun to watch the work progress. The original of this photo was taken by a friend in our stake, and even though it's only a week old, it's pretty out of date already. In the last few days they have added much of the third story.

We all love being so close to the site, especially the twins. Every morning when we go outside they greet "their friends"-- the two cranes on the construction site. And if you ask Logan what they are building he will tell you, "The two cwanes are billwding the tempullh"

It never gets old.

- five -

And speaking of photography & the temple...

I have become mildly obsessed with Instagram. 
If you are too, you'll have to look me up! My handle is wavingensign. I'd love to connect with you there.
#photographylove

• • •

And those are my five things for (ahem) Saturday!
Best wishes for a festive autumnal weekend.
♥