Busy Fall

So, as you may have noticed we haven't put anything up for two weeks. It seems like this fall is already flying by and we've been really busy with lots of fun (and some not-so-fun) things. Justin is gritting his teeth through this semester with the promise of more exciting classes next semester. He's off to Denver this upcoming weekend for an International Law School Association conference. Rachel has started her "school" once a week (through the ECFE program, for you Minnesotans). She loves it and has also been busy seeing her friends a lot lately. Other than that our only news is that Justin is getting over a bad chest cold that left him voiceless for a few days and now Rachel has a little bout of the flu. Never a dull moment at the Lees! Now, on for the more fun stuff...
This has been a beautiful fall in Minnesota and we've been going on lots of walks and leave-collecting trips. Rachel still has a major affection for dandelions and finds them whenever we're outside.

Last week for family night we went to Sucker Lake. I guess they have so many lakes here, they had to scrape the bottom of the barrel with the name choices. But, despite the name, it was a really beautiful lake and the fall colors were spectacular. Even though the kids look less than thrilled in this picture, we had a great time and it's always nice to be outside in preparation for our winter hibernation.
It felt mandatory to take an embarrassing picture by a "poop bag" mailbox. Bridget really wouldn't be this grossed out in real life considering the everyday bodily functions she gets to clean-up!
Justin and Rachel by Sucker Lake.
Bridget has been busy with lots of fun "girls' night" outings lately. This was a baby shower for Kendra that we had at the Cheesecake Factory. We've also had some fun birthday get-togethers and went out for dessert after the women's session broadcast for our church's General Conference. This is such a great ward because there are so many fun people!
Ian has been busy working on some major baby milestones. He's trying really hard to sit up lately. He can balance well with his hands like this, so it's only a matter of time before he can sit up all of the way. He's also learned how to roll over from his back to his stomach, so he's rolling all over the place now.

Bridget broke down and started feeding Ian rice cereal after a not-helpful visit to a nurse practitioner to see if they could figure out why he's less interested in nursing. He has been doing really well eating the cereal and we're hoping it will start to help him sleep better at night. We're always the optimists around here!
As mentioned before, Justin has been working very hard at school and his Friday nights are busy with law review for this school year. Since Rachel couldn't wait up for him last Friday, we traced her body and made this picture for him to see when he came in the door. She loved telling me how to decorate her picture and it was a very exciting addition to our kitchen for a week.
When Bridget told Rachel she couldn't watch a movie (we've had to limit movies only to the weekends because she wanted to always watch her "shows"), she proceeded to spend a half hour studying the pictures on each show and lining them up across our living room. Whatever works for entertainment!