Yeah - Fall is finally here.

Oh yeah! I love FALL! Don't get me wrong I do love the summer time too - but after a few months of scorching hot weather - I really look forward to the Fall weather:) There are many other reasons why I love this time of the year - here is my list - in no particular order:

- Season Premieres on TV. I really try an limit myself to how many shows a week I can DVR. Can't leave out Gossip Girl, 90210, The Hills, Runs House, The Office, and Greys. I do love The Biggest Loser - but I can't record 2 things at once and try to watch something else - so I try to "catch" The Biggest Loser.

- The changing leaves. I love living in Sugarhouse and seeing our street turn from drabby grey cement to colorful orange and yellow leaves everywhere. Although, I do hate bagging them.

- POST SEASON BASEBALL. OOO I really look forward to this. Tomorrow is the big day - Baseball all day!!! First game starts at 1:00 in the afternoon. (I am not accepting any calls after 1:00pm for the next week or so) ha ha. There is only ONE OCTOBER! GO SOX - and DODGERS!!

- JAZZ GAMES! Training camp offically started today. It makes me more excited to watch the sports segment on the late news - they always have interviews from the players. Got the D-Will jersey all washed and ready to wear for the October 29th opener.

- HALLOWEEN. Thanks to my mom - she has made me LOVE this holiday. This is my mom's favorite holiday. She used to draw on parchment paper "Linus in the Pumpkin Patch" (from Peanuts Halloween cartoon) on her front windows - I loved that every year. I am so excited to dress Walker up in his costume - he is going to be a chicken. (pictures to come!) I had to find a costume that didn't require a hat to be worn to know what he was dressing up as. He won't wear a hat.

- Cool nights. I sleep so much better when it is cold.

- Pumpkins. For some wierd reason I seriously LOVE pumpkins. I love to decorate with them, carve them, and buy the funny tiny ones. I think I might try to grow them next year.

- My anniversary. 5 years this year on the 8th:)

- Witches at Gardner Village. Even though they are almost the same every year - I love to go and see them. Anyone want to come. I am sure I will go multiple times:)

-Wearing hoodies. I love a good hooded sweatshirt.

So tomorrow starts off the best time of the year. From the looks of my list - if you need me I will be on the couch! ha ha!

ELLEN

Last week I had the opportunity to go and see the Ellen show at the Warner Brothers studio in Burbank, California! It was SO much fun! My sister Whitney was able to get tickets (after trying forever!) and so I went with her, my mom, and my other sister. It was a short 24 hour trip, we left Wednesday afternoon and flew home Thursday night. Our show taped on Thursday and aired on Friday. The guests were Neil Patrick Harris (aka Dougie Houser MD), Betty White, and this boxer kid who is only 7 years old! It was so much fun! We had to wait in a holding room for about 3 hours until they let us into the actual studio. During that time the employees for her show were walking around talking to everyone asking where they were from and they ended up taking my sister Whitney, along with 6 other people and interviewed them so that one of them could be chosen to play the game on the show that day. Sad to say Whitney didn't get picked, but the girl who did played the "Gold Digger" game and won $750.00!! We were lucky enough though to get FRONT ROW SEATS once we were in the studio! It was so much fun and so fun to see a live taping! They don't let you take your camera in and you phone has to be off - so we didn't get any pictures at the studio. AND there wasn't a giveaway (bummer) but it was still so much fun to be there and have a gals trip with my family. I LOVE ELLEN!!

Here is the only picture we got - eating dinner the night before!

Utah State Fair

Another year at the Utah State Fair. What a great place. Jake and I laugh everytime we are there. We went on Monday for family night with Jake's family. Although it costs about an arm and a leg to do anything, it is still so much fun! Walker LOVED the rides and Jake and I LOVED the funnel cake. Good times had by all! I wanted to try the deep fried PB&J, but the line was so long. Maybe next year - you know we are going back!

Hanging Out With Dad

I took this picture today while Jake was watching the football game. Walker was sitting right by him loving the game too. He is getting so big - I love to watch him grow and learn new things everyday!

Road Trip - Just the Gals

A few weekends ago Muranda and I headed out for a girls weekend. So much fun! We headed down to St. George for a few days to relax. It was great. We got pedicures, shopped, slept in, and ate junk food while we watched the Olympics. One of the nights we stayed at Iggy's all night watching Michael Phelps - he is awesome! We went to Vegas on Saturday to shop and see our friend Brittany and her cute baby. We had not seen her since the baby was born. It was great to finally meet her little gal, Serenity. We headed home Sunday, but it was great to relax and have some gals time! Thanks Mur for a good time! Same time next year??Shopping in Vegas - "that that that that don't kill me can only make me stronger" Hanging out at Iggy's. We ate so much food there! Muranda, Brittany, Serenity, and Me.

New York City

We had the BEST time in New York! I KNEW I would love it there! There is so much to see and so much to do - we could have stayed another week!! It wasn't your typical "relaxing" vacation, but we didn't care - we were so excited to see it all! We stayed at the Franklin Hotel on the upper east side of Manhattan. I loved it - it was recently remodeled and it reminded me of a Restoration Hardware magazine. It was REALLY SMALL - and I mean really small, but so nice and I would recommend it to anyone! It was right by the subway too so it was really convenient! We took a bunch of pictures, but I soon realized that we need to invest in a new camera.:) Sorry for the long post - I LOVED NEW YORK! Here is the rundown:

TUESDAY

We got there early Tuesday morning - tired (dang redeye flight) but excited! We dropped our stuff off at the hotel and headed to do the "touristy" stuff. We were told to take the Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty. It is free and it dosen't take as long. We loved it! Lady Liberty is beautiful and we enjoyed the nice boat ride:)

Then we went to the World Trade Center site. So emotional. It was so sad to see that there is still a huge hole in the ground. It was hard to believe that two huge towers once stood there and to imagine them crumbling to the ground. There really isn't a place to take pictures because it is surronded by huge chainlink fences and black tarps. There is a temporary museum type place set up right next door to the site so we decided to go in. It was incredible. I recommend it to anyone going to New York. They had artifacts there that were found while sorting through the rubble. There was an airplane window, coins that had been melted together, and a huge piece of the steel that one of the towers was made out of. It was totally burnt. There were free standing colums and on them were buttons you could push and hear the firefighters talking back and forth on their walkie talkies and quotes from people who expierenced it and text messages that were sent to loved ones. It was really hard to read and hear. They also had one wall that was covered with the pictures of the lives taken. That night we headed to the US Open. That was so much fun!! We had reserved seats at Arthur Ashe Stadium. This stadium usually holds the top players matches most of the Open. When you buy the tickets you don't know who you are going to get to see - they do the draw the night before - and lucky us - we got Venus Williams in the first match and Roger Federer in the second!! After his match we went down and got his autograph!! Hey Roger!!

WEDNESDAY

Wednesday was our day off from the sporting events so we decided to head out and test the shopping waters! We went to Canal Street. SO FUN! You know I bought a purse! I loved wheeling and dealing them! We spent a couple hours there and decided to do more "touristy" things. We headed to Magnolia Bakery and enjoyed a famous cupcake. Then went to eat luch at Papaya's - hot dogs only $1.25!

In the afternoon we went to go and do a session at the Temple - and it was closed for cleaning! We were so sad! I had heard so much great stuff about this temple and we were so excited to see it. It is so crazy how it is just on a busy street. Don't mind the picture - I totally cut off Angel Moroni.

Later that night we had dinner at Blue Smoke House - great BBQ place. We then headed to Times Square aka the Vegas Strip. I seriously felt like I was in Vegas. I liked it, but I think I expected more from it. We walked over to Rockafeller Center and checked things out there. It was fun to see all of the ads on the buildings. I even saw a huge Vitamin Water ad with D-Will in it - that was awesome. After a long day and night - we decided we better get some sleep!

THURSDAY

We got up early on Thursday to go to the Today Show. In case you missed it - we were on TV! Too bad Meredith was the only one there, but it was still fun. And I got some free wrist weights from the lady who was doing the ouside segment that day. We also went over to the top of the Rockefeller building. You go up 70 floors and you can see all of New York City. Of course, our camera battery died while we were up there - so no pictures. But it was really cool!

That afternoon we went to the last Red Sox vs Yankees game in Yankee Stadium. THAT WAS GREAT! Even though Giambi won it for the Yanks in the bottom of the 9th - it was still fun to see:) We were sitting in the upper tier on the third base line - they were great seats! The foul pole was right in front of us - we were hoping for a foul ball:) Yankee fans are hilarious - you mix direct heat, lots of beer, and overall Yankee craziness - and it was a fun game! Go Sox! Thanks Daryl for the tickets - you are great!

Thursday night we went to dinner in SoHo - on Daryl. Nice guy. Thanks so much!! We loved our dinner! After another long day - we headed back to the hotel for some much needed sleep. We knew we had a big day ahead of us!

FRIDAY

Friday morning we were up and on the subway by 7:00 am - off to another day at the US Open. Only this time we had the grounds passes - which is basically general admission to any of the courts except Arthur Ashe. The gates don't open until 10:00 am, but we happen to know a guy who was going too so we went early with him - good thing we did - we got front row seats!! We watched tennis all day. We didn't leave until 10:30pm. I really liked these tickets. I would recommend getting them for one day. We saw the #5 player - Davadinko, we also say Robby Ginipri (USA guy) and Jo-Wilfred Songa! It is such a different game sitting that close to the court. The tennis balls would hit the board right in front of us - it was so great! 15 hours of tennis- can't complain!!

The last match kept stopping for rain so around 10:30 we decided we should leave to go and get dinner. John and his wife, who were our friends we knew, came to dinner with us. We ate at a sports bar, The Joshua Tree. Great place! Highly recommend it!

SATURDAY

Today was the sad day - we had to leave. Our plane didn't leave until around 5:00 so we met up with my cousin Kellen, who attends NYU, and he and his friend Kristina took us around Centeral Park. I think we were in the park about an hour and a half and we really didn't see that much of it. It is HUGE! But so great!

Here we are at the Castle in the park. Really cool!

We decided to walk down 5th avenue and check out all the "high roller" stores. OOO I loved Harry Winston! We also ate lunch at the famous Serendipity. Of course, we had the frozen hot choclate. Look how big their menus were. Hello?!? Thanks Kellen for showing us around!

Well, it's over - but we came home with so many great memories. There is so much to do there and we could have stayed another week to do it all. Oh well, I guess that means we have to go back! Fine by me! I keep telling Jake that we are going back next year for more US Open action! I really want to see Roddick play!

We really missed Walker but he did really great at Megan's and my moms. Thanks guys - we really appreciate all your help while we were gone:)

Mauss Family Pictures - the grandkids

Every few months or so we try to get all the grandkids together on the Mauss side for a cute photo. What a better time to do it - Josh and Becca were visiting from Michigan! They turned out so cute - even though it is hard to get 7 kids to smile at the same time! Thanks Megan for taking the picts!

Charlie, Walker, Luke, Annie, Bowen, Will, and Jackson

Walker just hanging out!

Megan took a couple of pictures of our little family - who knows what I was looking at - obviously not the camera! Walkers favorite place to hang out - dads shoulders!

We also celebrated mine, Justin's and Ashley's birthdays that same day! It was great! The best part - the cake that my sister-in-law brought! She is so great. She called me and said "I want to bring the cake" and I said to her "I bet it has the Jazz on it" (i was only joking!!) Lo and behold - it really did! After she showed it to me she said "I didn't know what to say when you said 'i bet it has Jazz on it' because I had already ordered the cake." Not only was the cake AWESOME - but it was so tastey too!! She knows me all to well. AND I am the #1 Jazz fan- her husband, Justin, is the #2 Jazz fan - works out perfectly our birthdays around the same time! GO JAZZ!

I tried saying "no"...

AHHH! I got a new calling this week - 2nd counselor in the Relief Society Presidency. Are you kiddin me? I thought I was safe from this calling living in Sugarhouse! HELP!?! Anyone have advice.

My birthday suprise - totally unexpected!

So I usually don't do a post about my birthday but this year there is an exception. I must start off by saying I HAVE THE BEST HUSBAND IN THE WORLD! Although my birthday is really on Monday - he gave me my present today. (even though I told him NO PRESENTS this year) He suprised me with a trip to New York that includes seeing the LAST Red Sox vs Yankees game at Yankee Stadium AND a day at the U.S. Open. I WAS IN SHOCK! I have been telling him that I want to go to New York but I really thought that we would wait till we were both turning "30", or if we happen to come across a really great deal. He has been planning this since April - SO NICE! We are leaving Monday August 26th and returning Saturday August 30th. So here is how he did it: We went for an early Sunday morning walk. On our way back home Jake says to me "Today is a great TV sports day for us." I said "I know - USA Basketball this morning, PGA Golf for you" and he starts saying "Oh and the Red Sox/Yankees game is actually on right now and US Open Tennis trials are today." I said - thinking how wierd "I didn't know Red Sox/Yankees were even playing - and how wierd that it wouldn't be the Sunday night ESPN game. AND US Open trials can't be on most of the top tennis players are in Beijing for the Olympics." He says back to me "no really, they are on the TV right now." As I walked in the door to prove him wrong and turn the TV on - right there stuck to the TV - were tickets to the baseball game and the tennis match. Brought me right to tears! Two of the BEST baseball teams playing one last time in a historical stadium and the chance to witness tennis greatness in Arthur Ashe stadium. So in the end - I can't wait to leave. I can't wait to sightsee, shop, eat, and expierence New York. I was thinking about wearing my Dodgers shirt in honor of Manny. Ha ha! I guess there is a chance that I might get beat up if I do that - but it would be funny. Go Sox. More to come after the trip....

Done and Done!

Oh how I LOVED this book! I really couldn't put it down and my house has been in shambles the last few days. All I have to say - I LOVED IT only second to Twilight and can't wait for the movies!

Just some fun pictures

Not too much has been going on at the Mauss home in the last few weeks. Just enjoying the summer and watching Walker grow up so fast. He is all over the place - crawling that is - and had finally mastered pulling himself up to his feet. We have been enjoying activities close to home, like the Murray Pool, Hogle Zoo and This Is The Place park. (and I always seem to forget my camera) I can hardly believe that summer is almost coming to an end. Here are a few pictures of just hanging out at home:)

He found a napkin and then destroyed it! He loves to pull himself up to the side table and look through the photo album He loves suckers. But of course, after he is done EVERYTHING he has touched is sticky!

Walker and I at This Is The Place - he looks really sad but he had a great time. He loves getting close to the animals!