Grueling Week of Ghostly Feats

Andrew went on his first field trip the week before Halloween. They went to Black Island Farms and he got to take a lunch and ride a bus and it was all awesome. Then we had the chance to go to Black Island Farms as a family on Friday, Oct 26, Lila's dance team offered a discounted ticket for that evening and the weather was lovely so we went. Since the weather was nice - Ellie, Steve, and I went out to do some yard work quickly before leaving (we had a short window when Ellie got home to get some things done). So we started up the mowers and blowers and raked leaves and mowed for the last time and then we managed to fill the garbage twice with leaves and half of our trees still have leaves. Then we were off to the pumpkin patch. Andrew was so excited tot tell us all the stuff that was there (since he had been there the week before) it made him feel like the big kid. ;) We first went out to the pumpkin patch (the sun was in our eyes as I tried to take pictures on the hayride).

Everyone found their pumpkin and we took them to the car then went to the courtyard for some fun. Andrew was stoked that the big slide was open and went running straight for it! and they all went down a couple of times.

Then off to the corn maze where Andrew swears we were going in a circle which you kind of do to get really get out. ;)

The kids had a blast just running around on the slides and playing. I love to see Marcus run as fast as he could to keep up with everyone and he would always come back and ask, "one more time, please?" Lila found some dance friends to hangout with for a bit. Then when it was dark and we had had a couple of hours of fun, we decided to call it good and went home.

 



The next morning Saturday, Oct 26, we got up and got ready to make a one day trip to Idaho so the kids could do the Harry Potter experience with Mimi and Grandpa. I decided to leave Steve at home working on a few projects (hoping to get a few things done before ski season is starts -- there are a few Saturdays that fall in a weird zone where it's too cold to be outside doing stuff and soccer is over but ski season hasn't started so I'm hoping we can capitalize on those and get a few lingering basement projects done). The trip up was pretty uneventful. The kids watched a movie and I listened to a book. We pulled into Rupert and met my parents at Burgers Etc for lunch where they then took the 3 older kids to Harry Potter and I proceeded on to Twin to visit with a college friend who recently had her 5th boy -- it was fun to catch up with her and I hope to see her more this winter as I learned they come to ski Snowbasin on occasion. The kids loved Harry Potter and we are grateful to Mimi and Grandpa who arranged their schedule to take them.

 





Andrew was the person selected to be measured for a wand. He thought that was great. He said at one point somebody asked him if he was Harry Potter and before he could say anything Anson said, "No that's Andrew."

 



They came home and were playing with their wands and Andrew was getting frustrated it wasn't working like ti did at the Harry Potter experience. I finally had to tell him that it was pretend and he could just have fun pretending or not play at all. I felt bad bursting his bubble, but seriously he was mad when the lights wouldn't turn on with his wand. . .


Then on Halloween Andrew had a little costume parade with the other kindergarten classes that Marcus and I went up to watch. Then we went to story time at the library and did a little trick or treating. 

Did I tell you that it was freezing all week? Like the morning temps were 11-12 degrees and highs were in the 20s. . .So when everyone came home I didn't really want to go outside and carve pumpkins like we had planned and I didn't want the mess inside so we decided to watch a Halloween movie and relax then we made Mummy dogs and got ready for trick or treating.

  
My dynamic duo :) Boy am I glad their costumes were a little big this year because we put them on top of snow suits.

They went out for an hour and had a good time. They of course had to go by the Johnsons to get a fresh homemade donut then they came home. A few minutes after they had been together a group of Ellie's friends came to the door and she decided to go back out with them and they watched a movie at a friend's house. She had fun. Lila got some one-on-one time with us after we put the boys to bed. I think the cold weather really affected trick or treating because we did not get that many trick or treaters and now we have a lot of leftover candy. . .

Ski Checks & Halloween Pieces

We decided to do ski checks after getting the kids on Sunday because it is ski swap season. The girls are good for the first little bit, but we decided to go ahead and move Andrew and Marcus up into bigger gear. Andrew loved it and buckled and unbuckled his new boots -- really he is the best at getting himself ready to ski.

Enjoying some snuggles with Dad as we unwind and watch an AFV (America's Funniest Home Videos)

We turned Marcus's bed into a big boy bed and he loves it! So far so good!

The kids have all been learning a Halloween piano piece. The girls got to wear their costumes today and play their pieces for a candy bar. I have been working with Andrew on a Harry Potter song on the piano and he is doing so well with it. It is fun to see the kids learn and grow.

My gumball machine and pineapple :)

Fall Break

I had hoped to do a Tesla roadtrip for Steve's 40th birthday, but my parents were supposed to be in Mexico and then Carole and Lexi's original travel plans were that they would be here that weekend too and then everything kind of crazily fell into place where my parents trip to Mexico was postponed and they were willing to watch the kids and Carole and Lexi came a week earlier, but I was still too busy to really plan anything so I felt bad leaving it up to Steve to plan his birthday roadtrip and I even said, "I'd like it to be within 5 hours and a place we've never been." It was a tall order, but Steve suggested Grand Junction, CO and began research. He was looking at cute B&Bs and I just wasn't feeling it so we decided to book a hotel room at a place that had a destination charger. Then Monday morning I woke up sick -- like runny nose, congested can't breathe crawl back into bed sick. I was afraid the trip would have to be postponed. I did sinus rinses and steamed to try and clear things up quickly. 

By Tues evening I was well enough to attend Ellie's orchestra concert which was super fun. They get to wear their Halloween costumes and do fun songs so we took the whole family and Mimi and Grandpa even managed to make it for a portion of it. Ellie is a pineapple this year and we decided we really liked it because we could see her spikey pineapple top from anywhere.

Afterwords we went out to Baskin Robbins where we saw one of my Laurels working it was fun to catch up with her and to enjoy a fun treat with my family.

Wednesday evening we took our whole youth group out to the Layton temple site for a fireside with Patriarch Flint. It was really a neat experience and I am so grateful we will have a temple 5 minutes away.

Then Thursday morning I was waiting to hear from my parents to see how Dad's doctor appointments went and if they were still up for watching the kids. When I got out of the shower I could not find Marcus and then Steve said, "I think we have a stow away."

 




When my Mom called around noon we hurried and packed the kids and got food ready to send with them. They were excited to be spending time in Mt Green with Mimi and Grandpa (Andrew had been talking about it for days), but right as they were pulling out Andrew said, "you're not coming with us?" and got a little teary eyed. Boy am I glad I didn't see that I would have been a mess. Once they were off Steve and started throwing things into a suitcase for us. Then we were off. First super charger was in Price and I realized I had forgot my thyroid medicine Steve suggested I call ahead to the Smith's and see if they would give me a few days and then he dropped me off there to get it and some snacks while he charged for 15 minutes or so. Then at Green River we plugged into the super charger and then walked across the street for dinner. When dinner was over we were charged and ready to go. We got to our destination about 8pm at night and pulled into the destination charging slot and plugged in. 

The next morning we wanted to go for a drive while it was a little overcast so we could hike or something in the afternoon. So we decided to do the Grand Mesa Scenic drive and it was pretty, but as we continued to climb we realized we were driving into a storm and were quite close to the Powderhorn Ski Resort.

Although the weather restricted our view from the top we still found the drive beautiful and refreshing. There is this place called Mesa Lakes where they have over 300 lakes and it was beautiful.

Then we decided to go walk downtown for some shopping and to pickup a couple of bike helmets (we forgot to bring ours). We had fun just walking from little shop to the next and we did manage to find a couple of helmets and then we stopped for lunch where we had Jerk Chicken which was quite delicious. Then we decided to go ahead and head out for the hike (it was a little trippy for me at this point because we were just going from one thing to the other without worrying about anything like picking the kids up from school and running one to an activity or making lunch at a certain time etc.). The hike was easy enough and pretty but at the end there was this section of rock you could go up to get close to the structure and I chose not to do it. When I saw Steve coming back down to me I began to worry he was hurrying and then he slowed behind some people and then I heard them say are you ok? Yep, Steve had somehow twisted his foot pulled a muscle or something so he was hurting. Poor guy. We were going to go sit in the hot tub that night, but the whirlpool at the hotel was pretty lame so we chose to just relax, watch a movie and ice his foot. With my head cold I was not sleeping well and now with Steve's hurt foot we decided to checkout Saturday and head home, we still planned to have some adventures which we could do with our luggage in the car Steve hit the hotel gym to see if it hurt his foot to bike and it didn't so we decided to go bike the River Trail which was fun. Here we are with our only souvenir -- helmets.

Then we did the drive in the Colorado National Monument which was also amazing.

Don't mind me squinting or my helmet hair. ;)

When we came out the other side we decided to do a bike trail in Fruita which was fun -- it had a little dirt trail on the side that Steve would do while I stuck to the paved trail. Then we hit DQ for a DP and a blizzard before hitting the road home. We started listening to The Midnight Watch about the ship the Californian that basically saw the Titanic sink but because of several little incidents didn't go to aid. It is an interesting read. We hit the charger in Green River for a shorter time this time and I hit a local fruit stand for a melon and some acorn squash. Then in Price we had dinner. After Price the weather turned and it was pouring and that took a little toll on our mileage so we decided to hit the super charger in SLC while I hit the grocery store for a few items before Sunday. Overall, we both enjoyed road tripping in the Tesla the charging was not inconvenient and kind of fun to have an excuse to get out and explore for a bit. Tomorrow we get the kids. I've missed them. It's always nice to have a break, but it is also nice to be reunited.

Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire

The weekend after soccer ended I was hoping to take it easy and get into a routine. Then at General Conference the Prophet announced some significant changes to the youth programs where I am currently serving. It has been a neat experience to see a personal prayer answered in such a significant way, but it also created a little more work for me. That same week Carole and Lexi came in to town to do some shopping and go through the temple in preparation for her mission. We loved having them, but it was a bit of a whirlwind, shopping for temple clothes and such the day before the temple and doing a little temple prep lesson, shopping for mission clothes and going to the temple twice. It was a a neat experience though and we wish her the best in Boston.

Friday Lila had the much anticipated maturation program and we had scheduled to go to lunch with her friend and Mom who is my friend. We had a lovely lunch with them and just think they're the bees knee (I may have picked that phrase up from an English roommate).


Friday night we invited the Chinese interns from the elementary school over for dinner. We played a game and had a great time visiting with them - so much so I think we'll do it again.

Saturday morning Steve and I ran in the LHS 5k Halloween Fun Run. One of my Laurels was in charge of it and had sent me an invite. They were raising funds for a Christmas gift program for the homeless and I thought it would be fun; I like to run, it's for a good cause, and I get to support her. We were both pretty happy with our times; Steve was a trooper and stuck with me the whole time even though he probably could have completed it quicker, but we ran the 3.25 miles in 35 minutes and managed to get 1st and 2nd (in our age categories 😉). Wahoo! Marcus likes to walk around with our medals clanging around his neck. I wish I had taken a picture because I had dressed up like a pumpkin, but I didn't so you'll have to wait until Halloween to see.

It was a busy but good week and I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who always helps us accomplish the righteous tasks in our lives and more. Today was lots of meetings and other responsibilities but I managed to make it through without a headache and feeling pretty on top of things. Life is good!