Well it has been a while since I blogged for lots of reasons: (1) our computer has been acting up and fixing our computer is always on Steve's back burner (it hasn't had an upgrade in almost 10 years) and well it was putting up a fight so Steve finally made it a priority but in the meantime I could not access our pictures and the computer was still being difficult. (2) going back to work has made things interesting. I'm enjoying what I do so far but it is taking some adjusting for us all to not have me home all of the time. (3) the blog has seen a bit of an uptick in readers which warranted a little extra caution on my part so I made it private for a bit just to be safe. this will be our test run to see how things are going. So there you have my excuses now on to the fun catch-up part.
Most of September went by in the usual routine, kids going to school and extra curricula happening like Marcus in flag football and piano, Andrew doing a pickleball league and violin and VEX and orchestra (I swear 6th grade always gets really busy), Lila doing Dance Co and trying to get volunteers hours in for National Honors Society (I'm proud of her and she has already done 12 service hours). Steve's Mom also dropped by for a quick weekend visit mid month and was able to hear Lila speak in sacrament meeting. Lila did a fabulous job relating her topic of keeping Christ at the center of our lives to dancing.
"As a dancer I can tell you that pirouetting is a very complex thing. It requires you to do a number of things all at once, including spotting. Spotting is the technique of keeping your eyes fixed on a single point for as long as possible during a turn, then swiftly whipping your head to return to the same point. This stops the dancer from getting dizzy. Without the spot the spin would become wobbly and unbalanced. But when you keep your eyes locked on to that point, you can achieve a graceful and powerful turn.
Our lives are much like a pirouette. In a world full of distractions and temptations, it's easy to get off-balance. Our lives can wobble, become unstable, and we can lose our purpose when we focus on the ever-shifting fads and opinions of the world. But when we place Jesus Christ at the center of our lives--making Him our fixed, unchanging spot--we become grounded. He gives us the stability and balance needed to perform with grace and purpose amid the chaos."
She worked hard on it and she did a great job. I joked that we have all had a turn to speak in sacrament meeting in the last few months except Steve and Marcus but then we realized Marcus will be speaking during the primary program in November so Steve is really the only one left and I told Lila she should use that as her joke but she didn't want to throw her Dad under the bus. 😂
We had a fun family outing on Saturday, September 27th to Soldier Hollow. Lila and Macey wanted to go cheer on their friend NelRae so we decided last minute to make a day of it. We also were able to see our niece Lily race.
Then we ate a picnic lunch in the car while we headed out to drive Guardsman's Pass home and it was a beautiful drive. Such a fun day to be out enjoying fall. The pictures don't do the colors justice.
The next week the boys had early out for several days due to parent teacher conferences and the weather was lovely so we enjoyed some extra time outside. I also really enjoyed meeting with their teachers. Each of them showed genuine care and concern for my boys. Andrew's teachers told me how good he is doing and that he should apply for DEEP in Jr High. His Chinese teacher noticed how sometimes Andrew looks at screens from the side and asked if he had recently got his eyes checked. I told her we had just been to the eye doctor and all my kids have done that for some period in their lives and the doctor sees nothing wrong with their eyes. I still thought it was fabulous that she recognized something and showed care and concern. Marcus's teachers told me he is also doing well and that he is a kind kid. I asked if he was talking too much in class and they said, "on occasion him and his best friend Liam talk but we know they are good friends so we just remind them and they stop." I truly was so grateful for such wonderful teachers who appreciate each of my boys for their unique qualities and strive to bring out the best in them.
We enjoyed General Conference weekend listening to the words of apostles while we also mourned the loss of President Nelson. It was an interesting time but with faith we move forward and the know the Lord has established ways for this work to continue. It will be a blessing to sustain President Oaks next General Conference. We also used the weekend to work on Andrew's car for the 6th grade drive in movie and we even attempted to make mooncakes for the Chinese Autumn Festival.
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| He wanted to make a cybertruck and did a great job and I'm super sad we did not get a picture of the finished product |
Benson Boone is quite the heartthrob right now and I looked at tickets when his American Heart concert was announced but I just didn't know how things would be going that far in advance. Then both Ellie and Lila had friends attend of his concerts (he did 3 different performances here in SLC) so Friday, October 10th I hopped on and found some reasonable tickets for the last performance the following day, October 11th and told the girls it was an early Christmas present. They were excited and had a blast together. They even got to hear an unreleased song which made both of their friends jealous.
Steve was kind enough to chaueffer them to and from the
event while I took Andrew to his first comp basketball game of the
season. I took video at that game so no pictures to post except of his new uniform.
We came home to a soaking Kodiak. It was raining really hard but I couldn't leave him inside unless I put him in his crate he is used to sleeping in. So he got a good towel dry that night and then played a round of inside football with the boys. He loves playing football with the boys, the boys get a little tired of being slammed by the dog chasing the ball but I tell them that's what happens in football.
Marcus's flag football team the Vikings went undefeated and were the champions for their division. The city provided t-shirts but his coach bought them these cool super bowl like rings which was a big hit with the boys. Marcus insisted on wearing his to school the next day. The second to last game was a team they had already beat in the preseason so the coach let anyone who wanted to, play quarterback and Marcus was brave enough to try it and actually had a QB sneak all the way down the field for a touchdown. He had a blast with this team.
Funny story I did laundry the week before and both Steve and I lost a sock which rarely happens. We have revolving lost sock pile for the kids. We found Steve's that same night but mine never turned up. A week later as Marcus was getting ready for this last game it was a little cooler so I told him to put on some thermal pants to help keep him warm. He put them on then in a concerned tone said, "There is something weird in my pants and it's bothering me." I thought maybe a thorn or something because they wore them bike riding but I had washed them since then. As he came over I saw this lump in the pants and realized it was my sock in his pants. My sock had been found and we laughed about it because even Steve thought it was something serious by the tone in Marcus's voice.
We had Grandpa Stan over for dinner and games one night while he was down here while Mimi was on a girls trip to Boston. We even took him to the UofU hospital Sunday before he went back to Idaho to visit with Kirk and Debbie who was there in preparation for a hear surgery (unfortunately they were not able to do the procedure and she is still having some health issues they are trying to figure out) but we had a lovely visit with them.
Lila performed at the football game for senior night on October 16th. Then Steve and I started getting ready for our little getaway to Park City. It was fall break for the kids so we thought it would be a low key time to do a little getaway. The boys insisted I play a round of the Harry Potter stack building game and Lila actually got into and played with them more that weekend before we left. When Steve got off work we hit the road and picked up dinner on our way then hit the hot tub out our on balcony, so nice. Friday, October 18th, Steve and I slept in, fixed ourselves some breakfast then went for a hike. It was fun and had pretty scenic overviews. We even saw snow which made Steve excited for ski season and we were hiking at the Park City resort which was fun.
We went to downtown Park City for dinner that night.
Saturday we went out to breakfast then hit the tub again and while we were soaking we decided to invite the kids down for the evening. Lila was nervous to drive but we told her she knows how to drive to Ellie then Ellie would drive the rest of the way so that was the plan. I went to the spa for my appointment while Steve enjoyed the sauna and steam room in the men's locker room. The kids were almost there so I worked up an order for dinner that Steve could pick up while gassing up the car. We showed the kids our place and walked around a bit. The boys wanted to throw the football in the big grass area (well really they wanted to do it out on the golf course but I steered them to the big grass area) so they did that while Steve drove the girls through downtown Park City and picked up our dinner.
After a while the boys got a little chilly so we went back and made hot cocoa with the fancy pod hot cocoa maker in our room. Then we all enjoyed dinner.
After dinner we turned on the BYU vs Utah football game and watched a bit of it. Then the kids went hot tubbing. Then more BYU football then more hot tubbing. The game was a lot of fun and one of the commentators made a funny comment as the BYU quarterback drug a UofU player in the endzone, "There's a Bear on the loose." Gotta love BYU and Bear right now.
The girls and I left around 9pm to head back to Layton. We stopped at Ellie's place to pick up Kodiak. Ellie was going to commute for a couple of days and do a deep clean to her apartment. The boys stayed the night and had a blast. They enjoyed more hot cocoa while Steve made them breakfast in the morning. It was the perfect mix of getting away/relaxing and enjoying things with the kids.
Andrew had his last round in his current pickleball league and won his court so he won $15 and a bag of candy which he was excited about. Marcus subbed that night and almost won on court 5 (although he couldn't get the prizes as a sub). They are both signed up for the next Monday league together to finish out the year which they are excited about.
The kids also had dental cleanings and orthodontist appointments at the beginning of the month within a week of each other which lead to Marcus needing two teeth pulled. His is a trooper and was like, "I have had it done before so no big deal." I went to check him out to do it and the school took 20 minutes to get him out to me so we missed that appointment and I just checked him right back into school (I was really quite frustrated but trying to be patient. . .I showed my ID received the checkout email and then 5 minutes later they stick their head out to the foyer and ask which kid I wanted. Then another 5 minutes goes by and I ring the bell asking where he is and they say. . .oh he hasn't come out yet. . .let's see. . .oh he's at recess let us make an announcement and getting him from recess is no easy feat and now it's been 13 minutes already. GEESH!) Ok so anyway we had to push it back to after fall break. When I took him he teared up a bit with the shots so I held his hand and then he kept touching his top lip and I asked him if it felt funny to which he replied yes. Then the doctor pulled the teeth and he said one of them had the longest roots he has ever seen on a baby tooth in his 20 years. So Marcus received a nice gift from the tooth fairy. I asked him if he believes in the tooth fairy and he said, "No it's you." So I said, "So can I just give you a nice gift then." and he said, "well then are you admitting you are the tooth fairy." Seriously kid!
There you have a quick update on our happenings in Sept/Oct. We are excited to see BYU basketball start up and hope to see BYU football continue their streak. We have even modified a children's book to say the following:
We're going on a Bear Hunt
Wait we have a Bear
We're going on a Title hunt
We're going to catch a big one
We're not scared!
GO COUGS!