Halloween

It was quite a perfect Halloween. 
The weather hovered in the low 70s with no wind.
The kids all loved their costumes and looked adorable!    I think they all had great ideas of what they wanted to be and it was one of the easier years to put costumes together for mom.  Great on all accounts!

This year, Enoch visited seven National Parks.  He loves being a Junior Ranger and takes it very seriously.  His idea to be a Park Ranger was ideal for him.  Hmm..maybe we might see this again in adult version in about 15 years.

 Kate's first idea was to be Elsa from Frozen.  I explained that there would be many Elsas this year, but she could still be her if she wanted.  She opted no and went with a wolf, her favorite animal.  What an absolutely adorable wolf!  And, her entire costume can be worn in everyday outfits.  (She came home from school and told me there were nine Elsas in her class!  She was very happy she choose to be a wolf.)

Guard woke up last week and told me he was being an orange reindeer for Halloween.  What?!  It took a lot of convincing that his costume was Toothless, the dragon.  He finally agreed and he looked so cute.  The wings didn't last all through trick-or-treating, but I've already had two moms from the neighbor put dibs on his costume for future years.

I just couldn't bring myself to buy pumpkins when we had about eight gourds sitting on our backyard.  Greg and I weren't sure how to carve them, so we painted them.  All different colors.  (Guard is wearing his 'pumpkin shirt').

 The kids had so much fun!  They loved seeing all the colors.  We also had glitter and glow-in-the-dark spray paint.  Awesome!  The kids agreed that maybe we can alternate years between painting gourds and carving pumpkins.
It was a great year!  We missed Gavin, who was in St. George at state finals for band.  LHS Band took third at state!  Congrats!

Randall Halloween Party

We had a great time at the annual Randall Halloween party this year.  Michelle was great and hosted it - that includes making the homemade donuts.  She's awesome and it was nice to have a break this year.
The donuts were really yummy.

We were able to visit, catch up, admire everyone's costumes and let the kids play outside.  It was a bit nippy, but they didn't seem to mind and the fun outweighed the cold.
Everyone looked adorable (except maybe the giant Bert and Ernie!?).

Looks like the park ranger is wrangling that wolf!  I wonder who will win.  My bet is on the wolf.

Kisshug

We have a very set routine in the mornings.  The kids are up at 6:45.  We read scriptures.  We pray.  Gavin leaves at 7.  The rest of us eat breakfast from 7-7:20.  We brush teeth, get shoes on, do Kate's hair and take care of misc things from 7:20-7:40.  At 7:40, the kids start bundling up.  Greg takes them to school (and drops off their scooters so they can ride home), but they have to wait outside for the bell to ring.  It's a bit chilly in the mornings.

After everyone is bundled up, lunches loaded, backpacks on and ready to go, Guard gives kisshugs.  Its what he call hugs and kisses.  He loves this part of the day.  He is insistent that every single person gets kisshugs.
Once Greg, Enoch and Kate are loaded in the car, Guard and I sit on the front porch and wave good-bye.  Guard likes to bundle up and wear his hat, too.

Then, Guard and I start our day.  I love spending the day with my little buddy!

Scattered Thoughts

1.  When I folded laundry today, all the socks had matches!  Let me repeat - all the socks had matches!  That hardly ever happens.  It deserves a blog post.

2.  Guard loves Go, Diego, Go.  Guard loves Legos.  Unfortunately for Mom, Diego and Lego sound the same when Guard says, "Ego".

3.  Speaking of Guard, his favorite book is I Wish That I Had Duck Feet.  We read it together at least eight time a day.  We read a lot together.  I love it.  He's almost too big to sit on my lap now.  I'm so sad about that.

4.  Gavin is crazy busy with band and school.  We hardly ever see him.  I miss him.

Scattered Thoughts

1.  I love this!  Enoch and Kate reading on the couch.  We are so blessed that our kids love to read.

2.  Gavin is exhausted.  Between school and band, he has very little down time.  It doesn't take him long to fall asleep if he holds still.

3.  One last time mowing the lawn this season.  Enoch was less than thrilled about doing this job.  Greg was determined that he was going to do it.  I admit, I'm glad Greg was enforcing this and I could stand in my room and laugh about what was going on in the backyard.

(Notice that Enoch's feet are not touching the ground.)

Enoch, the Missionary

Enoch gave a talk in Primary today.  He picked the topic and wrote most of the talk himself.  He did a great job!

 

I was named after the prophet, Enoch. This is one of my favorite scripture stories. Enoch was a great prophet.

Most of the people in Enoch's day were wicked. Jesus talked to Enoch and said Enoch would be blessed because he was righteous. Jesus told Enoch to start teaching the people to be righteous. Enoch was nervous about being a missionary, but he trusted that Jesus would help him. He taught people all over. Enoch taught them the Gospel, especially to repent, obey God's commandments and be baptized.

A lot of the people Enoch taught repented and were baptized. All the righteous people built a city called Zion so they could live together. Enoch and his people were so righteous that the entire city of Zion was taken up to heaven.

Enoch was an amazing missionary. He listened to the Holy Ghost, he had a strong testimony, he preached repentance even when he was afraid to talk to people and he loved the people he taught.

When I grow up I want to be a missionary like Enoch. I'm working now to be prepared. I'm saying my prayers, going to church, reading my scriptures and growing my testimony.

I can't wait to be a missionary!

BYU for ice cream, animals and band

We visited BYU today for many different reasons.  We started by taking Greg to the Bean Museum.  He hasn't been since it was remodeled and he was excited to see it and the kids were excited to show him.  BYU really did do a great job with it.  I'm impressed every time we go.

After the museum, we had dinner and ice cream at the Creamery.  The food was great and the view from our outside table was incredible. (Such a warm night for October.)

Lastly, we hustled ourselves to the stadium for the Rocky Mountain Review.  Lehi High School Marching Band was competing.  We got there just in time to see the band enter the stadium from practicing in the parking lot.  Gavin walked right past us and we were able to cheer him on.
Lehi did great!  They sounded so good and looked fantastic.  We are so proud of them.

On the way out of the stadium, Guard fell and hit his head against the cement hard.  He screamed for quite awhile and then stopped.  He was so, so pale; his was literally white, his lips had hardly any color and he was completely silent and still.  I'm sure he had a minor concussion.  He never threw up and his eyes didn't dilate, but he really scared us.
We sat down on the grass and gave Guard a chance to recover.  Yikes!  The cougar is going to get Greg and Guard.

 Enoch and Kate didn't seem to mind.  They used the time well.

Too bad Guard couldn't roll down.  We kept a close eye on him the rest of the night.  He was fine aside from complaining his head hurt when he laid down.
Fun night!

Garden Pumpkins

This year we took a chance and planted pumpkins in our garden.  We planted pumpkins to carve for jack-o-lanterns and sugar pumpkins for baking and freezing.
They grew like crazy.  I blame the bees!

Harvest time was a lot of fun for the kids.  A great way to see the bounties of our garden.

At the end of the season, we ended up with more than just sugar pumpkins.  We had all kinds of stuff growing in our pumpkins box - orange, white blue, green.  It was great!  In a few weeks, I'll freeze the sugar pumpkins.  As for now, we are enjoying our pumpkins.

LHS Marching Band Family Night

 We had such a great time at family band night for the Lehi High School Marching Band.  They have worked so hard over the summer and it showed.  They sound great!  Their show is called The History of Flight.  It covers all eras of flight from the Wright Brothers to Sputnik to modern flight.  Their music sounds fantastic and the color guard is amazing.
I had a hard time getting good pictures of Gavin while he was marching - darn lights.

(Gavin is the section leader for the saxophones this year and is doing a great job.  He holds sectional practices every Thursday and is really an encouragement to his group.)
Enoch was able to go out on the field again with Gavin when they invited down a family member.  Enoch has talked about this from last year and was thrilled to do it again.  He came back to the stands so excited that Gavin let him blow in his saxophone!

Marching Band has been a lot of work and time - such a commitment for these students.  They have had a great time, practiced long hours and learn new skills (and not just music skills!).
Great job, guys!

(Gavin and his cousin, Jon Palmer, who plays on the percussion line.)