The McGraths: 1st Half of October

October has been going quickly already. I'm enjoying my maternity leave and spending time with the boys. Here are some highlights.

Nyles is thankfully doing really well at Altara Elementary. We're very grateful he's doing better both academically and socially. The choice to hold him back in 2nd grade was a tough one, but allowing him to do the Spanish dual immersion program and work on his reading in particular was a win/win. So far so good. His reading has picked up and he's really enjoying learning Spanish. He's also found more friends, which is amazing!

Nyles at school showing off a project they did. The teacher has a Facebook page and shares pictures and reminders, which is awesome!

Carter drawing w/ chalk. We played w/ chalk for a while.

Carter and I played a little hopscotch.

That evening we went over to the school parking lot so Carter could practice riding his bike w/out training wheels. He's finally got it! We also brought Piper so she could play fetch w/ the ball. Nyles rode his bike and I pushed Hudson around while he took a nap in the stroller.

Carter practicing riding his bike w/out training wheels!

Go Carter go!

Carter on a roll!

Carter singing to Hudson to calm him down as we were getting a few things before heading out the door. Piper keeping an eye on things from the stairs.

Friday, October 2nd Steve and Rob drove down to Utah Lake to get ready for the duck opener the next morning. They decided to get there a little earlier than last year (in the afternoon instead of evening) in order to get set up in the best spot possible, then sleep there overnight. According to them, they did get a better spot and had a great hunt.

The Edge and trailer after getting their boats off.

Steve in his "spot" they chose to hunt for the next day.

Steve ready for the hunt the next morning.

Rob enjoying the sunset.

Beautiful sunset.

Rob hunkering down for bed soon.

After the sun went down, they played on their phones for a while.

The next morning, they're ready to hunt.

They got some ducks and limited out, though they couldn't find a couple.

Nyles was in his ninja outfit playing outside, then came over to say hi to Hudson and Steve.

Cute Hudson taking a nap in the stroller as we take a walk to the school.

Carter playing on the playground.

Aunt Diane was so kind to make dinner for us. Thank you! She also had some fun Halloween things.

Nyles and Carter w/ purple vampire teeth (attached to a sucker).

More teeth on a sucker.

Nyles doing a Zoom art class. Carter wanted to join in the fun also, in his Iron Man outfit of course :)

Ralph the Elf came to visit to keep his eyes on the boys.

Hudson fell asleep after eating.

Ralph hiding in the plant.

We decided to hike over to the suspension bridge to see how long it would take us. Steve was in charge of their young men's activity and wanted to double check the time. It took us 40 minutes one way w/ Carter, Piper, and Hudson, so we knew the young men would definitely be able to complete it much faster. It was a beautiful day for a hike and it felt great to get outdoors!

Steve, Carter and Piper on our way up.

Hudson and I w/ Carter ready to keep moving.

Carter climbed up on a rock.

Carter, Steve and Piper.

We made it to the bridge.

Beautiful view and Carter hitching a ride.

The next day Nyles wanted to go on a hike with us, so we waited until he got home from school, then we went over to the Jungle Hike again. It definitely was cooler than the last time we were there a couple months ago, and it looked more like Fall than Summer for sure.

Carter, Nyles, Steve and Piper ready to go in the "jungle."

Me, Hudson, Nyles and Carter. The boys had to climb on the rock of course.

Steve being silly w/ my phone.

Grrr Nyles says.

The boys finding hiding spots.

Where is Piper? She blends in w/ the fallen leaves.

More hiding spots.

Working our way through the "jungle."

Lots of leaves on the ground.

Silly Carter. The boys on tree stumps.

They are so strong.

Beautiful colors on our walk/hike.

Pretty Fall leaves.

Then we spotted wild turkeys on the hillside!

More pretty leaves on the trail.

Cute little purple flowers.

Hudson in his car seat sticking his tongue out.

Cute Hudson!

Beautiful view from the street.

We finally all sat down to watch a movie together in our reclining chairs.

Friday, October 9th, Steve went out duck hunting w/ Nyles and our neighbor Rich Mitchell. Nyles now has school at home on Fridays (the whole district does instead of early release in order to help w/ the demands of Covid). So after he got done w/ his homework for the day, they packed up and left.

Nyles and Steve at Utah Lake.

Rich Mitchell.

Pretty view.

While they were gone I was busy at home reorganizing our pantry. I bought storage containers that would stack on each other. I can now find things much easier and they actually take up less room. It was a lot of work, but I'm so happy w/ the results!

Cute Piper laying on a blanket that was left on the floor.

Saturday evening we went to Big Bear Park for a little while to get out. I walked around w/ Hudson in the stroller so he could sleep, while the boys played. Nyles on the Zipline.

Carter taking a turn.

On Sunday after our "home church" Nyles wanted to hold Hudson.

Nyles, Carter and baby Hudson.

Then we made Halloween sugar cookies and decorated them.

Good work boys! Keeping the tradition going!

Carter sitting on Steve while he plays w/ Piper.

We then went to Wheadon Farm Park for a walk.

On the swings.

Carter being a monkey at the playground.

The boys doing an obstacle course.

Nyles made it!

Cute Hudson.

The boys helped Steve decorate outside for Halloween.

They put up cobwebs around the front of the house.

Cute Hudson.

Then we decorated our pumpkins.

Nyles decorated the evil cowboy, Carter's is a spider web and a pirate scribbles, Steve's is a guy wearing a mask, mine is the orange M&M and Hudson is the fireman.

Nyles w/ his new friend Owen at school. They did a report on Johnny Appleseed (picture from the Facebook page).

Hudson w/ Grandma Joann.

Cute Carter having a snack at his preschool. They also have a Facebook page.

Carter w/ his shark mask at preschool.

Steve's view from the suspension bridge on his hike w/ the young men. They got to the top/bridge in 15 minutes. They were super fast!

A comparison of Carter and Hudson. They are definitely brothers!

Wednesday evening we stopped by Pauline's place for a little bit so Steve and Chris could go look at a wheel chair for mom, which was close to their house. The boys played while Pauline and I visited.

Pauline holding Lincoln and Hudson. Lincoln is a year old and weighs about 17 lbs and Hudson is almost 2 months old and weighs about 13.5 lbs. Cute boys!

Charlotte holding Hudson.

Silly Piper.

Steve put up and connected another motion detection light on the side of the house. The kids like the light so they can play a little longer outside since it's getting dark faster now.

The light shines in the front by the gate now too, which is great.

We decided to head up to the cabin Thursday to Friday since Nyles was out of school. Ironically they told us the night before that they were going to re-slurry the pavement, so we had to park on the street over. Steve used the wagon to take our stuff over to the car.

The wagon loaded up w/ our luggage, Piper's kennel, and our coats.

Nyles drawing a picture of the cabin on the way up. They other 2 boys fell asleep. Thankfully all 3 car seats fit on the 1st row so we had room in the back for Piper and all our stuff. We could have put our Thule on, but didn't this time.

There was a skunk smell after Heber and Carter didn't like it. The boys used the Boppy as a pillow.

It was pretty cool that night and the next morning. They wanted to go fishing but it was too windy and too cold, so they winterized the cabin instead and we played games.

Grandma Joann holding Hudson.

We decorated more Halloween cookies up there.

Good work!

Nyles playing Checkers w/ Grandpa Dave. Carter playing w/ a fish game.

Cute Hudson enjoying the cabin for the 1st time.

At the cabin, Piper taking a nap.

They all fell asleep on the way home.

After we got home late Friday afternoon, we went over to Chris/Pauline's again. Chris and Steve then walked over to the guy's place to buy the wheelchair for my mom. Chris road it home. It was only going just over 1 mph, so it took them 30 minutes to get back. Of course once they got back, they were able to figure out how to make it go faster. At least now my mom will know how to operate it :)

Chris riding the wheelchair back.

On Saturday we did some cleaning and organizing. Carter giving Piper a dog treat.

We reorganized all the toys downstairs and upstairs. All of the larger toys are downstairs and most of the smaller ones are upstairs in bins. Much better!