3rd Week of October

Here are some highlights from the 3rd week in October.   

Steve and the boys went to a Truck-or-Treat at Alta High School.  Nyles dresses up as a Sherriff, Hudson as T-Rex, and Carter as Mandalorian.  Steve finished the 3rd Mickey pirate blanket.  Awesome work Steve!

Hudson had a T-ball game on Tuesday.

That evening Steve had YM's.  They carved pumpkins.  

Steve and I went to get a few groceries; look at the size of those sweet potatoes!

Thursday morning Steve went and took the boys to get their flu shots as they were on Fall Break.  After getting their flu shots and going to the chiropractor, they went up to the cabin.  I worked in the office this week.

I went to the temple that evening to do Initiatories.  Cute Hudson at preschool earlier in the week.

The boys played w/ Lincoln Logs up at the cabin.

Nyles and Steve also split wood to bring down and sell.

They also watched Beauty and the Beast.  Nyles is going to play Maurice (Bell's dad) in the play in April at his middle school, so he's watching what parts he needs to memorize.  Cute Hudson taking pictures on Steve's phone.  Dave and Rob met them at the cabin and stayed overnight also.

They came back on Friday, then went out duck hunting.  Rob went hunting w/ Steve and Hudson.  Nyles wasn't feeling the best, most likely from his flu shot, so he and Carter stayed home.  I was home from work in the afternoon to monitor them.

Steve and Hudson out duck hunting.

Saturday morning, we drove up to Lagoon for Frightmares.  Rob met us there.  We got there as the park opened, so lines were short, which was great.

Getting on a ride.  Cute Carter Alan :)

Here we go!

After a few rides, we did Trick-or-Treating for kids.  Carter and Hudson got some candy.

We then checked out parts of Pioneer Village: old church, the jail, and the artillery museum.

Then I took Hudson through the little kid's corn maze and some kid rides, as I was dizzy myself and needed a break.  Steve, Nyles, Carter and Rob did other rides at the same time.

Silly Peacock at Lagoon.  It started getting really crowded, so we left by early afternoon.

Later Silly Piper back at home.

Sunday, we went over to LuDean/Diane's place to celebrate Dave's birthday.  

We made Chinese food for dinner, then played a fun fishing game Diane made.

Then we sang Happy Birthday to Dave!  The boys thought it was funny to put tape on his head while cleaning up the decorations.  We're so thankful for Dave in our lives.

Great quotes:

2nd Week of October

Here are some highlights from the 2nd full week of October.

On Monday, we found out that Grandma LuDean isn't doing very well.  She basically decided to go off her blood thinners in order to slow down some internal bleeding.  She ended up going off the medicine on Tuesday, so w/out her blood thinners, she'll likely have a stroke.  We went and talked w/ her Monday night for a while.  It's sad knowing she likely won't last much longer.  We're so thankful for her example of faith and testimony, and cherish each day she is still with us.

Tuesday night for Young Men's, Steve had the boys do a chili competition.  We were having our Ward Chili Cookoff on Friday, and he wanted them to enter one.  They had a few groups and each put in their own spices, then had a taste test to see which they liked best.  The winner was entered into the Ward Chili Cookoff on Friday,

Steve helping the YM make chili.  He then had Nyles, Carter, and Hudson make his smoked chili recipe on Friday, and turn that in as well.

Hudson had T-ball on Tuesday night also.  Hudson and his buddy Tate Evans (our neighbor) at T-ball.

On Wednesday, the boys had their activity days Halloween Party.  Steve and Nyles went and helped run the donut on a string activity.  Hudson joined in the fun as well.  The boys got wet bobbing for apples, so they ended up taking off their shirts.

Halloween Activity Days.

More fun.

Steve's toe is still pretty sore.  Cute Hudson at preschool.  Pretty sunset.

Steve has been sewing up our pirate blankets.  We got these bandanas from our Disney Cruises.  I was about to throw them away when I saw a blanket on Pinterest, and thought we should make them into a blanket.  On our last cruise in September, we were all looking around to see if anyone didn't want their bandanas, but hadn't found any.  Steve saw our room host and asked him if he saw any extra bandanas and he said yes.  He then went to his room and brought out a whole stack of new bandanas!  He said he was done giving them out for the night, and we could have the rest!  It was just what we needed!  We could now make more blankets!  It was a tender mercy!

My mom explained how to make them, which I explained to Steve.  We went and picked up a twin sheet for the back, some thread, and twin batting for each blanket.  Steve then went to work putting them together.  Steve took a home economics class in high school and is really talented on the sewing machine. They're coming right along!  

  

Steve working on the blankets!  We then tied them w/ yarn to hold them together.

Hudson picking the raspberry (though mostly eating them).  

The boys won 1st place (2nd year in a row) for their yummy Smoked Chili!!!  

The YM's chili won 2nd place!

Saturday, Steve took the boys out duck hunting.

The weather was really nice, so the ducks weren't flying much, but they shot a few and had a good time.

On Sunday, October 19th, I attended our last Ward Conference for the year.  We also attended another Primary Program.  We have 3 more Primary Programs for the year!  We had dinner at Diane/LuDean's that night.  It was Diane's birthday that day, and the day before, the 18th, was Stacie's birthday.  Steve smoked some ribs for dinner.

The boys each helping tie the blanket w/ yarn.

We gave Diane the first one for her birthday on Sunday.

Opening their gifts.  Joann and LuDean w/ their oxygen.

Taking a picture w/ Grandma LuDean.  Joann, Diane, and Dave w/ LuDean.

Great quotes from President Nelson:

First full week of October

Here are some highlights from the first full week of October. 

Hudson's T-ball game on Tuesday.   Dave and Joann were able to come.  Steve helped the kids on 1st base.  I wasn't feeling well so I stayed home and rested (my stomach was bothering me all day).

We got a new game/puzzle called Kanoodle.  It's really fun. You have to fit every piece on the board, either flat or in a pyramid.  You can either do it on your own, or figure out many of the puzzles they give you.  It's a lot of fun!

Steve cleaned the lights on the Honda.  Steve and Nyles went to the temple Thursday night.

Steve and I took Piper on a walk and saw a pretty sunset.  Cute Hudson coloring at school.

Steve found a Katydid in the sandbox.  Hudson loved the leaf bug :)  Hudson's preschool class.

Friday evening, we went to Steve's 20 year mission reunion over in Taylorsville.  Rob came and sat w/ the boys.  They watched a movie together.  We had dinner there and visited.  Steve enjoyed seeing former missionaries and his mission president and his wife, the Middletons.

Steve w/ the missionaries who came to the reunion.

Hunter Heaton, whom he trained.

On Saturday, we took the boys to Savers to find Halloween Costumes.  Carter found the Mandalorian costume and Hudson a T-Rex.  I then helped w/ Stake Baptisms.  Steve and Nyles left to go duck hunting.  They met Zach down at Utah Lake.  Later, I took Carter and Hudson down to the school to play.  We also brought Piper to play ball.  She had a great time.  Later that night though, so started limping, so she must have played too hard.  We're letting her rest now.

Cute Piper having fun, playing ball.  Carter and Hudson in their Halloween Costumes.

Nyles and Zach out duck hunting.  They got a few birds this time.  It didn't rain on them until they were headed home, then it started to downpour!  Hudson was excited to hold the duck they brought back.

Steve cut the boy's hair.  Unfortunately, Hudson held his legs around the barstool as Steve was lifting him up off of it, and it came down on Steve's toe.  He's pretty sure he broke his little toe.  Not much he can do now though.  He just needs to take it easy and let it heal over time.

Hudson did all 4 puzzles by himself!  Hudson just hanging out in his T-Rex outfit, eating goldfish. 

Poor Steve w/ his broken toe.

Great quotes from President Nelson.

End of September, Beginning of October

Here are some highlights from the last couple of days of September and start of October. 

We received a lot of rain this week; several times it poured down heavily.  Cute flashbacks!

Wednesday evening I took the boys over to Gardner Village to find the witches at the WitchFest.

Fun finding the witches (this one has 6 fingers).

Steve wasn't with us because he went downtown to get Nyles' flute back.  Nyles accidentally left it on the train riding home from school.  It apparently went all the way back downtown, and a homeless guy found it (we put a luggage tag on it w/ Steve's name and phone number).  The homeless guy then called Steve and told him he'd give it back if he gave him some money.  Steve then hurried downtown to meet him, as we didn't want to lose the flute (we were renting it from Riverton Music and it's worth $900).  

The homeless guy told Steve where to park for free parking, and as Steve got out of his car, a policeman came up to him and asked what he was doing in that part of town.  Steve told him, and the policeman then called for backup, and 2 other policemen came.  They told Steve that the homeless, unfortunately, tend to try to take advantage of people and even rob and hurt them, so they didn't want Steve to go alone.  The policeman then walked behind Steve, and as Steve got up to where he was meeting the guy, they came forward.  The homeless guy was, of course, mad, and other homeless people who were near him took off. The Policeman finally talked the homeless guy into giving the flute back, as they told him it wasn't his to begin with.  Steve gave him $10 bucks to be nice, and the policeman walked Steve back to his car.

The policeman again told Steve to call the police first if he is ever dealing w/ the homeless again.  It definitely was a blessing that the policeman showed up.  Steve very likely would have been hurt had they not shown up.  Hindsight, he should have called the police to start with, but we didn't realize the seriousness of the circumstances.  We were all praying for Steve that things would go well.  The policeman were definitely an answer to our prayers and we're so thankful things turned out the way they did.  After he got the flute, he took it over to Riverton Music to have them professionally clean it, as the police suggested it, not knowing what they did to it while it was in their possession.

After we went to Gardner Village, we stopped at Winco to pick out our pumpkins and get a few snacks/treats.  It's our tradition to start off the Fall Season after going to the WitchFest.  We missed Steve this time for sure.  We met him back at home after getting our pumpkins and he told us the whole story of getting Nyles' flute back.  What an adventure.

That night, Hudson started throwing up, so he stayed home from school.  He thankfully took a few naps while he was resting.  He also decorated his pumpkin.

Thursday evening, we went up Big Cottonwood Canyon to see the pretty fall colors.  Silver Lodge and Restaurant, where Steve and I had breakfast after we got engaged (17 years ago on October 3, 2008).

We then walked around Silver Lake.

The colors were beautiful!

So pretty!

We had a wonderful time walking around the lake and enjoying the beautiful scenery.

Stunning!

 

Beautiful lake.

Amazing colors!

Ryan Dunn and his girlfriend Sarah came to visit on Friday.  They came down to go to his mission reunion that afternoon/evening.  After it was over, they came back and had dinner w/ us.  Steve grilled some steak. Then they went to the Draper Temple and did temple sealings.  It rained hard again that night, which hit them as they were walking out of the temple.  They got a little wet :)  It hard hard throughout the night as well, waking us up several times.

Friday night we made and decorated Halloween sugar cookies.

We also saw a beautiful rainbow that morning.

Saturday morning, we made crepes for breakfast.  Ryan and Sarah left that morning to go to the Saturday afternoon session of General Conference.  They rode the train trax downtown.  Steve and Nyles left in the afternoon to go duck hunting (the duck opener).  I took Hudson and Carter to the Aquarium in between the morning and afternoon sessions of General Conference.

Watching General Conference.  Ryan and Sarah ended up coming home as Sarah wasn't feeling great (cramps) and watched the afternoon session w/ us.  Carter decorated his pumpkin.

Steve, Nyles, Rob and Zach went duck hunting.  It rained HARD again, and it was cold.  They only got 1 duck, and they were all wet and cold, but said they had a good time.

Sarah wanted to go to the Aquarium, so we went over after dinner (I made chicken noodle soup and sourdough breadsticks).  We had fun walking around looking at the animals/fish.  They went shopping afterwards and got home at bedtime.  

Sunday, we watched General Conference.  Ryan and Sarah ended up leaving at 7am Sunday morning to get back to watch General Conference w/ their family.  They said it was 75 years ago that last time the Quorum of the 12 Apostles directed the conference instead of the President/Prophet of the church (1st Presidency).  All the messages were amazing.  I'm grateful we can go back and watch/read them later as I never catch it all the first time around.  We're so thankful for living prophets and apostles who lead Christ's Church today.

That night we had family dinner at Dave/Joann's clubhouse.  Both LuDean (Dave's mom), and Carl (Joann's dad) were able to come as it's wheelchair accessible.  We sang happy birthday to the October people: Abby, Dave, Stacie, Diane and Carl.

The boys w/ their decorated pumpkins.

                                                           Great quote from President Nelson.

Quote from President Oaks.