October

 Another month come and gone.  I can't believe it's November already!  We've had some fun times this past month.  We had a fun Monday evening tin foil dinner in the canyon with the Skeens, Bundys and Pete boys.

Ann went all out with her decorations, and the Bundy's had prepared a fun scavenger hunt game and awesome FHE lesson.  It was a great evening.

  

 

 We always look forward to Conference weekend.  We love lazing around all day on Sunday and eating our traditional picnic.  The announcement of the lower missionary age was exciting.

 I can't believe I don't have any pictures for this next event.  The camera I took wasn't working, so I have nothing.  My brother Paul came to town for a few days and I loved spending time with him.  We had a nice dinner at the Skeens, then went on a hike to Temple Fork Sawmill  the next day and had dinner at our house afterwards.  The next day I joined Paul, Janet, and Ann (Carol had flown to Mesa a few days before to be with Mom) on a drive to Mesa to be with Mom and attend her husband David's funeral.  He died after battling complications from a tumor on his spine.  He was a wonderful man and will be missed. He and Mom were married 14 years, so he was a part of a lot of our family milestones.  I especially love that he was able to marry 6 of my nieces and nephews and Kylee and Brody as he was made a sealer prior to their mission to the London Temple.  It was a quick trip- only a day and a half, but it was great to enjoy the warm weather, be together with Mom, Paul, DeNae, Ann, Janet and Carol (we missed Von greatly- her Chemo treatments for breast cancer prohibited her from coming) visit with my friend Lorene, and my niece Jordan and her cute family.  We were glad we got to fly home instead of having that long drive again (we had driven down in Mom's car since she flew down to be with David earlier than she had planned and so this worked perfectly as a way to get her car to her). 

 Cam got a job reffing youth flag football twice a week for 2 hours a time for 6 weeks.  It's a great fit for him and his schedule.  And the $14 an hour pay isn't too shabby either!  It's been especially fun for him to ref most of Caleb and Jaken's games.
 
 The Calls bought a fab-u-lous ranch house in Star Valley, Wyoming and invited Mike's whole family to hang out with them over fall break.  The amenities that come with owning a home there are incredible. . . access to horses, kayaks, a saloon (complete with theatre, pool table and free snacks and drinks), extra housing, and a golf course.  The boys stayed in an awesome bedroom upstairs from the saloon, so had unlimited access to the theatre, pool table, drinks and snacks.  Were they in heaven?  Indeed they were.

 Mike and I got to stay in this charming cabin about a 5 minute walk from Teresa and Brad's home (and a 2 minute walk from the saloon).  It had a full kitchen, living room, bathroom and upstairs bedroom.  We loved it!  The beauty of the valley was spectacular!

This is Teresa and Brad's home.  Breathtaking!  It was so much fun to spend the weekend with them, their kids, Freda and Tom, and Stacie, Rick and kids.  

A few of my favorite features of the house . . . 1.  An ice maker drawer!  It's what my dreams are made of as I'm an ice-a-holic.  2. A dishwasher drawer (plus a regular size one), and, 3- two refrigerator drawers.  I personally have never thought such things even existed!

 Our first evening there, we all went out to dinner at Juan's house of Taco's.  There were only a few other tables available for other customers!  It was delicious food.

 Almost everyone took a turn riding horses- even Freda!  She was a bit sore that night and the next day. It was a lot of fun, and the weather was great.

 Jess joined Teresa, Brad and most of their kids, and Stacie and her kids on a 2 hour kayak ride down the river that runs through the property.  She was a bit tired when they got done.  We all had a blast riding 4 wheelers and razors.  There are cool places to go.

  Jess was a productive girl on the car ride and whipped these cute creations up on the way there and home.  Isn't she amazing?  She gave the pink items to her friend Mikell who's having a baby girl soon, and the hats are for twin boys she nannys for who just turned 1.



Thanks Teresa and Brad for the invite!  We hope there are more in the future!  Brad, Ky and Brody really missed out.

The Bundy's invited us over for a yummy dinner one night followed by a couple fun rounds of jenga.

 Jake turned 19 on the 29th. . . what?  Can that be?  I made him his 2nd choice for breakfast (it was Sunday evening when he said what he wanted for the next day and I was just fresh out of blueberries and strawberries to go on waffles with whip cream) which was bacon, waffles, and scrambled eggs.  After school I picked him up to take him to lunch at Panda, then after work me and Mike watched Lord of the Rings with him, and then went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse, then came home for a soak in the hot tub. He's a great boy and I"m so proud of the choices he's made in life.
 
 Halloween was great because we were all entertained with Jake's mask and how he stood out on our front porch scaring kids who came trick-or-treating.  He stood real still looking like a mannequin and then as they were leaving, he'd move ever so slightly.  It was pretty funny.  Although Lydia is cozying up to him in this picture, she was not wanting to get too close to him when she first saw him.

 There's a game called Slender Man that Jake and his friend Jameson had fun copying as their Halloween costumes.,  You won't really get it if you haven't seen/played the game (notice Jake to the right of the tree).

And last but not least. . . Mike and I are so excited with our new iphone purchases! (our first smart phones!)  It's amazing how we ever lived without these babies.