Haunted Trails

On Friday, we went up to Maple Dell Camp to go on one of their spooky Halloween trails. We went on the kids trail, which was a little less scary (or so we thought). The kids had fun seeing all the fun Halloween decorations along the trail. Then they heard someone talking in a bush and it was over for Tessa. She decided she did not want to be scared.  Luckily, it was at the end of the trail, so she was able to make it the rest of the way without freaking out too much. 

 After our walk, we got to sit around the campfire while one of the nice girls working at the camp read the kids some fun Halloween stories. 

It was a fun way to spend a semi-spooky October night.

Baby Problems

Caleb loves to play outside. And he loves to play on our tiny trampoline. But he always gets stuck in it. Sometimes being a baby must be rough. Especially when instead of helping you, your mom leaves you stuck while she takes pictures of you.

Conference Weekend

We had an awesome Conference weekend. We loved being able to spend so much time at home together and we were so inspired and edified by the messages we heard during General Conference. Conference weekend always goes by way too fast. 

 I think the kids love Conference because of our candy jars. But, they do make the kids listen. So I guess the cavities are worth it. 

 We all loved the talk on Ponderizing a scripture every week. Adam was the first one to take the challenge in our family. Before he went to bed, he typed up a scripture (Moroni 10;4) and hung it on his ceiling so he can see it every night before he goes to bed. We decided to take the Ponderize challenge as a family as well. This week, we are Ponderizing D&C 10:5. The kids have done so good with Ponderizing this scripture. I am so proud of them and am thankful for inspired leaders who give us guidance to help our family draw closer together and closer to the Savior. 

Mommy School

Last week for Mommy School, we learned about the letter B, the number 3, and Fall. Gwen is still tolerating staying home with me, but we had lots of fun this week, so I think (maybe) Mommy School might be growing on her. 

To learn about Fall/Autumn we did some of our favorite fall activities. 

We made acorns out of doughnut holes on Tuesday. Gwen likes frosting them, but only wanted to eat the ones that didn't get frosted. 

 She got to paint and made some beautiful fall leaves to catch the sun in our dining room. Adam and Tessa got home from school and insisted they be included in our activities. So they got to make some acorns too and paint a few more leaves for the window. 

 Tessa went a little crazy with the Nutella. 

 We read a fun book about a Bubble Bee and Gwennie mad a beautiful fall crown. 

She also leaned a new Nursery Rhyme (Hickory Dickory Dock) and wanted to play our Boom Chicka Boom Boom game a bunch. We are having a lot of fun together! 

What's Been Happening

 Life has  been so crazy lately. I feel like I can hardly stay on top of things. Mommy started babysitting for a family in our neighborhood a couple of days a week. So, on those days I am a mother of 7 and that keeps me busy! Mommy also got another calling (another, not new) and is now the Bear Den Leader for Cub Scouts. I love being with Adam, but this calling is a lot of work and I am trying to figure out the new program, which is taking some time. Our den is huge too, which makes things...interesting. Hopefully it will get easier as the weeks go by. Keeping 15 nine year old boys focused for an hour is not for the faint of heart. 

 So far, the kids are loving school this year and are learning so much. This past week, Tessa and her class recited the Preamble at their weekly assembly. 

 Gwen is still not a fan of Mommy School because we she doesn't get to go away to school. She is always so happy to have Tessa home in the afternoon to play with. They love playing make believe together. Gwen and Tessa's best friends have both moved away in the last few weeks. They are both pretty bummed about losing their friends, but have grown closer having each other to play with. 

 We had a lot of extra kids at our house last week and one of them was Baby Gia. Gwen was so happy to babysit her favorite cousin. 

 Caleb has had a rough couple of weeks. He was sick for like a week and a half with a tummy bug and then his molars all started coming in. He has been really fussy and not eating great and pretty much stopped sleeping again. I seriously am at a loss as to how to teach this child to sleep. But, he loves books and I find him a couple of times a day with his basket of books, just looking at pictures. He loves books with animals in them and gets so excited when someone reads to him.

We ended our crazy week by watching an awesome Lunar Eclipse on Sunday night. We were all amazed to watch it and see the moon turn red. Our earth is amazing!

The kids are anxious for General Conference weekend (mainly for the candy, I am sure) and for Halloween time! They have been saving milk cartons for weeks to make some special decorations for Halloween this year. Life is always exciting at our house!

Adam's Piano Recital

Last Monday, Adam had his second piano recital. He played 2 pieces and did an excellent job on both of them. He said he wasn't nervous at all. Mommy was nervous enough for him. He loves playing the piano and is excited to start learning new instruments in a couple of years. We are so proud of Adam and all the amazing things he is able to do!

Weekend Fun

Saturday morning, Mommy and Daddy left bright and early and headed up to Big Cottonwood Canyon where we met with Daddy's EMBA class for a reunion. We met for breakfast, went on a beautiful hike to Lake Mary, had lunch, and had a lot of fun visiting with the other classmates and their spouses. It really is like a new family we belong to. It was fun to see everyone after being out of the program for a year. Sometimes I feel like we should still be in school mode, but it's nice to have that chapter of our life over and have such great connections because of it. 

 After we got home, we loaded the kids up and went to Chalk the Block. We loved this event last year and other than being hot and hungry, we had a lot of fun this year too! We saw some amazing art. Tessa is so inspired to have an entry at this event when she is older and I so hope she is able to someday!

 Everyone had their favorite square, but Calvin and Hobbs was Mommy and Tessa's favorite!

After we got home from Chalk the Block, Adam and Daddy headed off to BYU to watch the football game on campus since we don't have cable. It as a late game and we weren't able to pull off a win, but they still had lot of fun cheering and being at  BYU.