Scenery

I always love a beautiful sunrise or sunset. It is one of the treats of running early.

I like how the trees frame Timpanogos. I can't get enough of that mountain.

Halloween

We carved pumpkins the Monday before Halloween. It was fun to see everyone take charge of their pumpkins and create fun jack-o-lanterns!

James was Lewis from Meet the Robinsons. I think he nailed it. He found everything at D.I. The sweater was just a blue long sleeve knitted shirt and we cut the sleeves off. 

Taggart was Buccee!

Kade was a professional soccer player wearing the jersey for Mexico. Kade went trick-or-treating with Hayden at got around 10 lbs of candy!

Halloween parade....so crazy that they were the only ones in the parade this year!

Lynnlee and her friends were characters from The Lorax. She did a good job finding the clothes from D.I. I think she got it perfectly.

Sienna went with Audrey and some other school friends. Taggart went with Noah and Eden's brother. They split time between Noah's neighborhood and our neighborhood. 

Lynnlee had a Halloween party at our house. This is the first year she didn't go trick-or-treating. 

We reused our costumes from last year. They are just so easy and comfortable.

Chewie's costume was picked out by the kids. I hadn't planned to coordinate with him.

James's State XC

James got to run at state cross country this year at Sugar House Park. The team mom posted this sign on our front door.

It is a tough course. He ran hard and felt good about the race he ran. 

His teammate, Austin, didn't get to run this season. He was battling health problems. Then while they were at state Austin was in the hospital and was diagnosed with cancer. They all put a number 4 on their arms for Austin. We are praying that Austin will conquer the cancer.

Sienna's Glasses

Sienna had a hard time seeing the white board and she had a well child check at the beginning of the school year. She took an eye test and she didn't pass. We found a new eye doctor to go to and he said she needs a very light prescription. She can basically just wear them for school and reading. Sienna picked some glasses from Zenni.

She looks so cute!

Grandma Ruth's Birthday Lunch and October Birthdays

 We went out to lunch for my mom's birthday at Chubby's in Heber. Yum! It was a good time with my sisters and mom. My dad surprised my mom with a beautiful bouquet. It was fun catching up because it felt like it had been awhile since we were all together.

We had October Birthdays the next day and we hosted. 

My mom is the best! We loved celebrating her. She had a rough year with her meneire's and also a bout of Covid but she came out on top. She is feeling much better now. 

Kade's Fall Soccer

Kade loves playing on two soccer teams. He can't get enough soccer. The two teams balance each other out because Brad's coaching style is crazy yelling and rough. It's a little much because Kade holds back sometimes because he knows if he makes a mistake he will be yelled at and not a good yelling but a tear down type of yelling.  Al's coaching style is overall positive with constructive criticism. Kade thrives with that coaching style. So it was a fun fall season watching Kade on both teams. Al's team is a year older so Kade things that is pretty cool. He gets along really well with the boys on both teams.

Al's team:

Brad's team:

Lynnlee's Morning Sunrise

Lynnlee and her friends wanted to watch the sunrise from a place with a good view. We weren't really sure the best place. I was a little surprised they wanted to do it in the fall when the mornings are cool. I thought she should wait until next spring or summer. Thankfully she didn't listen to me because this worked out really well and if she had waited for a different day it wouldn't have worked. This Saturday they chose was clear and cold but not too cold. It was before the time change so the sunrise was not too early. 

At first we were going to a random park called Sunrise park in Lehi. Lynnlee had googled a good place in Lehi to watch the sunrise and that was one of the results. We ended up going to Lehi Family Park aka the LaRoca fields because they would be up high, could see the sunrise or watch it light up the valley to the west. Lynnlee made hot chocolate for her friends and we had styrofoam cups with lids. They took some coats and blankets. I dropped them off and then parked down the street.

They looked west and watched the valley light up and then they turned around and watch the sunrise.

After, I took them to Waffle Love and they had breakfast. I am writing about this six weeks later so I have to add that the next Saturday was too cloudy so they wouldn't have been able to see the sunrise. The week after that was daylight savings so they would have had to get up even earlier. Then I think it was even colder after that. So they chose a good day.

Trunk of Treat

We had a trunk or treat in our ward and enjoyed seeing everyone's costumes. Claire came with and Sienna was happy to have a buddy. Lynnlee was bummed because her friends didn't want to wear their group costume. Marshall and I were pumpkins which is the same costume as last year but I love it because it is so comfortable and simple. We didn't deck out the car with any decorations because it is too dark to see it. The one year I did decorate it no one could see it. So now I skip it and Marshall and I just sat in the back and handed out candy.

Clear Creek

 Clear Creek is a camp owned by the Alpine school district. When James was in fifth grade he got to stay over night for a field trip with his grade. Covid ruined it for Lynnlee so she didn't get to go during school for a field trip but she got to go to a summer day camp with Hannah. Kade got to go up for the day when he was in fifth grade. Now it was Tag's and Sienna's turn. I didn't go with the others but since Tag and Sienna are the youngest, I got to go with them. I got to drive separately so Tag and Sienna chose to go with me rather than take the bus. They got endless screen time. We did get lost trying to find it and that was a little worrisome trying to find it. At that point they regretted driving with me. The GPS led us astray. I thought I had it navigating to it but when the GPS said we were there, we were in the middle of a little town called Clear Creek. The town was kind of like a dead end as far as paved roads go. There were three dirt roads from there. We tried each one but turned around after 50 feet because they got steep and there was no way a bus could go up the road. On the last dirt road we found another mom driving around looking for Clear Creek. We teamed up to try to find it. We were both lost together though. The minis and I had said a prayer. As we were driving through the small town that had been quiet with not a soul in sight, we saw a man get out of his truck heading towards his home. We stopped and asked him for directions. He gave us the correct directions and we found Clear Creek! We were worried we would be very late but the busses were running late so we got there not too long after everyone else. When we pulled up everyone was unloading and using the restrooms.

I was assigned to Tag's and Sienna's group. They rotated through stations all day. It was very cold but in the sunshine is felt a lot warmer. They started in the ropes course area which involved a lot of fun activities. Definitely a favorite rotation.

We got to analyze soil, go on a hike, learn about the trees, and make decomposition boxes.

After all of these years of hearing about Clear Creek it was fun to see what it actually looked like.

Taggart's Soccer Season

Tag finished up his fall season. His team tied one game and then won the rest so they were 1st in their division. He has struggled with his coach this season. The coach is well known and really successful but he is a yeller. He doesn't say enough positive things and so Tag feels like he's being torn down every practice and game and not being built back up. He is nervous that if he makes a mistake he will get chewed apart. So he's committed to this team til end of May but hopefully we can find a different team for him after that.

Whenever a La Roca team plays a La Roca team they take a picture. So this is from a game this season.

Fall Break

Fall break started off with a sleep in day. James then went to McKay's for breakfast with his friends. 

We went to Provo Beach Resort Resort around noon. The flow rider was full so we went bowling first. We had to split lanes so we got a picture of each group bowling.

Kade came to check out our lane.

Cuties!

We did the flow rider after bowling. I only have video from that. We all changed into swimsuits and I realized I didn't have my swimsuit bottoms. So I was going to sit out but I was really sad about it. I looked on the Riverwoods directory and saw a swim shop nearby. I walked over to it, found some swim bottoms, bought them and ran back. I was able to change and only ten minutes had passed. I still had plenty of time to do the Flow Rider. I love doing to boogie board. James and Marshall surfed and the rest of us did the boogie board. 

We went to lunch at Costa Vida after. Then the boys and girls split up. The girls left to Heber and the boys prepared for hunting.

We went to Wigglish with my parents and Grace. 

Then to Dairy Keen for dinner, yum!

We had a fun movie night where we watched Father of the Bride 1 & 2. It was fun watching it with my girls, Grace and my Dad. We laughed so much!

We went to bed late that night. Sienna got tucked in with Mr. and Mrs. Peter rabbit.

Friday was a wet and cold day. I went running that morning on my favorite route up Lindsey's Hill. 

We met Betsy in Park City for lunch and shopping. We ate at Zao and then shopped at the stores around there and the Outlets. My girls each picked out some winter clothes. 

Taking a break at Home Goods. 

That night we had to head back home because Lynnlee was babysitting for a family she normally babysits for. She hadn't been able to babysit for them a few times in a row so when they asked her again she really wanted to. We made it work with our fall break plans. Marshall, James, and Tag were hunting and Kade was home because he had a soccer game on Saturday he didn't want to miss. So that night Kade and I hung out. Saturday morning I took Kade to his game. Then once it finished, Kade, the girls and I went back to Heber. We hung out and had pizza that night. Marshall, James and Tag got back from hunting later and stayed with us at my parent's. Sunday we all went to church with my parents. They are serving in the Spanish ward now so that was a fun experience. I'm trying to learn Spanish so it was a good check for me. James and Lynnlee are taking Spanish so they really liked it and James said he understood a lot in Sunday School. Tag and Sienna were nervous to go to primary but it ended up going really well and they were glad they went. 

Sunday we took it easy and played games. Ali's family came up for dinner and hanging out. Drew got to stay over with us.

We enjoyed walking around Cobblestone.

Monday morning James and Marshall left early to go hunting again. The others slept in and I went running. 

My parents took all of the kids to get donuts and chocolate milk for breakfast. The kids loved it!!

We hung around and the kids played croquet. We headed back home after lunch. Marshall and James hunted all day and then came back for James's soccer. They didn't have any luck.