K and I got to start off October right by going to the Jonas Brothers concert in Denver. It was a blast! We enjoyed the opening acts and it was a great blend of old and new Jonas music plus Cake By the Ocean, one of K’s all time favorite songs. They did a great job and my watch warned me that the sound was over 95 decibels and that I was in danger of hearing loss but it was totally worth it.
A couple days later M got to spend the night at a farm with her 4th grade class and absolutely loved it. She was in her element and was totally fine without having a parent chaperone (for the first time). I’m grateful she could have such an experience. While she was gone D and N had their parent teacher conferences and it was so fun to hear how much their teachers enjoy having them in their classes. The next week when K and I went to her first middle school conferences it was fun to hear teacher after teacher saying what a joy she was to have in their classroom. I hope they all know how lovable they are!
October brought us not one but two special weddings to celebrate. Our former neighbor, Darrell, married his love, Kirsten, and we were honored that they asked M and N to be their flower girls. It was so fun to have a behind the scenes look at all the joy and love that led to such a wonderful day. I am truly happy for them and had a wonderful time wishing them the very best in their lives together. And a thank you to J.S for coming over to do my daughters hair the morning of the wedding!
The other wedding was actually an open house that we attended after Elizabeth and Josef were married in the Salt Lake Temple. They met at college before E served a mission and they were soon engaged after she returned to the United States. Sound familiar? When she and her parents gave me hugs I felt pure joy. Becky had be in full on tears after the kind things she said to be about being an example to her daughter of serving the Lord. Words cannot express how much love I have for the Young Women I was blessed to serve long ago and how happy I was to be around my LHC Ward family again.
General Conference was, of course, pretty amazing to listen to. Our children have gotten to the age that as long as we have bingo and coloring pages they will sit down with us on Sunday morning and maybe even Sunday afternoon and if not, at least they will let us listen. It was announced a temple will be built in Hubby's home town, which made me laugh and made M mad because she says Utah has enough temples already. She is very excited to be able to go and serve inside the temple and is crossing her fingers that N will choose her to be one of the witnesses at her baptism in a couple years now that any baptized member of the church can serve as a witness. So exciting!
N had her half birthday and she and M made her cake completely by themselves because they did not want to wait for me to get back from taking K & C to Acro. I was impressed and N is very happy to be six and a half years old now. The puppies also turned 8 months old in October and are not quite as naughty as they used to be. We are still working on basics but they are getting it. Maisie also did well with her first full groom and Piper’s hair is growing out nicely to be a super cute puppy again instead of a buzzed puppy. I took them out running beside my mom’s 1972 bike I had fixed up and found out that if you go to the local dog park at a certain time a very nice group of humans and their nice dogs are hanging out there. Our puppies are still getting used to it and it has been great to meet new neighbors and talk more with neighbors I already knew.
Here are pictures of D & N's new rooms -- we finally let them switch. They are both delighted!
It’s working out well to have Cub Scouts and Activity Days as the same time as Young Women’s since it simplifies our schedule so much. Yes, Wednesdays are crazy between that and M’s hip hop class but it makes other days much easier. For instance we are able to work around other people’s schedules a bit easier. I got our family pictures taken but I will wait until our Christmas cards are ready to share some pictures online and we had the H, W & T families over for a fun evening that included a taco bar and decorating Halloween shaped sugar cookies just like we did 3 years ago. I teased them all to write down October 2022 for a repeat.
It’s working out well to have Cub Scouts and Activity Days as the same time as Young Women’s since it simplifies our schedule so much. Yes, Wednesdays are crazy between that and M’s hip hop class but it makes other days much easier. For instance we are able to work around other people’s schedules a bit easier. I got our family pictures taken but I will wait until our Christmas cards are ready to share some pictures online and we had the H, W & T families over for a fun evening that included a taco bar and decorating Halloween shaped sugar cookies just like we did 3 years ago. I teased them all to write down October 2022 for a repeat.
K had been looking forward to the fall 4 day weekend for a long time since it was her turn to go with her dad somewhere. They decided to drive to southern Utah to camp with cousins and friends at Goblin Valley State Park and then travel north to attend our nephew's missionary farewell. They had a great trip and K can't wait to go back. We are so proud of Cole and wish him the very best and are grateful to J for hosting K and Hubby!
While K and Hubby were away, D, M, N and I went swimming at the rec center, went bowling with my dad, had sleepovers in my room, played games, watched Toy Story 4 (and loved it!), and went to see the Pixar (soooo well done) and Extreme Sports exhibits at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science with part of the O family. One of those nights my mom babysat so I could go to a game night at the G family's new house and I learned how to play Sushi Party. It was a great weekend for everyone!
D got to be a manager of the utility company when it was his turn to go to Young Ameritowne. He said it went well -- I would have been able to tell you more if he has let me chaperone. lol. It actually turned out to be a good thing I wasn't accompanying the 5th graders this year because M forgot her viola and K forgot her lunch and a jacket and the dogs needed a whole lot of attention after we were gone so long at the museum the day before.
All 4 children tried the Kids Night Out at our local high school in October and loved it. There was food, games, crafts, a movie and a few helpers they knew from church. They said they were willing to go back again and Hubby and I are totally wiling to send them because it was so nice to get a date night for the two of us! The next weekend we had our monthly Girl Scout meeting with a Juliet Gordan Low birthday/Halloween party in which we earned the Girl Scout Way Junior badge. It was so great to have the girls together again and to tell us all about what they were being for Halloween the next week.
I finished reading the Book of Mormon again. I honestly don't know how many times I've read it now -- somewhere in the 20s I guess. This year I began reading with the idea of what it would have been like if the Lamanites had written this history instead of the Nephites. I would read a chapter and then think about what it was like from the other side of the story. It was quite nice to make my brain exercise in that way. Eventually I simply became amazed at how usually the winners write history but this book lets us view the other side. I am so grateful for the truths we can learn from the Book of Mormon. I found many that listening to the Better Than Happy life coach podcast has helped me learn and apply in my life even though this wonderful book has been a party of me for so long. Example? Circumstances do not determine happiness. Right now I am listening to The Saints vol. 1 with D and M (and sometimes N) and am enjoying being reminded of certain stories around the restoration of the gospel and hearing others for the first time. I am grateful for all that was sacrificed to give this Book that testifies of Jesus Christ to the world, that my parents accepted the gospel before I was born, and that I decided to find out for myself that it was true. I sincerely believe that the Book of Mormon possesses a special power to bring people closer to our Savior.
The Ward Trunk or Treat had to be completely indoors due to some crazy cold weather we had the week of Halloween. On Monday and Wednesday the public schools had late starts and M had snow days with everyone having a normal day on Tuesday. On Wednesday I was laughing so hard on the way to the church building because I was married to Fat Thor and he was cracking me up by doing things like having trouble buckling his seatbelt around the pillows he had stuffed under his shirt and how much his wig was driving him crazy! I must say I thought he had the best costume there and made a great performance! I must admit I loved having some Marvel themed family members to match with Pepper Potts, Carol Danvers and myself as Valkyrie but K's Starbucks costume and her best friend as a Target employee also brought big smiles to my face. (Godzilla's costume ended up being the total pain in the butt I warned my son it would be. lol.) Then on Thursday (Halloween) the public school kids got to wear their costumes to school, D & N had a parade and their class parties and M had early dismissal so she got to dress up and go to the parties too. K went trick or treating in C's neighborhood like last year, D went around with our neighbors the D family, M's friends A & S came to our neighborhood to trick or treat and N didn't make it too far in the extreme cold but put a winter coat on and sat by the fire with Fat Thor at our house passing out (and eating) candy. It was a great holiday regardless of the weather! And in true Waldorf fashion, M had Friday off school so I took her to the Celestial Seasonings Factory Tour for the first time and Hubby met us afterwards at the cafe for lunch. What a week!
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