Finally!

 

I'm so excited for my dad!  And so proud too.  He started working on his book years ago.  I loved the first draft, but because of being a missionary, Covid, Brad's new calling (he's co-authoring) and re-writes.... it's changed quite a bit.  I can't wait to see the final product.  They had to get first presidency approval before they could get it published because of Brad's calling.  They got approval and Deseret Book said that they would publish it next year to go along with the year's supplemental materials for the year's scripture study.  I'm excited to see it in person and I'm so proud of you Dad!

Thanksgiving

 

We kind of did a two day Thanksgiving this year.  On Thanksgiving we at with my parents, Uncle Seth, Aunt Nellie and Inez and Tom.  Then our kids slept at Grandma and Grandpa's house because they wanted a sleepover.  Then Friday, McKay and Sophie's family came down and we had leftovers and played games.

Fall

 

Fall means leaf clean up and Orson Gygi chocolate sales.  This is what Jer, Jim, Jay and James went in to buy.  Amy also went to the sale.

With Grandma's settlement money, they were able to buy attachments to make yardwork easier while Grandma was recovering.  One is this leaf vacuum. And of course, we have to play with it too.

Random children stuff

I'd had a stressful day and Ada had as well, so I took her to the church parking lot for 10 minutes before piano lessons.  She's a very cautious and confident driver.  I think she's going to do well, especially after learning the rules of the road.  She definitely wants to do that again.

We wore Seth out.  Jer and I went to a spectacular symphony with Jim.  Seth got ready for bed, but he never made it to his room.  Someone drew him a picture for when he woke up.

My wrestlers...

Studious.... DnD manual

Seth drew a picture of our family escaping a house fire by climbing into a treehouse.  He put me at the bottom of the ladder and said, "It's because you're so slow mom."  

Cuddle puddle on top of mom

 

School update

 

Seth was awarded the Noble Knight award a couple weeks ago.  His teacher said that it was because he was working hard on getting in all his work on time and listening well in class.  That's awesome Seth!

They had the Veteran's Day program too.  I love remembering our Veterans.  Evelyn's class sang for them, but they sang pointing up to the stage.

Evelyn chose to join the puzzle club this year.  She really wanted the Art Club but we didn't register until it was all full.  She's been liking puzzle club though.

School pictures

 

I like these new options to just buy the digital photo now.... you don't have to pay hundreds of dollars and you still get your official kid photo for the year.  

Here's my lovely 8th grader who is now about as tall as dad.  She's everyone's friend, loves her young women's class, plays the piano and sings.  More than anything, she loves art.  She's quite good at drawing and ceramics.  She likes to have her art pieces perfect before she declares them done.  She's good at math and science.  She loves literature and always wants to make sure that her friends are happy, so she's constantly telling jokes.  She loves soccer and doesn't mind being the only girl on her team. She makes me happy and Jer and her are best buds.

Here's my adorable, quirky and messy 7th grader.  He's very efficient and gets things done quickly.  He loves computers and games, but he puts in a good effort at everything he tries.  He's liking drama, art and the DnD club.  He's very good at math and is a voracious reader.  He loves soccer and rollerblades. We're still working on him eating healthy, combing his hair and brushing his teeth every day, but I think that's pretty normal with boys his age.  He's discovered that he can have friends in the neighborhood and I'm proud of him. 

Here's my sweet and loveable 5th grader.  She talks non-stop and always has plans in her head.  She likes to have friends but doesn't depend on them.  She's a really good reader.  She's read ALL the books.... literally ALL of them.  If Ada is reading Mistborn, Evelyn can't wait until Ada's done with it so that she can read it.  She reads about 4-5 books a week.  She loves dancing and has discovered that she can challenge herself with acrobatics.  She just learned how to do a back bend kick over and is super excited.  She loves helping with my daycare because she likes the "tiny humans" as she calls them.  She's still working on her spelling and organizational skills, but she is trying.

This is my bouncy, huggable baby.  He's very sweet and has a tender heart.  He's still learning that others have boundaries, but he really just wants to be part of everything that everyone is doing.  He likes to cook and eat.  He also loves his bike, the trampoline, the cat and rollerblades.  He loves soccer and his friend Collin. He can make all the daycare kids laugh and tries to constantly. He's a very good reader but is working on treating the books kindly.  He loves hiking and adventures more than anything else.

Moab Half and 5K adventure run

This weekend was Jer's first Half Marathon for about 2 1/2 years.  He did a digital one just to keep moving, but this was his first in person one.  We drove down to Moab Friday night.  Saturday morning, Ada stayed at the hotel with Seth and Evelyn while I took Jer to his race and stayed to cheer for Sam in his.  He ran the adventure 5K. Jer was excited because he loves hiking and this is a hike/run.  Sam was excited to do his race.  He was talking to anyone and everyone.  He ran the 1k last time that Jer ran down there. He did a digital 10K last year.  I was proud of him for being so positive about this fun/hard thing. Sam was befriended by a guy named Greg that was running with his wife and two teens.  They kept him going when I'm sure he would have been walking on his own.  Thanks Greg! After his race, I took him back to the hotel and took the kids swimming and got us checked out of the hotel in time to go pick up Jer from the end of his race.  

After some lunch, we went exploring along the race route.  There were some gorgeous rocks to climb.

Sam's there in the front right of the pack.

Fall in the desert is spectacular!

Yeah, I look fantastic.  Jer packed my clothes for me because I was daycaring.... so I tucked my dress into a pair of shorts for exploring.  It was nice to wear the dress on the drive home.  Nice and roomy.

This tree reminds me of the Tree of Life or something.

My favorite Jer selfie

Ada's way down there... Like a where's Waldo