Happy Happy Halloween!

Here is the Halloween gang at the ward trunk or treat!  Jack was a black ninja, Maxine was a mermaid, Mikayla was a kitty cat, Mark was a farmer, Juliet was a bat, Merril was a baddie and I was the police.

I love this outfit!  Juliet had the glasses that made it ah-mazing!

There was a chili cook off, that was delicious.

These are my primary ladies, Mandy and Libbi!

We carved pumpkins!

Maxine carved a Hamilton pumpkin, inspired by her love of the musical.

I got like zippo pictures of actual Halloween night.  Max was a sport and took the littles around.

This is the fire pit!!  Awesomely.  The flagstone looks amazing but I'm getting scared that it's not going to be enough.  For months, all I could think is that I have wayyyyy too much and now I'm worried the opposite is true.  I'm trying to finish the firepit area because Maxine wants to have her birthday party outside roasting s'mores for part of it!  Eeek!

Rampage and Glow in the Dark Fun Run...

Merril was excited to be able to go help with the Red Bull Rampage again.  It's getting paid to do cool things and who doesn't love that?

Maxine is taking online PE because she hates PE at the school.  One of the requirements is to participate in a race.  We signed up for the Hurricane glow in the dark 1 mile fun run.  You could also do a 5K but I like the fun runs.  Mark and Daddy stayed back.  Max, Jack and Julie took off ahead of me and Mikayla.  Mikayla is an awesome little runner!  She gave me a run for my money, I could barely keep up.  Jack won 2nd in his age division!  He is so quick!

I love to run but not far and generally only for about 20 minutes at a time.  It works out to around 1.75 miles.  My times are poor.  I'm not fast and don't seem to be getting faster, even though I've been running consistently for about 3 years.  Some say it's because I don't push myself.  Meh.  That's not what it's about for me.  I often run alone, so it's just me and my thoughts, getting my blood pumping and being outside.  So it's not about getting a better time, it's about doing something I kinda love.  But only in short, slow stints. 😉

Maxine's art...

This is a piece of art from Maxine's class!  I can't believe she made this with her own brain!  I've always struggled with drawing people but she's getting really good at it.  

I love this!

Mark's birthday...

My baby is turning 4!  How is this possible!  Mark is the snuggliest little guy!  He often says "Thank You" without being prompted and can chatter nonstop like you can't believe.  The older kids say he's spoiled, something that I'm going to work on.  We celebrated with Merril's Dad and Justin because they all have birthdays together.  We went to a park and played baseball.  Merril was on a search so he missed most of it. 

On his actual birthday, we opened more presents and I pretty much let him get away with anything he wanted.

Getting solar on the house...

A guy from Vivint Solar came by and asked if we were interested in solar panels for the house.  Merril and I had looked into solar a few years ago but it was so expensive that it didn't seem worth it.  The price had come down considerably and we took the plunge.  Now we have solar on our house and I hope it is a good investment for us.

Water Canyon Hike...

What a beautiful day for a hike!  Merril hiked water canyon with search and rescue and wanted to do it again.  Darryl and Shauna, Logan Phipps, us and the Hummels embarked.  Amy and I were hanging back with our littles.  The hike was very pleasant and we came across a huge wild blackberry patch.  At this point we split.  Amy and I headed back to the cars and the rest continued on.

There were rapells and water.  It's October so the water was cold.  It was a hard hike, maybe a little too hard for the younger folks.  Maxine and Jack said at some point everyone cried.  They all made it but it took them all day.  Peeps were tired, cold and dirty by the time they came home but I think they'll have memories from that day for a while to come.

Merril took the kids to the Grand Canyon...

Merril took the kids to the Grand Canyon with Wade Beatty and his kids.  I think Max and I were at a swim meet because we didn't go.

Temple visit...

This is Maxine's best friend, Ellen.  Ellen lives in Zion National Park because her Dad is a park ranger.  It's hard to get the girls together but we try to as often as possible.  This time, we planned a temple trip.  

The girls did baptisms and I went upstairs and did initiatory work.  Then we went and got food because we were starving.  I think as soon as Max can drive, she's going to be headed to Springdale a lot.

Mikayla lost a tooth

Mikayla lost her first tooth!  Little did we know, her permanant tooth is almost fully grown in behind her baby tooth.

She's been looking forward to this for a while!

We're waiting to pick up Maxine from swim team.  Bubbs spends a lot of time in the car and this is how he feels about it today.  I love those eyes!

Conference weekend...

 I absolutely love conference weekend!  I love watching conference, eating snacks and watching more conference!  It's such a wonderful weekend for me! It's time to reflect and recommit myself to the gospel, to be uplifted and feel the spirit, and feel grateful for the ones I love.  I love being a mormon!