Fall Fun!

Beautiful fall weather makes for nice rides. I really love fall! Yay!

Our insurance is through Farm Bureau and we get free admission to Staheli Farm, which is nice. We were invited on family night, Monday. We got lost in the corn maze and were given free donuts and hot chocolate. Maxine and I looked at the pumpkins in the pumpkin patch.

It was a good evening together!

Also, I needed a picture of Jack for the Christmas card and he was able to send this to me. Looking sharp!

Benson Boone Concert

The poor Tahoe had quite a lot of damage on the front corner from our antelope collision. It's finally fixed and back to me! Yay! I've missed it! And there was an opportunity for some slick new upgrades and I think it looks ah-mazing! It was ready in time to take the girls to a Benson Boone concert in Vegas.

Juliet was gifted ticket credits from Aunt Megan and Uncle Lucas. All the girls went. I just went down to keep the car and help them drive back.

We stopped and got sushi in Mesquite.

The girls hopped out right by the arena. I drove the car away so we didn't have to pay $45 for parking.

Benson Boone did all the cool flips and the stage was huge!

They sang and clapped and had a great time.

I just drove around and picked up a treat at Walmart. I ended up hanging out in an InstaCare parking lot just off the strip. It was empty and free. When the concert was over, I picked up the girls and we drove home. We would've stayed but we had stuff we needed to be back for the next day. Such is life!

LoveSac Party in Phoenix

What an adventure! Merril's friend, Dillan S., owns a share of a plane and we were able to fly to Phoenix in it for a LoveSac party. Boys were up front and girls were in the back. Hailey, Dillan's wife, was like 5 months pregnant. She was a trooper.

When we arrived in Phoenix, we rented a car but had some time to kill. We ended up at the convention centers' hotel and spa. The ladies were able to get massages and the boys went swimming. It was really nice!

The party was disco themed so we shaved Merril's facial hair to look more 70s.

I don't know how Hailey was standing for as long as she did. I would've been ready to lie on my side all night. There was an ABBA cover band but it seemed like they just played really obscure ABBA songs. We stayed for over an hour but they didn't really play any songs we knew.

Then we flew home the next day. Dillan wanted to get an early start because the weather would be best. They posed in front of the plane.

We shaved Merril clean after the party. Also, we brought home donuts from a place that claimed to have the best donuts in Phoenix. I don't know about that but they were pretty good. Thumbs up.

Outdoor Adventures

Merril's been riding a ton and the weather has been getting cooler so I went for a hike to the petroglyphs by Quail. Since starting my shoulder rehab exercises in July, I've been really focused on it. But I haven't done many other types of exercise. I've missed hiking and the hike to the petroglyphs was nice!

Look at that sunrise! Dang, the desert has the best sky! Merril's been riding almost every morning to build endurance for the Baja races!

 

Baja 400 Winners!

I don't know what you do in your spare time but I imagine Merril thinks about Baja. Merril found out about an obscure category for racing motorcycles called Pro Moto Adventure. A race bike needs a few accessories to qualify including an extra fuel tank mounted to the bike, a bigger wind screen, etc. The advantage of said category is that hardly anyone ever enters and the chance of winning is high! So he got Kadin Guard, Arthur Smith, Travis Turner, and Austin Haider to enter with him. The dream team!

They won! Their time was 11:56:40:390! It also helped that they were the only ones to enter the class. Lol. 

Winning is sometimes just knowledge and Merril found out about this class and felt like they could win. He was pretty excited about the trophy and flag. 

Lighthouse in Cedar City

My friend, Laurie Scholzen, happens to own that lighthouse in Cedar City that was put up as a gimmick for the shopping center. Laurie's dental practice owns the land and therefore, she owns the lighthouse. She's started opening it up to visitors and told us all to come. Jo Anna had a barbeque at her new house in Enoch and we thought it would be a good idea to stop by. We caught the lighthouse at sunset. It's a lot of stairs to the top. It's 88 feet tall. 

It's cooler from the top than I thought it would be.

I felt a little scared looking over the edge.

It was fun to take the littles on a small adventure. If it ever gets knocked down, my kids can say that we went to the top.

Hiking up Pine Valley

Maxine wanted to hike Oak Grove trail to the top of Pine Valley. The access road was closed but she hiked past it because the trail was open. It added over a mile to her trip.

She was hiking by herself but told us where she was going and when she'd be back. Also, she had pretty good cell service the whole way.

That girl has the adventurous spirit of her Daddy! She did a hard thing and didn't even die! 

She even managed to sneak into the back of a ward on Sunday in her hiking clothes! That's dedication! Good job Maxine! 

Settling into BYU

Look, Juliet is cooking up a storm! She's called and asked for some tips on a few recipes. She's always been a great baker and now she's getting better at cooking dinners.

Nicole is living with her grandparents because she's leaving on a mission in January to Rome, Italy! She'll only be at BYU for one semester.

Finding all the delicious things to eat!

She still has to do homework.

She's still plenty goofy.

Go cougs!

Even though she's having fun, she's called home sad. I didn't think she'd be homesick at all but she is. She misses hanging out with family. Her roommates are great but they have class and work and sometimes she's at the apartment by herself. She likes to be with people and misses snuggling with bub on the couch and reading while I'm making dinner. I think a mission will be fine for her because she likes to be with someone. A companion will always be there with her. Lol. She's okay, just misses home a little.

Contact Climbing with Maxine

Maxine spends a lot of time at Contact Climbing Gym and wanted us to come. I didn't climb because of my shoulder but I had fun watching.

Mark's pretty good at most athletic things and took right to it.

Maxine keeps improving!

She's a pro and getting stronger every day!