Halloween Week

I have to admit that I am happy to see October pass by and November arrive. That is one of the first blessings I count. Halloween always makes for a busy time when there are children about: needing costumes, having parties, giving concerts, etc. This past week wore me out!
For family night we carved pumpkins. I also worked on sewing Sadie a Halloween costume.



Tuesday Elise had a costume party for her dance class and that night Sadie and Cari had a costume party with their young women's group for church. Sadie went as a porceline doll and Cari as a fairy.







On Thursday night Sadie had a school orchestra halloween concert. Friday, I was in charge of Elise's class party. That night, Sadie played with ZYSO at the Southwest Symphony Orchestra's SPOOKTACULAR Concert.





Her friend Jennifer joined us for the concert and presented her with some yellow carnation flowers afterwards.





On Saturday morning, Cari, Sadie, Cameron and I headed over to the elementary school for a fun run (fundraiser). I entered the "Freeky" 5K race, and the kids ran the "Monster" Mile. Cameron also ran in a "Spooky" Sprint race. We had a good time, but it took up all of our morning.



Cari won first place for her age group in the mile; Cameron won second place in his age group, coming in 12th place overall. Sadie and I both placed third in our age group. We were each pleased to earn an award. It was a fun way to get in some exercise.






On Saturday night,the kids dressed up once again for trick-or-treating and the older ones, for a youth Halloween dance.





Sadie was costumed out and went without dressing up. Trevon was an Umpire; Kristi, Little Red Riding Hood; Cameron, Robin Hood; Elise, Pocohontas; and Corban, a hot sweaty chicken! Mike and I chaperoned the dance and decided to dress up as well. He was a wizard and I went as a witch. Corban wasn't sure of what to think of his mom's
new look!

"Moo"sic and More

It has been another busy week and I fear they will only continue to be busy until the year's end! Thursday was our most eventful day. Trevon got his driver's license!!! He would really like to find a job now, so that he can enjoy the responsibilities that go along with driving (like car insurance and gas)! Kristi had an orchestra concert that I thoroughly enjoyed watching and listening to. Corban actually sat still while the music played. He likes music and it catches his attention. Every night after he brushes his teeth, and says his prayers, he asks mom or dad to sing him a song.

Kristi and her stand partner, Megan:


The Intermediate Orchestra played four songs:
Brandenburg Concerto #5 (J.S. Bach)
Mississippi Cakewalk (Mark Williams)
Gaelic Castle (Soon Hee Newbold)
Hey Fiddle Fiddle (Brian Balmages)

As soon as the concert ended, we headed over to the Middle School to see Sadie performing in the play "Love Potion." The Theatre Production class did a great job with the two plays they performed and I enjoyed every minute of the show. Sadie played one of the villagers and did a great job with her part. They also performed "Dracula."





Mike really missed out on some great entertainment. He was gone hunting; hoping to find a spike elk before his tag expired. It had snowed on the mountain he was hunting on and he enjoyed the beautiful scenery. Getting an elk wasn't to be. Instead, he found a cow on the road home that ended up smashing up the truck. Some cows came up onto the road out of a ditch and he couldn't avoid hitting one of them. Needless to say, it was a long, sad night for him. He wasn't hurt and we were so thankful for that. The sheriff and rancher took care of the cow; now resting in peace.






Saturday, Sadie and I went with Trevon as volunteers for a Marathon; Half-Marathon and 5K trail run. The race was a memorial run for Deputy Harris. It was raining for the first hour, and some of the runners came in quite muddy. We signed them in and kept track of their times as they crossed the finish line. It was a fun morning for us. Next weekend Cari, Sadie, Cameron and I will be RUNNING in a fun run sponsored by the elementary school.

Heaton's Ranch

It's October break and the kids are off of school until Tuesday. On Friday afternoon, we loaded up the Suburban and went to Cedar City for lunch at Costa Vida. Everyone enjoyed their mexican food and then we loaded up again to drive another hour to the Heaton's Ranch. The ranch is located off of Highway 89, north of Kanab and south of Panguitch. The fall colors made for a BEAUTIFUL ride. There was plenty to SSSSsssseeeee and do at the ranch! The kids went stream fishing as well as fishing in the pond. Kristi caught 7 fish and Trevon caught 6 shortly after we arrived. A zip line ran about 100 yards down the side of the cabin and pond. I was NERVOUS to go for a ride, but I did!
On Friday night we made Taco Salad and visited with our friends (The Matt and Amy Heaton family, who invited us to the ranch, and the Jeff and Amanda Borden family who came for the day). The cabin had three stories and was very comfortable to sleep in. I enjoyed the warmth of the fire as the night started to cool off. The best part was sleeping in Saturday morning. I needed the rest and it felt so good to me. For breakfast, we had wheat pancakes with custard sauce and scrambled eggs. We played horseshoes, volleyball and pool. We swung from rope swings in different places on the property.


The kids played dress up and loved digging in the sand along the pond. The Canoe and paddle boats were fun to ride in too.
Riding the 4 wheelers was also fun. Mike and I drove to the property to the north of us and found some old classmates from Mesa there. Sean and Kelli Heaton were at their "Heaton Ranch" with their families. It was great to see them again! Amy made us some pumpkin muffins that we ate with our lunch. The sights and smells all around us reminded me of how nice autumn time is. Saturday afternoon, Mike and Trevon went for a 4 wheeler ride and hike up the canyon. They didn't follow a trail, and climbed to the top of a ridge to look at the neat rock formations. We headed home about 5pm on Saturday. On the way home, we ate at Cafe Rio in Cedar City. We all had a very good time and are thankful for good friends who made possible these fun memories.

Tweet, Tweet!

The eggs hatched this past week and Kristi was able to conclude that a fertilized chicken egg will lose about .01 oz by the time it hatches. It was fun watching them hatch. We had seventeen fertilized eggs with growing chicks in them. Three of the eggs were not fretilized. Of the seventeen that were, only four actually survived. For some reason (we think maybe humidity in the incubator), the others died. It was disheartening to lose them, but we are enjoying the little ones we have. Mike wants to try hatching more, so in another 21 days....we'll see what we end up with...again!

Run Trevon, RUN!

Trevon had a cross country meet this past week. I LOVE watching him run! He enjoys being a part of the cross country team and loves it when his mom comes to cheer him on!