"October's bright blue weather" fully delivered. Sunny days, blue skies, pleasant temperatures, and brilliant colors filled these days. I'm usually a spring lover, but this fall has just been so perfect, I can't complain. Not only was the weather exceptionally delightful, but our activities were too, such as . . .
Filling . . . up on spiritual messages. We spent the first weekend in October watching General Conference. As usual, there was an abundance of inspiring talks, including "Walking in Covenant Relationship with Christ" by Emily Freeman and "Think Celestial!" by President Nelson. Mike and I went to the Conference Center with Aaron and Max for the Saturday evening session, and I enjoyed getting to focus my attention completely on the messages rather than compete with all the distractions at home. It was a rejuvenating weekend. (Oh, and did I mention the cinnamon rolls? Those weren't bad either.)
Covering . . . his eyes. I thought it would be fun to take Silas to Gardner Village to see the witches. So on a beautiful October day, we met up with my mom and sister to walk through the adorable village filled with fun shops and lots of life-size witches. We didn't even make it past the first one when Silas clamped his hands over his eyes and said, "Scary!!" And he kept them covered for all of our time there. I had intended to push him in the stroller but ended up carrying him for most of the time because he was so scared. The only times he uncovered his eyes were when we went into one of the shops. Gardner Village has a yarn store (Willow Hill Yarn Company) that I had been wanting to go to. As soon as we walked in, Silas uncovered his eyes and whimpered, "Yarn. Yarn." After all of those scary witches, he seemed to be so relieved to see something so familiar and comforting.
Traveling . . . to California. When my grandpa passed away last year, my grandma contacted us and said that my grandpa wanted Mike to have all of his woodworking tools. He and Mike actually shared a lot of the same interests (including both having careers in engineering), so he knew Mike would use them. For my part, I wasn't thrilled with Mike inheriting these tools since it would mean a trip to California to get them and then I didn't know where we'd put them. But Mike was set on it. He was so excited to have them. My uncle also needed to go to California to get my grandpa's truck. So he took the train to Salt Lake, and then he and Mike drove together to California. My uncle is a talker, and Mike said he talked the entire thirteen hours in the truck. Once they were there, they worked quickly and were able to load up all of the tools between the two trucks. My aunt and grandma were there to help as well. Once Mike was back, he rearranged the garage to fit all of the tools, and he has been excitedly planning everything he's going to make with them ever since.
Worrying . . . about our cat. Thunder is primarily an indoor cat, but he likes to go outside on occasion. One night, Mike let him outside, but he didn't return after a short while like he usually does. The next morning, he still wasn't back. The kids began to get very concerned and anxious, especially because we've had some coyotes (and even a mountain lion) spotted in the neighborhood. It was a joyful reunion when, a couple of days later, Max saw Thunder peering in through the back door. We have no idea where he was during that time, especially since he usually isn't a particularly adventurous cat. He's done this a few times though over the eight years we've had him. He must be on at least his fifth or sixth life by now.
Spending . . . fall break in St. George. We rented a house with my parents, Blaine, Christian, Angela, Anna, and Mac. We had a grand time. The weather was perfect with that brilliant blue sky October always seems to bring. We swam, hiked, ate, played games, mini-golfed, and watched lots of old game shows (Wheel of Fortune, Jeapordy, and The Price is Right). It was a very relaxing few days.
Touring . . . the St. George temple. This was actually the main reason I wanted to go to St. George during fall break. The temple underwent extensive renovations and will be rededicated at the end of the year. My parents were married in this temple forty years ago, and it was a delight to be able to go to the open house with them. The interior of the temple was beautiful with an open staircase that winds all the way to the top (and made this fear-of-heights girl a little queasy). There was also a large assembly room similar to the one in the Kirtland temple. Clark and I were especially enamored by all of the variations on the fancy lights throughout the temple. And of course, the walls were covered in beautiful and original artwork. We happened to run into Mike's aunt and uncle and a few of their kids as well, which was a happy surprise.
Viewing . . . the annular solar eclipse. We hiked in Snow Canyon on the morning of the eclipse. Although we weren't in a spot to view the complete ring around the moon, we still got pretty good coverage. It was so fun to be on a hike at the same time and just pause every few minutes to put on our glasses and take a look at the moon's progress across the sun. We noticed the change in the light as the sun became more covered, and enjoyed playing with the weird shadows that were a result.
Visiting . . . the pumpkin patch. Amazingly, we found a weeknight where we didn't have anything scheduled, so we took advantage of it and went to our favorite family-owned pumpkin patch. Aaron brought a football to toss around as we walked in the lanes between the fields. There were so many varieties of pumpkins, and we all came away with something we liked. We scaled back this year on pumpkin activities and the boys just chose to either paint or carve, rather than both.
Delighting . . . in the glory of fall. I don't know how many times I can say it, but we've just had the most gorgeous fall. I feel a little guilty when I'm not out among the leaves because I know they fade so quickly. Hence, I went to Neff's Canyon twice in one week--the first time with my nieces and a few of my kids and the second time with my mom and brother, Christian. It's just so nice to be able to be up in the mountains within ten minutes of leaving my house. I never want to take this for granted. The leaves were already beginning to fall, and hearing them crunch beneath my feet was so soothing.
Finishing . . . a couple of knitting projects. I made a lightweight shirt with some yarn from an abandoned project, and it felt good to finally put it to use. I also knitted a little ribbed hat for Silas now that the weather is turning cold again.
Fixing . . . mistakes in our backyard. More progress was made on our backyard all month. It wasn't completely finished by the end of October, so I'll save before and after photos for next month. Overall, we've been very pleased with the work, although it has required a fair amount of attention from us, bringing things to the contractor's attention that were not done correctly the first time and insisting that they be fixed. Some of these things included: the retaining wall being done all at one level instead of two, no pavers being added to the park strips, the wrong plants in the backyard (and no row of bark/ground cover), the juniper trees being planted in random spots instead of in a row by the trampoline, and the window well being dug to the wrong size. Mike was awesome with communicating everything and always pointing them back to the plan. We also had several rainstorms during the month, which washed most of a sand pile down our street. (Mike actually went outside in the middle of the night as it was pouring to try to sandbag around the pile, but it wasn't too effective.)
Hearing . . . Silas' first prayer. Silas is at the stage of copying everything we say. Absolutely everything. All day long we hear his sweet little voice mimicking us, and we love it so much. However, we couldn't get him to copy us when we were having family prayer. We tried over and over: "Silas, say, 'Heavenly Father . . . '" and he would just stare at us. And then all of a sudden, one night I said, "Silas, should we say a prayer?" and he launched into it all by himself.
Camping . . . with the young men. Mike and the three older boys went camping with the other young men and leaders in our ward. They went prepared for cold temperatures, and I guess it worked because they all said it was the best they'd slept on a campout. They also participated in a fire-starting competition and ate good food.
Meeting . . . a new family member. My brother and his wife welcomed a new baby boy into their family this month. He is the sweetest little guy. Every time I've been with him, he has been so chill and content.
Making . . . it into jazz band. In my update last month, I mentioned that Bradley switched from trumpet to trombone. He caught on fast, especially because he also started taking lessons from his Uncle Matt. Max mentioned that they only had a couple of trombones in jazz band, so when we had parent-teacher conferences, I asked his band teacher if he ever let students audition mid-year for jazz band. He said, "Yes, sometimes," and then, "Especially for trombones." Max and Bradley had their first concert of the school year this month. There are four groups at their junior high: foundation, cadet, concert, and jazz, and between the two of them, they participated in all four groups (Bradley in foundation and cadet, and Max in concert and jazz). Bradley was the only trombone in cadet band, and it was impressive to watch him carry the section all by himself. A couple of days after the concert, he auditioned for jazz band, and his band teacher ended the audition by asking, "When can you start?" So that's pretty exciting.
Going . . . to his first high school dance. Aaron went to Monster Mash, and, at least from my perspective, it could not have been a better experience for his first dance. He was in a small group (only four couples). He knew all of the girls (one of them was his cousin) and one of the boys. Everyone else in the group was a junior, and although he wasn't the only one in the group who hadn't been to a dance before, he definitely benefitted from being with people who were a little more experienced. This was a girls-choice dance, and the girls were super organized with their planning and execution. They went to an escape room in the afternoon. They decided to dress up as hippies for the dance, so they took photos downtown, followed by dinner at Hire's, homemade donuts at his cousin's house, the actual dance, and games afterwards. He had a great time.
Feeling . . . surprised at the Taylor Swift concert. This whole year, I had very little interest in Taylor Swift's Eras Tour. I was more fascinated by the people I knew who were willing to go to great lengths (time, money, inconvenience) to get themselves to the concert. But sometimes you just want to know what all the hype is about, so when it was released as a movie in theaters, it seemed like much less of a commitment for very lukewarm Swiftie. And then, both Mike and his brother, Mark, expressed a real interest in seeing it, which kind of shocked me, but if they wanted to see it, then I could easily be convinced as well. And . . . I have to admit . . . I think I get it now. I felt like I was under some kind of spell because I enjoyed it so much. I was surprised with how many Taylor Swift songs I actually knew, and the energy was palpable even in a dark theater. Funny story: Mike and I actually had to leave in the middle to go home and see Aaron off to Monster Mash. Originally, I thought I might not even go back for the rest of the concert (it's nearly three hours, and I thought I'd probably be done with it). Instead, it was hard to pull myself away. We had Mark Facetime us just so we could see which songs we were missing (sadly, it was the Folklore set, which probably would have been my favorite because I really like that album). As soon as we could, we rushed back for the last forty-five minutes. (Also, I just have to say that watching a concert in a theater is the way to go for me. I wish there were more concerts released this way: no crowds, dark and comfortable, and amazing sound.) Who knew I had so much to say about Taylor Swift?
Reading . . . some seasonally appropriate books for October:
Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister (my favorite read of the month--so fun to work through the mystery backwards)
Lockwood and Co: The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud (the plot centered around ghosts in a creepy gothic setting)
I Hope This Finds You Well by Kate Baer (very thoughtful and creative collection of poems)
Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger by Louis Sachar (wacky and silly, as usual)
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman (could not have loved the cast of characters more, but the ending was not to my satisfaction)
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (so heavy--I couldn't read it all at once)
Conquering . . . nursery. Mike and I were very much looking forward to the day when Silas was old enough to go to nursery during the second hour of church. But unfortunately, when it finally came, Silas was having none of it. We would try to leave him, but he would cry inconsolably until the nursery teachers came and got us. As one of them said: "Silas likes his people" (meaning, his family). The nursery teachers were all good sports about it and completely confident that he would enjoy it eventually. And it finally happened! He finally realized that we would come back for him, and once that was settled, he had a grand time playing with cars, singing songs, seeing his friends, eating a snack, and having a lesson. We all rejoiced.
Earning . . . a Poké Ball. Ian has been very into Pokémon lately, and there have been some behaviors I really wanted him to improve (namely, being kind, obedient, and helpful), so I bribed him. I told him if he could do those things every day for three weeks, I would get him a Poké Ball of his choice. And I'll tell you what: that boy likes a bribe. His behavior improved immediately, and he was so pleasant and nice to be around. At the end of three weeks, he got his prize, and I wondered what else I could bribe him with. (Answer: Pokémon cards.)
Dancing . . . to Christmas music in honor of the first snowfall. The temperature took a nose dive at the end of the month, and we got a little snow. The big boys had already left for school, but Clark, Ian, Silas, and I galloped around the kitchen to "Sleigh Ride." (Clark did so grudgingly as he doesn't believe in Christmas music until after Thanksgiving.) Luckily, fall decided it wasn't quite done, and the temperature bounced back a few days later.
Keeping . . . our family costume alive. After last year's epic Princess Bride theme, I really didn't know if we would do a family costume again this year. As our kids have gotten older, we've stopped trick or treating as an entire family, so we don't have a good opportunity to dress up all together. But no one was ready to give it up yet. Luckily, we were able to settle on something that was much easier to put together than the highly individualized costumes of some of our previous years. We went as characters from the book/movie, Holes. We already owned or were easily able to order or thrift everything we needed. Super easy, which is just what we wanted. About a week before Halloween, we put on our costumes and took some photos in an empty lot by our house (the most dirt we could find). Our cast included Mr. Sir, Warden Walker, Zig Zag, X-Ray, Stanley Yelnats, Twitch, Zero, and a yellow spotted lizard. It wasn't as recognizable as some of our previous years, but the people who were familiar with either the book or movie loved it. (The one person who was not thrilled with our costumes was Silas who was quite disturbed by Bradley's wig, Mike's mustache, and just everyone looking out of the norm.)
Catching . . . on to the magic of Halloween. But one thing Silas did love? Trick or treating. We showed him how to do it at the first house, and then he was off like a rocket. He ran across lawns saying, "Hurry, hurry!" Then he knocked on each door, said "Trick or Treat!" when it opened, and said "thank you!" when the candy was placed in his bucket. He lasted about forty-five minutes before his little stamina ran out and then I took him home where he realized the delight of looking through his candy and choosing which ones to eat. Meanwhile, Aaron spent the evening with friends, Max had a friend over and they made snickerdoodles and passed out candy, Bradley went trick or treating with friends (and he came home with so. much. candy.), and the rest of us went around as a group. The weather cooperated, and we couldn't have had a nicer time.
It took me forever to finish this update this time around, but I think I can finally sign off on October. What a good month.
