October 2023 - Working, friends, travel and pirates!

10/7 - We started the month with a trip to the movies.  A Paw Patrol movie was playing this week, so we met Nikki and kids.  So fun to go to the movies with all the kids in their jammies. 

10/8 - Fred and Revina Talker invited us to participate in baby blessings for their boys.  We then spent the afternoon at their house for a luncheon. The kids all had lots of fun!

10/9 - We had the gravel delivered and Finn and I moved 15 tons of rock onto the new corner. 

Melissa and the girls helped spread and level too.  

10/12 - There was a big todo about the the annular eclipse with all of Blanding being booked up with visitors.  So Melissa and the kids learned about the moon.  Oreo moon phases... that's my kind of science. 

10/12 - Melissa and I were supposed to go to the temple this evening, but we had to cancel because the family was assigned to clean the church.  So the two of us took advantage of the sitter and went to dinner before cleaning.  Then cleaning got cancelled, too.  Ended up just a date night. 

10/13 - Part of the big todo for the eclipse was Adam and Jeanette coming to visit (with Jonathan and Brendan in tow). We met in Monticello to eat at the new sandwich shop.  We were 30 minutes quicker than them so we went to the skate park to pass the time.  It was fun and no one was seriously injured!

10/14 9:41 AM.  We rode the toys down Westwater trail to the end. Then we hiked around on top of the kivas' cave while waiting for the eclipse.  

It was neat to watch it slowly get darker and feel the air cool. 

I guess the dimming light made a mid-morning golden hour, because everybody looks great. 

We finally settled down on some rocks for totality.

Then we drove back around the canyon and hiked down to the kivas.
I was assigned to speak in Montezuma Creek Branch Sunday morning and Hannah agreed to come with me.  So we ended up saying goodbye to everyone before we left and Adam et al. drove home midmorning. 

10/18 - Appreciating the fall foliage at the south chapel. 

A much more civilized appreciation.
Goldie tripped Hannah, so she's back in the brace for 6 weeks and we're hoping she didn't damage the growth plate.  

That afternoon was the homeschool fall party.  Playing pass the pumpkin. 

10/21 - Melissa and the kids made spooky bird houses for Halloween decorations. 

That same evening we got all dolled up and went to Cottonwood Wash for family photos.  Mallory Lyman took the pictures and edited them for use. 

It only took half a bag of sour gummy worms to keep these smiles for the better part of an hour. 

10/22 - Sunday morning Melissa discovered a tarantula on the front door steps.  He was smaller than the one from grandma's cabin the year prior... the kids named this one Cucumber. 
He stuck around in the tupperware in the kitchen for a few days before we released him.  

10/23 - Monday they decided to make paper rockets after ballet. 

10/25 - We were going to head to visit Grandma Flick in just a couple of days, so Melissa decided we needed to build Goldie a dog house. We got the frame done one night, then I brought home all the cedar fence panels and Melissa cut and hung them all with just a demo from me during my lunch break.  We got the house done in time, and Goldie refuses to stay in it for more than a few seconds at a time. 

10/28 - We arrived Friday the 27th and enjoyed dinner and the first game of the World Series.  Grandma's Arizona Diamondbacks were playing, so she wanted to watch.  Of course Finn was ok with that, 4 hours of TV? Yes, please!  Now he says he's a baseball fan. 

We spent several hours at Mortimer Farms near grandma's.  

Kids rolling a piece of culvert. 

There was a small group of motocross riders.  The kids were so impressed by the jumps and flips.  1 weekend with grandma and now our kids want to ride motorcycles and watch sports.  What the crud?!

"easy" is right, we made a single right turn and walked right out of the maze.  We ended up going right back in and just wandering around for 15 minutes. 

Hannah found a bronze pig!

And Lily posed as "the girl feeding the horse."

10/29 - After church we drove out to Dale and Susan's for lunch  The kids searched through the indoor "river" to find all the hidden surprises. 

We played pool off and on and listened to music on a real record jukebox. 

And the kids played Keepy Uppy with their great grandmother for way too long!

Goodbye!

Thank you for the awesome weekend!

10/30 - Costume party at ballet. 

Pumpkin carving at home. 

Trunk or treat at the college. 

Arrghh! Give us yer candy!

Proud pumpkin owners. 

10/31 - 5:48 PM, the real deal.  Heading out to start trick or treating. 

And 7:48 PM wrapping things up at Grandma and Grandpa Workman's.
Happy Halloween! It isn't devil worship, we're just having fun with friends and neighbors!  I got yelled at from a patient at work today because I wished her a Happy Halloween. She told me that I should be praying for my kids, not parading them around with demons.  I responded that we pray every night after reading scripture and singing hymns together, then she yelled at me that "we need more father's like that!"  So I told her that I hoped she had "a nice Tuesday."