We got home and to bed from our Costa Rica trip at about 2 am. The next morning we all had a sleepy morning, and I drove all of the kids late to school. I was able to get mostly unpacked and put things away. The next day what I thought had been allergies was definitely a cold. I still taught preschool though. Thankfully the kids were nice for me. The following day I just kind of took the day off. I read three books. A good book is so fun.
The following day was my mom's birthday. I miss her. I loved General Conference that day. President Freeman spoke about priesthood and covenants. Elder Kearon spoke about how we should have joy when we worship. Sister Yee spoke about becoming in Christ. That evening we had fun toasty night swimming.
The next day was conference again. I loved hearing Elder Holland testify of Christ. I feel inspired to do better and be better. President Nelson promised us we could find Jesus in the temple. I need to look for Him. I invited my dad down for dinner He told jokes with Holland and Darcy and watched the MCO songs.
The following day, Darcy went right in to MCO and even put on her badge. She is getting so big. I made a crock pot soup which was a little crazy but nice to come home to. Holland is getting so good at violin. She is getting some skills. I am proud of her and me for sticking with it. I hiked the Y with Miriam. It was lit and the lights of the city were gorgeous. We saw a wolf spider--pretty huge. Mainly I talked to the other YW leaders, but it was still nice to be there with her. Ellie worked so hard to catch up on her school work from our trip. She is amazing!
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| Garden harvest after our trip! |
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| Love cuddly girls and conference |
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| Such an over the top, fun book club! |
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| I love this girl! |
On October 10th we were enjoying the unually warm fall evening in our little pool when I noticed that there was red over the mountains. I was worried at first that something was on fire and the glow was over the mountains. It was actually the Northern Lights! That has always been a bucket list item for me, and I never expected to see them from my own little yard in Provo! The deep red slowly turned into a brighter pink. And then we even saw the glowy lines. It was amazing!!!
Unfortunately, my grandparents' house that my cousin had just finished renovating had a fire that night. The garage caught fire from some fumes from a rag that had some refinishing liquid on it. The garage burned so bad that the cars parked in front the house were completely burned too. Will and Camille weren't home, but their kids were there with Bill, Sheila, McKenzie, and Mady. The ironic thing is that they kept getting up throughout the night to check for the glow of the Northern Lights. When they checked at like 3 am they saw a glow...from the burning cars in the driveway! The smoke detectors never went off! It was terrible. It sure puts any other problem I think I might have in perspective. They were able to save a lot of the house, but everything has water and smoke damage. Such a nightmare!
The next Sunday fast Sunday-- nice and hard. I enjoyed reading Emma M. Lion Vol 4. It is a fun series. Darcy commented loudly at church, "That was short," after a kid shared her testimony. We had a lovely dinner outside, and that evening we attended a fireside about covenants by Dr. Barbara Morgan Gardner. I want to learn more about that.
We were just in the thick of things then. MCO rehearsals, dentist appointments, school concerts. It is so fun that Miriam is in Acapella and Chamber this year. She has twice the number of songs, and she is loving it. We also went for one more swim before we took our pool down for the winter. Last time with that pool! The kids were silly, fun, and splashy. It was on October 16th--pretty late this year.
One night Darcy corrected her bedtime prayer from "Thankful for this day" to "evening."
We went driving with Ellie a lot around this time. She drove on road with lines! She really hadn't driven much between August and Fall break. She is such a good, responsible kid. Thanksgiving Point over Fall Break with the girls was so fun. I love hanging out with them.
The next day we got a bid for our pool digging. It actually came in lower than we thought it would. Phew! (Spoiler: he did it wrong, so we ended up paying a bit more than anticipated, but it was still way cheaper than we feared.) This helped with the gut punch of purchasing the pool and equipment. Yikes, that stung.
John and I went on a date to see "Men in Boats." I love going on dates with him. And watching Kdramas. :)
The next day as we were leaving Sacrament meeting we remembered we were subbing Hollands Primary (in like 3 minutes). We threw together a lesson as we went. It went okay. :)
Darcy is often using the word "tinkle-y" for "small." She is so funny and cute.
One day during Fall Break we had a playing with friends day. They all had a good time, and I took a little nap after the friends left for like 10 minutes. It felt like heaven!
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| Picture day in our yard |
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| Fall break fun at the Curiosity Museum |
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| Amaranth |
The next day I met up with Jenessa and her boys at a pumpkin patch. Darcy loved the corn pits and pretending to drive/ride the little golf cart machine that was parked there. She is so fun to talk to!
That evening we got our cafe lights hung on our patio! It made us so happy even though we only got them up right before winter started.
The next day was a crazy busy day, but the best part was the BYU Chemistry show. It was more than a full hour and was super fun! I loved the bubbles that were flammable. How did people figure out these things?? We got some ice cream afterwards that they froze with liquid nitrogen. It was a good time!
The next day Eliza and Miriam had friends over for a fire and movies. We got good snacks and had a great time. We have been loving watching Crash Landing on You.
The next day we put in some long hours getting the yard ready for the pool. I can't believe it is happening, but we certainly spent the money for it. Cherilee and Jess helped us much getting the flower beds and garden cleared. That night John and I had a date night to Applebees and even went clothes shopping. He was a good sport and even found a few things. :)
Ellie led the music in Sacrament meeting. The songs got changed on her at the last minute and she still handled it with grace and poise. That evening John left for a work trip to Chicago. That meant it was a girls game night that evening. It was fun to play with my girls but I missed my one and only.
I had to get a cavity filled the next day, and it weirdly made me miss my mom a lot. That is exactly the kind of thing I would have told her about, and we would have commiserated on. I miss those small seemingly insignificant conversations.
That evening I had to do MCO rehearsal solo. Yikes it was crazy! I thought that the rehearsal was at the normal location but it wasn't. We had to drive an extra 20 minutes or so to get to the other building, and when we got there there were road closures because of a town Halloween festival. There was no parking, and the whole thing just felt insane.
Thankfully, the next evening was so much calmer. The kids and I played 5 Second Rule, and Darcy did better than I would have thought! The older girls are so helpful while John is gone. They help with all of the things--food, clean up, other random chores, getting the little ones ready for bed, etc. I feel so grateful for them!
We went to the Ward Halloween Party. We all dressed up as princesses. Holland school also had a Halloween parade. Cherilee and Jess brought us Costa Vida for dinner. That was so so nice of them. Then we went trick or treating with everyone for a while. Then the older girls went out with friends. Darcy came home from trick or treating and only wanted to eat a banana. While she was eating that Halloween snack she told me, "The only dangerous thing is a werewolf paw."
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| Dinosaur puzzle at the dinosaur museum |
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| Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream! |
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| We brought in our tropical plants. It was so late this year, and they were so happy to be outside. I had to take a before photo to see how sad they look comparatively by the time it is warm enough to take them outside again. |
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| Our yard is so pretty! Do we actually want to do a pool and make a big construction zone again?? |
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| Subway for dinner at MCO rehearsal. |
On October 29th, I had such a tender experience. I listened to a Follow Him podcast with Brad Wilcox. He spoke about how Jesus taught about prayer the most and how it connects us with God. I thought to say a sincere prayer. I prayed more intensely than usual and told the Lord how I was missing my mom. I asked Him to tell her that. As I did I had an overwhelming feeling that she wanted me to know that she loved and missed me too. It was unmistakable, and it gives me hope about what is to come after death.
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| We got a set of crowns so Mommy dressed up too. |
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| Darcy's Elsa braid :) |
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| The eating a donut on a string game is always more funny than you'd think. |
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| Getting ready for the pool to be dug! |
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| The pool came! One giant pallet that was way taller than the van in the garage. The other pallet just had our heater on it. We got a mammoth sized heater because swimming in warm water is the best. |
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| It was chilly watching Holland's costume parade! |
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| Halloween night. All of our princesses wore blue. |
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| And of course, we had to do a silly photo. |
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