HAPPY HALLOWEEN this week!  Where did October go?  I can hardly believe that we are seeing the last days of this month slip by and Thanksgiving will be here before we know it!   

I have already received some great Halloween photos thanks to early Trunk or Treat/Fall Festivals  this year.  

Ben and Holly in the leaves 💛

Watch out World! 😍

Sayre is Captain Olimar 😘

Mike and Barbi have always been intense Halloween fans. Last week she showed me their costumes and I was a little bewildered because I wasn't sure who they were so she said I needed to come home and watch Hocus Pocus.  We did last night and now I get it 😁

Of course, we had our first snow of the season just in time for Halloween

It caused many problems on the roads and affected the number of people who took the challenge to drive to Church today.  Our kind neighbor shoveled our sidewalks and driveway before we got home this morning.  They are the best!

Remember when. . . .

Kids in the news . . . 

Spencer on the job at his fancy restaurant - 

This is what they offer for dessert.  In my dreams, I think I am having the Cooper's Hawk Chocolate Cake 😋

DESSERT

S’more budino 

Caramel Custard, Valrhona Chocolate Mousse, Brown-Butter Toasted Graham Cracker 10.99 

Banoffee pie 

Graham Cracker Crust, Banana, Toffee Filling, Fresh Whipped Cream 10.99 

Cooper’s Hawk chocolate cake 

Valrhona Chocolate, Hazelnut Ganache, Vanilla Ice Cream 11.99 Salted caramel crème brûlée

Fresh Berries, Flaky Sea Salt 11.99 

Key lime pie 

Fresh-Squeezed Citrus, Graham Cracker Crust, Whipped Cream, lime Dust 10.99 

Reese’s ice cream cookie

Warm Chocolate Chip Cookie Baked with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Vanilla Ice Cream 12.99 

House-made truffles

Chocolate, White Chocolate, or Truffe of the Month 4.99 Each

Sammi & Blythe selling lemonade and cookies

This should have been our first clue that Sammi was destined for greatness in the business field!  She has joined DECA this year and is loving it.  This weekend she is in Vail for a competition.  Yesterday we went shopping for shoes and socks that would keep her feet warm, and just happened to find these cute Stanleys - 20 oz - just the right size for a beverage or instant breakfast.

Emma and her friend, Sean found a Halloween Corn Maze in Erie (close to Boulder).  It looks like so much fun - remember the maze in Japan?  Was it in Showa Park?

Last Thoughts . . .

Did you know Southwest offers hot chocolate as one of their beverage selections?  Yum!   

We had such a wonderful trip to California but it does feel good to be home and in my own bed.  

Wanted, Dead or Alive - Missing Rice Cooker

Can't find it anywhere  - If anyone sees someone walking around with a rice cooker that looks like this please call the police immediately 😊

Dad's doctor's appointment with the Gastroenterologist was moved up from Nov. 8 to this past Friday. The reports indicate that they didn't find anything remarkable we need to worry about, so now they just need to figure out why he has difficulty digesting food.   

I have been keeping tabs on Francie this week and I am happy she is taking good care of herself.  She stayed home all day on Friday to rest and catch up on some much-needed sleep.  Mike called tonight to give me an update on Ray.  According to Jenny, her dad had about 12 inches of his colon removed including all of the cancer.  He still has a spot on his liver that they are testing.  He also has some kind of infection in his legs and is receiving large doses of antibiotics for that.  Jenny said the Ward has been wonderful to bring in meals, and is giving them lots of support.  Ray also has had several visitors from his friends in the Scout program.  Francie said the other day she thought Jenny might end up in Congress - she has battled the insurance companies insisting her Dad get a specific medicine, and she has a doctor from Stanford consulting on the issue with the liver.  She is amazing! 

Our favorite missionary only has one month left before returning home.  He recently sent this email so for anyone who might have missed it, I thought I would share and let this be our spiritual thought for the week -

Sorry it's been a while things have been super crazy busy the last while. These last few weeks have gone super fast. It's kinda crazy to think that I only have a little bit more than a month left. in recent news me and my comp were put in a trio with the new Vietnamese speaking missionary. If i'm being honest it is super sad to think that i'm going home, my mission has been the greatest experience that I have had so far in my life. I am so grateful I decided to extend another transfer. Of course I'm also sad that It took me so long to figure it out but I'm just happy that I figured it out at all. Before I close my email I want to share a small spiritual thought. A few weeks ago Elder Slaughter from the 70 came to the Huntington Beach North stake conference. He has some incredible thoughts but there was one in particular that stood out to me. He was talking about when he was a mission leader in Texas and how sometimes missionaries would come to him with too much confidence (Pride) issues, and other times missionaries would come to him with lack of confidence problems. He came to the realization that both of the problems stem from the same issue. Both come from a lack of Christ confidence. When we have confidence in Christ and his Plan of Happiness then we can face anything with comfort knowing that we have our Savior with us every step of the way. 

Things to look forward to in next week's blog - 

Eilis is turning 17!

Adam may be playing soccer forever if his team keeps winning 

I'm getting a new hip!

Kate is coming for a short visit ~

Please don't forget to send me all of your photos and fun/or not-so-fun family news 💖

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JONATHAN!  Thank you so much for being such a wonderful husband to Kate and an amazing father to Sayre - A Giant’s fan, a fabulous Five Crowns player, and a superb pizza maker!  

You are a blessing to our family  ❤️

We have had such a wonderful week in California.  The Temple was amazing - absolutely gorgeous on the inside.  Every exterior window has stained glass and the stained glass is designed to look like almond blossoms.  My favorite was a deep blue carpet, upon entering the Temple, with orange poppies.  

I love how the architecture and furnishings are a reflection and honors the history of the area.  Much of the artwork depicts local scenery. Also when the lights are on like the ones shown in the Celestial Room, they reflect almond blossoms on the ceiling.

Thursday afternoon we drove down to Modesto to see Francie and Ray.  Ray has been in a rehab facility recovering from congestive heart failure (too much fluid in his lungs) and they found he also has colon cancer.  We spent quite a bit of time with him while we were there.  I think he is anxious to get home but needs to be a little more steady on his feet before that can happen.  We had fun spending time with Francie and took her birthday shopping on Saturday.  She is getting to be a little forgetful but Jenny and the boys are always there and have been so helpful. 

We really enjoyed our visits with Steven and Matt.  Matt brought Max over with him and he is unbelievably 12 years old already

Matt also sent me some really cute photos that he had of some of the kids when they were little.  His “little” girl Corinne, is 16 now!

Hailey, Blythe, Kayla, Corinne

I hope all of you will get to meet Allyana sometime soon!  She is Courtland’s 4 year-old, absolutely adorable daughter.  She came in the living room one morning after she had explored my bedrooms with Dad’s ear plugs and reading glasses on, wearing my good shoes 😁

It has been fun to get to know these kids after only seeing them in photos. 

We miss you all but it has been great to get away for a few days.  Tomorrow we are going out to Beale to get another suitcase (Francie gave me a quilt to bring home), and then by the cemetery, and a couple of other places I wanted to see.  There are changes everywhere, but still have fond memories of growing up in this small community.  One of the things I forgot to mention about the Temple is that outside in each of the four corners of the Temple they have planted olive trees much like you would find in the Holy Land, with benches where you can rest and reflect on your Temple experience.  There has definitely got to be a return trip coming up sometime in the near future 😊💕

This is short tonight because I am working on my mini iPad and it’s hard 🤪 but I love you all so much!

 Did anyone else feel like this over the last 7 days? 😊 I think we had so much going on this week that we just let events overtake our lives.  We moved Shannon on Wednesday, so we had to sort through her room, pack clothes and odds and ends, decide what furniture we would need to get out of storage, and then hope that she would be happy with it all.  I am also helping out at Timberview MS and it is October Count time, so I was trying to get ready for that, and then it is also the end of the quarter and teachers are supposed to post their grades by tomorrow so we can then post them to the transcripts.  Cathy came Wednesday evening,  Oh yeah, and then I also had my school work to finish.  One reason I think this week was more difficult than normal is because I started with a sleep deficit, and then just kept adding to it.  I am learning that I can't stay up until the wee hours of the morning, and then think I can function without getting grouchy the next day (sorry Kevin).   I know I am not the only one in the family who had a hectic and trying week!  I hope we can all re-evaluate where we are and what we can do to bring peace into our hearts.  

    On a side note - did you know that some stress can actually be good for you.  This Ted Talk was an assignment we had to watch in one of my classes and I thought it was really interesting.  It isn't very long, so take a minute to watch it.

Who is ready for Halloween?   It is one of my favorite holidays and I love that these kids are already in the mood -

 

Paul and I think this might be his friend Ava are "udderly" cute as cows 😁

And Kate made Sayre an "Olimar" costume.  I love it and obviously, Sayre does too!

Hollie spent Friday night with us and Saturday Emma came over for dinner,  We decided to forgo cooking and cleaning and instead, went to Kneaders.  Couldn't ask for better company, and I actually splurged and got the last pumpkin chocolate chip cookie (it's the best thing about fall)   YUM!  🍪

Seems that someone else I know had a stressful day this week ~

Milo decided to dig under their fence one night, got out, but then couldn't get back in 😢.  The next morning, when Cory opened the garage door he ran in and Adam said went straight into their bathroom and stood in front of the shower.  He was so cold and traumatized that all he wanted was a warm shower! Poor little friend . . . He probably won't be pulling those shenanigans again for a while.

A couple more thoughts -

    * Chris' mom, Meredith is moving down to Orem so she will be closer to kids and grandkids.  His father, Phil, has been ill, so please keep them in your prayers.

    *What started out as a very scarry week for Francie and Ray, seemed to get better by the day. I'm sure fasting and prayers were instrumental in the outcome.  The mass on Ray's liver is not cancerous and he was able to have surgery this week for the colon cancer.  I will keep you updated -

Don't forget tomorrow is Papa's birthday, so everyone please feel free to have a bowl of ice cream in his honor.🍨

Lastly, this is a photo of Shannon in her new room.  Everytime we have been to visit her, she has been happy.  We picked her up for Church this morning and she chattered all the way there - just happy thoughts that I couldn't quite piece together, but still happy.  I got a wreath for her front door and apparently everyone there loves her wreath.  She has made a friend who lives next door, Sherry, and they eat their meals together.  I am so happy that she is happy!

If anyone has the time to stop by for a visit, I am sure she would love it.