Fall Ball

Every year our stake puts on a Fall Ball. Each year it is a different theme. I was so excited this year when they announced that it was going to be a western theme. I couldn't wait to get out my cowboy boots, get Dale some boots, and dress up like cowboys!

Dale looked so good all dressed in Black. He got a lot of comments from people. They called him Garth Brooks or the sheriff.

We had such a great time! The stake center was totally decked out. It was decorated so cute. The catered food was fabulous and we had so much fun country dancing. Most of our friends don't listen to country music so they kept asking us who was singing whatever song the DJ played. I tried to talk them all into going country permanently. I would love to do this more often. Definitely the best fall ball ever!

Conference at the cabin

We just spent a few days at the cabin to watch conference. It is so beautiful up there. The fall leaves are perfect and with the sunny days, it made it even prettier.

Between sessions on Saturday we went on our usual walk to Silver Lake. The unusual thing about it was that there were 3 moose there. They were just being lazy in the river letting everyone take their pictures. It was pretty cool to see them that close up.

During our walk, and at the cabin, the boys were throwing the football back and forth to each other. It was so fun to look back and see them with the sun and the autumn leaves behind them.

At one point during their play, the football went into the river. The river was moving pretty fast so I thought the football was gone but Dale immediately took his shoes and socks off and went in after it.

On Sunday, after conference, we took a drive over Guardsman Pass to Park City. It was a beautiful drive but my pictures didn't work out so I didn't put them on. I got some cute ones of my girls though.

Kierra with her new cowgirl hat!

During conference the kids spent most of the time coloring in a new huge coloring book that I bought them. We had a good time there together and I'm glad that I didn't miss the wonderful fall leaves this year!

When I grow up

Today I was going somewhere with Katie and we saw a bus going down the road. She said "Mom, I'm going to drive a bus when I grow up." Before I could even comment on that she said "No, I don't want to drive a bus. I want to just have babies and put them in carseats and strollers." How cute is that? I love how much she loves babies and everything that goes with them!

CRAZY hair day!!!

So my kids decided they really wanted to go CRAZY for this years "Crazy hair day"! It started with Kyson wanting a real mohawk. He didn't want to just comb his hair into a mohawk, he wanted the sides shaved off. I figure it's only hair, it will grow back. Plus, after today, he will have to have a buzz which makes my like easier. No more combing hair for a while.

Then Jaxon decided it would be cool to look like an old man and asked me to shave the top of his head. I was a little hesitant about this one because it's bald! I'm not sure Jaxon is going to be ok with it tomorrow when it's not crazy hair day. He looked awesome though and now he knows what he wants to be for halloween. Jake wasn't as brave. He didn't want to shave anything. He just wanted blue and red stripes. He looked cool too. I wish I could be at school to see what the other kids think of their CRAZY HAIR!

Service project at the cabin

This weekend we spent some time with my family doing some work at the cabin. My Dad rented a wood chopper and we chopped tons of wood. Everyone loved running the macine.

At first the kids didn't want to help but their attitudes changed quickly! They loved waiting for the wood at the wood chopper and then carrying it over to the wood shed to be stacked up.

They thought it was even more fun when we put them in an assembly line to pass the wood from the chopper to the shed. They got pretty fast at passing the wood along the line.

Jaxon and Jadon running the wood chopper together

After we chopped all the wood, we did the annual throwing of the wood up to the balcony to stack it on the deck for winter. We all have great memories of doing this over the years. We now have a nice big stack of wood on the balcony and a shed almost full of wood for the winter. We all had a great time together and it makes me feel so good to see my kids work. I'm excited to use the wood for fires in the winter!

Jaxon's campout

One of the last things that Jaxon has to do, before he earns his WEBELOS badge, is setting up a tent and sleeping in it. We have been camping several times this summer but we don't do tents when we camp. We decided he could set up a tent in the backyard and sleep in it. At first he and Jadon were going to do it, but as soon as we started talking about it, all the other kids wanted to do it to. We set up two tents and all the kids started out outside. It didn't take too long for Katie to come inside to tell us she didn't want to sleep out there. Kyson only came in once to tell us he heard a scary noise. I went back out with him to check out the noise. Turned out to be crickets. He stayed out the rest of the night, sleeping safely next to Jadon. The kids had a fun time out there and Jaxon wanted to sleep out there again tonight. Too bad it's a school night.

Family Bikeride

Tonight we went on a great family bikeride. We decided to ride our bikes to Arctic Circle for dinner. While we were eating dinner, Jadon said we should keep riding our bikes on to the gas station to get a treat. Somehow he talked us into riding our bikes to the gas station by Sunset Ridge. As we were pushing ourselves uphill the whole way, I just kept trying to remember that the way home would be downhill the whole way. We finally made it to the gas station and everyone was so excited to get their treats. The ride home was fun and everyone, except me, was really brave going downhill. I think our total bikeride was between 6-7 miles and it took 3 hours (including the time we were eating dinner and getting a treat). We had a great time together and can't wait to do it again. This time not in the dark!