The Role Model

Laura Bailey pulled me aside today at the school. She said she was talking to her daughter Gabby who is in 4th grade. Gabby said, "Mom, do you know who my role model is? It is Emerson because she is so nice to everybody." I couldn't be more proud, as a mother, to have that said about Emerson. She is just like her dad.

The end of an era

Paige as Cruella de Vil

Emerson the cavewoman

Sadly, today Kurt and I went to the last Halloween parade we will ever go to for our children! I have to say that I will miss it. I will miss watching all those kids walking by their parents so proudly showing off their fun costumes. I will miss the ones who are slightly embarrassed to even acknowledge their mom and dad. I will even miss the 6th graders who are soooo old and too cool to dress up.

Vegas Ragnar 2010

Aubrey, Jess, Cami, Julie, Lisa, me

I got to spend this last weekend in Vegas running the Ragnar Relay with these ladies. We had a pretty fun time I must say---even considering the lack of sleep. I hope to have more pictures sent to me soon so I will write another post with all the details later.

The Pumpkin Patch (Fall Break cont.)

All month long Emerson has been wanting to pick out pumpkins at an actual pumpkin patch. Well she got her wish in Oakley! There was a hay ride, a haunted room (not big enough to call a haunted house....), games and a live singer---not to mention the pumpkin patch itself.

Our group was so big we basically took over the place.

Everyone from our group started dancing....

...and pretty soon others joined in.

The wild and crazy ladies!

Julia's Baptism (Fall Break cont.)

The most important part of our trip to Oakley was watching Julia Black be baptized. It is a Black family tradition for their family members to be baptized at the warm springs on their family property.

Julia was so excited to get her scriptures!

Gina Anderson (the primary president) gave a talk on baptism.

This group of girls sang while Madeline played the violin.

Quinn was lucky enough to be able to baptize Julia.

What an awesome day!

The Dairy Farm (Fall Break cont.)

One afternoon we took a tour of a dairy farm in Oakley. Boy was it stinky!

The whole clan in front of the dairy farm.

Some of the calves would come and suck on your fingers.

EEEEWWWW!

This cow had just given birth to the calf about an hour before we got there.

Chance made friends with this calf.

Fall Break-Oakley, ID

Chance and Dusty on the moto!

This year for fall break we were invited to go to Oakley, ID with Carl and Nan Black and some other families from our neighborhood. We had been to Oakley once before with the Blacks a few years ago. So we were excited to be invited to go again. There is always something to do!

Kurt and I took a little bike ride to the Oakley cemetery. We were looking for David B. Haight's grave but didn't ever find it.

Soaking it up in the warm springs.

Pickle ball, ping pong and tennis games were always going on.

Emerson and Devri

Going Dark

(bad picture)

This isn't the first time to go dark and it probably won't be the last. It's fun to change things up a little now and then---even if it's just hair color.

Region Cross Country

It was a days full of happy things and sad things today.

It was the Region VII cross country meet at Scera Park. Here is Montana lacing up those racing flats.

Scrunching up the racing number----everybody does it apparently.

The start. Orem was off to a great start as you can see.

Summer Harper WAAAAAYYY out in the lead. She finished minutes, yes MINUTES, in front of the next girl.

Montana did really well. She looked comfortable and ended up with a PR! 19:47. We are so proud.

She must have felt pretty good if she could finish with a smile on her face.

The sad part of the day was that this Orem Varsity girls team did not qualify for state. They were so sad.

But they did their very best and that is the important part.

The other happy part is that this group of senior cross country kids from Orem were recognized for their academic excellence.

Nice job Montana!

Better late than never...

...I always say. I started this apron at a Relief Society meeting a while ago and, when I say awhile, I mean A-WHILE! Let's just say it was more than a year but less than two! Anyway, for some reason, I decided to pull it out and finish it today. I love the fabric so much. I can't wait to wear it tonight when I'm whipping up a gourmet meal of grilled cheese and soup!

It's a good thing the above picture is not the best so you can't see my mediocre (at best) sewing. All you seamstresses out there---don't judge me! I realize the bottom ruffle is shorter than all the others. I may have to unpick that and redo it. Then again, maybe I'll get around to that next year. :)

College Day at Orem High

Whoa-I'm feeling a little overwhelmed today. Not necessarily about applying to colleges and applying for financial aid and so on. But overwhelmed by the fact that I have a DAUGHTER who is going to college so soon! I don't feel old enough for that. It seems like college was just yesterday for me! My freshman year at BYU was probably the most fun year of my life. And it seems I have such wonderful, vivid memories of that time. How can that have happened over 20 years ago?

But, aside from being overwhelmed, I am so excited for Montana. She has such a wonderful, bright future with so many opportunities. I just want her to be able to take advantage of every one of them.

Halloween Cast of Characters

Zeke-our newest addition to the family.

October is here! Halloween is one of our favorite holidays around here. You can tell that by the number of decorations we have. Yesterday Emerson and I started digging into the storage room and pulling out all the fun stuff. Kurt was gone but, the minute he came home, he started rearranging every decoration we had put out to that point. He is truly more into the decorating that I am! Over the years we have accumulated a few figures that get to come out at Halloween time.

Dobson, our butler, all dressed up for the season. He gets to stay out year round. He has a wife named Sadie that we hope to add to our collection someday.

The Count

Granny Apple. She is holding an apple in her hand. If you see it in real life, there are little teeth marks from our niece Riley who was sure that apple was real!