JACK O'LANTERNS

It wouldn't feel like Halloween if we didn't carve jack o' lanterns with Bryan & Katie & kids. So Monday night we headed over to their house for a slimy evening of pumpkin guts. Kent was proud of his huge pumpkin that grew in our garden all summer. All lit up.

Thanks guys, for another great night of Halloween fun!

THIS N' THAT

Here are a few random thoughts on my mind today...

*This afternoon we went for a Sunday drive to see some autumn leaves. We ended up on the Alpine Loop which connects American Fork Canyon and Provo Canyon. It was beautiful, but we quickly realized that we missed it's prime, especially the higher up we went. We should have gone a few weeks ago when the colors were in full glory. Note to self...Next year take this drive in September!

*Last night after we got home from the BYU football game, Kent and I went out to dinner with a nice couple, the Rushforths. Kent and Garth coach cross country together and have become good friends. I've only met her a couple of times, so I was glad for the opportunity to get to know her better. We went to a place none of us had been to before...The Cheesecake Factory in Murray. Oh my, it was delicious! After the bread basket, house salad, appetizers, beveridges and entree, I had no room for dessert, but how can you go to a place called The Cheesecake Factory and not order dessert? So I chose Caramel Pecan Turtle cheesecake. I highly recommend it!
*Our old Hyundai has been getting on my nerves for months. Kent decided he wouldn't put another cent into it, and would just drive it until it died and then replace it. But the stubborn old thing won't die, it just keeps going! The most annoying problems are: the driver's side door doesn't open from the outside, and the muffler is gone so it sounds like a big diesel truck. For the past few months I've refused to drive it or be a passenger in it, I just secretly hoped Kent would become stranded on the side of the road so we could finally get rid of it. Well, it is still running strong, but Tuesday night we signed the papers for this...
It is a 2006 Nissan Sentra, I love it! Now the old Hyundai is parked on the side of the driveway, we're not sure what to do with it. Maybe it will become the "teenager car." (ha/ha)

SCHOOL CONCERTS

Rachel is a member of the Concert Choir at the high school. Last week they put on a concert entitled "Thank You For the Music". It was outstanding! There she is on the front row (Kindred family curse) fourth from the left. It brought back so many memories of singing with the PHS Acapella choir. I loved singing with that choir. I actually shed a few tears as I recalled those experiences while watching Rachel up on the stage. I'm so grateful that Rachel has an excellent choir director and enjoys singing with her high school choir.

Then the next night we went to the middle school to watch Braden perform with his beginning guitar class. He's getting pretty good, he carries his guitar back and forth from school every day, and practices in his room every night. They played a medley of Iron Man, Mission Impossible, and James Bond 007. It was cool!

Fun to see my kids develop their musical talents.

FRIGHTMARES

We love Lagoon! We go every year during the fall break from school. During the month of October it is especially fun because they decorate everything in a Halloween theme, feature a couple of haunted houses, a hypnotist show, and some great Halloween musical shows. In Stefanie's words..."This was the funnest day ever!"

IT'S OFFICIAL

Who's taller? Let it be on record that on this day, October 13, 2008, Braden is officially taller than his mommy. We've been doing the back-to-back routine for a few months now, and each time he was a little closer but wasn't quite there. Today he finally passed the mark. Congratulations Braden, you're 5 feet 2! Now his goal is to pass up his dad--he's got about eight more inches to go to achieve that one.

FIRST SNOWFALL

Stefanie jumped in my bed this morning, all excited because it had snowed during the night. She could hardly wait to put on her coat, hat, gloves and boots and go outside to play. I must admit, I was as excited as she was! I love the first snowfall of the year! It was beautiful.

She spent about an hour making snowballs, snow angels, and tracks all across the yard. I was right behind her taking pictures. She's so sweet, she didn't once ask me to put the camera away and quit following her around. She's a good sport...and a good model!

HALLOWEEN HOUSE

Our front porch is all decorated for Halloween. Check out the pumpkins we picked from our garden this afternoon.

CONFERENCE WEEKEND TRADITIONS

Here are a few old and new conference weekend traditions...

Watching Conference: It has been such a great priviledge this weekend to watch General Conference. Especially exciting was the announcement from President Monson of five new temples being built around the world. I love this tradition of gathering with my family to hear wise words of counsel from our prophets and leaders.

*Girls' Night: On Saturday night while the boys were at the Priesthood session, I hosted a little get-together for a couple of my favorite neighbor friends and our daughters. We had a great time chatting, playing games and eating ice cream sundaes. We all had such a fun time we decided to make this a new conference weekend tradition.

*Planting Bulbs: A few years ago I planted all my tulip, crocus and daffodil bulbs the week-end of conference. Then the next year I did it again, and the tradition has stuck! It's yet another reason I look forward to conference weekend. So this weekend found me on my hands and knees with my tools and my bag of birthday tulips, playing in the dirt. I didn't quite finish because it got too rainy, but I got a good start.

BIRTHDAY WEEKEND

Happy birthday to my sweet husband! I love it that our birthdays are four days apart. We've made a tradition of celebrating both our birthdays the weekend before or between our birthdays. This year we went to a Thai dinner at the Gateway in Salt Lake City, did a little shopping, and stayed overnight at the Anniversary Inn. The Anniversary Inn is a Bed & Breakfast with suites designed around a specific theme. We've stayed there twice before and loved it both times. This time we stayed in a room called "Mississippi Serenade".

We usually go for a more elegant decor, but this time we decided to expand our horizons. As you can see, the Mississippi Serenade is decorated with a "southern" twist. The bed sits atop a log raft as if we were floating through the bayou. It has rock walls and a beautiful sunset mural covering the back wall.

This was only the second time we've left our kids overnight at home on their own, they did fine. We seem to be entering a new era of parenthood. What liberation, we're going to love this! We had a great time and loved celebrating another birthday weekend together.