A visit with Opa & Halloween Festivities

At the end of October Opa had to come to SLC from his mission in South Africa to accompany missionary home.  We were able to make a day trip to SLC and have breakfast with him, JG & Ledjin.  If was good to see him and have a little time together. (Of course I didn't get any pictures!)

Afterwards we took the kids to the Halloween event at the Gallivan center - this kick started their 'candy collecting' about a week early :)

That afternoon we met our good friends, the wickhams, at the pumpkin walk in Logan - it was so cute!  We had a great time & enjoyed dinner together afterward, it was good to catch up!

On the monday before Halloween we painted & carved our pumpkins!

Halloween day we were able to go help at the Halloween party at Laexins school.  It was fun to be in this tiny little school house for a holiday celebration - everything is so laid back there, both LeGrand and I commented that it was the first time we had every been at a school that not only didn't care but actually 'allowed' the kids to wear masks to school.  They did a little Halloween parade through the school, it was cute. You can see that Laex took his costume very seriously, I never once told him to 'pose' but he was in full 'character' for every picture I took :)

Halloween evening we were invited to have soup with some friends then the guys took all the kids out trick-or-treating, they made a haul!  LeGrand always goes through their candy when they get home and throws away all the stuff we know we wont eat.  This year there was maybe a small handful of candy that went in the trash, everyone gave out really good treats :)

Lytzi's Special Day

On Sunday September 29th, Lytzi got blessed.  It was fun for us to have family visit for the special occasion.  My parents and G-ma, Jed & Kenz, Trev, Ramey & the kids were all here from Friday to Sunday.  On Sunday, Shylo, Duane & the kids came.

I had Lytz's dress made out of the skirt of my wedding dress, it turned out so cute!

Harvest Time!

Potato Harvest happens the 2nd & 3rd week in September. The kids get both weeks off of school and the farmers are extra busy!  This year was a unique harvest, we got to witness the lords hand in the harvest, and experience an extended 3 week harvest (yes, that means the kids were out of school for a whole 3 weeks). Towards the end of the second week of harvest it stormed here for almost 4 days, when it rains that much the harvest gets halted because the fields get too muddy to continue gathering potatoes.  Since SO many (like 3/4) of the high school students work for the farmers during harvest, that meant that sending kids back to school would put the farmers in a bind & keeping kids out of school would affect the amount of money our schools would get from the state (because their budgets depend on attendance). So, the superintendent made the decision to take a 3rd full week off of school.  It was amazing to see the weather clear during that week for just long enough for the farmers to finish the harvest, such a blessing for this community.

The first week of harvest the kids and I had fun enjoying our free fries and getting our potatoes.  We watched loads and loads of potatoes being hauled!

The second week of harvest Laex and Loa went and spent the week in vernal with Grammie and Papa - of course they had a blast!

During the final week of harvest it was just becoming too much time off school :)  I put the kids to work helping clean up the Garden!  Laex was pulling up plants and loading in the 'gator', and Loa was the designated driver to the weeds to unload the plants (if you make work fun, they don't realize it's work :)

--I had to get creative to keep them busy!  It was hard being out of school this long, it was like starting school all over!  We also got to go to Laexins school for the fall carnival!

Little Sister!

We sure LOVE the crap out of this girl.  This week she will be 3 months old and she is just a gem!  She sleeps between 8-10 hours a night (and has for the last month!) she's SO happy, she only whines if she's tired, hungry, or poopy :)  At her 2 month appointment she weighed 11 lbs and was 22 inches long.  She's been smiling and cooing for 3-4 weeks and loves to suck on her hand. She sits like a champ in her bumbo and is looking like she might have red hair! She continues to be mauled by her brother and sister!  She's becoming such a chunk and we LOVE it!

(LOVE her 'waking up' stretches!)

 (It's not always 'all smiles' for the camera)

 

(preparing for shots!)

(daddy teaching her to hold her own bottle)

(showing off her cute hat I made her!)

The Beauties of Grace

While I have my struggles with living in this small farming community there is one thing I've really noticed lately and it is how amazingly beautiful this place can be!  In spring the wheat, hay & potatoes start to grow, in August they start cutting and harvesting the grain, bailing the straw & hay then September brings Potato harvest.  The fields look so beautiful surrounded by the awesome mountains we have!  The sun rises & sun sets are the most amazing I've seen.  Through the spring and fall we usually get little rainstorms a couple of times a week and they are normally followed by full rainbows --I try everyday to stop and take in all of the beauty around us here, I wish pictures could really capture how magnificent the views are!