Reflections

Sierra wanted to enter the Reflections contest this year...

I told her that was a great idea, but that she was all on her own.

And she did it. All on her own.

The theme was "The Magic of a Moment".

She entered 2 categories--3D art, and music composition.

Here is her 3D art:

The actual artwork does not go on to State Competition in the 3D art category.  

So, we had to take pictures and include the ruler for reference.

Then the photos are submitted for competition.

Here she is receiving her award for her 3D art...

 And for her musical composition...

Both projects are advancing to the State finals.  GOOD LUCK.

fall break

Rick has had to pick up some extra shifts at work--

Not by his choice but because of a vacancy in their group.

And the way the schedule works out and the shifts that needed to be filled, it left Rick working a TON the last couple months, including a 10 day period where he worked 9 of those days.

It was a killer.

Thankfully, fall break fell right smack in the middle of Rick's 10 day vacation.

Boy, was that lucky and boy oh boy, we all needed that break.

so, we headed to St. George.  Here are a few pic's of the R&R:

 This is Classic Cole.

1.  Because he LOVES the monkey bars...

2.  Because his zipper is down.

 no wonder I have so many wrinkles.  I am always squinting.  Even when I wear sun glasses.

 Rick gave the kids a big spin in the tire swing.  I thought they were going to puke.

 It was good to just play with Cole.  We've had a rough few months...

 St. George has the best sunsets ever.  I can't get enough of them

And what's a trip to St. G without a visit to Veyo pies?

horizons echo

Summer's band played at Riverwoods a few weeks ago.

I think that place is cool.  It's not like people line up or crowd the area to listen to the performers.

It's more like background noise for an outdoor shopping experience, people waiting for a seat at a restaurant, or couples & families taking a break on a beautiful weekend evening.

The band members gained a lot of experience that night.  Lots of lessons.

Here are a few pictures from the evening....

Over You

A cover of "Lights" by Ellie Goulding

 Summer & Sierra did a cover of Ingrid Michaelson together.

This isn't a great picture, but I just like how everything looks as the sun goes down and the lights come on.  The whole atmosphere of River Woods is great.

Halloween 2012

 We walked down to Sage Creek to see Cole's Halloween Parade.

He really couldn't care less that we were there.  

His big concern was giving all of his friends a big high five as they walked past.

We had this tradition in our neighborhood when we moved in called the "Street of Treats".

I think it started out as a ward thing, but as ward things always go, someone didn't like something about it and "Street of Treats" became a neighborhood thing and not a ward thing.

Valeree was the original chairperson of this event.  

But, Valeree was preparing to move to Australia last October so she handed the responsibility over. And I gladly accepted.  

I asked around and the feedback was that we start the earlier the better in case the weather is bad and so the kids can get off their sugar high and into bed within a reasonable amount of time. 

So, Sadie helped me out last year and we fried donuts and handed out hot chocolate.  

It seemed like a hit because we got a lot of positive feedback.

So, we decided to do the same thing again this year.

I started at the beginning of October by making up flyers and spreading the word.

Everything seemed fine until I got this note in my mailbox on October 29.  

Seriously?

Thanks for signing your name.  

thanks for your input.  a month ago when it mattered.

Next year, YOU can be in charge.

Sadie and I decided to dress up like 50's ladies.

We made our own skirts.

From the same pattern.  How stupid was that?  

Mine was so long it was practically dragging on the ground.

Sadie's skirt fit just like it was supposed to.  

We even made a fluffy tule petty coat to wear underneath--mine just made my butt look bigger. 

I wore my poodle skirt (minus the poodle) to the school and one of the kids asked me if I was a pioneer.

Oh well.  At least I'll be ready if I'm ever asked to go on Trek.

and, of course, my eyes are closed.

(note to self:  make sure you are never in the same photo as Sadie.)

 

Still not any better.

 So, 2 days before the big day, right after I got the note in the mailbox and right after I checked the weather...I decided that we should grill hot dogs.  Rick had the day off and agreed to help.  

He was happy to test out some of his new toys (his pellet grill and his solar generator).

So here we are grilling and frying.  I felt so at home around a hot grill and hot grease.

Altogether we served about 120 hot dogs.

1,000 donut balls.

And about 160 cups of hot chocolate (next year we might need lemonade--it was too hot for hot chocolate)(if there is a next year)

 Summer and Sierra had a few of their friends show up...

Summer had the camera so we lots of pictures of Summer's friends and no pictures of Sierra's friends.

 Then Jon and Teresa surprised us by showing up with Lillie.

Scott got bored with the usual donuts he was serving.  

So, he grabbed a hot dog, rolled it in dough and threw it in the hot oil.

He made us all taste a little piece.  I have to admit, with the right amount of ketchup and mustard, it was  pretty darn tasty.

Here are my cute trick or treaters with Little at the end of the evening...