On October 29th, my mom had her annual Halloween Party at her house. We had quite the crowd. All the family and add in Parker's family, Karston and David. While at the party, we were able to witness one of Justyn's teasing of Darcee. He had grabbed Darcee on the knee and kept squeezing. She was screaming while everyone else was laughing. The kids did try to come to her aid but finally Mom had to tell them to knock it off. The kids had fun playing Don't Eat Frank and breaking open a pinata. It was a short and sweet party but Grandma got to see all the kids in their costumes and the kids got some more candy.
The following evening was Justyn's birthday so Rachel had invited everyone out to her house for cake and ice cream. I think Justyn had a good time having everyone there. And it was nice to just sit and talk with just the siblings and spouses/boyfriend. We did miss Hollee and Jonah though.
Halloween brought a hectic day. Aspen had gotten in trouble for buying a school lunch without permission and lying about it. So she had to do some time in time out in order to be able to go out and go trick or treating. Well she did it and so we were able to go participate in Halloween. Good thing too because I was not prepared to give out candy. We started by heading over to the Findlay car dealership. They had a small trunk or treat and then had a photo booth. The kids had fun getting all the treats and then doing the photo booth. After the dealership, we headed back to my place where David and his girls, Baylee, Alyssa and Alanah joined us. We headed out around the townhomes and then up into my ward area. The kids got plenty of candy and I think they had a good time.
That weekend the kids and I primarily just had a relaxing weekend. I spent some time cleaning the house and the kids did as well. Saturday night the kids went to David's to hang out with the twins while David, Austin and I went to Baylee's fundraiser gala. It was a nice evening of food and music.
The next week turned chaotic because I had two evenings that I worked 12 hour days. We had parent teacher conferences after school. I am very grateful for my family and David for helping get the kids to their activities and watch them til I was done. First experience I have had with Washington County's parent teacher conferences and it was a rough two days but I am sure when I have the day before Thanksgiving off, I will think it is worth it. I also came down with a cold that week, which seems to always happen with meeting with parent. The kids enjoyed that they got to spend more time with their cousins but still said that they missed me.
On Saturday was Colt's last soccer game. He did awesome. We had a lot of people there to show their support for Colt and he did get a goal. He got his trophy and then the kids headed out with their dad to Salt Lake. David and I were able to spend the weekend together. We went to another one of Baylee's performances on Saturday night and then afterward we went to the movies with Darcee and Jay. We went to see The Sarahov Approach, about the missionaries that got kidnapped in Russia. It was a phenomenal movie. And after the movie we sat outside the theatre for about an hour talking.
Sunday, I went with David and Celise to stake conference. This is the first time I have been to stake conference in a long time because I didn't have my kids. It was a good conference with it being a satellite broadcast with the general authorities. After conference David and I headed over to the parentals house to watch the Broncos take on the Chargers. David sided with Jay in cheering for the Chargers while the rest of us were cheering for the Broncos. It was an entertaining experience to see Jay watch the Chargers play and even better in the end when the Broncos came out on top.
Aspen is still such an angel. She is learning what it means to not tell the truth and is doing better at telling the truth. She is doing so well in dance. I was able to observe this past Monday and she knows the dances. Her gymnastics is coming along and I only know that from what she does at the park. The first thing she does is go on the monkey bars. She can really fly across them. She tells me she enjoys gymnastics more than dance but that she likes both. She is doing well in school. I have parent teacher conferences with her next week so we will see what the real story is.
Colten is just a little spit fire. He is very independent and doesn't like to be told what to do. He is sad to see soccer end but I will get him enrolled for the spring season. And he is really doing well in karate. He will be testing this month to get his yellow belt. His teacher really does work well with these younger kids and he is always teaching him about what is acceptable in life. Even though I have my hard times with him, Colt really does make my life better.
