First Frost

Monday morning I made pumpkin pancakes. It sounded like a yummy fall breakfast. Michelle liked them too.

After dropping Timothy off at school, I had to get a picture of snow covered Mt Adams. Another sign of fall.

We finally had to turn the heater on night. It was dipping below 71 in the house. That week started off like most weeks. Shopping in the city. I was mostly trying to get some birthday shopping done before Melanie's birthday. It's hard to do now because she notices everything. We had to do most of the shopping online. Every time we go to Costco she wants to look at the cakes. I took pictures of the two designs she said she wanted. I was hoping to recreate one of them.

However after talking to her about her birthday she kept saying she wanted Timothy I* and Brynn K* to be there. So we decided to have a small birthday party for her. So in the end we decided to order a cake after all.

I don't recall anything else important or exciting. Aaron started his call week. That evening there was a beautiful sunset, and once again the pictures don't do it justice.

Tuesday was fairly normal as well. I did get these pictures of the girls playing on the piano.

I do remember that I decided to get out the 12 month clothes for Michelle. She has a lot of clothes! Unfortunately I was looking up in the closet and found some 6-9 months clothes that I never had her wear :(

Michelle helped me with the laundry that day.


It was late that night when Aaron realized it was going to freeze that night. So we had David listen for Michelle while we took some tarps and covered the tomatoes, peppers and artichoke.

It did indeed dip below freezing before the sun came up that morning. After dropping the kids off at school I went to check on them.

The ones we covered looked OK. I picked as many tomatoes as I could.

The peppers are still fine, but the rest of the tomatoes were frozen.

That afternoon got really busy with another 3 kids pick up at 5:00. I dropped Amy off at Melissa's at 4:00. (As a side note we had a change in the Primary presidency, as Celise has now moved out of the ward. Betsy is now the Primary pres, and Teri P* and Melissa F* are her counselors. Melissa is also now the Activity days leader. So they met at her house at 4:00. I picked up Timothy a few minutes before 5 as usual, but he wasn't done. He was late getting out as he was finishing up some coding for his robot. So I was a little late picking up Amy. David texted me as I was leaving asking where I was. He sure likes to text - for any reason!!!

That night the boys had scouts, so I had dinner ready early and then Aaron took them to the church. That's about it.

I think it was Thursday that Aaron got called in early in the morning. It was an emergency call, and he left rather quickly around 4:45 am. The rest of the day was fairly normal. I don't recollect much about that day.

I got a video of Michelle dragging around the mixer. She thought that was a great toy to play with! Haha!


There was no school Friday, so David asked if he could stay up and watch a movie with me. Aaron ended up going to bed early. It was a long day for him. So we watched Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. It was sad that I had to explain who Sean Connery is.

Friday it was pouring rain, and it was windy. The West Coast was supposed to get a lot of rain and wind. It didn't turn out quite as bad as they predicted. But it was still a "stay inside to stay dry" kind of day.  The kids played together off and on. I needed proof that sometimes Amy and Timothy get a long and don't fight.

That night there was supposed to be a campout. However with the wind and rain they ended up cancelling it. They were planning to take the kayaks out on the lake, but the camp banned the use of the lake as the river that fed the lake was 9 times higher that normal. Aaron was glad they cancelled because he was supposed to be the 2nd leader, and coming off of call would be difficult. Instead he came home and rested and then took Amy to the G* football game. Even with the predicted storm it only rained for a few minutes toward the end.

Quiet Weekend

Saturday we were busy around the house. Aaron went fishing that morning. At lunch Michelle said "hi" again.


I can't remember what else we did, but I do remember getting to watch the BYU vs Michigan State game. Well, once Melanie and Michelle were down for a nap that is. Aaron didn't catch anything that day, but Reed sent him home with half a salmon fillet from a previous catch. It was a laid back afternoon and evening.

Sunday was fairly normal as well. It was a fast Sunday since the previous week was General Conference. David was inspired by the Mormon Tabernacle choir. They had a funky way to tie their ties, so he decided to google it and tied it like this for church.

He didn't like my picture, so he took his own

I enjoyed testimony meeting. Sunday School was not easy to sit through. Michelle was grumpy and didn't want to sit still. I left to check on something and Michelle took my iPad and wandered off with it. I found it and we got back in our seats. But then she wanted to play with my iPad. So I gave up and let her play with it and I used my paper scriptures, but then she wanted them. I ended up putting everything in the row behind me so I could just listen to the lesson. But she was getting whiny. So we went for a walk. I came back in at some point, but I didn't get to hear much of the lesson.

Then it was time for Young Womens. Aaron took Michelle from me, and got her to take a nap. It was a combined lesson with Shannon teaching. It was about becoming more Christlike. We identified some Christlike attributes and thought about which ones we could work on. I definitely need to work on patience and diligence.

After church we headed home. I left Timothy and David there so they could take the sacrament to some home bound members. Except somehow Timothy got left behind. So he came home with Aaron. I can't remember what we had for dinner. I do remember that I got out some fall stickers for the girls to use and they played with them for hours! They were reluctant put them away when it was time for dinner.

They made quite a mess, but had a lot of fun.

Then Melanie spent some time spinning

That evening we had dinner and FHE, and that about does it for the weekend.
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Enjoying Fall

Sunday Amy thought it was funny to wear my comfy socks pulled all the way up!

I love October, I love the fall temperatures, the fall colors. I love wearing sweaters and boots. I love all of the holidays that are coming. I loved that the little rain we had in the valley produced snow in the mountains. I love that we haven't had to use the A/C at all, nor the heat pump! Monday morning we had some leftover cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Michelle made a mess of hers.

That Sunday the fair was over so Monday morning I went to pick up our bucket of junk and veggies at the fairgrounds. I had to wait a while since I mixed up the times and they weren't ready for me. She helped anyway when she got the chance. I went to a few other stores as well. That's about it. Pretty normal day.

At lunch Michelle was saying "hi" and I got it on camera. However now she won't do it :(

Tuesday I went outside to switch sprinklers and I saw a beautiful rainbow. I had to call the kids out to see it. I took several pictures, but I don't know if anyone could capture just how pretty it was.

my panoramic attempt

Aaron took these as he dropped the kids off at the high school after seminary.

It just set the mood for a good day. Not that it was a perfect day, but it started out on a good note.  I can't think of much that went on that day. I'm sure there was laundry and cleaning, and playing and things like that. At lunch we had leftover rice. Michelle loves rice. Apparently I left the container of rice a little too close to Michelle. While I was busy doing something else Michelle reached over and grabbed the container and dumped the whole thing on her tray, and onto the floor as well.

That night was book club. Believe it or not I went alone! I had nursed Michelle around 6:00 or so. Aaron was home and asked if I wanted to leave Michelle. I was fine with that.

I enjoyed book club, even though I didn't get a chance to read the book. Elizabeth came for the first time in months, so it was fun to catch up with her. We brainstormed ideas for new titles. Then we enjoyed some caramel corn and pie. I headed home around 8:30 wondering if Michelle was still awake. Aaron had gotten her to sleep. Now why can't it be that easy for me? I usually end up nursing her! I was glad she was good for Aaron.

Wednesday was pretty typical as well. The boys had scouts that night. Aaron took them to the church, but I only had to pick up Timothy. David went to the G*'s with the rest of the Teacher's Quorum. I texted Michelle G* to see if I needed to pick him up, and she said they would drop him off. So I was able to get kids ready for bed and then David arrived home.

Thursday morning was normal as far as I can remember. That afternoon Aaron was going to a meeting about an hour away. It was close to the temple so he decided to take some of the names and do initiatories, but he had forgotten to bring a tie. So he stopped by the house on the way in. At least I got to see him for a few minutes. Then he was off again until late that night. I got a video of Michelle trying to pull the push toy up the stairs. It's pretty cute, and funny.


Friday was a bit different. A while ago Shannon offered to watch both girls while Aaron and I went out to lunch. We finally found a day when all of us were available. Shannon offered to come over here, so she arrived around 11:30, and I had just sat the girls up for lunch. So Brynn joined them at the table. Then I headed out to meet Aaron. I parked behind the clinic and went to the rear entry, and knocked. They were expecting me, so it was opened right away. Aaron was in seeing a patient, so I just got to chat with the ladies there. Carmen had her birthday that week, so I wished her a happy birthday. In fact Aaron had made some fresh salsa for her birthday lunch, but then we had to miss it. We went to a new local Mexican restaurant. It was really good. It was nice to be able to talk with no interruptions while we were both still awake and coherent. Otherwise the time we get to talk alone is right before bed, and we are both exhausted. Anyway... the food was really good. After our lunch we headed back to the clinic and joined the party at the end with the lapis legit (thousand layer) cake.

I got home and the girls were having a lot of fun. It was hard to get Melanie to wind down and take a nap. But she did, and so did Michelle. Aaron came home a few hours later. We had dinner and then headed over to the high school. Another great football game. We didn't score nearly as many points, however we still won 23-7. It was another late night, but still fun. It only got a little chilly toward the end.

General Conference Weekend

Saturday morning was really busy. After a quick breakfast, we went over to the church to do our cleaning assignment. Aaron was staying to be in charge of the morning broadcast. The older girls wanted to stay and watch conference there. So the three of them were dressed up. We cleaned up the chapels and bathrooms. Then Aaron got the broadcast ready in the chapel.

I took Michelle and the boys home to watch Conference there. I always enjoy listening to Conference. I got Michelle to sleep through part of it. At least that part was quiet. Aaron of course had a harder time trying to get the girls to let him listen! I started a batch of cinnamon rolls after the session was over. We had lunch when everyone got home, and then I got Melanie down for a nap.

We watched the afternoon session in peace once Michelle was asleep. I rolled out the cinnamon rolls while I listened. Aaron got to try out the Traeger for the first time. The day before he had done the initial smoking to get it ready. The first thing he smoked was a fryer chicken.

It was delicious! So tender! I can't wait for him to cook a turkey for Thanksgiving! He also harvested beets from the garden and made another ensalada rusa (Russian salad). He cooked his sourdough bread in the smoker as well! Yum!

After dinner the boys and Aaron headed over to the church for the Priesthood session. Afterward they had ice cream with those that attended.

At home, the girls and I played, baked and frosted cinnamon rolls, ate ice cream, and cleaned up. Then I gave the two youngest baths, and Amy took a shower. The guys returned around 7:15 or so. Then it was time for family prayers and bed time.

Sunday morning the kids had a cinnamon rolls before the morning session started (there were plenty left for the brunch. In the past we had gone over the I*'s for the Sunday morning session. They live 25 minutes away now, and they have two additional children. When asked about their plans, they didn't have any. We know how much they love breakfast, so we invited them to come to our place. So we also fixed some bacon, and waffle batter, and Julianna brought her breakfast casserole. I whipped up some orange juice as well.

It was great to have them there. We got to meet their little girls. Big girl was very interested in what everyone else was doing. Baby girl was so well behaved. Baby boy got tired, so Phillip took him upstairs (Aaron was up there watching conference while preparing brunch) and they fell asleep on the couch. Timothy I* did pretty well but after a while wanted to go downstairs to play. That's pretty normal for that age.

After Michelle woke up from her nap I got a selfie with her - trying to keep her entertained and not too noisy.

At 11 we all went upstairs and ate brunch. We seated the kids at the table. I was glad Melanie was willing to let Baby Girl sit in her booster chair. By the time Michelle was done Baby Boy was awake, so he sat there. We chatted and ate and the kids played. Big Girl thought it was fun to have my boys chase her and scare her. She asked them to do that. Eventually they had to go, so they could do nap time and watch the afternoon session.

Aaron left to go visit someone and then watch the last session at the church, and close up the building afterward. We enjoyed the last session while Melanie slept, and Michelle took a short nap as well.

 Then we played for a bit as Aaron smoked a salmon!

 I didn't get a picture straight off the Traeger, but I did get one of what was left.

We had FHE lesson and dessert and then headed to bed.

Late Birthday Present

Tuesday the kids were back at school.  I went back up to the city to do our weekly grocery shopping. I did my typical Fred Meyer and Costco runs, but I also went to Michael's to see if they had some things I was looking for. I found some cute things for Melanie's birthday. I don't remember what else we did that day.

Wednesday was fairly normal as well.  That evening was Stake Standards Night. We had an early dinner and then Aaron took the boys up to the stake center. I don't remember what the girls and I did.

Thursday morning I got a call from the shipping company delivering the Traeger. We were expecting to wait at least a week. Aaron was excited when I told him it was coming that morning. It was coming on a semi, so opening the gate didn't do much good. He backed down our road, and pulled up partway onto the berm to let other cars pass on the side. Then he had to haul the load up our driveway on a dolly. I had him put it in the garage. I took a picture to show Aaron it had been delivered.

Happy Late Birthday Aaron!

 After Aaron got home, he put it together

That night Aaron took Amy to the volleyball game. It was the rival game, and we had friends on both sides. Aaron took some pictures.

Go Sophie!

Go Maci!

Friday was fairly normal as well. Melanie helped me sweep the floor- with grapes in her mouth! That girl loves grapes!

 She even fell asleep with grapes in her mouth

Don't worry, I attempted to take the grape out after I took the picture, but she chewed and swallowed it in her sleep. Haha!
When Amy got home she emptied her back pack and I found this. It's pretty cute.

I'm still trying to figure out why "The Price is Right" is her favorite TV show. We don't really watch TV much, and I've never seen her watch that show. If she really thought about it she would say "Studio C".

Aaron took Melanie to the G* football game. She had fun, and got a caramel apple. I wouldn't have known, but the next morning she had a bunch of caramel in her hair!

I can't remember if I did anything with the other kids that night. I was busy preparing for the weekend!