Cleaning and Memories 11/1 - 11/7/2020

 This week was a bit slower which was nice.  The kids had Tuesday off of school.  I think they just chose election day to have a fall day off.  But it was nice to have a break in the middle of the week.  We cleaned out rooms and picked things to sell and give away.  I finished going through my keepsakes and have fun looking through memories of high school and early marriage years.  

We went to the park in the afternoon and enjoyed the wonderful weather!! I wish it would stay forever. 

Damon and Tyler have been super snuggly with the girls lately, almost too much sometimes though. They are cute with their sisters. 

I hosted Book Club on Wednesday.  We talked about the book Wool.  Everyone enjoyed the book and we had a nice discussion.  Not many people came at first, but then 2 others joined later so then it felt more like a group.  I made a fun 'silo' themed treat that turned out yummy.  I also printed out our family pictures to have the wall up to date. 

Doug took Tyler and Chris camping with the Deacon's Quruom over the weekend.  It was perfect camping weather.  They had a good time, but Doug was reminded how much work camping is with the ward, and is grateful that he doesn't have to do it every month anymore.  

The girls and I watched Mulan Friday night since Damon was with friends.  

Saturday was busy cleaning and organizing.  Doug and I were invited to go out to dinner with the Abernethys.  We went to Crust pizza and had a great time visiting with them.  

My mom found out this week that her mission has been postponed.  She needs to make a decision about delaying or staying home and serving remotely.  She is getting closer to closing on her house - still waiting on a few things, but she is making great progress on cleaning out the house.  

Doug' dad isn't doing well and actually went into the hospital Saturday night.  It is so hard to not be able to help or give him any relief from his pain. 

Halloween 10/25 - 10/31/2020

It was Red Ribbon Week and the girls had fun dressing up.  They did good themes this year that were much more realistic: wear red, wear pajamas, and school pride.  This is their super hero day: 

 Fall traditions: pumpkin carving and cookie decorating.  We carved pumpkins on Thursday and decorated cookies on Friday.  I let the girls invite the neighbor twins over and Damon had his friends over in the evening and they 'decorated' cookies too - they basically threw on some frosting and candy corn. Sigh oh well, at least they liked eating them.  

Damon didn't want to carve a pumpkin this year, so I did the mask one, it was Kaylee's idea, which I thought was great.  Tyler and the girls used some stencils that we had and did a great job of carving them by themselves.  I had them cleaned out ahead of time to make it easier. 

Our ward still did a trunk - or - treat. Some people wore masks, but most did not.  The kids had fun walking around and getting candy and see their friends.  We had some great costumes this year.  Damon just wore his Tony Stark t shirt and passed out the candy. 

The rest of the kids did a Star Wars theme.  It never gets old.  Chris and Kaylee have been R2-D2, so it was funny to see Tyler wear it as a shirt.  We added Princess Leah to the collection. 

It was the perfect weather for trick-or-treating.  Just a light jackets and the kids were fine in their costumes.  They last few years have been rainy or super cold, so it was nice to have a pleasant evening.  Tyler and Damon were invited to be with friends in the evening so we only went around with Chris and the girls.  I'm so glad that we have such a good group of friends here.  We only went around our small block.  Most people had candy in a bowl, so had it put in baggies.  It felt pretty normal actually.  The kids had a good time and got plenty of candy.  I set aside some for Christmas, parties, our Thanksgiving trip, and Easter.  It freezes well. :)