Talent show

We played hide and seek and Carter found a very clever hiding spot!

Bethany sang and played "Reindeer Are Better Than People" for our Ward Talent show.

Ryan played his didgeridoo.  Scott also played his buckets.

Decorating the tree.

-

Ringo found a soft spot to nap.

Thanksgiving

We hosted Thanksgiving year. It was so nice to have Mom and Dad stay with us for a couple of days!  Mom helped cook, which was very appreciated!  We had just a small crowd this year; Mom, Dad, Mark and Rex came for the feast.  Laura, David and Thomas joined us later in the evening.  After the cooking was done we had a relaxing day visiting with family.

Thanksgiving morning we went for a walk down to the Provo river.

We all enjoyed playing with our new kitten, Merlin. 

 

Bethany sang for Grandma and Grandpa at bedtime.

Afternoon at the Besendorfer's Farm

We spent Saturday afternoon at the Besendorfer's dairy farm.  President Horner, our stake president and friend, invited the kids to come ride his horses.  He was so kind to take time out of his busy day to teach the kids to ride.  We also got to play with the resident farm cats and the two dogs, Polka-dot and Champ.  We saw how the cows are milked and helped corral a nervous cow being milked for the first time.  Bro. Besendorfer, Pres. Horner's father-in-law, gave us a tour of some of his barns where he maintains a wonderful historical museum.  We went through two of twelve barns filled with artifacts!  We saw pioneer tools, old cars, WW11 weapons, a giant pocket knife and pictures of historic Wasatch County.  We were invited to return another day to wander through the other out buildings.  It was a great way to spend a beautiful November afternoon.

Ryan riding Slick

Carter riding Black

Bethany riding Slick

Halloween

We had a great Halloween.  It was a professional day which means Scott worked on grades and the kids had the day off.  The kids and I went to the movie "The Book of Life".  Camille and her boyfriend, Sean, joined us for pizza later that night.  It was fun to see Camille  and get to know Sean better.  The boys handed out candy this year while Bethany went trick or treating with her dad.

                               

  

Bethany was a fortune teller for her dance party.

  

Our favorite costume was the juice box.  Bethany made this costume back in August. She is so creative!  She wore the juice box on Halloween night.

 Barfkin, Ryan's pumpkin

 Bethany named her pumpkin Fred.

Savage Opress, Carter's pumpkin

Ryan dressed up for his friend's "sweet sixteen" party.

Remembering Zeus

Our sweet kitty passed away today.  We only had him for for about 16 months.  We knew he was going to die about one week before he did so we had lots of time to say goodbye.  Last night he was so tired and I just held him for a long time  and stroked his soft ears.  Zeus was uncomfortable for the first time this morning so we said a prayer that he could go to kitty heaven soon.  He died while we were at church.  It's been really hard on the kids watching their frisky kitty turn into a sad tired kitty.  After having a good cry Bethany was able to realize Zeus was free from his tired body.  We will be getting a new kitten soon because we love furry critters and realize there is a whole building of cats and dogs at our shelter waiting for a home.

We will remember Zeus as being a teeny tiny kitten that Bethany found in the bushes after a summer storm.  He loved to chase mittens stuffed with bouncy balls especially if the mittens were red!  Zeus loved to jump and climb.  As a very young kitten he would climb up our crab apple tree and do a flip off the trunk.  Carter said he was doing park our.  Zeus once climbed into Bethany's closet and knocked the games down waking her up.  He loved to hide behind furniture and bushes and pounce on people.  Zeus hunted pretty birds all summer.  We wished he wasn't so good at that.

Zeus snuggled with people on his own terms.  He would let us pick him up but would never stay if you sat down with him.  He loved having his fur brushed especially on his cheeks.   The best time to snuggle with Zeus was when he was asleep.  He would forget that proper cats don't need humans and chirp a sleepy hello and let us pet his tummy.  Zeus liked to hide under my bed.  When I took a nap I would wake up to a furry ball nestled beside me. He liked to be wherever the family was gathered.
We will miss you Zeus!

San Rafael Swell

We camped in the beautiful San Rafael Swell for fall break.  Scott loves the desert and visited San Rafael in August. He had a wonderful time and wanted to share it with us.  I was struck by the fantastic stone formations in shades of peach, white, brown, green and purple.  The towering cliffs gave us welcome shade in the afternoon but even so the the temperature was very moderate.   I love this area for it's solitude even during the busy fall break.  The San Rafael Reef is my new favorite camping spot.  The best part about desert camping in the fall is that everything is dry!  No muddy tents or wet chairs. Our children have really grown up and were delightful to be with on this trip.  We had no incidents of red hot fire sticks being waved around, no meltdowns and best of all no arguing! The kids were good sports about hiking and once they got into the narrow canyons they really enjoyed themselves.

Crack Canyon.  We camped about a half mile from here and could see the beautiful cliffs from our tent site.

Hiking Crack Canyon

It takes a strong man to walk a little dog.  

The "subway" in Crack Canyon.

Ryan and Bethany's favorite part of our vacation was exploring Goblin Valley State Park.  They loved climbing all the crazy hoodoos.

Entering Ding Canyon.

 Ding Canyon has gorgeous slot canyons with swirls of color.  Carter and I thought it was best place we explored.  I loved the sensation of being between snug stone wall and seeing the blue sky way up high.

We dragged our dog up this canyon not really expecting that the kids would want to go very far, but they got excited and just kept hiking. Scott had to lift Ringo up and over several obstacles but Ringo seemed to take it with his usual good humor.  I'm sure everyone thought we were torturing our poor dog.