Storybook Parade

It was nice to attend the kids storybook parade again!! This year it was outdoors and really quite nice. It was easy to leave once I saw my kiddos and me and my mom went to breakfast afterwards!! The 1st graders have to pick a Dr. Seuss character. Benny picked from a Gox (Jackson's costume from 1 Fish 2 Fish Red Fish Blue Fish) or a Which What Who (Ivy's costume from If I Had Duck Feet). He picked the Gox... I mean, with boxing gloves its pretty much a no brainer. Ivy had to pick a leader from a book she has read or is reading and she chose Amelia Earhart. It was a great morning!

 

Carving Pumpkins

I bought pumpkins a little early this year and they sat and sat and sat on our front porch for days. It was almost looking like we weren't ever going to be able to carve them!! Our lives have been so busy!! But the Thursday before Halloween, Ivy had a game that night, but the forecast expected some crazy storm so everything extracurricular was cancelled. It was a nice break!! An evening that we had nothing planned. So we carved those pumpkins finally!! Even toasted seeds this year at Jacksons request. Yes, Daniel's pumpkin is one big hole... it was failed attempt at an alligator and we insisted he at least put eyes on it to make it a face and he equally insisted that he not. 

 

Jackson's gone fishing...

 Football ended for Jackson. He tried out for the school volleyball team but didn't make it. I was very proud of him for trying out and I think he'll have a good shot on the team next year if he decides to try out again. But both Porter and Saylor did make the team, which I am sure wasn't easy for him. What better way to cheer yourself up? Why, going fishing of course. Jackson was dead-set to hit the water every day after school to fish. He even offered to take Benny and Crew one day!! We love and encourage this hobby. It's slowed down a little now, but it's fun to see him out on the lake doing what he loves.  

Progress on the House

Here are some recent pictures of the new house! It'll stay like this for awhile. Most of what is going on now is all inside... plumbing, electrical, HVAC, low voltage. Until we get our windows in we can't continue anything on the exterior. We ordered our windows back in May, by the way. Before we even had our construction loan we ordered our windows because we knew they were taking a really long time. At the time, it was quite 6 months but that's where we are at right now! Super frustrating but luckily we have other projects going on around the property that are keeping us occupied. We've poured the pad for our shop and will be watching that go up. We have the gazebo, seawall, dock, and boat house on the horizon as well...

 

Back to the Temple

Our priest quorum and the senior girls youth group planned a temple trip together. I pulled a "leader card" and invited Jackson along... that's a perk I get as a leader, right? Anyhow, it was a beautiful evening and the kids had a great time. I was pleasantly surprised by Jackson's willingness to go back again (it must mean he had a good experience the first time!) He is friends with the older boys and they are good to him so it was a really nice experience together. I've been serving with these girls for almost 4 years now... that is their entire time in high school. I will be sad to see them graduate in the the spring but feel lucky and blessed to have been acquainted with them for so long. 

 

18th Anniversary

We celebrated 18 years of marriage!! Wow, 18 is really getting up there!! My mom watched the kids for us for the weekend and we took a 2 night staycation in downtown Orlando. We ate really yummy food (thank you Magical Dining!) and did some serious house shopping. We looked at paint colors, furniture, light fixtures etc.... it was a lot of fun but also exhausting!! Also, why do we always order 3 entrees? We just can't stop ourselves. Here's to 18 more!! 

Jackson's First Temple Trip

 Jackson has been eligible to go to the temple this whole year but because of Covid there have been restrictions on temple visits. Even when the temple opened up for baptisms it seemed every time we made an appointment to go we had to cancel due to football or Covid exposure or something! What's hard about planning for the temple now is that you need to snag an appointment on the very first of the of the month for the following month because they fill up so quickly. And then by the time your appointment comes, there is something else scheduled or something else comes up. So here we are... in October already, not having been able to go to the temple and we finally did it!! We actually thought we would have to reschedule again. I made the appointment for a Friday at 11:00. The kids had school off for Fall Break and it was early enough to give us the rest of the day. Well... Daniel had to work, could not get around it, some cousins had football, others had student council obligations, etc... I thought about rescheduling but NO! I wanted Jackson to go and it wasn't ever going to be perfect so we just went with it. We invited some other friends on a whim and we ended up having the most wonderful experience. It was truly a great, beautiful day. Not how I expected but wonderful nonetheless. 

Grandpa Comes to Visit!!!

Grandpa and Wendy came to visit us the first week of October. The kids were very excited to play cards and have them watch all their games. The weather was beautiful and we had a great time together. We played a lot of card games, some basketball, we went to Benny's soccer game and Jackson's football game, we went out to eat, stayed home to eat, walked in the neighborhood and of course, went to Wild Florida. Actually, the only time I pulled out my camera was when we were at Wild Florida so those are the only pictures I have. I let Ivy and Benny skip school and come with us so it was a real treat! It was a great visit and we can't wait for them to come back!!

(here the kids are prepping for the card playing)