September highlights

 

I went to Swiss Days with Brekke on Friday September 2nd.  I look forward to it every year! We had the best time talking, laughing, and shopping. It was fun running into my cousins Wright and Steph. 

We went on a group date on Friday September 9th.  It was fun to hang out with several couples from our old neighborhood! We ate dinner and Chubbys and then went canoeing on the Jordan River. 

Addy had her parent teacher conference on Tuesday September 20th. Her teacher only had good things to say about her. We are happy that she loves school and gets good grades.  We took this picture of her with the school mascot which is a raptor. I can't believe she is our only kid still in elementary school. 

I was in charge of our ward RS activity on Thursday September 22nd. We had a temple walk at the new Saratoga Springs temple. It is so close to be finished and I can't wait! They even had taken down the temporary fence and we were able to get an up close look of the stained glass and gardens.

On Sunday September 25th Kev and I drove the Alpine loop.  I really wanted to see the Fall colors.  We stopped at Cascade Springs and walked around. 

On Friday September 30th was Kev's Friday off from work. We headed down to Provo for some errands. We had lunch at Burger Supreme and then went and drove to Squaw Peak. The leaves were beautiful! Fall will always be my favorite season in Utah!

Soldier Hollow Race

 

The boys had a mountain biking race at Soldiers Hollow on Saturday September 17th.  It was our first time at this venue and it was beautiful. 

Hayden had his race in the morning. Parker walked with him to the staging area. 

He also took pictures of Hayden with my Cannon camera.

There was a lot of steep uphill climbs on this course which made it challenging. 

Hayden was happy that Grandpa Ken and Grandma Sue were able to come to his race. 

We had some time in between the boys races so we drove over to see the Calderwoods. Cody and Kristin were out of town but we got to hang out with Aubrey and Cole. We still can't get over how much Aubrey looks like her mom. We were able to give Aubrey a ride to the church for her activity. 

Hayden took this picture of Kev and I at Parker's race. This is a typical sight of us waiting for our boys to fly by. 

Hayden also took picture of Parker riding by. I love the big grin he has on his face. 

It was cool to watch them come down through this ravine. 

All the boys had fun catching some air on this part of the course. 

It was another fun Saturday of cheering for our boys! 

We went over to the Midway cemetery with Ken and Sue after the races. It had been awhile since we visited Lisa's grave. We always think of her extra when we are in Midway.  She would have been 41 years old on the 24th.  We really miss her!! I know she would be proud of her kids and the way Cody has raised them. 

Called to Serve

 

Dad and Loni received their mission call to serve in the Chile Concepcion South Mission!  We are excited for them to have this amazing experience together! Kenna was happy to hear that her grandparents are going to serve a mission. They will even be serving at the same time she is. 

Dad and Loni had their mission farewell on Sunday September 11th. It was great to be back in my home ward in Provo. I hadn't been back there for 21 years. I didn't think I would know anyone but I was wrong. It was great to catch up with my friends parents the DeHoyas' and the Schows. It was also nice to see extended family too. My Aunt Janett, cousin Anna, and I were all wearing blue and green so we took this cute picture together. 

I enjoyed hearing both Dad and Loni speak. Dad has always been excited about serving a second mission with Loni. He served his first in Argentina and already speaks Spanish. Loni shared in her talk how she didn't always have the desire to serve a mission but she has felt inspiration and direction in this call. We took some family pictures afterwards at the luncheon at their home.  

The kids are really going to miss not seeing their grandparents for the next 18 months. Loni gave them all gifts to remember her and grandpa by. The boys got tie tacks and the girls got rings to wear. It was really sweet of them! Dad and Loni started their MTC experience in Provo on September 19th.  They spent all day there learning and then they got to go home and sleep at night since they live close by. 

We had them over for dinner at our house on Saturday September 24th. It was fun to see them wearing their missionary tags and hear about their first week at the MTC. 

We went hot tubbing after dinner. It was their first time trying it out and they enjoyed all the therapeutic massage jets.  I'm glad they were able to spend this time with just our family before they left. We all got together on Sunday October 2nd to have our traditional breakfast and watch conference together. It was hard and emotional to say our goodbyes to them. My brother Mike gave a really nice family prayer before we all left our separate ways that day. Dad and Loni flew out to Chile on Monday October 3rd. We are looking forward to hearing about their experiences in the mission field. We will really miss not having them here with us!

Boating at Jordanelle

 

My Uncle Mark invited us to go boating with him at Jordanelle on Saturday September 10th.  We were all excited!

My Uncle Mark has asked us to take care of his boat while he and my Aunt Mary Ellen serve a mission. They will be serving at the Jerusalem Center for 18 months starting in January. 

Kev was very happy about helping take care of their boat! Kev grew up boating and is a natural at the wheel. 

The water was cooler that day but that didn't stop Parker and Halle. 

They went out on the knee boards. Halle got the hang of it quickly. 

It was a beautiful afternoon to be out on the lake. 

Halle and Addy fed their sandwich bread to the birds. 

Parker loved getting the chance to drive the boat. 

Hayden looked cool wearing his new sunglasses he got for his birthday. 

Addy loved listening to music and dancing on the boat. 

Hayden also got a chance to use the knee board. The whole time we were there I kept thinking I wish Kenna was here with us. We are all looking forward to making some awesome memories next summer on the boat!

Richfield Race

 

We drove down to Richfield on Friday September 2nd for the boys pre ride. We took our camping trailer with us this time and stayed right at the venue. It was so nice to get out of bed and walk over to Hayden's race in the morning. 

It was Hayden's first time racing on this course.

It was great that he got to race before it got too hot. 

We had fun cheering for him and are glad that he did his best. 

Parker didn't race until that afternoon. The combination of heat and dust was intense. 

You can see in this picture that Parker was holding his throat as he went by us. He was having a hard time breathing. Kev ran to the end of the first lap to help him. The NICA team helped to get him breathing better and gave him some water. By the time I got over there he took off on his second lap. One of the NICA officials asked me if I was his mom. He told me how impressed he was that Parker wanted to keep going and race his second lap. 

The couple minute break really slowed him down and he was frustrated about that. 

I got this awesome picture of him catching some air in the terrain park part of the course. 

We are extra proud of Parker for his resilience and determination to finish the race!