Halloween 2023

 For the first time in 5 years, someone has NOT dressed up like spiderman.  It's a record!  I couldn't talk Tommy into it.  He insisted on being a ninja.  Drew was a convict... and his props were handcuffs and a crowbar.  Dallin's costume arrived the day before because we couldn't agree on WHICH hazmat costume was appropriate.  The "zombie hazmat guy" was pretty graphic.  In the end, he would only wear the mask in the official picture, but not anywhere else.  Lastly, Anna dressed up as Cruella.  I do not think she's too old, and as long as she wants to wear a costume and participate, I'll let her.

The ward sponsored the chili cookoff and trunk-or-treat the Saturday before.  It's fun to get a candy-warmup.  It was a little cold outside, so everything got moved inside, except for the trunks of course.  Tuesday was Halloween night and we were rushing to get out the door and work the neighborhood.  Anna broke off with Azure and stayed out about an hour longer.  The rest of us did our usual route, making sure to hit those houses making fresh donuts.  Mmmmmm.  It was a cold night, though, and the boys were anxious to get home and roll in their candy.  We'll see if it can last longer than a month this time!

Fall Break... -ish

We didn’t have much of a “fun” fall break this year. This was partly because we were in St. George the weekend before (for Bevan’s marathon) and also because both Bevan and I had to work during the week. I’m also really ticked at the school district for having a fall break that lasted 11 DAYS! Really?! Of course the kids are going to get bored eventually. How do you keep them occupied for 11 days?! Fortunately the weather was nice and they were able to play outside with those few friends that did not go out of town. I dragged them on a hike to Stewart Falls one afternoon, when I wasn’t working. Ya know, just so I’d have some material to blog-post about. It was very pretty and the kids were all good little hikers… for the most part. I had to bribe them with ice cream for when we finished. And now, Bevan has a fall break for the next 2 weeks! Oh, why can’t all our breaks ever line up?

And now, please enjoy some pictures of the only fun thing we did for fall break. Did I mention it was 11 days long?

St. George Marathon

 It’s been amazing to see how determined and focused Bevan can be when it comes to running. He’s always had the goal of the “sub-3-hour” marathon and this time he was going to get it!

The hardest part of the entire weekend was actually getting OUT of Utah County. The traffic was horrible, but with some creative frontage roads and a dinner pizza to-go, we made it to St. George with only 45 minutes before the expo closed. Phew! Our motel was super close to Worthen Park, so we were able to take a walk down there and check it out before bedtime. It made it super convenient for Bevan to slip out the next morning at 3:30am. Why don’t we do this every time? The kids and I strolled down there after cereal and motel waffles to watch him cross the finish line. He actually came in sooner than I thought, so I didn’t have my camera quite ready. Rats. He did so well though! 2:53 was faster than any of us had guessed! The kids took off for the playground while Bevan and I wandered around for the next 45 minutes, eating, drinking, and getting a leg compression message. He pushed himself hard, so he felt awful, but says it was worth it. Okay! Later on, we tried to take the kids to the Children’s Museum, but it was closed for the race. Instead we played at the splash pad, rode the carousel, hiked the slots at Pioneer Park, swam in the hot tub at the motel (because the pool was freezing!), and ate at the pasta factory. Bevan did plenty of resting, but knew he would be feeling it the next day.

The next day, he was feeling it! I drove the entire way home while he slept off and on. Luckily it was a beautiful day with no traffic. It really was a great weekend and Bevan is already excited about Boston 2025! Hopefully his 3 toenails will grow back by then…