Sophie Ann Goulding, you are hereby called to serve...
After
the afternoon session of Conference on Saturday we drove to Lehi to Scott and
Tammy's to watch Sophie open her mission call!!! The Gouldings drove out from
Elko that very day to be there for it, except for Alivia who couldn't get work
off at Papa Murphy's. Wa Waaaaaa. We all waited anxiously as she read UKRAINE!
Romney was freaking out because it is Russian speaking. Oh man, the joy on all
their faces was too priceless that I started snapping photos right and left.
She leaves January 30th to the Spain MTC, also the same one that Romney went
to. So now they can be Russian speaking buddies.
All
the kids were running a muck in the Aaron's backyard and it was awkward. Ava
google'd the nearest park, which was only a mile away. We hurried outta there
so the kids could play without the stress of damaging someone's home. Ashley
was sick at home (she caught a nasty bug in INDIA) so I had the Taylor kids in
our van. The whole way to the park Solly kept saying, "Bye-bye, bye-bye,
bye-bye." Granny was in Lindsey's car but said she was too chilly so while
we all chatted she sat in the car. But those of
us who got out to visit had the grandest time. I do not see my sisters enough!
So so enjoyable.
The boys were all off at Priesthood together. Cade came and got his kids
while the guys were at dinner and then met them for a movie afterwards. I gotta
admit, I do not like this tradition (just the movie part). Dad
is a big boy and can make his own decisions but when I see them passed out from
exhaustion the next day during Conference I wonder if I should put my foot down
on having Gray go. Hmmmm. You can picture how Conference went exactly I am
sure. The monkey bread, the Halloween decorations being drug out. It is OCTOBER.
Graham remembered when we first got the Halloween houses. He said they went on a scavenger hunt and at the end they were all lit up in in our closet. I didn't remember that and was happy that he has a fond memory of that. He said, "I couldn't stop staring at them!" Sometimes it feels like only bad memories will be remembered, maybe that is why I blog.
Callie's letter to Mallerie had me chuckling. She is insistent that it was HER idea for Mallerie to bring a Colorado flag. Oh, and Poe started doing the strangest thing. She stares at this same spot on the patio. It is sort of freaky.
MARY POPPINS!!! October 4th-14th 2018 WHS
The only interaction I had with the cast was when they would come in to get dinner during practice so it was hard to tell who played what. I learned one of my Laurels had the roll of Mrs Banks! When the parents were told they could pop in to the dress rehearsal, I didn't want to ruin anything. I wanted to go to the play for the first time with fresh eyes so decided I would not go in. Then curiosity got the best of me and I decided to sit in for "Step in Time." That is the number that they had worked the hardest on. Ava had to learn to tap! Seeing it all come together with the music, and dancing, and special effects (Bert walked on the ceiling!) brought tears to my eyes. I couldn't help it. It was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen. That number stole the show every single night. Chills!
K and G slept over after the play on Thursday night and Matt worked from home on Friday. I am used to having the house to myself during the
day so it felt like Grand Central Station. Matt took me to lunch and got me a big
ol burger from Wasatch Back Grill. He said, "Do you have any
errands?" We went to Wal Mart and the Dollar Store. Where else are ya gonna go
in this town? We did go to the UPS store to mail Mallerie a GPS.
Matt took Graham
to his first BYU football game that night. I kept forgetting that they
were going to go and then Graham would bring up how excited he was. The next
morning he told me, "That is the most fun I have had in my whole life!"
He couldn't believe there were THAT many people in BYU gear. He was with his
people.
On Saturday Matt took the kids on a tour of the Frito Lay plant, I
attended Super Saturday. It was so awkward how few people were there. It seems
like nowadays people are just so dang busy. I remember back in the Timp Meadows
Ward when the gym was full of sisters doing projects and visiting. Whaddyado?
Grandma Donna came the next week. It is hard for her to drive at night so Matt picked her up in Orem and they enjoyed dinner before the play. It was so special to have her there. She was blown away at the Broadway quality of the show. Her words.
I worked consessions some nights. I didn't realize all the parent volunteering that is necessary to put on a play! In hindsight Ava should have gotten my permission before even trying out. Hehe.
The director is a no fuss, all business kind of all. I felt like she got some undue slack because of this. From both the cast and the parents. I realized early on that maybe my roll was to defend her, and defend her I did! Matt pointed out that most genius's are a little different. "The Director is a genius," he said. No wonder I relate to her;)
More family came to see the play on closing night: Sadie and girls, Lindsey and Paisley, and Shafer and Lindsey. It seems like it just kept getting better and better the
longer it went on! Dad, Callie, and I spread out
so we could point out to the family where Ava was during the play.
The Goldings are play
experts and were SO impressed. Alivia said, "If the plays in Elko were
like that I might even want to be in them." There were lots of tears
afterwards in the lobby from the cast and parents as such a grand event came to
a close.
It will be a while before we get these Poppins show-tunes out of our heads. I was singing, "Feed the birds..." Grayson interrupted me, "Don't sing that one, that is the worst one! It is going to get stuck in my head now." Later he came to ask me, "Well at least tell me what comes next so I know." Haha, apparently it was stuck in HIS head too.
The Gouldings stayed over till Sunday. Matt had meetings all day so Sadie and I made Baja
Chicken Tacos and then I pulled out to-die-for chocolate cupcakes (that I
made for Minor's Retreat). We all learned one is not enough...two is too many! I was
chubby/tired (as Ava would say) after seeing the Goulding's off so I read some Halloween books to
the babes and then passed out! Later that evening Callie was crying. Graham
explained, "She is emotional because the cousins left." Perhaps he
was expressing what he was feeling as well. Because of my late nap I could not
fall asleep last night. I thought I kept hearing the cat. Finally at mid-night
I went to investigate. She was shut up in the coat closet. That. Darn. Cat.
Biking Provo Canyon~
The Geertsen's and both
Taylor's joined in. It was such a pretty day and the leaves were so vibrant.
Matt's tires were flat by the last stretch so he had to walk his bike. I took advantage of this extra time and went all the way to Utah Lake. I just love that ride! I was so happy that I once again made the trip without falling off my bike. As I pulled up in front of Lindsey's, I saw all the boys out playing football. Graham yelled, "Mom watch this!" He lobbed the ball and instead of it heading towards the cousins it headed right towards my...head. I tried to swerve out of the way but my bike hit the curb and I rolled onto the grass. Graham came running over, "Sorry Mom! I feel so bad! I haven't felt this bad for you since Christmas Eve when you fell off the bunk bed!" 
UEA
Matt was in Chicago all week. We didn't invite ourselves along this time...though you know I thought about it! That would have been a very long car ride and even taking the train would have still been pricey, (yes I looked into it;) So that left us on our own to figure out fall break.
We
started off our UEA break by seeing to The Stray on Wednesday
evening. It is a local production that was shot in this valley and it was
playing on Main Street. It's a pretty emotionally charged movie. Graham is a tender guy
and was putting his face down after the movie. I told him, "That
movie made me cry." I just want him to know it's OK to cry and feel. Graham and Callie also thought it was fun to see JR Smith Elementary School featured in
the movie. It was so great to leave only five-minutes before the movie started, pull
up right in front of the theater, be the first in line for popcorn and tickets,
and get to have our choice of seats! I for one will be devastated if our goofy
theater ever goes out of business.
On
Thursday the kids painted the pumpkins that didn't have time to turn orange before
the cold hit, and played in the leaves on the lawn; both were appropriate fall
activities. The leaves were so pretty blowing around and crunching under foot
that I didn't want to rake them. I loved turning onto our street, which looked so serene with the leaves blowing across the road.
On Friday we went to the Pumpkin Patch in Orem that was formerly Vinyard Gardens. The wind had picked up so we had the place to ourselves. Two kids were leaving as we got there, and a few more came as we left, but that was it. It was so blustery that my teeth were gritty from all the dirt blowing around. I couldn't believed the babes wanted to stay and that they genuinely seemed to be having a good time. Good for them! I don't know how many more years they will enjoy this type of thing and they are fun to watch.
They wanted me to go on the tractor ride with them but I assured them my knees would be hitting my chin if I tried to cram myself into one of the barrels. Since Graham and Callie were the only ones riding, the guy just kept going and going! I was laughing, the babes were laughing, "How long is this going to go on?" Finally the tire blew on the BYU car that Graham was riding in. Only then did the guy stop. BYU Blew.
Seriously, we had the place to ourselves. Oh wait, is that somebody? Nope, it's just my finger over the lens.
We also hit Costco and hung out at the mall. We haven't seen the new play area yet, which my kids have basically outgrown. I saw moms with overflowing strollers and crying toddlers and I felt like I had no business there. No business.
Our last stop was at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory for our annual caramel apples. They seemed like a rip-off till I tried to make them myself. Okay, they are still a bit of a rip-off but oh-so-good. The evening was downright frigid.
Grayson opted out of our adventures while Ava worked the Harry Potter train. I got a fun photo from ChyAyn who was on Ava's very train with her daughter Jane. (It looks like someone gave Doby a good punch to the face doesn't it?)
Matt and I filled in at the Baptistry in Provo one Saturday. It
is sort of an all day thing by the time you get ready, drive down there,
change, go to prayer meeting, work the four-hour shift, change again, drive
home. Seven hours. It was neat to see that side of things though and how many
workers it really does take to run the temple and that was just the baptistry!
One of the ladies we ate dinner with said that her son also served his mission
in Co Co. She said, "Now he wants to live there." Must be amazing!
Callie sang beautifully in church with about five other Activity Day girls and Beehives. During Sacrament meeting I got a text that showed Mallerie was doing the same thing at the exact same time!
Then I checked my email the next day to learn the now infamous story of Mallerie cracking up at the pulpit to the point she couldn't even keep going on with the song. Oh boy.
Katrina and Giuseppe came to our ward to hear Matt speak. He spoke about Temples and shared how Gma Donna got there at 6 am instead of 6 pm when Mal was endowed. It was a good meeting and the spirit was strong. I love having the chance to focus on all things spiritual on Sunday. Ava and I attended a fireside with Elaine S. Dalton. Wow. What a powerhouse she is. She has run 17 marathons, 2 of which were the Boston marathon!
Katrina brought balloons that spelled BRIDE because she had just thrown a shower for a friend. Grayson popped the B and the R and rearranged the
words into DIE, just in time for Halloween;) He also put Suzy Kim out on the
porch. It's freaky because you don't notice her right at first. We are in
full-blown Halloween mode here!
I was glad that we still had many warm days left. My favorite place was the back patio this fall. The sun warms it just right and it is a great place for a nap. My own little slice of heaven. It is a great place to chat with the kids after school. Here Callie is sewing her sock monkey's head back on. Graham likes to unload about his day after school. Fifth grade isn't great for him so far. However, there is something about letting it all out while the sun shines that seems to melt problems away.
Geertsen's Annual Halloween Party 10.28.17
Ashley came dressed as the the Trunchbull hahaha. That one was my fav. Everyone looked great, the food was great,
hearing Shafer's story was great, watching the kids dance was great. It was a
great party! It is funny to sit back and watch the little babies. I laughed
when Ollie pointed to Henry and asked Dad, "Does that talk?" Henry
just stood there with a stone face.
Family Home Evening 10.30.18
Pumpkin carving, seed roasting, mummy making, and cookie frosting. Can't you just hear "The Monster Mash in the back ground?"
I was back and forth like crazy to JR Smith on Halloween day. They do a costume parade now at 9:30 am. I debated if I should even go because the kids wore the same costumes as last year but then I pictured them having no one to wave to so I drove over. Graham was going to wear his Jurassic park costume but he said his class kept asking, "You are going to wear your Ghostbusters costume again right?" He obliged. I later went back over for Graham's class party. I brought Jerry Seinfeld's Halloween comedy bit for the class to listen to. They thought it was funny. Shafer played it at the Geertsen's and I think I laughed the hardest at Grandpa. He gets a good chuckle out of Seinfeld. I can just picture him with a red face trying to catch his breath as he slaps his knee? Ha!
I came back home to grab a handful of almonds, string cheese, and a plum (and of course a sugar cookie!) before heading back to the school for Callie's class party and Graham's circuit house display.
Graham isn't a fan of steal the chair type games and that is what went on after my story. You can tell he is just not that into it. I went into Callie's class and they were doing a cookie walk. The. whole. time. She said her number was the very last one to be called. She should have dressed as a pioneer child who walked and walked and walked.
Graham worked hard over conference weekend on his haunted graveyard. Some of the kids really went crazy with the size of their houses! Look at the kid in the middle. Ha, he's the only who noticed I was snapping a photo.
Trick or Treat!
Matt took the babes for tricks and treats while I handed out chips. Seems we had fewer trick-or-treaters than in years past. That was fine with me as I was nestled up reading Dolly's autobiography. The cat seemed real disturbed any time the doorbell rang.
Gray chose to not go trick-or-treating so he snuck the kids candy all week, which caused some drama. Graham had a stomach ache by the next Monday morning and couldn't get out of bed. I told him he couldn't possibly eat all that candy. He decided to put a bag of candy on Gray's bed with a note that Gray didn't have to steal it anymore. Ah, now that is the Halloween spirit.
