Halloween 2023! ☺

We debated about attending the ward Trunk or Treat, since the weather was bad, but they moved it all indoors, so we went for it.  There was also a chili and cornbread cookoff, which I did not intend to enter.  I did make two pans of cornbread to contribute to the meal, one from scratch (but with masa flour instead of cornmeal, which was a mistake) and one from a box mix with some unmeasured honey squirted in before baking.  The judging was still going on when I dropped them off, so I guess they got judged, and my box/honey cornbread won first place!  Ha ha!  The best part was the adorable trophy.

Tessa and Caytie carved pumpkins for a youth activity, and Benson painted one for a Primary Activity, but he wanted to carve one, too, so Ben helped make that happen.  We saved the seeds and roasted them for the first time in a couple years, and they were delicious!

My preschoolers were adorable for our party.  (For the first time I had a family opt out of our festivities, due to personal beliefs about the wickedness of Halloween.)

The pumpkins:

The Trick-or-Treaters

Benson made his "cereal killer" costume and thought it was hilarious.  (It was. ☺)  This may be the last year that Ben accompanies the group??

Caytie and her friends Kate, Keren, and Abby

Notably missing is Tessa, who was on a band contest trip at the Alamodome in San Antonio.  We saved candy for her.

The haul, which amazes me every year:

Meanwhile, Gracie and Emma (and Kaitlyn!) were excited to attend their first famous Roper Halloween Party!!  (Scott was there too, but he had attended last year.)  Gracie's grapes were pretty impressive.

These two were just adorable.

Emma was a big help to get the party ready, including clearing out the garage for a haunted house!

Westley and Buttercup, the hosts:

Gracie's apartment friends got into the Halloween spirit, too.

It's the great pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

We're thankful for a great October.

"I'm so glad we live in a world where there are Octobers." L. M. Montgomery

Bella has become super cuddly, especially in the evenings.  I think she may be missing Emma, but she's filling in her gaps with the rest of us.

This lizard trying to hitch a ride is going to be a little disappointed.

Gracie found this painting called "Jesus and the Angry Babies" at the BYU book store, and we all think it's pretty amazing.

Tessa's Etch A Sketch skills are increasing!

Emma and Gracie hiked the Y--at night!

Emma and Grandma went to Scott's diving class to take pictures and videos.  Impressive!

Emma has also been making the rounds to everyone's homes, and got to hold this beauty at Devan's.

Caytie got selected to join the National Honor Society!

Gracie found Cosmo!

Band competitions are in full swing.  Tessa's band is doing really well!

Also--I started seeing a chiropractor for my tailbone.  I couldn't sit for more than 30 minutes (church, driving, computer work, watching the band, etc.) without my tailbone starting to ache, and having really, really sharp pain when I'd stand up.  We'll see if it helps!

 

Fall Break 2023! (Why am I labeling everything with the year??)

This sunrise was from a few days before, but it represents how early and lovely it was on the morning that Emma and I squeezed into her fully-loaded car and began the pilgrimage to Utah.  We thankfully had mostly perfect weather (except for some rain in southern Utah and in the canyon just before getting into Utah Valley) and there was no construction or major accidents.  Just the way we like it!  We drove to Farmington the first day, stayed in a hotel, and made the rest of the way to Orem the next day.

Emma was so kind to wait to begin this new phase of her life until after we went on our cruise, so she could help with preschool and the other kids at home.  But she was pretty ready to jump into this new adventure!

We arrived to the welcoming arms of G and G Roper, and Emma had her things unloaded and basically set up her room in the next hour.  

We were happy to have dinner with Scott, Kaitlyn, and Gracie a couple times while I was there.  I also took a walk to the Orem Cemetery to see my grandparents' grave.

I went to UVU with Emma and Gracie (and Scott and Kaitlyn met us there) to a devotional by David Butler.  I'm a regular listener to his "Don't Miss This" Come, Follow Me podcast, so I was excited to go, but it was for sure geared for college students, so I refrained from getting in the picture with the girls.

Emma and I met up with Gracie at her work, and then went took her grocery shopping, then clothes (and baby gift) shopping.

Then we were able to go to the hospital to meet my brand new niece, Ayla.

She is absolutely adorable, and we were grateful Carl and Jennie let us come by before I had to leave the next day.

We ended the day with dinner at Brick Oven, since it was the 13th.  Scott and Kaitlyn went on their first date to Brick Oven on the 13th of January, and they celebrate in some way every month.  (That is a very good place for a first date, in my humble opinion.)

The next day was overcast, which was unfortunate because there was an eclipse happening!  We kept watch, and when the sun would pop out from the clouds, we tried to take pictures of it.

Emma got this picture through the eclipse glasses we were using.

Ben sent us this picture he got with his camera.  It was incredibly cool, but it did break the camera..

Back in Utah, we enjoyed the view.  Scott was in his room, having an important conversation with Kaitlyn's parents.  We'll see what that brings. ☺  

(Gracie said this looks like an ad for the eclipse glasses.)

I had to rush off to the train station to ride up to the airport.  I discovered my credit card was missing, and I assumed (correctly) that I left it at Brick Oven.  I had another one I was able to use to buy my ticket.  Gracie was able to track it down for me later that day, and got it sent back to me, but it was a bit of an inconvenience there for a while.

Meanwhile, the kids at home were on their Fall Break.  Ben was able to do some fun things with them in the evenings, including bowling...

...and go kart racing!

This is a fun picture, because it's when they were waiting to pick me up from the airport.  I was watching them take this picture as I was walking up, and they missed me, so I came up behind them and surprised them. ☺☺☺ It was great!

Our house felt suddenly very empty when the reality of having only three kids at home settled in.  Never fear, though--we are still able to manage to fill up our time!