Fancy Dinners

 Brad and I went out to dinner to celebrate our anniversary again. We went to my favorite fancy steakhouse and it was delicious! They had a loaded sweet potato for fall and it was a treat. I loved it. And I got to sit by the fire. It was so nice and I was glad we got to go out together. It’s always fun to have a fancy date night!

The kids were excited to have a party at home. They ordered pizza and watched a movie. I worried that Kade might have plans tonight because Luke was so excited to be able to hang out with him. Luckily he didn’t have plans, or he may have said no to his plans, and he was happy to hang out with all his siblings! Luke was so happy!

Breaks from Electronics

 Ryder and Luke had such a productive day today. It probably helped that I told them yesterday that we were going to go a week without electronics. We just need a break! They didn’t complain much because they recognized the need for a break as well. We should probably take a break for a whole month! But, for now, I’ll be grateful for a week.

This morning they made scrambled eggs and sausage for breakfast all on their own. They got a workout in and got ready for the day. Then completed school and practiced the piano all by lunchtime! They made themselves fancy drinks for snack time and then they decided to sew bandanas tonight! I’m excited to see what else they’ll do this week with all their free time!

21 Years with Brad

 Brad and I celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary today! I feel so old when I realize that I’ve been married for 21 years! Time really does go by so quickly. We met up for lunch this afternoon and my favorite bistro. It was so delicious! He brought flowers home for me and I made him a steak dinner. He actually walked in right when I was dealing with a huge grease fire on the grill. I’ve never dealt with one of those before. He may have quite possibly save our house from burning down! So I transferred the steak to the oven and thankfully it still turned out delicious! I’ve been making him meals for 21 years and I’m still burning things! And he’s still cleaning up my messes. We’re perfect for each other!

Tenley’s Artwork and Luke’s Hustle

 Luke found a cute little notebook but it was covered in pink flowery paper so he asked Tenley to redecorate it for him. She went above and beyond with her amazing artwork. She put his name on the back and in the front she drew a picture of Legend Glasker from the BYU football team and Rob Wright III from the BYU basketball team. Luke loved it!

Luke had a basketball game tonight. He hustled so hard! His team did end up losing but I think he still had fun!

The Never Ending Story

 We watched one of my all time favorite childhood movies tonight, The Never Ending Story. Luke and Ryder had never seen it. They didn’t seem bored but Ryder did comment several times on how old the movie is! He’s used to better movie effects I suppose. But they enjoyed it!

Brad finished building two of his trees for his Christmas light display. They look great!

Temple and Priesthood Preparation

 Brad and I got to join Ryder in a special class to help him prepare for the temple and the priesthood. Starting in January he’ll be able to serve at the temple and he’ll receive the Aaronic priesthood. He’s excited for these new responsibilities in life and I know he’ll do great with them and he’ll love them! It’s crazy to see my little boys reach these milestones! 

Lights

 The boys worked on putting more lights up outside tonight. They used the lights on the house so they could work even when it got dark since it gets dark so early! Luke was really excited to decorate the basketball hoop with lights. They made it look so good!

Hunting and Basketball

 Brad and Kade went hunting today. The mountains were beautiful they said but they didn’t find a deer. They made it home in time for dinner and for Kade to head to the last home football game of the season.

Luke had his first basketball game of the season tonight! He was so excited to play. The team played great and won!

Luke’s Builds

 Luke found an instruction book for different builds to do with his magnet blacks a few days ago. It has kept him busy! He’s built a lot of fun things with them. Today he built a ball! It was the trickiest build yet and broke twice after he built it but he kept trying and finally got it to work!

Outdoor Movies

 It gets so dark so early now. I’m just not a fan of daylight savings… but Ryder and Luke had the idea to watch a movie on the back patio tonight. Instead of setting up the projector they just took out the laptop, their minky blankets, and their hot pads and watched a movie together. They had a blast! 

Elder Wahlin

 We had the elders over for dinner tonight. Elder Langston has left already but Elder Whalin came over with Elder Andersen. He used to serve in our ward and he actually goes home this weekend so it was really fun to see him one more time! Honestly my favorite thing about having the elders over is the great example they are for my kids. They’re the best!

Elder Andersen and Elder Langston

 Our Elders came over to say goodbye today because transfers are this week. We are so sad to be losing them both!! Kade especially has gotten along well with them and enjoyed knocking doors with them several times. They’re the best missionaries and we will miss them!

Safe Travels

 I know I’ve been grateful for safe travels so many times over the years but it always feels good to get home safely from a long road trip. Especially when it rains the whole drive like it did today. We hydroplaned more than I wanted to count but thankfully we stayed on the road and so did the cars around us.

We’re happy to be home and we’re so happy for the fun memories we made this weekend!

BYU Football

 We got an early start today and headed straight to the BYU bookstore! The kids got to pick out a souvenir. Then we walked to the stadium and enjoyed some tailgating and cheering the players on as they walked into the stadium. The kids played games and got their faces painted. Ryder and Luke did a dead hang for over a minute to win earbuds and a speaker! We ran into friends from Montana and some old friends from dental school in Indiana. The game was good and we stayed dry and warm. We weren’t sure how much we’d get rained on but luckily it wasn’t bad at all. 

After the game we walked down to high five the players as they walked around the stadium. Then we made the long walk across campus again. As we walked past the bell tower we noticed Cosmo so we stopped for pictures and had Cosmo sign the boys’ hats. They told us some players would be coming to ring the victory bell so we stayed and waited for that. One of the players ended up being Legend Galsker. It was exciting for the kids to meet him and ring the bell. 

We took the kids to The Brick Oven for dinner. It was so delicious. And then we begged Brad to take us to the creamery one more time! It’s such good ice cream.

We drove by the new Provo temple that is still under construction and we drove by the MTC. We saw a lot of missionaries in classes together. Then we headed back to the hotel. We were all exhausted! But we had the best day.