Monday was the tennis banquet. About half the varsity team went to state and their second doubles even made it to the semi-championships so they had a lot to celebrate. We are glad that Cali and Chey have been having such a great experience with their coaches and friends.

Tuesday Beth and Ben had karate.

Wednesday Cali and Chey had piano lessons, Ben went to the police station with the scouts and then to the art museum with Nico, Beth had piano lessons, Chey worked at the city volleyball games, and then Cali, Chey, and I watched Hocus Pocus and ate caramel popcorn for YW. Fun times!

Thursday Ben had karate; Beth, Sarah, and I went to Sarah's wedding dress fitting; then we met Dad and Ben at the elementary school for parent/teacher conferences; then we dropped Beth off at karate; Kevin finished off the day with stake meetings.

Friday Savannah worked late and then met up with her friends from her freshman year (the Savvy Seven) for a birthday party and reminiscing. Cali and Chey went to a surprise party and then to another house for games. Kevin and I went out to eat, bought Ben some shoes, and went to the bookstore.

Saturday Ben and Kevin worked on their pinewood derby car. Ben also climbed our tree.

Bethany got to go to Lagoon with some friends.  Lucky, lucky girl! She also saw her favorite YouTuber there so her day was made!

Calianne babysat in the morning and got a new phone in the afternoon. That night, Cali and Chey went to the Stake Dance (Halloween themed) and dressed up as Dinosaurs with their friend Larissa.

Sarah and I visited all of the craft stores in Orem and bought flowers for her wedding. We are pretty proud of ourselves since we went from being overwhelmed and clueless to having a solid plan. Go us!

Kevin had a crazy week but finally got some hours Saturday night to finish the chapter he's been working on all week for his book.  That gave him some measure of peace. He is a very hardworking man and we love him!

Benjamin had his last flag football game on Monday. He did great and even got to run with the ball for a couple of plays! He's had a great time.

We only had three days of school this week. Thursday and Friday were Fall Break!! Sarah and Mariah got the days off, too, from UVU and DSU! Savannah did not at BYU. :(  Still, we managed to have some fun times.

On Thursday, Chey, Cali, Beth, Ben, and I went to McDonald's and then to Nickel City! Fun times!

On Friday, we left at two and went to the Red Barn in Santaquin for apple cider doughnuts and to enjoy their Fall Festival. So, while Savannah took a finance test at BYU, the rest of us explored the corn maze, ziplined, went down slides, rode the pedal cars, petted the farm animals, and even shot the apple cannon. It was a beautiful fall day. On the way home, we picked up some pizza. We even shared with Savannah. :)

Saturday, everyone seemed to go different directions with other friends. Sarah had some time to go hiking up the canyon with me. Mariah and Ben didn't have any plans that night, so Kevin and I took them to Cracker Barrel where we found about a million people eating dinner before the BYU football game. Kevin, Mariah, Chey, Cali, and Ben watched the game until midnight, but in the comfort of our living room. Go Cougs! It was a fun fall break.

Benjamin had karate, scouts, guitar, football practice, and a football game this week. We had a COLD week, so watching Ben's football game was not so much fun, but he still seemed to have a great time playing it!

Bethany had karate, piano, and activity days where they made Halloween decorations. I'm still hoping she puts them up in our house soon! She had some friends over Friday evening and had an impromptu white-elephant party. Saturday, she spent with Grandma, helping her shop and get her house ready for Sarah's bridal shower.

Cali and Chey had some basketball open-gym practices and also attended their first ultimate frisbee club meeting. They said it was fun and they learned some new moves. This weekend they had a pre-season basketball tournament. They both played JV1 and had a lot of fun being back on the court for a few games!

Mariah had a race Saturday in Cedar City! Since it was relatively close and since we wanted to have Mariah here for the bridal shower, I went down and watched her run before scooping her up and bringing her home for the weekend. My dad came up to watch her run, too, and my sister, Maggie, and her family, since they live in Cedar came to the meet as well! What a lot of support! It was a beautiful day and so fun to visit with family while we watched Mariah.

Sarah's friend, Allyson, gave her a bridal shower on Saturday! She did a great job and we all had a lot of fun. We played some fun games, shared funny stories about Sarah, and opened presents. There was a nice mix of new friends from her YSA ward, family, and past women leaders who love her. Sarah decided it was just like having a birthday party and since she hasn't had one of those in years, it was a hoot!

Savannah had a good week. She worked and went to school but also went out with a friend from work Friday night and on Saturday went with Sarah and McKay to see Divine Comedy at BYU. She also told great stories about Sarah at the bridal shower and gave Sarah "the world's smallest vacuum" from Funfinity. Gotta love it!

This weekend we packed up and went to Idaho! So did every one of Val's kids from Boise and St. George and even Oregon . . . and Val didn't know we were coming! Maria organized a surprise party for Val's 75th Birthday, which is next month. She knew what he wanted was a visit from all his kids. So we all came! We congregated at Matt's house and it was so fun! He was so surprised. We love that Grandpa!

We ate great food and the cousins played and the rest of us talked. We hadn't all been together for a lot of years. That night all of us who didn't head home or live in the area slept at Grandpa's house. This meant we got treated to a Grandpa breakfast the next morning, too! We had a great time.

Otherwise, before our trip to Idaho, our week was pretty typical. Ben played a football game, but tennis is over for the twins, so we just had karate and piano and pack meeting and young women's. The twins did have me drive them to some soccer games and the Friday football game as spectators. They couldn't just STAY HOME **GASP**!

It was the first week of the month, so I did accounting most of the week. The weather has cooled off and the leaves are changing. It's a beautiful time of year.