Sunday we celebrated Sarah's birthday! It was her golden birthday. She turned 25 on the 25th! She seems to be so happy with her life and moving in the direction of her dreams and accomplishing great things. We are very happy for her! We ate outside at our house and had cake and candles and presents. Sarah even came early to play games because she loves games! We all had a great time.

Monday there was no school! Benjamin took off for his friend, Boston's, house early in the morning. Bethany wanted to go shopping for Halloween decorations, so we brought the neighborhood friends with us. After I brought Ben home after his guitar lesson, they decided they wanted to make a spa in our fireplace room. It was full of details! They had candles and relaxing music, footbaths and massagers. I thought, "Yay! Imaginative play lives on!" They had a lot of fun.

Tuesday I had orientation for my new job. It was all general guidelines and paperwork. Kevin helped out at home by getting the kids to karate when orientation ran late into the afternoon.

Wednesday the kids had youth activities for church. Ben went to the temple with the young men and Beth and I put lunches together for the community action center in Provo.

Thursday I had my first day on the job. I got to know the girls and the job a little bit. I like the potential for friendships and that I'm done so early in the day! Sarah and Avery came over to sew with Savannah while the kids were still at school and I had a great time playing with her and talking with my girls. Beth and Ben started a second hour of class for karate just with the black belts. They both really liked it and are excited about the challenge.

On Friday, Mariah came to visit!! Actually, she came down for a mission reunion Friday evening, but we loved seeing her during the day. I was babysitting Avery while Sarah was at the temple when she arrived so she got to spend time with Avery, too! A little later, Cheyenne came for the weekend, and Chey, Mariah, Kevin, and I went to Bethany's cross country meet. She did great and it was fun to see her surprise at seeing Mariah! After her mission reunion, Kevin drove her back to St. George and he took a bus back to us on Saturday. What a nice dad!

On Saturday, we started watching General Conference. Yay, Conference! Calianne joined us for the second session and Sarah came over for hamburgers afterward. Then we all watched the 3rd session together. Fun times! Sarah got Savannah and I and Beth to play a game with her afterwards before the neighborhood friends came over for some night games.

Also, Kevin mowed the lawn between 2nd and 3rd and found a tarantula. It was pretty exciting.