Halloween was on Monday this week! On Sunday after dinner we carved pumpkins! Ben didn't dress up this year. Beth and her friends dressed all in black with black beanies. They looked like jewelry thieves! Beth went to her friends' houses to do Halloween stuff and Ben did the same. He went to Kyler's. That left Kevin and I all alone in the house! That was a little too spooky for us so we went out to eat and left the jack-o-lanterns in charge.

On Tuesday night, Cali and Chey came back to their old beds to spend the night so that they could go to an early temple appointment with Beth and Ben and dad on Wednesday morning! I had to work, but I made them some pancakes before they left. They all had a great time and I think its so neat they wanted to do that together!

On Thursday evening we got a great surprise! Mariah came home to visit for the weekend! On Friday, she and Megan and Sarah went to the Pinners conference in Sandy and they had a really fun time together! On Saturday morning, Mariah ran in the Angels and Devils 5K which is a fundraiser put on by her high school's cross country team. She got some prizes! And had fun reconnecting with some teammates and her coach! Her dad ran too. He's so supoortive!

Also on Saturday morning, Bethany and Benjamin had a karate tournament. Bethany hurt her back during kumite and didn't have the best tournment experience this time around. Benjamin, though, won second place in forms and first in kumite! Pretty cool. All those kids work so hard. It's fun to watch them!

Saturday evening, one of our friends from our old Brookside ward organized a "friendsgiving" reunion for people who moved out of the ward but all still love each other! It was such fun. We had to put names to kids who are now two feet taller than when we saw them last! We talked and talked and got caught up on people's lives. It was really special. I'm so glad we could be part of it and that it happened!