Sarah and McKay blessed Oliver today! Oliver Ron Hatch. He wore the same blessing outfit his grandpa Kevin wore and his Uncle Ben. He looked super cute! McKay gave him a beautiful blessing and so many of his family were there who love him. (Kevin was there too but had to leave before the picture to do bishop stuff.) What a special little guy.

On Monday of this week, we carved jack-o-lanterns and everybody came over! It was super fun and we got some great pumpkins for our Halloween celebration.

Benjamin ran in the state JV race this weekend. He did great coming in third on his team and running the course in 18:30 something which broke his last PR by over 30 seconds. Way to go, Ben!

Our other big accomplishment this week was that we bought Cali's wedding dress! Megan, Mariah, Cheyenne, Chloe, and I went with her on Friday. Then Kaiya, Kenna, Sarah, and I were there on Saturday when she said yes to the dress. I can't show you the dress but here are all of us having fun with the experience!

 Megan made a video about their trip to the Redwoods and here is the link:

https://youtu.be/Be6RdMARzpE

Ben went to Sadie Hawkins this week! He went with a girl named Bella. For the day date, they carved pumpkins. That evening they had dinner at one of the girl's houses and then went to the dance. After the dance they went back to the same house and played games. He had a headache, but otherwise reported having a pretty decent time. The theme was SHS through the decades and Ben's date chose the 1950s. That was pretty fun because I got to dress my son up like James Dean!

Bethany met with her personal trainer twice this week. She likes her trainer a lot and is motivated to go. Thursday, though, she pushed so hard that she could barely walk on Friday. She was in so much pain on Saturday that she did not think she could go to work. No one could cover for her, though, so she hobbled on in. It was not a fun shift, but she did not let them down. Way to go, Beth.

Beth and Ben also had their first volleybal games this week! They are going to be doing volleyball twice a week for the next month and they are already having tons of fun. Go team!

Calianne and Richmond drove down to Tuacahn on Saturday and back the same day! They were able to represent us at my niece's bridal shower, too! Cali continues to be busy with school and mentoring work and planning her wedding with me!

Cheyenne is dating a boy named Peter and on Saturday, they went to a UVU volleyball game. They got recruited to compete during the half-time show (who could jump rope the most in 60 seconds) and Cheyenne won! (She did just run a marathon two weeks ago.) They gave her a Minky Coutre blanket! It's so nice! She also beat Peter which might have been even more fun for her. Ha ha! He was a good sport!

Savannah went on a date Friday at the Orem Mall. Afterwards, she found a great sale at Havenlight and got almost all her Christmas shopping done! Woot! Woot!

Kevin and I took our ATV up the mountain Saturday morning. It was cold and most of the leaves were gone but it was still beautiful!

So, last week, our fearless travelers successfully completed their marathon! Go team! They all said it was the hardest thing they'd ever done. It was very painful and they had to keep on running anyway. They were in pain for days afterwards as well. It was a good thing they brought Savannah as their designated driver! She ran/walked the 5K and was in a much better position to do the driving. They got into their hotel at 1am that night and woke up at 6am to drive the rest of the way home in hopes to get Chey back to coach her girls' tennis team. Unfortunately, the van overheated and they had to stop to get it checked out. Chey was an hour late but it all worked out. I was so glad that they were all back safe! There were so many people in that car that were important to me! What cool kids!

Those of us still in Springville got to eat at Sarah's and McKay's for Sunday dinner. They did a great job feeding us and we had a super time!

When Beth got back we did an exciting thing, too--we took her to the new EOS gym that was having its grand opening. We signed her up and got her a personal trainer! Health and fitness here we come!

Ben finished his third week of driver's ed classroom edition. He barely made the class on Wednesday because he got sick Monday after cross country and was out for the count for the rest of school. There was no school on Thursday and Friday so he's had time to recover and we're glad he's feeling better.

On Friday, Beth and Ben went to Lagoon!! I bought the tickets in September so Beth would like September again but then their ride (the Carter's) decided to go over Fall Break instead. Beth still had a great time. Ben started to not feel well so he took the train back to Provo in the afternoon. He is a fan of public transit.

Also on Friday, Kevin's dad came to visit! Yay! We had a great time talking and spending time with him.

On Saturday, Megan had a party for Micah. He is turning one!! Yay! What a cute boy! Megan had a "Little Pumpkin" theme which was so cute. Both families were invited to the park and it was a beautiful Fall day! We sang Happy Birthday and Micah had pumpkin pie for his birthday cake. We love that little boy and his mommy and daddy!

 This weekend, Savannah, Megan, Mariah, Kolby, Evelyn, Cheyenne, Calianne, and Bethany took the van to California for the long-awaited Marathon in the Redwoods! They are running right now so I can't give you a report on how that is going, but everything else has gone according to plan. They drove over eleven hours on Friday and picked up their cousin, Cooper, in Reno on their way to Redding, CA. The next day, they drove the rest of the way to the Redwoods to get in some sightseeing before the big event Sunday morning. I'm so impressed with all of them for undertaking this big adventure! What a great group of people!

Earlier this week, Beth and Ben had a choir concert! It is so fun to have them both in the high school choirs! They sounded so amazing. The choir director does such a great job teaching them to sing and to create music. Also, they both looked amazing! It was a great night.

On Saturday, Kevin and I talked Ben into going on an adventure with us. We went to Heber for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip shakes at the Dairy Keen and then into the mountains for a drive stopping at Cascade Springs. On the way back we went to JCPenney for some new clothes. He had decided he needed a makeover of his style. Watch out world! We had a great time.

Also, I babysat for Sarah on Saturday. Kevin held Oliver while he watched the BYU game. Avery, Lyla, and I jumped on the trampoline, played in the sandbox, climbed the mountain, and took a bath. Avery needed to climb the mountain so she could sing the song from Frozen 2 across the valley. I know I felt the call to adventure! I also got to watch Micah on Friday after Megan left. He had a great time getting into things and babbling to us. What a charming kid!