Halloween

This year for Halloween, Alpine had a small little party at the shop. They decorated the shop with "spider webs", pumpkins, and other spooky items.  They served yummy dips and Halloween treats.  The kids went from one room to the next, "trick o treating."  They filled their buckets and bags before we even went out to do real trick o treating.

After the Alpine party, we had a Roy 26th Ward dinner and parade.  The Primary Presidency served up hotdogs and everyone else brought chips and relish trays.  We ended up having a huge turnout and there was enough food for everyone.  As soon as dinner was over, the parents lined the yards and the kids walked down the sidewalk from person to person getting candy dropped into their bags.  Clayton thought this was great!

We took the boys trick o treating down a few streets after the parade.  Clayton tried to keep up with Cooper and Jaxson.  Cooper didn't care about the candy, he just enjoyed running from house to house.  They all had a good time and got plenty of candy and chocolate to share with mom and dad!

Black Island Farms

A few days before Halloween, I took Clayton to Black Island Farms with Landon and Jaxson's school group.  We went last year and it was so much fun for Clayton.  This year, they were running a little behind schedule so we had to wait for about 20 minutes before we could go on the wagon ride.  We decided to get pictures in the hay and let the kids run around a little bit before the ride. 

Clayton sat between his two best buddies on the wagon ride.  I enjoyed spending time with Holly and Aaron.  When we stopped, we climbed off the wagon and went out to the pumpkin patch to pick the perfect pumpkin.  After the kids and parents got their pumpkins, we headed back to the main gate.  Clayton and the boys enjoyed watching the tractors' big wheels go around and around. 

As soon as we got back, we got the boys some pretzels, fruit snacks and water.  After there bellies were full, we went into the park and let the boys run around and play.  Clayton skipped right over all the animals and went straight for the big white slides.  He is so little and his legs are so short, but that didnt' stop him from climbing up the ladder and going down the slide over and over again.

The boys also enjoyed the little box car ride.  After that, we took them on a jaunt through the corn maze. The whole time we were in there, I was explaining to Holly why I despise corn mazes.  I am not a person who enjoys getting lost. And I feel frustrated in corn mazes because I cannot find my way out.  It just irritates me and I have never seen why people think they are so much fun....I know, I know...I have a bad attitude about corn mazes! Anyway, the boys enjoyed walking around trying to find the entrance. 

After the corn maze, we took them over to watch the pig races.  All the children enjoyed cheering the pigs on as they ran around the little track. We headed to the cars after the pig races.  This is when I realized I lost my phone.  I couldn't find it in my car, or jacket, or jeans, or purse.  I finally decided that it must have dropped out of my jacket when we were out in the pumpkin patch.  Holly came with me to tell the employees and tractor drivers.  We walked out to the pumpkin patch and looked around for a few minutes.  Finally, after searching and searching, and a small prayer, one of the guys found it on the side of the path.  Thank goodness Heavenly Father notices even our small concerns!

Carving Pumpkins

Two night before Halloween, we decided we better get the pumpkins carved.  I didn't think the boys really cared one way or the other, but they let me know that they were wanting to carve them.  At first, Clayton wanted nothing to do with digging the seeds and mess out with his hands.  As soon as he saw Cooper doing it, he became OK with the idea and he actually enjoyed it.

 Bryce thought it was funny to watch Clayton concentrate with his tongue out...just like Mom!

Bryce and I did most of the carving.  Cooper really wanted to try and carve his own pumpkin.  His facial expressions were funny as he was trying to manuever the knife through the pumpkin.  Bryce was a little concerned so he finished the carving for him.  I ended up carving an Texas A&M pumpkin and it turned out great. 

The best part of course, is when we light the pumpkins and watch them glow in the dark.  The boys were excited about this part.  It's a good thing we only carved them two days before Halloween, because they were already drooping and getting mushy by November 1st.

Cooper's Field Trip

A few days ago, Cooper's second grade class took a field trip to Black Island Farms and the Clinton City Fire Department.  I was able to go to the fire department with Cooper.  I always enjoy spending time with Cooper at school activities.  I also get the opportunity to volunteer in his class twice a month and it is nice to see him on those days.

At the fire department, they told the kids about fire safety.  They also dressed one of the teachers up in a fire suit with all the gear.  The kids thought that was funny.  Afterwards, the kids got to walk through and ambulance and fire truck. They opened all the doors and let the children just look around at their own will.  It was kind of neat to see all the tools they take to fires.

 Cooper also got the chance to use the fire hose.  They let the kids take turns pulling the switch and holding the hose as it sprayed into the air.  Cooper thought there was alot of pressure in the hose.  He enjoyed looking inside the ambulance and hopping up on the back of the truck like he was a fireman!

Worm Fence

On October 13th, we went on our last four wheeling ride of the season.  It turned out to be a really nice day with temps in the 60's.  We had planned this ride a few weeks in advance and were excited to squeeze one more ride in before the weather got too cold. 

Jacqui came along with us and we all had a great time.  We drove up Logan Canyon, where we parked and unloaded the ATV's.  Cooper rode Jacqui's little Honda around for a few minutes all by himself.  He controlled it really well and did a good job. 

We chose to go on the Worm Fence Trail.  This is a fun trail because it has real ATV trails.  It takes you through the trees and along the mountain side.  It was the first day of the deer hunt so we made sure we wore bright orange vests.  We also went around 11, so we wouldn't be shot by the hunters.  There were quite a few hunters, but no dead deer!  We rode for about two and a half hours and then headed home.  It got a little windy, but for the most part, it was a perfect day! I am looking forward to next spring when we can get back on the wheelers!

Fishing in Roy

Cooper has been asking me the last few months if I would take him fishing.  I fished quite a bit when I was younger.  I really enjoyed it as a kid.  Bryce has never really loved the sport.  Cooper had two days off for UEA and the weather was perfect, so we took the kids over to the pond by our house.

Cooper was over at Jacqui's house, so I took Clayton and we headed over before the rest of the gang showed up.  I only had two fishing poles for everyone, so I wanted to give Clayton a chance to try before the other kids arrived.

I honestly didn't think I would catch any fish.  I grabbed the tackle box and poles and didn't realize that I didn't have any pliers with me.  After a few minutes of trying different kinds of bait, we finally hooked one and Clayton reeled it in.  He touched it for a second, but he didn't know what to think of it.

I really had a good time.  I love watching the bobber bounce up and down in the water.  I remember being so excited as a kid when this happened because I knew I had a fish.  I tried to help the kids cast and reel, but they had a hard time "hooking" the fish. I helped every kid catch a fish. 

Jacqui tried and tried.  She would cast it out there.  It would bob up and down and then she would reel it back in with nothing on the hook.  In fact, most of the time, the bait was stolen off her hook! She was bound and determined to catch one, but never did.  It was a good time for us all!

Just a Rash

 My father-in-law noticed he had a rash over his back about 2 months ago.  Roger is a retired school teacher and has worked at the Logan Cemetery for the past few years.  He is a hard worker and a busy body.  He is very fit, active, and healthy for a 65 year old.  Before he got the rash, a company came to spray the trees up at the cemetery for bugs.  Roger thought maybe the rash was caused by this spray.

He went to the doctor to have it checked out. For weeks, he would slather his back and arms with hydro cortisone cream trying to get the rash to go away.  He finally went back to the doctor on Thursday, after they got home from their East Coast Cruise.  The doctor did blood work and told him the results wouldn't be back for 4 or 5 days.  Later Thursday night, the doctor called back to tell him that he thought Roger should go down to the specialist at the LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City to get some more tests on Friday morning.

On Friday morning, Bryce got a call from his mom telling him that Roger was diagnosed with Leukemia.  To say the least, it was a complete shock to everyone.  The rash was one of the symptoms of the Acute Myloid Leukemia (AML).  Some of the causes were: males in the mid 60's, people that have received high doses of radiation, people that already had cancer, and people exposed to some ingredient in paint thinners and benzene. Roger fell into almost all of those categories. 

Everything happened so quickly and everyone had so many unanswered questions and fears.  Roger actually went in for a physical about 2 months ago, and all the blood work came back normal. So as far as we know, he is in the beginning stages of Leukemia.  It is kind of a blessing that he got this rash, otherwise, he might not have gone into the doctor for a long time. The rash was kind of a blessing in disguise.

Roger just finished his first round of chemo, which consisted of an 8 day continuous drip of chemo.  His body has responded remarkably.  The doctors cant' believe how well he has done so far.  He has had only a few small setbacks: a day of bad nausea, moved into four different rooms, spots on his lungs that ended up being a cold, and a day of non stop bloody noses.

He has had an outpouring of love and support from his family, friends, neighbors, ward members, and the community.  He and Marilyn have so many people that love them dearly.  Bryce and I were really worried at first, but after seeing him twice at the hospital, those fears and worries have disappeared.  We really feel like he will recover and be fine.

We took the boys up to see him just after he finished his first round and he looked great.  Marilyn had just cut his hair. Clayton was scared for the first few minutes.  He wouldn't go see Papa, but that soon went away.  Roger is starting to lose his hair and by midweek, he will probably just shave it all off.  We are so thankful for the example he is to our family.  He is so positive and loving to those around him.  We are thankful that he is doing so well after "Round 1" and we hope and pray that his body will continue to respond to the upcoming treatments.

Alpine Campout

Earlier this year, Alpine decided to do a camp out with some "scrap metal money" for all the employees and their families.  Bryce and I found the perfect spot located up North Fork, near Eden, Utah.  We reserved the spot back in June  and set the date for August.  Well, the day before the camp out, almost everyone backed out and decided they couldn't go. 

Bryce called the campgrounds and they said the fees were non-refundable, but they let us reschedule for the 30th of September.  Bryce told everyone again at work and many employees wanted to come.  Two days before the camp out, we went and bought all the food. 

On Friday night, we had hamburgers and hot dogs.  We had about 25 people show up for dinner, but only 3 employees and their families actually camped out.  The spot that we reserved accommodated over 50 campers.  We roasted marshmallows that night and sat around the fire visiting with each other.

On Saturday morning, I got up and decided to go for a 20 minute jog around our campsite.  It was such a beautiful place to run and the temperature was perfect. I even ran through some of the trails around our camp.  It was so gorgeous and I loved every minute of it!

After the run, we cooked a yummy breakfast.  We had eggs, bacon, pancakes, and sausage.  The food was great, but we only had a few people for breakfast.  Others were supposed to show up, but they never did.  Bryce drove back home to grab some dutch ovens and more firewood. While he was gone, Cooper and I played Frisbee, Clayton rode around on his tricycle, and we mostly just relaxed. 

The kids had a fun time collecting acorns for the squirrels and hiking in the trees. They also had a great time riding on Cameron's battery powered four wheeler.  In fact, half way through the day, Clayton figured out he could drive it on his own.  He thought it was so cool. 

When Bryce got back to camp, we all went down to Pineview reservoir to play on the beach.  We also brought the kayaks down.  Bryce and Cooper went out for a ride and the wind got the best of Cooper.  Bryce had to hook up his kayak to Cooper's and paddle him back. Kelly and Cameron got pushed over by a wave and so they came back drenched and cold.  Hans and Kim decided they would try to ride on a kayak together.  They didn't even make it off the edge of the shore before they tipped over.

Dave and Stephanie brought their fun, little boat. Dave took us for a ride over to the docks where he let us fish for a few minutes.  Cooper hooked three fish, but only one made it all the way into the boat.  This was very exciting for him.  Clayton thought the boat ride was awesome.  He had the biggest smile on his face.

Later that night, we had dutch oven food.  It took forever to cook the food and it still turned out hard.  We started cooking around six and didn't eat till 8:30.  The potatoes tasted good, but they were not soft.  The ribs were not tender at all.  The best part of dinner was the green beans and pineapple-cherry cake.  WE also had huge cookies that were great.  The kids watched the "Lorax" on the big screen hung over the baseball backstop.  Everyone visited around the fire for a while and then headed to bed. 

On Sunday morning, Bryce and I had to be back for church.  Bryce was getting put in the Young Men organization as a Priest Quorum Advisor.  I needed to be over the nursery at church.  Anyway, we got up and packed our stuff and headed home.  It was a really fun trip.  It was nice to relax outdoors in the most beautiful scenery of the year. I enjoyed spending time with my family and also getting to know some of the employees and their families a little better.  Too bad everyone else missed out on all the food and fun!

Autumn Activities

A few weeks ago, Bryce and I took the boys out to a small pumpkin patch in Hooper to pick some pumpkins.  It was only $5 for an arm full.  Last year, I took the boys and I couldn't carry very many. This year, Bryce was able to fit 6 pumpkins in his arms.  Of course, I wanted to snap some pictures, but Bryce's arms were getting tired!

We let the boys each pick two pumpkins out!  It was just a little patch, but they found the ones they wanted and we were in and out of there in less than 15 minutes.  We took them home and let the boys color on them and Clatyon decorated his with stickers. We still haven't carved them yet. 

Sara, Derek, and the kids came over one night to make "Owl" o Ween cookies.  The adults enjoyed snacking on the dough while the kids strategically placed their peanuts and chocolated chips on the cookies.  Eli kept taking the dough off the pan and eating it! He was more interested in the trains than the food.

It's kind of fun to think that Marilyn did this for her kids all those years ago, and now the kids are doing it for their kids.  It is a tradition that the children and adults enjoy....especially when the cookies are warm right out of the oven!

Final Day in Richfield

On Saturday morning, Bryce and Roger got up early and went to find a store that would fix the flat tire.  As soon as they got it fixed, they met us downstairs for breakfast.  After some biscuits, gravy, and yogurt, we went to our rooms to get everything packed up, so we could head out.

We went pass Salina a few miles and then turned right and headed to one of the trailheads for the Gooseberry Trail.  We had heard so many great things about this trail. We were a little lost when we started, but we quickly found the trail head.  Bryce and I felt like we needed to be back to get our kids from Jacqui by 7, so we told everyone that we needed to be back to the trucks by 3:30.

Anyway, I was really worried about the ride when mile after mile looked like we were riding through the desert on hard limestone rocks. It was anything but pretty and I kept thinking to myself, "who in their right mind thinks this is a great trail?". After 6 miles of riding on this trail, we quickly came into some thick groves of trees and the trail narrowed up. 

It wasn't very long before we were climbing up the mountain through beautiful red, orange, and yellow trees. I kept wanting to stop to take pictures, but I knew everyone was behind me. This ended up being a very beautiful ride and it was a perfect time of year for it.  The Fall leaves were amazingly bright.

We wrapped around a big loop. Again, we came to groves of golden Aspen trees.  We rode through little creeks and wrapped our way in and out of trees.  It was a very nice trail with lots of different scenery.  We came upon this most beautiful grove of orange golden Aspen trees.  It was almost breathtaking as we came around the bend. 

We stopped to eat lunch under some green aspen trees.  The weather was perfect as we sat their and ate our lunches and chatted.  Bryce and I found a huge tree that had fallen over and we decided to climb its branches and trunk. 

At this point, we thought we were making good time.  It was 2:00 and we started back to finish the loop.  We kept driving and driving, and I kept thinking, "we are lost and we are never going to make it back by 3:30".  We rode for almost 2 hours straight trying to get back to where we started. My arms and wrist were starting to ache, but we kept trucking along.

Some of the last couple of miles on the trail were gorgeous. We weaved our way up the mountain through the forest and it was so much fun. It was definately an ATV trail.  It was awesome, one of my favorite spots on the trail. In fact, later Bryce told me that the men knew that that part of the trail was rated "Difficult". They didn't want us women to worry about it the whole time, so they didn't tell us about it. When we got to the top, he said, "Did you think that was a hard trail?" and then he told me the story.

As we made our way back, the mountain sides were covered with red, oranges, and yellows intermingled with the ever green trees.  It was so pretty.  I have seen pictures in magazines and on the television of beautiful autumn scenery, but nothing like this in real life.  It was awesome and I could not get the camera to capture the full effect!

We had one more part of the trail to come through before we reached the trucks, and that was the little creek.  Roger wanted to get pictures of everyone coming through the water. I figured it was our last ride, so I blasted through the river and soaked myself.  I ended up changing as soon as I got to the truck.  We ended up leaving a little after 5 pm. 

It was such a great time, once again, in Richfield.  I will look forward to this trip year after year.  There are so many trails to ride down there and its such a pretty time of year.  I had a great time getting to know all the other couples and to spend some alone time with Bryce.  Until next year!!!