September 2022

September was great for settling into the routine!  After so much transition in August it was nice to have time to let the dust settle.  Here is what we have been up to.

  

Marching band/football game season has started for Sheri.  She is busy with band most weekends.  She has learned many of the songs along with marching formations quickly.  Her good friend, Kate Vest is also in band with her and they have a lot of fun!

This photo was taken by the school photographer. 

Eve is doing great at BYU!  She even got to see Ivan at a football game.  Eve enjoys going to all the games with her cousins as well as other sporting events.  She also got to attend World of Dance, and Sabey's choral concert.  There are so many fun opportunities at BYU for her!

Soccer has started for Sheri.  She plays on a coed team and does quite well, though she wishes she could be at more games and practices.  She has quite a few conflicts with band.

We were able to hit the lake with our friends, the Pearsons, the Moncivais, and the Bartons.

We are finding new critters.  This is a horny toad we found in our yard.

Tarantula season has begun.  This was on the door at the church one evening.  I also have seen them on my walks and even in my front yard!

Matt's started planting some fruit trees.  We have 2 cherry, 2 apple, 2 nectarine, 2 figs, a 2 plums, and 2 pears.  We hear it's hard to get fruit here due to the wind and storms. Hopefully the Lord will help us. :)

The kids have had some fun events.  They got to have a fall festival stake youth activity.  Here Sterling is in the pie eating contest.

They also had dress up days for Spirit Week.  This day was bikers vs beach theme.  Christian had a camouflage day.

Christian had a great birthday this year!  At school his substitute teacher is a friend (and seminary teacher) of ours.  She surprised him with his favorite candy bar at school and they played lots of fun games during her PE class.

For Christian's Birthday this year he just wanted to have big group of friends over to play.  He loves to make his own invitations.  His theme was Naruto, a Japanese ninja anime series.

The kids played hide and go seek, nerf wars, tag, and many other games.  We had chocolate chip pancakes for dinner and fun snacks.  They had a great time!  I was glad to get to know some moms so that we can have future play dates.  Here the boys are being silly, paying homage to the mini fridge filled with cash that Christian won at school.

Near the end of September we were able to go to Utah.  We were able to get tickets for Saturday morning General Conference and tickets for the BYU game.  It was also a little reunion for Matt with some of his Houston friends from his childhood.

We stayed with Regan Fackrell at their little cabin up Provo Canyon.  It is a lovely spot!  The kids had a great time reconnecting to the Fackrells.

The game on Thursday was so fun!  The energy is awesome at Lavell Edwards Stadium!  Here we are with Jeremy Mustard and Regan.  It was a lot of fun to get to know Jeremy and his wife!

Eve took Sterling to the student section for part of the game and he got a taste of the wild energy they have over there.  He also got to see all the cousins.

It was fun to reconnect with Eve.

Friday we took the high school age kids to BYU for a tour of campus.  Sterling is getting excited to apply.  Then we headed up to Sundance with our friends.  The leaves and other scenery were very beautiful and we remarked on the whole trip how beautiful everything was!

In the evening we went to dinner and then watched a movie at Regan's cabin.

Saturday morning we went to Salt Lake for General Conference.  My kids have never attended in person so this was quite a neat experience!  This photo was taken by the church photographer and we found it online later.

There is definitely a special spirit when the prophet enters the room.  We enjoyed all of the messages and announcements.  Afterwards, we walked around temple square briefly and got to see the tabernacle and the assembly hall.   

Then we loved meeting Ivan for lunch!  It was fun to hear his news and about his recent travels.  We were so glad we could meet up!

Meanwhile, Sheri stayed in Texas because of her school and band commitments.  She had a band competition.  This photo was taken by the school photographer.  I love it!  

She also got to play at the homecoming football game (Friday night) and go to the dance with friends on Saturday night.  I am so glad the kids have made friends quickly.  She had lots of support and stayed busy while we were gone!

Well, we had a LONG drive home Sunday since we didn't stop half way, but it was a very pleasant trip.  We went through beautiful mountains of Colorado and saw lots of cool scenery and even some buffalo!

All in all, it's been a beautiful month!