October 2017

October.  Here are a few highlights.  Tyler loving his big Aggie blanket from Grandma Balls.  He is still up bright and early every morning to get practicing done.  At the end of the month he went to a special Pedal, Pipes and Pizza event.  He got to play a few of the organs on temple square.  He is right in the middle of the pictures with the turquoise and orange jacket.  

 We have one part of our basement that is unfinished.  It has a great tumbling mat in it.  The girls spent lots of time down there dancing, playing and practicing tricks.  

I got in a few nice bike rides in the fall leaves.  Abby learned to write and writes all the time.  She writes her name with a 4 after it since she is 4.

Ella had a practice tumbling meet.  In January she will have her first real meet!  She is one strong little girl!

Ella is so sweet to Abby most days.  The decorated for Halloween together.  They play dress up together. The do tumbling together.  I am so grateful they are friends.  

Darren took Tyler up the canyon for some riding.  In previous years Tyler has struggled getting up the hills... as any kid would do.  But so exciting to have him older, stronger and more confident and he had a great time.  

Darren took off for a weekend to Moab with friends to ride the Whole Enchilada.  Good riding... but the only picture he took was the mechanical problem!

We had a few leaves to rake this year.  Not enough to bag up but enough to put in my composter.  One day our trees will be big enough to have leaves.  We had a great night with friends going on a hike to the Suspension Bridge and playing games.  We sure love where we live.  

Ella got the award for Eagle of the Month.  She works really hard to do her best.  I am grateful for teachers who realize that.  

My dad came over to do some Christmas present building.  The kids loved the time with him.  And they are excited to open their treasure boxes at Christmas.  

And last but not least.  I cleaned out boxes and storage rooms.... time to get rid of a few things.  Our High School crew.  We had some good times together.  Then we all split up and went different ways.  Some good memories.  

Family Pictures in the fall

So fun to have my cousin Julie pop over and want to take pictures in our backyard.  I loved having the chance to take a few quick pictures of our family. 

Fall Break, Cabin w/ Allens

We had a super fun time with the Allens for Fall Break.  Ella invited a friend too, Victoria.  We went for a hike to go climb on some rocks I found.  It was a fun little scramble to get to the top!  

For our service project we chopped wood.  Jenny spear headed it and I tried to help with my tendinitis in my arm.  The boys did a great job chopping and splitting wood.  

The kids spent quite some time making up a mystery play for us.  After the play we had some fun plank challenges and push up challenges.  The snow started and it was magical.  

The good story of the trip was Eric and I on the roof trying to fix some roofing and heat coils.  But the snow was starting but with just a few wet drops on the roof it got real scary and slippery.  We were able to get off with no injury but it was SCARY!

Tyler becomes a deacon- 12 years old

So when your son turns 12 years old- you take a step back and wonder " When did I get so old?"

I say to myself that I am not old enough to have a 12 year old.  But ... I have a 12 year old so I guess I am old!  Tyler got the Priesthood and can pass the sacrament now.  He enjoys Young Mens. He like sot hang out with his friends which includes girls.

We had a fun birthday party for him at Laser Quest.  The Silvermesa Spanish speaking friends battled the Draper Neighborhood friends.  Tyler wanted a crepe cake for dessert.  We loved it... not all his friends.  They toilet papered him at the party.  I guess that is a thing.  

He loves his sisters and they usually love him.  He played an incredible song in church on the piano.  If you could Hie to Kolob.  Beautiful.  He is a pretty exceptional kid!

Here is what Tyler typed on the day he got the Priesthood.

I have been looking forward to this day. I got interviewed by the bishop. He asked a lot of questions. I think that I am ready to be a deacon. This morning before church I got the Aronic priesthood. After a went and passed the sacrament. It was very scary because I didn't know where to go and who to give the water and bread to. After that I played a special musical number if you could hie to kolab. That was also very scary because it was a mission farewell and there were a lot of people there. After I played the closing song I believe en christ. Finally I went home and had a really good dinner and talked with both grandmas and grandpas. I also got lots of candy and treats.

24 hours in Moab

Fun and Crazy friends who like an adventure.  24 hours in Moab.  

Razor ride to Poison Spider.  Followed by a late night Thai Dinner

Hike through Bootleg Tunnel- train tunnel... dark, musky, and exciting!  I was way overdressed.

Next morning Darren and Kevin went for a long run.  We all slept in.  

Then drove to Morning Glory Arch Rappel.  So exciting.  Most the group were first timers to Canyoneering!  We dropped into the Medieval Chamber and then walked around the corner to Morning Glory Arch in Negro Bill Canyon.  I was the last one to drop the arch so I chose to do a weighted rappel on the arch with a girl who was helping a group by us.  pretty exciting.  And what a beautiful canyon to hike out of. 

We grabbed some lunch and took of to the river.   We met another nice girl who let us join her in her Duckie.  We paddle boarded down the Colorado. Good thing there were some rapids to keep it exciting!  plenty of excitement.  We cleaned up, grabbed some ice cream and headed back to Draper.  Action packed 24 hours!

**LONG TEXT ALERT**

Amy, I'm not trying to push you out as cruise director. I promise. Just sending out a rough draft itinerary for "24 Hours of Moab".  I admit this might be a little ambitious, even for this group, but hey, why not go for it and see what happens:

Leave around 1ish in Friday. Lunch in car.  Should get there by 4:30.

1:  Razor ride on Poison Spyder

Dinner

2:  Hike through 1.7 mile bootlegger tunnel. It is possible this is illegal, but will definitely be fun...so it's a no brainer.

3:  Night Bike Ride - Lots of options, depends on time.

4: Hot tub

5:  If you are feeling it and have the energy, insert  with spouse here. If not, proceed to 6.

6:  Sleep

7:  Again, if it's your weekend insert with spouse here. If not, proceed to 8.

8:  10 mile fun run. I'm thinking the first leg of the Moab Trail Marathon. We would need to go early. Like 5:45 or 6:00 departure.  Should take 2.5 hrs.

9:  Rappel. This is a double rappel into Negro Bill canyon, one of which is a free hang rappel (sorry if this is not correct climbing jargon, that's all I got). 1.5 mile hike out.

10: Lunch

11:  Paddle board Rocky Rapids on Colorado.  If not we can hike  or something else. We could do just a short stretch of the river and just take turns so we don't need 8 paddle boards. Or we could double up. It could be as short as a 15 minute ride.

Pack up and head home, hopefully on the road by 5 or 6. Home by 9ish.

This is a starter. Everyone chime in. Anyone can do any of it or all of it.  Pick and choose. And delete or add. Will everyone confirm they're coming.

Park at Fins and Things hike 2 miles to Medieval Chamber to Morning Glory Arch. Hike out 2 miles through Negro Bill Canyon/Grandstaff canyon

A tree on the left can provide a good anchor. Bring plenty of webbing, it is a ways back from the edge. If rapping from webbing extended to the edge, a 60 m ( 197 ft. ) rope is enough.

2 rappels (95ft, 120ft)