All the Spooks and Stuff

My season of choice is well under way and October was a favorite around here.  We had the best family vacation, but that deserves an entry all to itself.  We still had our normal fall festivities like football games.  Harrison was lucky enough to go to the BYU v Utah football game.  This rivalry match hasn't happened for a couple of years and he was over the moon with this opportunity to go.  He paced the floor jumped around all morning waiting to hit the road.  When Dave told him it was time to leave, Harrison turned to me and said, "I'm just so excited my heart is racing...I just felt it."  I asked him if it was the greatest day of his life and he wisely and quickly responded with, "no, my birth."  So, while he has his priorities in order, he still had the time of his life, especially because his cougars WON!  That hasn't happened for years.  Maybe if I asked him about it being the greatest day after the game, his answer would have been different.

Katelee, however, does not have luck with BYU games.  They tend to lose when she attends.  She chose a real contender to watch and they continued her losing streak.  She maybe cried.  We will arrange an easy team for her to view next year.  Ha!

Our youth group did a service activity at Tiny Tim's workshop.  It was so fun.  We need to work there as a family.  The owner is the sweetest gentleman who sends these little toy cars to children all over the world.  The teens did a great job.  That's Grant in the picture below.  Didn't know if he would be recognizable under that mop.  He has some serious hair right now. 

That's Grant in the picture above.  Didn't know if he would be recognizable under that mop, although the color may have given him away.  He has some serious hair right now. 

Brenna got to participate in Odyssey Dance's performance of Thriller.  She auditioned and practiced every Saturday for a month or so and then performed in Park City.  Dave and I got a fun date out of it and she had a blast.  

What a darling murderous doll she was.  It was extremely creepy and I slept with one eye open all month.  

Grant was asked to Girl's Pref by Mia for Riverton and they dressed as billionaires.  He wouldn't bring his date in the house to get a picture because he is a little rascal.  But he did send me this picture of some of the boys in the group.  What is so great about this photo is one of his friends cropped it and made it 'Grant on the Shelf' and photoshopped it to various places little emo grant elf might be for Christmas.  He had a blast at that dance! 

 His old flame, Sienna, took Grant to her school's Girl's Pref.  Again, Grant did not let me take a pic of him with his date, but I did get a shot with him and his koala for the safari theme, so that's a partner I suppose.  

He is starting up swim practices and we are so glad he can drive himself because 4:15am is too early for us!  We sleep through him leaving and get up after his workout.  He is keeping up that schedule while working at Target and he was even nominated for Student of the Month by his ASL teacher.  Each teacher gets to pick a student once a year and she chose Grant as her pick.  Pretty cool.  

We had a wonderful fall break (to be covered next time) and came home for all the spooks and parties.  Our ward had a trunk or treat.  My YW class had a western themed trunk where kids shot pop cans off of my friend's trunk with a nerf gun.  We prob were the best, but Katelee's was worth mentioning too.  Ha!  They did a black out tent and glow in the dark paint on their shirts, posters, inside the tent and had the kids come in for a dance party.  Pretty cute bouncers.  

It was Brenna's last elementary school parade and Halloween bash.  They did the parade for the parents outside-which was lovely (because the weather was nice!).  We sat strategically where we knew Brenna would be stopping for the Thriller dance that the 6th graders do every year.  It was great and Brenna was for sure easy to spot....

I sure love it when her dance costumes come in handy! 

Mad scientist Brenna had a good time that night with some friends trick or treating, then they came home for a scary movie.  I ran to grab Katelee and some people from Lagoon, so Brenna's crew was here alone.  Apparently, they didn't make it through the movie due to nightmare concerns by some, but the candy trading was a success.

When we got the BYU football schedule for the year, we assumed the game on the 30th would have to be skipped.  (Halloween doesn't happen on Sunday around these parts, so trick or treating happned on the 30th).  When we told Harrison he could maybe trick or treat for a little and go to the game (it would be an extra one for him), he jumped at the chance.  The other kids were not even tempted.

So, after school and some food, this little squirt hit the hood quick and hard, got the candy he could and joined Dave for a second football game this season.

I guess we shouldn't have been surprised.  This sports fanatic spends his extra time looking up logos and taping them to his white helmet after he prints them out.  He still makes schedules and looks up stats (when Pokemon isn't competing for his time)

They all had a great time and our Halloween season was spook-tacular!!!

A Fresh Start

And, here we are the beginning of a new school year...this one (semi) "normal."  Normal being defined as what it used to look like when we started school.  Masks are currently not required, many people are vaccinated, so there are high hopes of continuing this educational year the same way we did long ago-pre March 2020.  Ha!  

Harrison is starting 2nd grade.

His teacher is Mrs Heugly.  She seems great.  Brenna actually had her as a student teacher last year, so she's had a brief taste of McArthur children and she's still coming back for more.  

Brenna will be capping off her elementary experience as a 6th grader with Mrs Rasmussen.

I am glad these two "littles" have one more year together.  The rest of their school years will be spent without a family member at their schools, so I hope they love being together-ride the bus and hold hands and hug each day, you know the things I imagine in my head that really don't happen.  

Katelee is a freshman at the middle school and dying to be a freshman who attends the high school.  She looks old enough, but she'll have to wait one more year for that.  She's stuck with the junior high fellas for just a bit longer. 

Grant and his luscious locks will be kicking off his junior year of high school.  He has a lot of fun things ahead, so here's to hoping it is a wonderful year.  

It always feels good to get back into a schedule, to get started on new goals and growth.  I am going to continue substituting when I can.  I love seeing the elementary kids and our people love visiting me at the school.  The older children here; however, still refuse to allow me to be their teacher and I need prior approval from them before accepting positions at their schools.  We will see if I agree to their conditions.

Not only did we start new with school, we are starting a big project in our back yard.  We are redesigning our entire landscape.  

Stay tuned for a fire pit, new patio, some hammock posts for lounging and trees.  It's going to take some serious time to complete.  Brenna could not understand why it was projected to be weeks of work.  I overheard her complaining to Harrison about it.  She thought it should be easy to build a fire pit- stack some stone and voila, masterpiece.  Harrison told her she is thinking like the 2 lazy pigs from the Three Little Pigs story.  Ha!!  I am so glad he is helping her realize we need time and effort so when the big bad wolf comes, it doesn't blow away.  Now, a wolf has not come yet, BUT...the floods did.

We have never had water come into our basement, but the very day after our yard was torn apart for the project, there was a massive storm.  It rained for hours and hours and hours.  Everyone around the neighborhood was running from house to house to help pump water from windows.  I kept thinking how lucky we'd been in our house since we have lived here.  Well, Katelee came home and went into her room...apparently, our luck had run out.

Her room was completely soaked.  The drainage had been torn up with the backyard project.  

So we got to start another new project in Katelee's room.  Our landscaper actually came over and helped me pull the carpet while Dave was at work.  

Then it was our friend, James to the rescue yet again.  He pulled off our baseboards and cut into the sheet rock and came back to put new ones on when we had dried out.  When we tried to pay him, he responded in his fabulous Scottish brogue that we not be daft.  Guess we will have to pay back in a steak dinner.  We are so grateful for him and kind people who jump to our aid- we do not have skills and talents in anything handy, so all is appreciated. 

Right after school started it was our Harry baby's birthday- a big one...EIGHT years old! 

Harrison chose to take a few friends to Boondocks and out to ice cream for a party. 

 Only a couple were able to make it (Krew and Paxton), but it was loads of fun shooting them in the laser tag arena 

 

and slurp ice cream like wild animals.  

Much to my dismay, Harrison has discovered the world of Pokemon so we have to speak Poke-language and open presents of stacks of cards that add to the hundreds he already has.  But, he loved every minute of it.  His baptism was just a couple of weeks later 

and we were so happy to have lots of family there to support him.

Grandma and Grandpa McArthur and Dean and Sharon came from Arizona and then lots of family from around here.  Blake and his family came from Idaho because after the baptism we kicked off our week at Snowbird.  

Harrison is pure gold.  He is still sports obsessed (thank heavens pokemon doesn't monopolize every moment of his day).  He is doing fall soccer and is the absolute most fun to watch of any kid playing sports of all time.  His enthusiasm and the way he gets pumped up on the field, court, diamond, is unrivaled.  

He bore the sweetest testimony after his baptism, spurred on just by the inspiration of the spirit. He drew a random picture the other day of two penguins one said, "Jesus is real." the other replied "Oh."  It made me smile that simple but sure belief was on his mind. 

 He explained to me how he wished a friend knew about Jesus and how he wanted to tell her Jesus is real and she lived with him before, she just can't remember.  He is just a joy...and super funny...we are always having a good time with Harry.

He loves playing games and our favorite is still Skull King when he dressed us like a rascal buccaneer with his accent to speak over the music we play in the background.  He has caught on really quickly and now hates to lose.  When he was behind in points the other day, he was really mad.  We told him messing up another player is part of the game (he had been doing it to everyone else) but when someone made him lose a round he was very upset and explained to us that the game should be about "friendshipping"  Nice try, you sneaky pirate.  We seriously love him soooo much and are happy he had a wonderful baptism and is a true example to all of us of light and love.  

He has a natural inclination to lead and listen to the spirit so we are proud of this step on his covenant path.  

We had a great week at Snowbird and look forward to our favorite (ok, MY favorite season) of fall.  We used our Lagoon passes for Frightmares one weekend and had a good time.  Pretty sure it was the only time Dave made it there all year.  He still is not so much an amusement park guy and said the best ride is the Skyride that takes you across the park when you don't want to walk.  

The kids were so excited for him to join us though.  We arrived first -with Grandma!- and then we had to meet Dave later.  When we were waiting, both Brenna and Harrison said they would go find Dave and talked about how they love him.  They ran to him and held his hand and I could not get out of my head...our holding hands days are numbered.  Well, maybe I can get Harrison to hold my hand still when he is 16, I sure would be delighted.  

We loved having Grandma experience the Halloween spooktacluar Lagoon as well, she may be in her 70's but she ran circles around Dave's riding ablities.  We only thought she was stuck in a seat once.  Haha!

So now we are off to our start of school (yay High school dances are back on!  

Grant his cute ward friend Sadie to homecoming)

...football games

...Harrison cannot contain his excitement for his turn...our new house project...maybe new hobbies (our neighbors couldn't believe I had never been shooting and taught me how. 

 It was quite an adventure that I was not looking forward to, but actually enjoyed)...

...a gate opened with baptism...so much ahead on our horizons.   It's exciting. We are not always ready for what's ahead (like when Katelee came home with her baby from Child Development- 

she spent some of the weekend in tears when she couldn't get it to stop crying...maybe I laughed, yes, but I was struck that she couldn't have prepared herself for her feelings and reactions to the task at hand.  We anticipate something and nearly always it is a little bit different.  Whether what's ahead in our new year is expected or not, it has begun and we are off to a new fresh start.

'The Great Outdoors' Adventures

 We spent a lot of time enjoying nature in July. We had a couple nights for a family camp out, and when I saw "we" I really mean Katelee, Brenna and Harrison camped out.  The other 3 members of our family-me included- went up for some food and fun, but slept at home and enjoyed the amenities a house has to offer. Shannon is the nicest and always provides the fun for my kiddos.

There was no stopping in for a comfy mattress during girls camp, but that's just the way it is supposed to be, right?  This was our first official camp in this ward since the boundary alignment, so bonding was our goal-mission accomplished! 

It was a fun and spiritual few days-full of crafts, a rain gutter regatta, devotionals, lip syncs, card games, 

tenting, eating and serving.  

I loved spending time with the young women, these leaders and especially Miss Katelee.  

Our theme was 'small and simple things.'  It is so cool to remember how these little memories and events in life shape us and help us focus or refocus on what matters and who we want to be.  

At the end of July, it was Grant's turn to experience AFY.  He signed up for a location an hour or so south of us- Payson Lakes.  This location didn't offer some of the high adventure activities that Moab gave to Katelee, but it worked better with Grant's schedule because he took a Lake Powell trip with buddies in June (when Moab was happening).  While Payson didn't have the high heat Moab gave Katelee, the Payson camp did give Grant some thunderstorms that helped him get very close to some group members...very close-as in taking shelter from lightning in the bathroom as a group for 3 hours.  And that's what these church camps are for again- bonding...mission accomplished here as well, ha!  Grant experienced connections with his first EFY and has kept in touch with some of the friends from that group.  The craziest thing was when Grant and one of those friends realized they were registered for the same week and location this year!  This girl flew in from Egypt and accidentally registered for this week, but it was fun for Grant to see her again.  We actually met up with this gal the morning of drop off, had breakfast with her and her mom and Grant headed up the canyon with them.  I took zero pictures, but I know Grant has some in a cloud somewhere.  

While he was gone, the kids wanted to visit cousins in AZ, so Dave dropped them off there.  All the kids gone for the week??  What should we do?  We should go to Maine, of course.  While it would have felt like a vacation just staying home sans kids, we thought we wanted to beat the heat and get out of town.  We've always wanted to go to Maine and so why not then?!  We ate lobster rolls galore, found lots and lots of lighthouses

hiked through Acadia National Park...

which was totally breathtaking...highly recommend

and explored various beaches.  Yes, Dave is in long sleeves and full-length pants- he is determined to never experience a sunburn the rest of his life, so he takes his skin coverage very seriously.  This was actually in Acadia, so we were hiking a lot.  

We saw incredible flowers and trees.  The coastline was dreamy.  It was so magical, in fact, that David now thinks we need to live there later in life.  I am not sure this will come to fruition, but he keeps plugging it.  Regardless of whether it becomes a residence for us, Maine has a piece of Dave's heart.  Ha! 

With the summer racing by, and school fast approaching, we decided to skip town one last time.  We collected the children from Arizona, had a couple days to pack again and jumped in the van to see Blake and company in Coeur d'Alene.  

Blake's coworker took us boating on the lake and it was a blast.  

Caleb got a couple wave runners for us and we rode those all afternoon as people tubed.  The most exciting part of the day might have been when Caleb had Brenna and Harrison on the wave runner and was being so slow and careful that his turns weren't fast enough and they flipped the wave runner.  Harrison was hesitant to ride it in the first place, so we were sure the flipping caused trauma, but he was a good sport and we were all laughing afterwards. He got in the tube still, so he did not develop a fear of water sports in general.  

Brenna, hands down, won best expressions award.  We were dying at the way her mouth became rubber and her eyes popped out of her head.  Speaking of eyes popping out of heads, Harrison was introduced to Pee Wee's Big Adventure-Large Marge is now one of Harry's most feared fictional characters.  So, between flipping in water and screaming at Large Marge, Harrison might have lasting nightmares.  But we had some good entertainment.

We had big dreams of accomplishing the Hiawatha trail with no melt downs and we did pretty well, but we will need to tackle that again to pull off our goal.  Harrison did not like it when he was not in the front of the line and he and I had to have some chats.  Grace had an injury when she slid and fell off her bike, Caleb was overrun by rodents (like literally, chipmunks and squirrels were all over him) but it was still so fun.  We absolutely love that bike trail.  

We ate at a lovely brunch location on the river-Le Peeps.  

It really is a beautiful part of the country.  Idaho did not get the same endorsement as Maine did from Dave, as far as potential home locations, but we still loved it.  This year the smoke has been sooooo bad from wildfires.  We were just so grateful to get away and be able to see mountains, sky etc  We are so ready for the air to clear and the temp to come down.  Bring on fall very soon!