Great Thanksgiving Week

We had a fantastic week in Southern California visiting with family and friends. We spent some great time just hanging out, playing and catching up. We also had the chance to do some fun and exciting things. We had a blast surfing in 70 plus degree weather.
 

We also went to Six Flags Magic Mountain  with family (and had the pleasure of meeting up with our dear friends the Wangsgards) The older kids loved all the fast rides and could not get enough of them. Kyler loved the rides too, but would ride the fast ones with his eyes closed. His favorite was Colossus, he road it 5 times.

 

We also hung out at a favorite beach spot at the pier at Seal Beach, CA. Here we all are posing with Slick the Seal 

 

We also got to go to the tide pools at Dana Point. We saw star fish, sea anemones, and thousands of hermit crabs.

 

Scooter Comes Home

My oldest nephew, Scooter, returned from a 2 year mission for the LDS Church in South Africa this past week. Between his return and Thanksgiving, we have taken a week long trip to Long Beach. It was great to see and hear from Scooter, he has matured a lot, and to visit with family and friends.

One of the benefits to being down in So. Cal is the great weather and the beach, yes even in November. Surfing this morning was beautiful, cool water, nice waves and even a pod of dolphins frolicking around us. Yes life is rough. The kids enjoyed a dip in a pool as well.

 

 

 

Winter Arrives with a Fury

Well Winter arrived this week with a fury this week as we went from 70 plus degree weather early in the week to below freezing and dumping close to 2 feet of snow in 48 hours. Here is our now covered back yard. The change in the weather, plus bugs from school, contributed to a week that saw all four of the kids sick (all on different days of course.)



 In the mist of this cold winter storm, we showed our true colors and sat on snow covered benches to cheer on the Mighty Cougars over Idaho Saturday night. It was cold (Kyler would testify to that as he claimed we'd have to amputate his feet they were getting so cold) about 27 degrees. But is was fun and an experience we will remember for sure. 

 

(Who was that masked man?)

Cam also did great at a swim meet this weekend, dropping a second off his 100 IM time.

 

Halloween Fun

This year for Halloween the kids had a blast. Kaylie was ... well Kaylie (yes she is too old now to dress up and trick or treat.) Not so for the boys, they dressed up and went non-stop for hours getting more candy than I thought existed in the world.

Cam was a Hippie, and along with many of his friends, they actually drove a VW Hippie van through the school parade. It was the hit of the parade.





Dallyn was a frightening Grimm Reaper, coming to claim your soul.

Kyler, along with most of the 1st grade boys, was a black and red Ninja. 

 

Dad never quite feel too old for anything, nor could he decide on anyone costume, so he went early in the day as a deranged BYU fan, and later as Morgan the Orabrush Tongue. He had a lot of strange looks as a tongue and everyone had to admit, that was a costume they had never seen done before.

 

 

 Round 1 of trick or treating with cousins. (Kaylie did don a witches hat to be able to walk by Breanna at least for that part of the day.)

 

 

Halloween Party and Spook Alley

The kids really wanted to have a Halloween Party at our home and create a spoke alley. We had over some families of some friends and the kids decorated the basement into an evil layer. It was a lot of fun for everyone who came, good treats, homemade root beer with dry ice, games and great company.. The lighted version of the spook alley is below.

  

 

 

 

Dallyn's last soccer game

Dallyn, unlike Kyler, is much more into the competitiveness of the game, though he still loves the treats and being with friends as well. His team won all but one of their games this year, with Dallyn being a major component of the team. Dallyn was often one of the main goal scorers and always a stout defender. He has a big leg and can kick the ball far, fast and straight, plus he ha the advantage that most kids that age do not realize someone may be left footed and he often would catch them by surprise when his big kicks came from the "wrong" foot.
 

 

 

 

 

 

Kyler's Last Soccer Game

Kyler played so well at soccer this year. He tried so hard, even being very sick for his last game. His favorite parts of soccer is still the socializing with friends and treats after a good game.