October 2021

What's conference weekend in October without a little trip to Park City? We hit the usual bike jumps, and I must say, they are getting pretty gutsy. Even Ezra rode this year.

Nice and cozy in our little condo.

Ezra and I rode a little trail, while Dean took the older boys on a real ride. When they got back, the boys played at the park and Dean and I went on a quick ride. It's so nice to have them getting bigger where they can be okay for an hour without us.

On Sunday we went for a little walk and explored the neighborhood.

We headed home over guardsman's pass and hiked by Bloods Lake. It was the perfect weekend for it, and the place was hoppin with people, but we went a different way and loved the aspen trees.

This was the end of our trail...not sure where we were, but it was beautiful, and refreshing.

Yes, we needed a leaf collection for the hike to be a real hike. 

Thomas and I were behind the rest, and I was learning different settings on my camera.

I'm not sure what this would be good for, but it's pretty cool.

This is a terrible shot of Lincoln's soccer game. But it's proof we had a soccer season. Lincoln played on a really good team, and I will give the coach most of the credit...because that coach was me. But really we had a couple of ringers that made it really fun. Oliver and Thomas played on the same team. They did awesome as well and were probably the ringers on their team. It's so fun to watch these boys grow up!

Oh blessed Aunt Diane. This is my grandpa's youngest sister. For some reason, Lincoln and Diane have a special bond and Lincoln will occasionally ask if we can visit. This is the first time we went to her new place. She was sad to say goodbye to her home of so many years, but seemed really happy with her new situation and the new friends in her assisted living space. 

Fall Break was much needed for me. School has been so delightful, challenging, stressful, and really good for my brain. We headed to St. George for the break and stayed with Troy and Marissa. They are so good at hosting! We went to some cool caves in Snow Canyon, and loved some other hikes with the cousins.

This is happiness to this mama!

We took the Poll's and grandma golf ball hunting. Though we didn't get the same loot we did the first time, we still had a good time!

And we spent hours at the sand dune. Jumping, and making race tracks and of course, getting buried in the sand. It was delightful!

Red Rock, Blue skies, happy kiddos. What could be better?

We also found a fun new park. There were obstacle courses to compete in, and Ezra was loving it!

We went hunting for Crystals. These guys worked together for quite a while but stuck with it until they dissected this monster. 

Ezra and Sam had some bonding time too! So fun when they get big like this!

More of the mining operation. Oliver was pretty upset we couldn't take all of the boulders home with us. He reluctantly settled for some pictures...In his defense, he worked for a few hours to get these all out of the mountain.

And the whole reason we went to St. George was for my cousin Angela's wedding. I was honored to be invited, especially because I haven't seen her in years. But it was a wonderful occasion and a great reminder of how much I love my Poll family. Those are all of my aunts and uncles with Angela and Josh.

Cousin time is always the best. Marissa watched all of the boys two nights in a row while Dean and I went to the dinner and wedding.

The games started getting later and colder, but it didn't keep us away. These boys are hardcore and loved the Utah games. We had our little system set up. We'd hit the tailgate and have food a couple hours before the game, then get to the game nice and early and head to the very top where there was a bench for my back, and the boys could lay out their blankets and get cozy. They'd watch the jumbo tron while laying down, and usually, eventually fall asleep before the end of the game. Some of the games would end close to midnight. Then they were all troopers hiking the mile back to the van with their blankets. There was always one boy who liked to make it a bit difficult, but we always made it.

This is what the end of the game usually looked like.

One night, we were getting ready for bed. Ezra was sitting in the window seal and suddenly he was on the ground crying. He sliced his head open on the rocking chair. If you look closely, there's quite the gash buried under his hair. It stopped bleeding pretty quickly, and hindsight, we should have headed to the instacare for some staples. Two days later I took him in and it was too late for that. So, he'll just have a giant scar on the back of his head...forever.

We took the boys to school one morning and he was excited to play at the playground for a few minutes. Ezra also likes asking "mom, can you take a picture of me?"

After our trip to instacare two days later when it was convenient for me. We got a bill, and nice words telling me he will heal just fine, and a picture at the U. Ezra's request. 

October=Halloween time. These kids are so good at using the available costumes in the costume box. Ezra has been that monkey at least three years now. Thomas, who isn't into super hero's was batman. Lincoln came across the skeleton, and Oliver couldn't find his ghost costume from last year, so he didn't dress up for the ward Halloween Party. I got home from school late on Friday evenings so Dean had these boys already heading over to the party before I got home.

By the time I got there, there was full entertainment. Thank you Joshua!

After a drive-by cookie party last year. We found a Thursday (my day off of school) and luckily it was a nice, sunny day. It was a slow start this year, as all of my boys are growing up and their friend's are in school. My good friend Katy Westonscow made the trip before school got out, and one of my friend's from school came too. It's always nice to have one on one time with friends, so it was perfect!

Ezra didn't seem to mind that he got another cookie every time someone showed up. 

Once school got out, the people started coming. Let the cookie party really begin!

Because Halloween was on a Sunday this year, and we had plans to go to a football game on Saturday night. I told the boys I'd take them to a trunk or treat during the day on Saturday instead. Well, they didn't get to fill their pillowcases with candy this year, but we did wait in line on a very warm day and got to have a few dozen pieces of candy at the end of the hour and a half wait. At least there were plenty of people for entertaining people watching.

Here we are, before we realize the line is so long. Let's do this! Oliver is a ghost if you're uncertain.

And the boys got to pose in this fun picture.

Halloween night. Oliver denies that he falls asleep at these games, but I have proof. It was a late one.

That is Thomas' head buried. Doesn't he look so cozy?

On Halloween, we didn't go trick or treating, but we finally finished our game from last year where they roll dice and open gifts. It ended much better this year!

The lighting is poor, but we also did some pumpkin bowling down our driveway. I made some toilet paper rolls look like ghosts, and set them up at the bottom of the driveway. STRIKE!