Happy Halloween!

We had a really fun Halloween! The weather was pleasant and it was just a nice day. 

We of course carved pumpkins, but it was easier than it had been in years because Logan decided he didn't need to do one, Jake wanted to paint his, and Ali and Eli just wanted simple faces they could do all themselves! Wins all around!

COVID Halloween!

It was fun to see how some people handed out candy while social distancing! 

Halloween Party

We had our annual Halloween party with a few COVID tweaks: fewer friends (and no extra parents), masks, and an adult handing out the treats. I was glad we decided to go ahead with it; while some friends didn't feel comfortable coming and we missed them, we were glad to see others and keep up a tradition!

 

Happy Birthday to ME!

It was fun having my parents here for my birthday this year. My favorite gifts were the homemade cards from all of my kids--they are so cute, sweet and creative!

 

Blanket

Logan stopped wearing long sleeved shirts long ago (I've even stopped buying them for him), but it is a common occurrence (often most of the day) to see him sitting or walking around with a blanket around his shoulders. He insists it's because it's comfortable and not because he's cold. I do like a good blanket...

 

Yearbook Club

Ali was invited to join the Yearbook Club (isn't it usually a volunteer thing?) and she decided to give it a try. So, on top of keeping great grades through remote learning, she spends time every week working on pages for the yearbook. Cool kid!

 

Happy Birthday Eli

We sure love Eli and we're happy to celebrate him! He is such a fun-loving, friendly, smart boy. He's grown a lot this year. Having to do school from home has helped him to become more organized and responsible, and setting some great goals for the Church's new Children and Youth program has helped to strengthen his testimony. What a great ten years it's been!

For his birthday party, we stayed outside (COVID-style) and played a bunch of different sports. Jason was in charge of the group and even wore his ref shirt and whistle. Happy birthday, Eli!

 

Dungeons and Dragons

These three are still very into Dungeons and Dragons, spending hours a week on their different campaigns. I love that they also use their artist skills so draw their characters and some of their loot. 

 

Magic Cup

Jason, Logan and Eli play the card game Magic and the reigning winner gets to keep the Magic Cup. Eli was super pleased to have won it after a long dry spell.

 

Builder

He makes the coolest things (train tracks and block buildings).

 

Ali's photography

Ali has been having fun on our (mandatory) outings taking pictures of flowers.

 

Camping and hiking at Starved Rock

A couple of weekends ago we went on our first all-family camping trip (because I'm a really good sport). We chose to go to a place about an hour from us called Starved Rock. It was really pretty and so different from most of Illinois with hills and rocky bluffs. We did some hikes when we first got there and enjoyed the views.

These huge vultures kept circling right overhead on one of our hikes, six or seven of them. It was amazing to see them so close (and this wasn't even a great shot of how close they got-they were right over our heads maybe 20 feet up!).

This was Jake's very first campout and he was thrilled. He loved the tents, the fire, and playing ghosts in the graveyard with his brothers and sister (he was so brave!). 

The nearby lodge had a bunch of really cool statues that Jason and I wanted to check out. Some of the kids were more excited about doing this than others.

Even though I hardly slept and the racoons ate our breakfast (Pancake mix still in the box! How did they even smell it?) causing us to need to leave earlier than we had planned the next day, it was really fun and I'm glad we went.