September Miscellany

 Ben took the boys to the Utah State Fair:

He also took the kids to the ward campout on a weekend when I needed some time with Cat:

Eliza returned to Silks (in their new facility) for a
few weeks before committing to volleyball for the forseeable future.

Our friend Raeya is a freshman at BYU and joined us for Sunday dinner.

Cat and Raeya playing some scripture charades for our CFM lesson.

The kids weren't happy that we put the labor back in Labor Day
by having them help with yard work and

boat cleaning.

Luke found a way to watch Jack's show while Jack was at the orthodontist.

I chaperoned Eliza's 7th grade field trip to the Utah Natural History
Museum at the University of Utah. It was super cool!

Jack volunteered to be the door holder for the duration
of the boys' volleyball game during which the student
body dressed up in an attempt to throw off the other team.
(Cat wore a formal dress.) It did not work.

Suz and I attended a meditation retreat at Capitol Reef for a couple of days.

I'd never been there and I was surprised by how beautiful it was.
I loved learning about meditation in this scenic and remote area,
and hanging out with Suz!

I was trying to incorporate the things we practiced at the meditation retreat when I got home so the 2nd day
I was back, I did a short yoga practice and 5-minute guided meditation first thing. In my morning prayer
I asked Heavenly Father to help me be calm and peaceful and loving.

Then I went into Liza's room to wake up Liza and Luke (who slept in there the night before).
They were already awake. Listening to Thunderstruck (the original version). Apparently, they'd woken up to
Seven Nation Army and this was the next song that came on.

It was slightly easier to remain calm and peaceful at the retreat.

Cat attended homecoming with a great group of kids.

Luke's school had a fall carnival for the first time since 2019.
I was busy helping so I didn't take many pictures...

The Primary put on a Pinewood Derby activity and Ben helped Luke make
this cool fish-themed car.

Fortunately/Unfortunately I messed up the time and they arrived late.

It was too bad that Luke missed the competition, but they did let him use
the track a few times, racing against the other stragglers, and that was fun.

Luke checked out a Garfield book from the school library.
Never gets old.

Our friends wanted to go for a spin in the Tesla so we picked them
up and drove up to Cat's Chinese Buffet for a yummy dinner date.

Luke's class auction haul! His teacher told students they could bring in
any unwanted toys from their personal collection and auction them off.
He came home with a surprising amount of feminine accessories.

We decided to put together an end-of-mission care package for my cousin in Japan.
I remembered that we had a pack of gummy sushi and wanted to add that to the package but
the kids decided Blake had probably had enough real sushi and didn't need the gummy version...

Blake's sisters told us what some of his favorite treats are and we had a lot of fun

coming up with cheesy encouraging messages for each of the things we sent him.

*I'm sure this is a SWEET/TART time for you.
*You have MENTOS a lot to the people of Japan.
*Is it CHEEZ-y to say we miss seeing you?
*You're EXTRA awesome.
*We're NUTS about you and the Gospel.
*You're GRRRREAT! Yeah! (Frosted Flakes)
*You're the coolest on the ranch (Cool Ranch Doritos)
*We're GUSHing over what a great missionary you are!
*Enjoy a few more SNICKERS with your friends in Japan

These are the messages that were a little too cheesy and didn't make the cut:

*Your mission is NACHO over yet (Nacho cheese Doritos)
*OH HENRY! You probably haven't heard that in Japan!
*When you have God on your side, the MILKY WAY is at your command
*If you ever see corn, make sure to POPCORN

*We know Japanese is TWIX-y but you're doing great!
*You MUSKETEER be ready to come home
*When you come home we hope you don't look like a TROLLIE GUMMY OCTOPUS. (Luke)