Long Weekend Getaway

We had one last getaway this summer, spending UEA weekend in Delta with our friends at their ranch. For those of you non-Utahns, UEA is basically a 4-day weekend for the kids while the teachers have a 2-day conference here in Salt Lake. I was able to get ahead on my work earlier in the week, so I could also enjoy a 4-day weekend. Ryan, unfortunately, had to work all day Friday, so he was planning to come down Saturday afternoon. The rest of us arrived Thursday afternoon and got settled in. We were able to help get things cleaned up and cleaned out, getting ready for winter. The kids had a great time exploring, playing games, riding the wheelers and watching movies. Saturday and Sunday we were able to listen to General Conference on the radio.

Addie had a close call when she followed the boys into the pump house where they were working. The stairs have not yet been built, so they use a ladder to descend the 8 feet into the storage/well area. Addie walked into the little shed and fell right through the big hole in the floor. LUCKILY, Gator was just getting down the ladder, saw her falling and jumped over and caught her! She was a little shaken up, but not injured at all. Many thanks were given that day!!

I had a lot of fun just visiting, cooking, cleaning, watching movies and having no major responsibilities. Kathy and I worked together preparing meals and cleaning up afterwards. The boys were all pretty busy working on winterizing the house plumbing and the well. They also helped quite a bit with cleaning, vacuuming and taking out garbage.

Ryan ended up staying home Saturday, not feeling the 2-hour trip would be worth it just to come home Sunday morning. He was Awesome, however, doing some pretty thorough cleaning while we were gone. The kitchen floor looked Great when we got home and I've managed to keep it looking pretty good for the past week so far.

We headed home Sunday afternoon, just as the second session of General Conference was starting. We were making good time driving home and all the kids fell asleep, so I enjoyed listening to conference without much interruption. Unfortunately, our van overheated when we were about 45 minutes from home. The radiator/heating system was then vapor locked and I was unable to cool it off by turning on the heater, so we had to just wait. Luckily, the weather was cool and it was raining, so the van cooled down easily. We waited about 45 minutes, just to be sure, added more fluids to the radiator, then finished our trip home.

As we have 4 birthdays during September and October, we decided to have one group birthday party for the 4 of us, Ryan, his mom, his sister Kelsi and Me. As our trip to Delta was planned somewhat last minute, this group birthday party had already been planned for the Sunday of our return. We made it a dessert party, having each birthday person bring a favorite dessert. We had pie, cake, a really yummy Jell-O, cookies, then some other snacks and salads to counteract all the sugar. The party turned out really well, despite the rest of us making it home just an hour before it was to start.

The weather turned cold the last couple weeks, even dropping down into the 30s and 40s just a day after being almost 90 degrees! We kept the windows closed and managed not to use the heater for the first several days, but the house was pretty cool in the mornings. However, now we've been dropping into the 30s and 40s almost every night, so the heater has had to be turned on. Fall is definitely here!!

Adalyn is now in preschool 2 days a week and LOVES it! I have to avoid telling her it's her school day or she will be ready to go with too much time to spare, and she is Not Patient. She will say "I love schools Addie." She actually very often refers to herself in the third person. I think Alexia got her all confused on the whole my/mine and you/yours. At least when she puts her name in the sentence, everyone knows she is referring to herself:) When Adalyn is bored she will come ask "where are we going?" It doesn't matter what response I give her, she will continue to ask where we are going until I finally tell her we are going somewhere. I've found it best to keep an ongoing list of "errands" just for these particular occasions, so I can at least get something done that needs to be done while I take Addie for a ride.

Andrew has been playing football for a couple months now and is on a winning team this year. The only downside to this is he does not get a lot of playing time as he is not one of the "top" players. He hasn't let it get him too down, fortunately, and he has done a really good job when he has gotten to play. If nothing else, it's good exercise for him to go to practice 3 days a week:)

Ryan had to work all day on his birthday, so we didn't have much of a celebration for him. I did get him some large bath sheets for his birthday, however, which he really liked. Ryan's a big guy and often insists on walking through the house in just his towel, so we're all glad he now has some towels that will wrap all the way around him!!

With the kids back in school I have been better at keeping things under control around the house. Laundry was actually completely caught up for a day!! My work has even been getting done, but that's also attributed to just working part time right now. I still haven't quite built back up to full-time status. I have a really hard time just letting the house go while I sit and work for 5 hours and I do like to sleep at night.

We've been rearranging the house this past month, creating a master bedroom in our family room downstairs. We miss having that room for entertaining, but Ryan is glad we didn't have to get rid of the big screen TV. The girls are now upstairs in what used to be our room and I get to keep my office in the other room upstairs. The boys and Addie are still in the same rooms downstairs. The dark basement is good for Ryan on those days where he doesn't get home from work until 3 or 4 a.m. and he is able to sleep in.

I can't believe we went the whole summer without going camping once! We finally went up the canyon and had a fire over Labor Day weekend, but that was the closest we got to the mountains. I guess we just had a really busy summer. Better luck next year I guess.

Alexia had to have 2 teeth pulled out last week, in preparation for getting braces on her top teeth. She did a really good job and only needed Tylenol once that same evening, which was surprising to me as one of the teeth still had a full root! She got her braces on yesterday morning and I think that is hurting her a little more. However, not as bad as Andrew's, which is good since she can't take ibuprofen. So, hopefully the Tylenol will continue to be sufficient for her.

We went to a baptism last Saturday morning for our cousin, Trevor. Unfortunately, Austyn had to go to the bathroom and barely missed the actual baptism part. Silly Austyn! Austyn and his cousin Madeline are planning their baptisms for Saturday, December 26th, here in Magna. Madeline is only a few days older than Austyn so we thought it would be nice to let them share this special day and have it here so more relatives can attend both.

I was pretty excited when I noticed Halloween was on a Saturday this year and the kids are off that Friday as well. I thought Yay, no Halloween parade or dressing up at school!! Unfortunately, there are apparently many parents who feel differently, so the elementary school will celebrate Halloween on Thursday, October 29th. What's Up With That!??! Plus, the kids are to wear their costumes over their clothes so they can take them off after the parade. All this hassle and it's even a short school day, kids will be out at 1:30. What's the point?

The weather is pretty windy today, blowing in a storm. The weather is looking to be much cooler tomorrow with rain and snow at higher elevations. The outlook is bright, however, possibly getting back up into the 70s for the weekend!!

Ryan and I are planning a weekend away for our anniversary, coming up in November, so I'm looking forward to that. Hopefully it won't be too complicated for Ryan to trade shifts to accommodate our plans. We want to be gone Saturday and Sunday nights, so he just needs someone to cover his Monday morning routes. Ryan's sister Kelsi is planning to stay here with the kids while we are gone. They will be off track then, so no elementary school to worry about that Monday.

I guess that's plenty of catching up for now. I really need to update more often. At least I've got a good journal going on here, even if no one else can take the time to read it all. ~Julie~