October 2019 in Review

It wouldn't be Harvest Break without some kind of kitchen project.  Elsie and Anna helped wash the 50 lbs of cucumbers then measured out the garlic, dill, etc. for the jars. The rest of it fell on me.  I don't know why I thought this was a good idea but I suppose watching Tanner consume a lot of pickles lately prompted this rash decision.  Funny thing his pickle consumption has slowed tremendously since.  Anyway, we have our two-year+ supply now.

Harriman State Park

Ashley, Claire, Wendy and I decided to brave the cold, bundle up our kiddos and take a little nature walk through Harriman State Park during the school break.  Ok, so we had no idea how COLD the month of October would be but seeing snow on October 2 was our first indication!  Brrr....

Elsie carrying Spence

Let's just say there were a LOT of children in tow.  I am in a slightly different season being the older mom with only Quinn and Elsie along but Wendy had her last at age 40 so she's not far behind.  After our "hike", we ordered lunch at Big Judd's in Ashton and still made it home in time for Quinn's XC race that afternoon.  Our family vacations during Harvest Break have been nixed due to the kid's sport season and the fact that this school break doesn't apply to college students....

3rd place finish at Community Park

Elsie, Quinn, Jett, Jagger at Straw Maze

I feel like my kids spent plenty of their own cash at the local haunted something or others this October.  There's no shortage of corn mazes, straw mazes, haunted forests, haunted rivers, etc.  It's big business in a country college town!

 Aaron and I did take a raincheck (for Sept. 21) and celebrated our anniversary in slightly warmer weather over General Conference weekend.  Thank you Worldmark in Indio, CA!  We thawed out in 100 degree weather for a few days and enjoyed everything about it.

Hiking in the heat.

Attended a comedy show after dinner at Morton's steakhouse.

No snow in the background.  Nothing but HEAT.

ice cream sandwich

 We don't usually order desserts at restaurants but either these came with our meal or we splurged. 

key lime pie

We returned to freezing temperatures once again and cheered Quinn on at the East Idaho Youth Championships held at Freeman Park.  He ran a great race and finished in 4th place.

East Idaho Youth Championships - October 9

We reached out to the fire department months ago about having them conduct an organized burn on our property for training purposes.  It was scheduled for a rainy Saturday (Oct. 19) so I drove out that morning to survey the scene.  Seeing some of the descendants of original homestead owners watching did tug at my heart strings as I drove by.  But, I quickly remembered we paid the hefty price tag for the river front property and it was the family's decision to sell it.  I had to return to the site a few times after the fire department left the scene just to be sure the smoldering didn't get out of hand.

Still burning after a rainstorm.

My view Sunday morning.

 

 Now we are waiting for a demolition company to finish cleaning up the area.  There are four other dilapidated buildings on the property that will be coming down.  Hopefully it can be completed before the snow flies again.

Chuck-A-Rama - rival highlight with the game?

 I love it when a plan comes together.  Aaron won two tickets to the BYU vs. Boise game (Oct. 19).  His flight returned from Tucson, AZ to Pocatello around noon that day.  I drove Quinn to Pocatello where he jumped into Aaron's (rental) car and they drove to Provo for the big game.  Jantzen's buddy was throwing a huge dance party or he would have probably aced out his younger brother for the ticket.  Needless to say, Aaron and Quinn had fun and endured yet another FREEZING event outside.  Constant rain the ENTIRE game (after delayed start) and very wet.  Their smiles show they didn't mind enough to call it quits.  It was a good thing too because the action-packed game came down to the wire with a big time BYU upset beating out ranked Boise for the win.  They slept at the Murray house then woke up early to make the drive home in time for Aaron to assume Bishop duties.

Aaron & Quinn at the BYU vs. Boise football game

Addie P. & Jantzen - Halloween Dance (Oct. 26)

It was a crazy evening when the doorbell kept ringing (late at night).  What do you do when you get asked to the Halloween dance by two girls within 3 minutes of each other? Jantzen was a gentleman and went with who asked first.

Jantzen and Carson (and dates) were part of a larger group but this is who showed up at my door so they got their picture taken:).

Beard-beanies completed the lumber-jack look.

                                                 
Aaron and I may or may not have dodged Halloween parties this season.  The only inspiration I was feeling in the costume department was in helping Quinn create his.  Our standards aren't high but we felt a real sense of accomplishment with this DIY LEGO costume.  Fortunately, it was simple enough to duplicate because our truck ran over the first creation while it was drying in the garage...whoops!

Quinn and I planned to meet up with the triplets at the local trunk-or-treat.  We arrived just as the cars were leaving - whoops!  Apparently it started earlier than we had been told.  Brook and her boys piled in our car for a drive through the neighborhood.  Elsie joined Kayla and Riley while Matt drove the girls.  We hit a few other homes nearby then let the boys watch a movie together at the Nielsen's house while Elsie joined her friends up on the hill.  Anna and Jantzen were also out with friends.

Sariah, Bob, Quinn, Janene, Heather

Aiden, Brock, Collin, Quinn (coats covering costumes)

The candy was gone in about 36 hours.

Good-bye October!  

You were the coldest (October) month in 48 years on record.