Pumpkin Patch

I was so excited when my friend called and invited me to go to this little pumpkin patch right by my house!!! I had no idea it was even there and it was so cute. A couple of my friends have gone to apple orchards and I kept on thinking how jealous I was because we don't have anything like that around here. And then, there it was. It had a little corn maze for the kids to go through, plenty of tractors for them to play on, oh, and of course, lots and lots of pumpkins. The kids were so excited and had so much fun. It was right by the highway, but you couldn't hear any of it. It wasn't out in the middle of nowhere to truly give it character, but it is what it is. It was fairly quaint and well done. The lady who ran it had all the spots for pictures and knew just how to make it kid friendly without losing any of its value. The weather couldn't have been any better either. The Famerall Pumpkin Patch definitely had it all.

First

It is snowing here in Utah today. The weather here is fairly unpredicatable and likes to take wide variable turns within a fairly short period of time. Yesterday it was 77 degrees. Today it is 35 degrees and snowing. Kid 1's soccer game was cancelled because of it. Bunch of wusses. It was 45 and barely drizzling when they made that call. If we would have been in Idaho, we would have played and half of the players would have not been wearing protective clothing. The cold blistering weather is nothing short of what Idahoans are used to. And to think, the snow isn't even sticking. I don't know if I can really consider that a true snow or not. Atleast the leaves in the mountains will all be beautiful for our Conference Weekend Drive.

Ready to Rock, Already Rolling

Kid 3 and her many personalities. She really is a fun little girl, although a little needy at times. She started getting up on all four's a couple of weeks ago, and is about ready to take off crawling. She gets frustrated because rolling just doesn't quite get her everything that she wants. She has learned to push off of all four's and slam her face into the ground. That doesn't make her very happy either. As much as I am not looking forward to having her crawling around, I wish, for her sake, that she figures it out soon enough.

Kiev, Ukraine: In Case You Were Wondering

A slight change in plans.

Last Season, Kid 1 playing Soccer

The Big Moment

Kid 1 started his second season of soccer on Saturday, his first being in the spring. I don't know if he grew a ton over the summer, or if the rest of the kids are just that much younger, but he looked huge compared to the others. Then there was the total domination that he had. I really don't want to sound like I am bragging, but that is exactly what it was. He played the half of each half and had 8 goals. It was pretty embarrassing. Every time the ball was kicked off it would be in the middle of a pack and he would emerge with it and go and score a goal. After the 2nd goal, we tried to tell him he needed to pass. Hard concept for a 4 year old. It was fun to watch one kid get so excited after he kicked the ball once and throw his arms up in triumph, and then stop. It wasn't until about goal 7 that the coach finally told him to pass the ball, thanks coach, we needed some help in the listening department. I went and stood down by the goal and every time he got down there, yelled at him to pass. And then we had the big moment. The one where I was so proud. He passed the ball right down by the goal and the other kid kicked it in and scored. After that, every time he could of scored, he tried to pass the ball. It didn't always work, but at least he wasn't scoring. I don't even know the final score of the game, but I do know the other team had at least one goal. It didn't matter that it was a wide open shot and our coach told the kid to kick it in the goal and he picked it up and threw it in. At least it wasn't a shut out.

Mission Call

My parents retired this summer and have been busy visiting grandkids, coaching soccer, having family visit, and cleaning their house out. That alone could be the most daunting task they face. Years and years of stuff, collected over a lifetime, not to mention 8 kids and 21 grandkids later whose stuff inadvertently has ended up there as well, has left them with a "few" things.
Today they received their mission call. They have been called to serve as the area medical director of the Moscow, Russia region. They will be leaving on January 7th. I don't know if they go straight to Moscow or have a few weeks in the MTC, but the countdown has begun. Only a few more things to do.