UEA

This was a fun week for us. The kids had school Monday through Wednesday, but then had a four day fall holiday. We had gorgeous weather and did our best to enjoy it. Thursday we went to the pumpkin patch with some friends. It was glorious weather and we all loved being out in the country. The unfortunate part of this day was as Landen was pulling the wagon to the van he turned a little too close and scraped the screw from the wagon on our friend's van. It was a pretty deep gouge. We both felt terrible and Landen is sure he won't be able to go to college after helping to pay for the damage. Later Thursday we went on a bike ride and the kids hiked a nearby waterfall down by the old mill. We had Landen's dinner choice (German Pancakes of course) and watched a mystery movie. A must for gradeschool children. "Roxy Hunter and the Mystery of the Moody House" or something like that. Friday we went on a bike ride to the Lagoon trail. We had a picnic, the kids climbed trees to get the beautiful leaves, looked at the buffalo and Cariboo, gauked at the carnival riders, made boats and had boat races down the stream, and tried to get the freeway drivers to honk. The trail ends on an overpass. Tali said riding her bike fast on the trail was like being out of jail. She was a wild woman and a treat to watch cruising with her big brother and sister that she never could quite keep up with. We had a gourmet dinner courtesty of Brecklyn that night. It was an Italian theme, pasta, red sauce, alfredo sauce, breadsticks, salad, and sausage meatballs! Saturday we again enjoyed the beautiful weather by finishing painting part of the deck, helping some neighbors haul wood, and working outside. We also purchased a bed and dresser for Capri, but haven't put it together yet. Craig and I went out last night and enjoyed being able to relax and talk and begin our Christmas ponderings. When we came home the house smelled badly of gas. The kids had cooked ramen with teh babysitter, but they didn't think anything had been amiss. It was very strong and Craig called the gas company. They came out and did an indepth search and examination of our home. They found a small leak under our stove and told us that we need more vents in the laundry room, but nothing else was amiss. We feel blessed that everything was o.k., and regretted that the peaceful evening that was not to be.

The kids have been whittling sticks lately. They gather large sticks or branches, steal all my potato peelers and whittle and sand the sticks down. Breck even stained one of hers. There are shavings everywhere. Breck is also "taming" bees and has a number of them in her room that she is pairing up and preparing to start a colony. Capri has been stung three times now. Landen is playing Duke of Earl on the guitar. The kids like to stand behind him and sing along. Tali has begun Minuet 3. She spends lots of time with her violin trying to pick songs out by ear. It is fun to see her understand a little better how her violin works. She has just begun to start reading music and loves to new avenue.

Breck's piano teacher just informed us that he is no longer going to come up to Centerville to teach. We are heartbroken and trying to decide if we should drive to SLC to continue with him or search out someone else. Breck adored him, which I'd have to say is rare in a piano teacher/student relationship.

As the last picture shows, Capri is still wild. She came in 10 minutes before church when I was blowdrying my hair looking like this. She'd climbed onto her changing table, opened the Eucerin (an extremely heavy almost creamlike lotion) and applied it liberally. I threw her in the tub and scrubbed her off but she went to church looking like a greasebomb with slicked hair and VERY soft skin. She is talking and communicating so much better and is a real joy. She loves a joke, loves to dance, worries about her family, and loves to go places.