Boy's Trip

 Paul went to Las Vegas for a weekend away with Aaron, Smailes, Chubbs, Al, and Ryan.

They had a great time together! They played Bingo, went golfing, played pickleball, saw a movie, and laughed and laughed.

They were all great friends when they were roommates at BYU, and they love that after all these years and different states between them, they still have such a good time when they get together.

I hope they can do another trip together soon. And go for a longer one next time! All these hard-working men had a hard time staying awake to fit everything in that they wanted to do. :) I think they need a longer trip so they can settle in and relax some while they're there too.

Halloween

 This Halloween was a fun one! Tessa really wanted face paint to go along with her tiger costume, so I told her I could paint a nose and whiskers. When the face paints arrived, they came with a book that had pictures in it. There was one of a tiger face and Tessa really wanted me to paint that on her. I told her there was no way I could do that, but she showed me that there were step-by-step instructions and after looking at them, I thought I might actually be able to. We got up early Friday morning and gave it a try before school. I think it actually turned out pretty great! Not gonna lie, I was proud of myself. :)

Rockwell wanted face paint around his eyes for his skull ninja costume too, and that I was comfortable with. :)

Damon wanted to use our Spiderman costume but he hated wearing the mask, so he chose the astronaut instead. While I was painting Tessa's face Friday morning he found a Spiderman face paint in the book too. He wanted to change costumes, but we didn't have time for another face paint before school started. He wore the astronaut to school, and then was Spiderman for trick-or-treating on Saturday.

Paul was saying that he wanted to do something really simple for his costume this year, so I suggested he go as a paperback since he's a librarian. Haha! :)

The school did their parade outside this year, and it was so nice that way! We all took lawn chairs and enjoyed the nice weather. I hope they do it outside every year.

I helped with Tessa's class party. We played Halloween Bingo, and it was fun to meet more of her friends.

Tessa, Damon and I went to Hallee's Broadway performance on Saturday. She was the cutest tap-dancing skeleton ever!

My parents came over for dinner and trick-or-treating that night. We always love eating mummies, pumpkins, ghosts and witch fingers for dinner. :)

Al, Hallee, and Wyatt came trick-or-treating with us too. We went until all of their buckets were overflowing. :) It was a fun night!!

Gymnastics Meet

 Tessa and Damon both wanted to participate in the Halloween Meet. There weren't nearly as many kids as the last few, so it moved along pretty quickly. Tessa started off with vault and did awesome without a spot again.

She did awesome on bars too. While we were driving to the meet, she was telling me that she isn't able to do her chin-up back hip circle, but she went for it and did it! She told me after that she has too much of a kick-start to it, but I sure thought it looked good. :)

Tessa's on a new level since her last meet, and her routines are more challenging for her. I feel like she's in a class now where she can really learn and grow, which I think is great. She was happy that she stayed on the beam this time and didn't fall off. I loved her roundoff dismount off the beam.

Her floor routine was great as well. She just did an all-around great job!!

Tessa took Silver in the all-around. We're so proud of the great job she did at the meet, and all the practice she puts in every week.

There were just two boys at the meet this time, and the other boy had no interest in being there or doing anything, so it was an easy gold medal for Damon. :) He did a great job, and it was fun to see his improvements since the last meet. He has really improved his cartwheels and handstands and did an awesome job on his floor routine.

He's also really improved on his swings on the bar. He practices on a tree branch in our yard. :)

Al and Hallee came to watch. We loved having them there to support Tessa and Damon.

Tessa really wanted a picture of her flexing with all her medals. :)

Around Our House

 We've had a wet and chilly fall so far, which is great since we have been in a drought this year. One Sunday the weather was warm and beautiful, and the kids and I spent hours outside. They raced cars down the driveway.

Rockwell got Damon and Tess to throw lacrosse balls to him. :)

They thought it was fun to wear his "robot" gloves.

It was a fabulous Sunday afternoon!

A nice part about the chilly weather is that the hot tub is getting more use.

Grandma & Grandpa Ham came down for dinner one night. It was fun to visit with them and the kids loved when Grandma read books to them.

There was a grand opening of another Swig in Orem so the kids and I went and got free drinks and cookies. We won a tumbler from the prize wheel! Those are $25, so I was pretty excited about that prize!

The kids' favorite fall toy is the leaves in our yard! They have so much fun in them.

I hiked the Y today. That is such a steep hike! I stayed at the top for a while and just enjoyed the view.