October

October was a gorgeous month and we had lots more fun! And lots of pumpkins (that we grew).

Black Island Farms with the Young Women.

Started off conference weekend driving the Nebo Loop on Friday. A first for us (and maybe a last). We preferred the Alpine Loop overall, but still lots of beauty. 

The hike to Grotto Falls is by far the best part. A favorite!

And bonus, everyone but Dixie can do it on their own.

My crew is the best!

Just a trickle this time of year, and nobody wanted to get wet.

We finally let her out a little ways before we got back to the car. Free baby!

A perfect hike.

And of course, we ended the night with dinner at the BYU Creamery.

Time for General Conference!

I told Reagan I didn't have time to print Bingo sheets so she made her own and made copies for everyone.

We visited the Pocatello Temple open house. It was nice.

Except that it was an absolute downpour and we had to wait outside with no protection for our shuttle for almost 30 minutes. That was pretty miserable. 

It was a very soggy bus ride. Blade still talks about "the time we were wet and rode on the bus."

Church is always fun with this little one. 

After church, I took the kids on a hike above the Bountiful Temple. We ended up going not quite the right way and it was a little longer and more involved than I had planned for but still beautiful. It wasn't stroller-friendly and I didn't have a carrier so Dixie got to walk a lot. 

It was a great adventure! Couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day.

After a couple detours, we finally made it to the temple viewpoint!

The kids loved staring directly into the sun.

We were so excited to go to Dallas for Fall Break! We were going to see Lance's brother, my grandma, and Lance and I were even going to go to the BYU-Baylor game with my aunt and uncle. I packed the kids' stuff meticulously. 

Sadly, after we picked up the kids from school and were on our way to the airport, they cancelled our flight. No way to rebook. We were all devastated. We drove back home and stopped at Tucanos on the way to drown our sorrows. Station Park always cheers us up. 

We planned a super fun staycation instead and let all the kids pick a family activity and a restaurant to eat at. 

Rush Funplex.

She insisted on trying on the roller skates.

Kids after my own heart.

Daryn's first time to the top of the big wall!

Black light go-karts and bowling!

Cornbellys!

I seriously love this place.

Hogle Zoo!

"Check this out!"

The fake animals are always the favorite. 

The sea lions and then the polar bear put on an awesome show for us.

We watched the bear swim around for a good 15 minutes. It was fascinating!

Cooling off at the playground. 

Hay ride to the pumpkin patch.

We ate at Golden Corral that night and Dixie put her shoes on the table as soon as we sat down. Why?? She did this all the time for a while. Every night that week. I'm glad that phase is over.

Our beautiful temples!

Maddie's card are always very elaborate.

We found a praying mantis on our driveway and kept it for a day to study it. 

Lunch on the lawn with Daryn. She loved showing them the playground.

Handsome dude.

Lots of days at the park before the cold and dark kicked in.

Fall is so beautiful!

Silly girls.