So many exciting memories to report on this month! Can hardly believe all we fit in but somehow here we are in November already. Most importantly, we sent Adam off on his mission to Mexico and it was SO wonderful to be able to be there in person for his farewell and mission party! Dane and I traveled to Seattle and had an incredible weekend. We loved being with Grammy and Papa, cousins, aunts, uncles! Pickleball and pizza, shopping, pumpkin patches, game nights, and all sorts of fun family get togethers fit into one little weekend. Dane was so happy to be with Adam for a short bit. Adam is going to make an amazing missionary and I am so proud of him and excited to hear about all of the adventures that lay ahead.
Blake's office celebrated Boss's day! It was so cute. Each employee picked out a tie for Blake along with an attribute they admired about him and they all put it around his neck. LOVED this cute little idea. They adore him and I'm so proud of the kind boss he is. I love when my friends send me pictures of their little ones getting braces on! Millie is the latest victim.. hehe. She looks very cute in braces.
Ok... then there were LOADS of Halloween activities at every turn! LOADS. Boogie bash, Trunk or Treat, Ding dong ditching with Grandma, pumpkin patching, haunted houses, pumpkin carving, Halloween night itself! The kids were busy busy busy and so was their mom trying to orchestrate it all. We always love our trunk or treat- love seeing how everyone is dressed up and watching the kids have a blast with their friends. This year Ding Dong ditching matched up with Grandma and Grandpa's visit down to see Anna perform in the primary program. It was a sweet day full of Grant's yummy salmon (which Grandpa thankfully grilled for us since Blake had to stay late at church), beautiful program at church, and then putting together adorable gifts for friends that Grandma had organized and created. One of our very favorite traditions by a long shot!
We also enjoyed traveling up to Orange County to be with the family and celebrate Fall birthdays: Stacy, Grant and me! Of course Grandma made it so so special with cafe rio pork and so many yummy toppings and then Nothing Bundt cake and Handel's ice cream for dessert! We played games and caught up together. It was a really sweet day.
The Rustands came to visit! It was short but sweet and we had the best night ever - out to dinner just the four of us. Then back home to laugh our heads off as usual about anything and everything under the sun. Beth came to the primary program to watch Anna. Love them so so much.
Lots of birthdays this month- loved putting together a luncheon for one of my favorite people on earth Elizabeth! Heidi made delicious chocolate cheesecakes and we had soups and home made breadsticks. It was a perfect weather day and perfect company. Also celebrated Helen's birthday as well and loved being with her and all of our friends. It was heartbreaking to hear that Chanel's dad passed away suddenly a couple of weeks ago. Really sad and hard to know what to do to help in these situations when your dear friend is hurting . We took dinners, flowers, offered to have kids over. We wrote heart messages and stuck them all over her walls- along with a big bag of her favorite things. But it's just still very sad and we are all wishing we could help more.
I absolutely loved seeing Evelyn this month as Jamie and I traveled to Utah to be with she and Noah. It was a beautiful time of year to visit and the fall leaves made me so happy. We hiked, we drove up the Alpine Loop, we watched a BYU football game, we went to the movies, shopped, got our nails done, cleaned her apartment and ate lots of yummy food. I'm so proud of Ev and love that she's making friends and doing well in school. It was so nice to meet the boy she's been dating too- Aidan. He's a great kid. SO much fun to be with Jamie and of course Noah as well. Life is tricky as a college kid these days. Proud of both of them for all they are doing to keep it together and manage themselves. Love receiving Evelyn's phone calls and texts and hearing all about college life. Love to see the pictures of her at the top of the Y- with the beautiful city lights, or the gorgeous fall scenery of the Provo Canyon hike she enjoys so much. Love to help her come up with ideas for devotionals for church, since she is a counselor in RS she often has to conduct and give a special thought, or do the lesson. She is growing so much in these areas as it typically petrifies her! Emma and Amaya came up to Utah to visit Ev over Halloween and they really had the best time ever. She was so grateful to be with her true friends. It's hard starting over and making new friends- this reminded her that she has GREAT friends and she can make new ones- the girls gave her loads of advice -- all good stuff. Love them all so much.
Anna enjoyed a very full month of social social social. She is busy now most days! Mondays- volleyball, math tutoring with her big group of friends, Tuesdays and Thursdays dance and Girl Scouts! Also choir and activity days. She loves it all but sometimes feels a little worn down. I think her very favorite thing to do is just snuggle louie on the couch. This month the Girl Scouts had a blast at the pumpkin patch! Some of the girls introduced Anna to boba tea and she is a fan. That's an understatement! She is a huge fan and wants to go as often as possible! Loved helping out at Tierra Bonita's Bubble Run this month. Little Anna ran her heart out and did such a good job. She also attended a wonderful dance clinic with the Poway High School Dance team - she learned a dance and then performed that dance during the football half time show. She looked darling out there! And she loved meeting the girls. Anna seemed like a teen to me this month.... because I traveled a few weekends, she went with friends to Boogie Bash and to haunted houses and just lived it all up. She enjoyed a Hocus Pocus party at the Judds, and sleepovers at the Doud. She looked adorable in her costume and was highly praised by everyone around her at the school parade. I received many pictures of her that day even though I couldn't' be there! Anna and Kate are a hoot together- always. They deep cleaned her room this month and then "took a nap" because they were so exhausted. They play spa, do their nails together, create dances, play with Sophie and everything in between. Getting her nails done is THE BEST in Anna's world and Grandma took her this month- so she was pretty excited and can't stop showing everyone. Last but not least, Anna adores taking pictures with snap filters of our carpool boys and she and myself on the way home from school. My camera roll has thousands of hilarious snap filter shots. She is such a cutie full of joy, life and quite a few high maintenance habits.
We celebrated our very own Grant B Marston this month as he turned a teen! Holy moly- it's so hard to watch your kiddos grow up. Maybe harder with this one because I KNOW what's coming. Quite a bit of moodiness and a little less snuggles and hugs. At least for a while until they come back around. But that is torture for me. At the same time, I'm excited to watch my little man grow up and eager to see him enjoy his life. Grant had a birthday party in our backyard- a swim/Halloween party- and invited both the girls and boys he's been hanging with lately. It was one of their first big hangouts and it went well. I love that he put this group together and is the little leader. Funny side note- last weekend I was out of town and Blake was dealing with an issue at the office. Dane was out with friends. Grant was dropped at a haunted house with his big group of friends and then he was told Carson could come back home with him afterwards to watch a movie. Well..... Grant thought it would be cool if the whole gang came back home with him afterwards! Hahaha! He invited about 20 girls and boys over and of course the parents assumed Blake and I were ok with that because Grant told them we were!!!! When I arrived home from the airport I walked into a house party of 12/13 year olds with absolutely no parental supervision. It wasn't very funny in the moment but now looking back- it is. Of course the kids were just as good as gold- watching Malificent, playing soccer, eating popcorn. Grant assumed we'd love to have his buddies over! I mean.... he's 13! He doesn't need parents around to watch over him!
In addition to his birthday party, and our celebration in Orange County, Grant also celebrated with Grandma and Carson at California Adventure! He had the best day ever going on EACH ride- he wrote out a list of rides he wanted to try and they arrived much earlier than we normally do which was awesome because the park wasn't crowded in those early hours! SO grateful to Grandma for taking Grant for the weekend... and Carson too!
Grant put together and presented his first lesson at church this month in the deacon's quorum. Proud of him!
Dane has been busy though you probably wouldn't notice by the pictures. He isn't one to take a whole lot of those. But he has been trying to spend time with the girls in our ward- cute girls. They are on the shy side, but they have been working towards putting together a little group of 3-4 boys and 3 girls and it's met with mixed success. Dane feels it is still quite awkward! But he does want to make it work, so he's giving it a few more weeks. This past month the kids went to a church dance together, carved pumpkins, watched a scary movie, and visited a haunted house! Dane is not feeling himself lately and that's been a bummer. He is working so hard to feel better but he struggles a little with school.... not academically, but feeling comfortable with his friends/socially. He is so well liked, but he just doesn't believe in himself. I sure wish he could see himself the way I see him! He is everything in my book! Last week he made salmon fried rice from scratch. He is the best big sister to Anna and Grant. He is helpful and kind and funny and smart and truly one of my favorite people on earth. But you have to know this for yourself. Doesn't quite help if mom points it all out. I'm praying that he will come out on top soon. Being a teenager is hard. Watching your teenager be a teenager is also hard.... when things aren't going smoothly.
As for me... I actually worked myself to the bone this month. Hard to imagine there are so many out there who work full time and then come home to take care of the house and parent in their spare time. Parenting and housekeeping is a full time gig! So you add on full time work and it's a lot. I definitely felt that this month as I helped a friend in the school by working more then I normally would have the time to- yet tried to fulfill all of my other duties as well. I was sure grateful to Nancy for coming down during my trip to Utah- taking care of the kids and helping them feel loved and special while I was away. Lots of traditional holiday fun to look forward to ahead. Grateful for our family, extended family and all of our experiences this month and always. Enjoy the meaningful memes of the month! Stuff I send the kids and stuff I laugh out loud at because I relate:)
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