october: baptism and halloween

October was busy, but by far the best part of the whole month was A’s baptism. I took her to her interview on a Tuesday night (I only got to stay for part of it due to a very small, very loud and rambunctious person who cannot sit still). The bishop and she talked for a long while about the covenants she would be making and what it meant. I really appreciated that he took some much time talking to her, explaining and listening and teaching. It was a really meaningful experience and she was so excited.

Then on Saturday, she was baptized! Starting was a bit rough. We just changed wards and I gave everyone the wrong address. So we started a bit late but other than that, the day was perfect. It means so much to have family and friends there and it was such a sweet experience. Aunt A played the piano and Aunt S led the music. Prayers were given by our good friends and honorary Uncle JoJo and Godfather. We sang her favorite songs, I Feel My Savior’s Love and Teach Me to Walk in the Light. Grammy gave a talk on baptism, the covenants being made and the Baptism Bear was a big hit, representing the 3 “bears” of baptism (bear the name of Christ, bear one another’s burdens, bear your testimony), especially the gummy bears she shared afterwards. She was baptized by her Daddy (witnessed by Uncle C and Papa). I love his voice and she was simply beaming. After her baptism the program continued with remarks from the Primary Presidency and A played the piano, “When I Am Baptized” and had her sisters sing. Auntie L gave a talk on the Holy Ghost and what stood out most to A was the way the Spirit can speak and guide us in so many different ways. She was confirmed by her Daddy and from where I was sitting, I could see her sweet face between the men surrounding her. She is so beautiful and looked so happy. She was elegant and poised and so ready for this very grown up decision. After the program we gathered at our house and turned the kids loose to play with cousins and friends. We had cupcakes and fruit and cookies (all at A’s request) and Grammy had made adorable rainbow suckers. The kids had a great time playing cops and robbers, Simon Says and other backyard games.

The next day, the bishop welcomed her as the newest member of the ward and she bore her testimony from the pulpit, sweet and sincere. Even L and I joined, it was such a powerful day. E wanted to go up and bear her testimony but she was feeling too shy and literally crumpled at the last minute. She was so disappointed later and adorably said that she will be so much braver after she gets baptized and the Holy Ghost will help her.

Most of the month was swept up in the busyness of fall. The girls are doing great in school and finished first term. Their grades are fantastic, all above level in everything. But apparently have been late far more often than I knew. It was a disappointing surprise and something we’re working on. They love riding their bikes to school everyday but often get distracted with friends and forget to make it into their classroom on time.

Piano is going great, their teacher gave them all a very specific practice challenge and rewards them each week if they meet the challenge. We haven’t always meet the goal but especially E is so motivated and sticks with her daily practice because of this challenge. She has the hardest time, getting discouraged or frustrated easily but I am so in awe of all of them. L plays so beautifully and musically and long surpassed my skills. A has natural talent and it comes very easily to her. She gets her required practice over with as fast as she can so she can improvise, that’s really her favorite. And E impresses me so much, she’s so much younger and yet keeping up just fine. She’s very hard on herself but doing so well! L still favors the ballads, A favors the jazz and E loves anything that is not a 1:3 ratio!

And dance! Dance has been particularly exciting, the girls are loving their classes and even at home like to show off to each other. We spend every Saturday at Nutcracker rehearsal and L has started working on her duet. L’s schedule changed a bit, moving her from level 2 to level 3 classes where she can be better challenged. Our life is very very busy but very very good and they are loving it.

For fall break the girls spend the first day being lazy! They embraced it as their “day off”. We slept in, watched movies, played the wii, invited friends over and just played. No chores, appointments, classes or commitments. And half of Friday. But then Daddy came home and we went on a family adventure. We had planned to go to Cornbelly’s but it was so cold and windy that we had to change plans. We went to the Museum of Curiosity and spent 8 hours exploring and playing. The kids especially loved kidopolis and spent hours in the bank, the lego room, the library and the puppet theatre. Z loved the toddler play areas and couldn’t get enough. The hit of the day though was the ropes course! Daddy took the three girls to conquer the ropes course and L went right after it, loving every minute. A and E took their time, having to be walked through some of the challenges by a very patient friend they made on staff. They all raved about the experience and have begged to go back.

And then Saturday we went to a Halloween party at a friend’s house. L was the oldest one there, it was lots of little kids, lots of noise and chaos and they loved it. Fun food, great decorations, cute games, the kids had a blast. We dressed up as a family. The girls came up with the idea and it was fantastic. Z was Peter Pan! He didn’t love his hat but loved his toy dagger. E was Tinkerbell, sweet and sassy. A was Wendy, perhaps not as demure as her character since this kid is always bouncing off the walls but adorable and loving her super comfy nightgown. L was Pan’s shadow (so creative!) Husband was Hook and I was Smee!

We also wore our family costume to the ward party. It was a soup potluck at the wardhouse pavilion, followed by a trunk or treat. That was a huge hit, the kids loved it. L did one lap and then hung out with me at the car while the others bounced around with friends and showing off baby Z.

And then Halloween arrived! The kids picked out different costumes to wear to school since we wouldn’t be together. They agonized over costume choices until finding last year’ dance costumes. L wore her flame costume with devil ears, E donned her peacock costume and the eagerly put Z into the monkey suit. A really wanted to be a rockstar and went through several costumes before wearing the bride costume. She was much happier about it when I loaned her the jeweled hairpiece I wore for my wedding. They raced off to school for parties. I helped out at A’s party first, bringing our popcorn machine which was declared awesome by all the kids. We watched the kindergarten costume parade and helped out at E’s Halloween class party too. In between, Z and I played on the playground happily chasing a football with his cute monkey tail swinging behind him. After school I scooped up all the kids and we went to Lee’s Market for their Halloween event. The kids got to trick or treat at different stands collecting an apple, chocolate milk, cheese, snacks and treat. We did the spook alley, which unfortunately was too intense for E (and A but she hid it much better) and then finally got home for Z’s much needed nap.

The girls lounged for a Halloween movie and required quiet time before we ramped up again. Daddy came home to play with a grumpy Z while I took the girls out for trick or treating! They donned new costumes again (L was a racecar driver, A a rockstar and E was Snow White) and took off.  We quickly ran into some of L’s friends so she headed out with them, ready to go much faster than the younger kids could keep up. Then we ran into E’s best friend and her family, who offered to take her along for awhile. So each of the girls were ecstatic to be trick or treating with friends and I loved that they got to go a pace best for them rather than me struggling to keep them at the same pace. We met for soup at a neighbor’s house, did more houses than we have ever done before, ate way too much candy and ran themselves completely out of energy and into bed. Meanwhile Z spent the evening having a great time with dad. He loved answering the door and then stealing suckers from the bucket. They played with remote control jeeps in between visitors and he cried when I took his costume off for bed. (he loves his big monkey belly and was proudly patting it all night, unfortunately he sleeps too hot to wear it to bed)

One for one more fantastic October adventure, husband and I went canyoneering! We left the girls' with Grandpa (first time and they had a blast!) and Z with a best friend (who has a daughter only a month older and already promised in marriage). We left Wednesday evening and arrived super late at our camp site. But Lucy, our trusty Pilot and pretty much the best vehicle ever, doubled as our camp for the night. With all the seats flat and a futon mattress, it was pretty comfy! We got a few hours of sleep and then husband bounced out of bed to make breakfast and do stuff. I don't actually know what they did because I slept another hour. We joined husband's brother, his wife and one of their good friends and the 5 of us conquered the Subway! The hike in started out pretty leisurely and had such incredible views. As we began our descent into the canyon, the hike included more scrambling, short rapells and soon, a jump into a pool of glacier cold water. So, so grateful for full length wetsuits. We were in and out of the water, scrambling over rocks and up and down obstacles. It was fantastic. Cold, but fantastic and so much fun. The views were beautiful and we found that classic subway view, with the rocks elegantly and boldly twisting up, cradling us into its beautiful red cliffs. We took a last rapell into the water and emerged out of the subway into a perfect picnic spot (dining on delicious wraps they brought), and eventually made our way back up the canyon. We had dinner at a bbq joint in Springdale before we headed home. A quick trip but so much fun and can't wait to do it again.

Up next: November.