November

The Fall leaves are so gorgeous this year. I decided on a spontaneous photoshoot. I gave the kids 10 minutes to get ready and told them to meet me outside. The following pictures are the results. I think they turned out pretty cute!

This time Carmen's regatta was freezing, but close to home right at Beaver Creek. This regatta was just against ourselves and was a great chance for everyone to get to compete more than once. 

 Dallin and his friend Tommy got to ride in Coach Craigs skiff, which I understand only a privileged few have ever done! 

Another official teenager in the house! Aliza turned 13. 

So many leaves in our yard! Pile after massive pile can be found. It took a yard team of 3 guys a whole week to get our front yard raked. Dallin and Koda probably weren't helping too much because they just wanted to jump in the piles. 

 Dallin continued to learn about the early Americans. His class did a little play and then showed off some projects they have been working on. 

 Of course him and his buddy Case collaborated on everything. 

 Charlotte learned a new skill - finger knitting and she made this oh so comfy blanket. 

And then with less than 24hr notice, David signed us up for a 5k Turkey Trot. I'd never done one before, so I was excited about tying it out. Charlotte did awesome, and David too. I was one of the last ones to finish, but I did finish despite wanting to quit many times. My knees were not happy with me for several days afterwards!

 We made a family trip up to Philly to attend the temple with other youth in our ward. This time we stayed overnight so we could get a lot of names done. I can't remember exactly how many we did, but it was around 50 ordinances. It felt so good to do that much work. 

The big rivalry game with UVA and Virginia Tech was at UVA this year. It's been 15 years since UVA ever beat VT and we just knew this was the year to break that cycle, and it happened!! Since my sister and nephew Lane are huge VT fans, it was fun to have them with us and watch us beat them. 

     UVA wins!  YAY!!!!!!

 Dallin stayed home because he knew UVA would win and that it would be too loud for him. He doesn't like the loudness at the games. 

October

Fall school pictures are in, all except Carmen's... hers will be here later. Everyone is looking so grown this year. 

It General Conference watching time and all this dog wants are my treats! 

 Meanwhile Dallin built this awesome magna tile temple while watching. 

A few weeks ago both David and I had meetings after church. The kids got a ride home and made dinner for us! Pancakes and bacon were ready for us when we got home.  I was super impressed. 

I think I say this about every field trip, but I love going to Natural Bridge.  I've now been with every one of my kiddos. 

 But this was the first time that we went to the caverns! That was fun and Dallin thought it was pretty cool, but also a little freaky. 

 We got to learn all about the Powhatan Indians and how they lived. 

 And a few days later we got to watch his class performance where he got to be an owl. He even had a line that he practiced for weeks ahead of time. "Wowee wowee, me oh my! Who in the world is that? He sure looks like a critter who is looking for a spat!".

And his ball handling skills are improving! I noticed a big difference this season in how he handles the ball and his confidence. 

This game I was finally able to get some good goalie shots of Charlotte in action. She's so adorable!

Having a high schooler is turning out to be pretty fun. Everyone seems to really get into spirit week for homecoming. And she has some great friends to be silly with!

This was the homecoming football game, which Western won in overtime. 

And then all the girls went to the Homecoming dance together. They got together at Lucy's house to get ready and then headed over and had a great night.  After the dance they went to Jasmin's house for a bonfire. 

For Halloween, Charlotte decided to make these Skittles pumpkins for a school pumpkin contest. Unfortunately we didn't get to go trick or treat this year because there was torrential storms that whole day. We opted not to go out! 

 Poppy helped us build a kayak rack to hold all our boats. It's nice to finally have them out of the garage. The roof will go on soon. 

We just love having season tickets this year. It's been a great family activity for us to do all together.