Love and Understanding

First: we got about 20 more trick or treaters tonight. (So much candy left over!)

Second: Everyone knows about Colin Kaepernick and that he sits during the National Anthem.

Read this wonderful article to see how Kaepernick and Green Beret, Nate Boyer are beautiful examples of talking, listening and trying to understand different perspectives. And the desire to find a middle ground.

I really like AllSidesNow on Instagram for unbiased news reporting and www.allsides.com when you want more information on the topics they highlight.

I loved the following quote and think this is at the crux of so many people wanting to stand up for someone but not wanting to tear down another. We've gotta keep talking.

During their conversation Boyer showed Kap a heartfelt and honest message from a fellow Green Beret sent over a flag-draped coffin in which he expressed his rage that Kap could take for granted the freedoms the sacrifice was for. 

Kap then asked "How can I show respect to people like that, but still get my message across that I’m not satisfied with the way things are going in this country?"

Ted Lasso Halloween

Ted Lasso and Rebecca wishing you a Happy Halloween! 

What a gorgeous fall day! 68* couldn't be better for our early

trick-or-treating on Saturday because in Utah we don't trick-or-treat on Sunday.

Nick had a YM activity shooting guns at a ranch (and also watched his leaders skin a deer which he said was the worst smelling thing ever) and Lizzie & Marty left early to go to Frightmares at Lagoon. I did Barre outside because I had to soak in as much fall color as possible.

As soon as we were done with workouts, Dan and I jumped on the e-bikes and rode all over our neighborhood, socializing with friends on Shadowwood Circle who were outside changing their street to Whoville in preparation for Halloween tonight (Each house gives out over 800 pieces of candy!)

Rode up to Olympus and stopped to visit with Kristin and Curtis who we haven't seen in FOREVER.

So glad we caught them at home and they were willing to stop work and chat!

Back at home we got ready for the night and I made Jambalaya for dinner.

It was starting to get dark and Nick still wasn't home from working out. I was getting worried that we wouldn't have enough light to get our annual Halloween picture. Fortunately Pedro was still here working in the yard so we asked him to take it. When Dan initially called out to him, he replied in Spanish that Dan wasn't home. Ha! He got a good laugh out of that when he realized it was Dan.

Last week when I was sharing my costume idea with my sisters, Rachel said she was wearing the same thing as last year. No reason to dress up when there wasn't a party to go to.

Made me laugh because we don't have any Halloween parties either! We just dress up simply for the fun of it. Thankfully Instagram satisfies our desire to show off our good ideas! 

About ten years ago we did get invited to a Halloween party for a couple of years, but then they stopped doing it. I keep thinking I'll host one but two years ago our neighbor died and it seemed inappropriate to have a party so soon after. Then last year was Covid. And this year is Covid questionable.

Next year is our year. Definitely.

One of Nick's friends dropped off thank you treats for the Newport trip and we realized we needed to transform the box into a smaller biscuits box! It was perfect.

My Rebecca ring is a piece of pyrite (yep, just sitting around in my jewelry box),

glue-gunned to a CTR ring.

Nick and friends are Cal and Ricky Bobby and the french guy from 

Talladega Nights. They went to a party (RAGER) in Springville and didn't get home until 2:30 and not sure that's going to happen again. But to Nick's credit, he was very distressed about not having service to be able to call and update us on his late arrival because he sat in traffic for two hours. Long Story.

 Ted Lasso watching the BYU game while intermittently coming to the door with me to answer trick-or-treaters. Only 75 kids this year. Wonder if we'll get more tomorrow? 

Our candy game was epic this year with extra large sour straws or sour worms. Kids were excited!

Brave

Tried a Zoom "Writer's Hour" this morning with 30 other people. 

Structured as five minute a free write from a prompt followed by polishing for 15 minutes, 

ending with 30 minutes of sharing work. 

I "raised my hand" (zoom version) and prefaced with it's my first time but I'm trying to be brave.

 Read with shaking voice and shaking hands but to a very supportive community.

I screenshot the responses as a reminder to continue being brave.

Then off to Clara's today because she's recently been saying she's hungry for real food. 

I took her lunch and she actually ate about a tablespoon each of potatoes, chicken and corn 

and invited me to sit down and eat with her. It was nice.

Met Marty and Lizzie for a quick dinner in which Dan and I were both coming from different directions and were late because of traffic, and Marty and Lizzie had to leave early to go to a ward party.

But any time with our kids is terrific.

Back at home we made blueberry crisp, talked to friends for about an hour at Harmon's while we were buying ingredients (Harmon's grocery store in the neighborhood is a social hub on weekend nights for our age) and when we were finally back home, crisp just out of the oven, Marty and Lizzie showed up so we all watched a movie together. Not Coda as we had originally planned on, but Ghostbusters (circa 1984) because it was more Halloween-y, so therefore more appropriate, according to Marty.

This week's memes:

8SHAEFS

The family photo has been updated and now we're officially

8SHAEFS

And look closely, Christmas season prep has begun.

Trunk or Treat Magical Version

 Ward trunk or treat last night and turned out to be more fun than I expected.

Leslie and I had a Disney car (she found a trunk or treat car kit at the store!)

and we resurrected Courtney & Marty's Mickey Mouse ears.

So happy for simple but cute!

Lots of clever costumes and cars and activities.

Dan's Elders Quorum Presidency decided not to dress up but gave out 

hot chocolate and donuts.

Nick's quorum had a sports theme -- shoot baskets for candy.

But by far the HIT of the party was...

a KANGAROO!!!!!!!!!!!

And a ZEBRA!

(If you look closely at the little horse in the above pic, you can see he's wearing a horn.

And standing between a kangaroo and a zebra I was totally convinced that he was was in fact a unicorn.) 

Surrounded by Gold

The leaves are so beautiful even Nick commented on them!

We agreed that next Fall Break we're going somewhere where its still fall.

Don't want to miss even one second of it!

Chris! Why, did someone bring the pig from the attic down to the garage?

He said his friends wanted to tie a string to it and make it look like it was rocking by itself to scare him.

They're so weird.

Ganglion Cyst

 So I haven't been able to do push-ups for like a year because my wrist
suddenly became very sensitive to weight bearing exercises.

At first I thought it would just go away. 

When it didn't, I had to become really good at doing push-ups and dips on my fists. 
(You wouldn't think it, but they're way harder that way.)

I had my chiropractor adjust it while I was in the office for my neck issues last February.

Also had Ryan, our body work guy massage it out, but no improvement.
Opening doors, lifting the heavy roof on the pool equipment--
didn't realize how such a small twinge could be so annoying.

Finally, a month ago, a big bump appeared. 
And that's when I realized (thank you, Google) it must be a ganglion cyst.
Last Monday I had it drained and next week I can try push-ups again. 

The ortho seemed more nervous than I was draining it.

Sort of made me wonder if it was usually his assistant's job.

Kept asking if I was ok and then hesitating before he stuck me.

He'd say, "Are you ok?" Pause, move my wrist to a new position. Hold the needle above. Pause,

New position. Pause, Then finally, stick the needle.

"Are you ok? You're doing great."

I felt like I should be telling him he was doing great.

If he was any younger, I probably would have. 

But he was about my age and I thought it would be weird.

Sunday Memes

Goodbye, California. We're heading home tomorrow morning. 

It was beautiful all day. Walked on the beach, read on the deck, boys watched two Pirates of the Caribbean, shopping at Fashion Island, got the group to watch an episode of The Chosen,

dating talk/advice with Dan at dinner and a last trip to Seaside donuts/Handels Ice Cream.

It's been fun.

I've got over 12 memes I've screenshotted (#Websters) this week, so you're welcome for holding back.

Thought these ones went best with the traveling theme...

Only $5.99 for a box of 24 Eggos? Let's buy two and the kids can actually enjoy eating breakfast without us silently calculating how many are on their plate and how many breakfasts we have left.

 Same for the cucumber, celery and carrot sticks I optimistically purchased on Day 1 of vacation. 

I dodged the wet spot, but Nick's friend Tate stepped right in it. In socks.

But kudos to Disney--the added ambiance of bubbles floating from
every other baby stroller was pure magic.

Boys, say Hi to Grace.

Beach Time

Texted Courtney about the book I just finished (she'd recommended it)

and she responded with a pic of a Newport Beach. They were here!

Michael had work in Big Bear this week, Courtney flew in this weekend so they could visit his Grandma in Anaheim and spend the weekend together.

A big fun coincidence that we got to see them this morning!

Today was much warmer and the boys spent some time playing football on the beach.

Courtney & Michael walking back to where they came from.

Dan and I read our books outside (Me: The Island of Sea Women, Lisa See) 

until it was time for lunch at the Crab Cooker.

What a difference no wind makes!

Afterward, Dan and I rode bikes to the Wedge then back and over to Lido Isle.

The boys rode bikes to the ferry and over to Balboa Island

and a visit to the candy store.

Then enjoyed the sunset with doors wide open.

Boys went bowling tonight after dinner while Dan and I relaxed at home until it was time to pick them up.

Then Dan went alone to get them because that seems like a really nice thing to do 

so I could stay on the couch reading some more.

Also Dodgers lost. They put up quite a battle in the post season. It's been fun.

Recovery Day

Oh my heck I'm so exhausted today! 

I was sure it was noon when we woke up, but it was only 8:30 (Pacific Time).

The boys went to the gym for a couple hours and I started a new book

(Daisy and The Six),

looked at photos for the blog and tried to nap.

We had lunch at TK Burgers and dinner at Korean BBQ 

and in between that time I sat on my bed and read.

Tried to go outside for a bit, but it was really windy and cold. 

The boys rented bikes, tooled around, napped, rode the ferris wheel at Balboa Fun Zone

and Dan and I walked down to Seaside donuts after dinner.

 Finished my book before going to sleep. Looking forward to more energy tomorrow.

When the fog lifts you can see dozens of container ships sitting at sea waiting for space in the harbor. 

Dan read that they're backed up about a week.

Disneyland

Up at 6:00 a.m. because we were headed to Disneyland!

We started our day at California Adventure, Soarin' was our first ride.

It had been a while for most of these five teenagers, 

and they were excited to remember some of their favorite rides.

The new Galaxy Quest in the old Tower of Terror was a favorite.

Incredicoaster (new name for California Screamin') was fun, but you know, the Tesla is faster ;-)

Toy Story, Ferris Wheel, Goofy Swings, Mighty Mouse (whatever its called at Disney) and then lunch. 

Got synced up so we could try for the Star Wars reservation and was able to get it. 

(You've got to be fast... reservations are filled within ten seconds!)

A friend told us about single rider on Cars Ride so we were able to ride without the long 60 minute wait.

Back to Tower of Terror, um, Galaxy Quest two times in a row before switching to Disneyland at 1:00.

Next time we know to do single rider for Space Mountain, but it was still fun even after a long line.

Then Pirates of the Caribbean.

Star Wars land was super cool. Only wish there were more characters dressed up like star wars walking around. Would have created even more ambiance.

The boys were really excited to try blue milk. (I thought it was gross. They liked it.)

On the Smuggler's ride, Dan and I were in a "ship" with a little girl and her brother.

We were first in line and assigned as Pilots, the two kids as Gunners.

I turned and asked the kids, "Do you want to be pilots or gunners?"

"We'd really love to be pilots!"

"Great, let's switch!" 

They let out the biggest squeals and asked, "Are you sure?!"

Of course we were and how awesome that we got to make these kids' day!

Gratefully we were in the back because as it turned out, I had to close my eyes half the time because its a ride where the ship moves while you watch a video. The kind that makes me so sick.

Rise of the Resistance was another cool ride/experience. But its also the video kind.

Makes Pirates and Indiana Jones that much more special making these huge sets for the rides.

Wish Resistance would have been more like that,

Splash Mountain (single rider -- thankfully didn't get wet!), dinner, 

Skipped Haunted Mansion because it had an hour wait.

Getting a photo was almost as good.

Indiana Jones, Jungle Cruise. Matterhorn broke while we were in line.

Back to Space Mountain, but their single rider line was closed, so we skipped.

Tea cups (which Dan and I skipped, obviously.)

Walk through the castle area and then we were done.

We were all exhausted after two busy days and the boys who wore Converse had sore feet.

We all did -- even though I wore my running shoes. 20,000 steps is a lot for anyone!

Also didn't expect to be with the boys all day, but they were happy to stick together, 

which made it extra fun for Dan and me.

Fun memory this morning:

Pulling into the parking lot this morning put a tear in my eye as Dan and I both remembered the time we brought four-year-old Courtney and two-year-old Marty and at the end of the night, on our way out of the park, probably in this very parking lot, fireworks filled the sky and four-year-old Courtney shouted, 

"My wish came true! When I made a wish in Minnie Mouse's wishing well, I wished for fireworks!"

We pulled over, of course and watched the show from our car. 

Fireworks weren't scheduled for a Wednesday night in February. 

And yet... Disneyland is the place where wishes come true!