Happy Halloween

Maverick --

The one where Maverick and Ice Man got old.

And a classic has spanned over 50 years!

Had 125 trick-or-treaters this year and ran out of sour spray close to the end of the night.

Kids didn't seem to mind hot chocolate packets or fake teeth options

we rummaged up last minute.

Trying to get the shot just right.

(Thanks Nick!)

Fall Hand Pies

Yesterday WyseGuide made squash, apple and sausage hand pies.

I showed Dan the video and said we should try to make these some day.

Dan ordered the ingredients right away and first thing this morning got to work.

He made pie dough for the first time ever, then the hand pies.

(I've never called anything a "hand pie" before. Have you?)

They were delicious!

The Primary Program was today.

The kids were darling, but it's always nice to have it behind us 

and not worry so much on memorizing songs.

The Presidency made a video from activities and Singing Time from the prior year

which was a really fun way for me to revisit a whole year of my Sunday outfits.

Getting another "outfit" ready for tomorrow.

Dinner and a Show

Saw an ad for a new musical, "Shucked." 

Written, directed and produced by a Tony Award Winning team.

Composed by Grammy Winning composers from Nashville.

They're performing at Pioneer Theater for run in SLC and 

eventually hoping to take it to Broadway.

Great voices and talent. Great jokes, but way too many.

Three great songs but the others were kinda meh.

They were asking for feedback in a survey, so I didn't hesitate to give it.

It has promise, and I'll give my two cents so they know what hits and what doesn't.

One thing to remember, PTC has GREAT leg room!

Friday Meme

 

😂 😂 😂

Matz finished the bunks in Pagosa!

Comfy

Kenalog injection this morning (for my tracheal stenosis).

Now holed up in my office daybed with a good mystery, 

my cute new ice pack and my favorite blanket--the one Mom and Marge

made for me and Michelle 45 years ago!

I'm Voting

Read a lot of candidate information at vote.utah.gov today.

I'll be doing some more research in the coming days

and making sure I feel good about who I vote for.

And when I mail it in, I'll wear my "I Voted" sticker with pride!

It's Not Covid

 I've been kinda sick for a week now.
Not miserable, just not 100% with a sore throat

and random coughing spasms,
often in the middle of the night.

Spent a few nights on the couch and lots of days in my pajamas

working on homework, napping, and 

reading Armand Gamache mysteries.

It's not a bad gig.

Cornbelly's

Love our Cornbelly's tradition!

 

Emi Pics

She's so adorable!

this was captioned:

"We started getting ready for church 1 1/2 hours early and 

ended up only 20 minutes late!"

 

We're Awesome

My first Instagram Reel

My niece asked to borrow a costume and I'm 

feeling like one of the cool kids now.

(Imagine Monster Mash playing in the background.)

 

Mr. Bones' Friends

Been waiting the whole year to add a new Halloween element this year...

I love fall:

BeReal

Michelle BeReal'd herself reading my book!

 

Different KInd of Book Club

Sharon Says So Book Club tonight (via Zoom)

Look who were the special guests! 

They were so so so REAL and down to earth.

Can't wait to read their book, 

The Office BFFs: Tales of The Office from Two Best Friends Who Were There

They were darling and legitimately best friends. We laughed. We cried!

Chris got a phone call from his mom this afternoon that he 

needed to schedule an hour SOON to come home and clean his room.

He stopped by this evening and while he didn't have a whole hour to spare,

he took me up on my offer to help and get his main room tidied.

Which meant not only did his room get significantly cleaner,

but I also got to hear him play the guitar and sing.

And you know what? At one time I wasn't sure if it was the artist singing or him!

He's that good! 

The Circle of Life

Took the kids to Lion King tonight, only Chris had other plans so 

Nick invited Kate and also Miles and a date. None of them had seen the musical before.

The costuming! The puppetry! Absolutely breathtaking.

I've seen it a couple other times and enjoyed it just as much now.

These kids were chatting non-stop during the breaks and I was so impressed 

that they could find so much to talk about. I was A LOT more awkward with the 

opposite sex at their age and always totally tongue tied.

(Nick loves how easy it is to talk to Kate says and they never run out of things to say.)

Dan was obvs there with me, but we didn't take a pic.

Instead I got this with two sweet friends from Holladay 28th Ward--

Barbara B, Courtney's activity day leader from 20 years ago(!) 

(she was thrilled to hear Courtney was getting her PhD and said she always knew she was so smart!)

And Judy W. a wonderful musician who always encouraged me 

to get Marty to apply to the Gifted Music School.

Such a soft spot for these lovely ladies!

Fall Updates 

Last Week:

This Week:

Last Week:

This Week:

Adios Piedra Haven

Note to Selves: 

Take our guests on a tour of the property when we first ARRIVE, 

NOT at the very end of the trip!

Oh well, I don't think they cared that we got it backwards.

We also drove to Sally's Overlook -- the kids in the Ranger and the adults

in the LandCruiser.

While everyone enjoyed the view and stood much too close to the edge for my comfort,

I took pictures of the various evergreens growing nowhere near the cliff

and learned about the different species, putting my 5th grade Mill Hollow learning to the test. 

(Ponderosa Pines, Whitebark Pine, Western White Pine (needles Pliable), White fir (needles Flat),

Juniper (aka, Cypress). Ooo, I did remember a lot.

Another note to selves:

Bring friends in the fall so you have extra hands to put everything away for winter.

So fun to get to know the Raglands better, to hear about their experiences owning a few Great Harvest bakeries (it was their idea to make Cinnaburst in white bread!) and now 

professional-scale bee keepers, including TikTok experts to sell honey.

Will is constantly researching and exploring new ideas. He's introduced Nick to YouTube and TikTok experts in nutrition, politics and business. 

Have I disagreed with some of what they've learned? Yes.

But do I love their thirst for knowledge? Also yes. 

It's amazing to see your kids grow up, become informed and start thinking for themselves.

(... I guess they've been thinking for themselves for a long, long time,

but you know what I mean.)

A Bald Eagle, The Box, and Rain

Morning walk with Heidi and we saw a bald eagle!!

First time seeing one in Pagosa!

Zoom church is THE BEST!

Afterward we hiked through The Box. 

The river is still strong so even though its October, Chad was able to get out and fish.

Made it to the bridge

(some of us wearing bright vests since its hunting season).

Nick's not feeling well, so he didn't come all the way to the bridge.

He waited high in a tree and I think I'd like to try that sometime too.

A late afternoon storm gave us down time to sit on the porch and read.

But cleared up so we could visit the schoolhouse. 

While we were gone, Chad went fishing again and got an LDR!

What's an LDR? Long Distance Release 😂