Jason’s 2018 Fall Soccer Season

Jason’s last soccer game of the season was also mid-November.  He was in great shape this year since he was both playing soccer and running cross-country.  I think he was much faster on the field this year than in years past.  He usually played middle defender and was a great leader on the field.  He was responsible for making sure the other defenders were in their proper positions.  Jason’s coach also encouraged him to take the ball down the field if given the opportunity.  Jason has a strong kick and great instincts.  It’s so fun to watch him play.  Except when he’s playing goalie which happened regularly throughout this season.  Goalie is too much pressure for this Mama – even with Jason being a great goalie.

Katie’s Soccer Season

Katie continues to enjoy playing soccer.  Each year brings with it a new team.  This fall Katie had Gracie and Evie on her team – friends from our time in the SnoFalls ward as well as Kaylee from our ward now.  It’s always fun to have friends on the sideline with us.  Katie’s practices started in August and she had games on Saturdays through the middle of November.

Abigail’s Back on the Volleyball Court

It was so fun to see Abigail back on the volleyball court after taking last year off to recover from her knee surgery.  There was a bit of drama this summer with the coach inviting her to attend a weekend training camp with the varsity team and then filling her spot.  Sports politics are the worst.  So she went into volleyball tryouts at the end of the summer not having played in over a year and a half.  She played on the JV team this year.  Most of her friends were on varsity so it wasn’t as fun socially for her, but she was a huge asset to her team and at the end of the season banquet she was awarded the MVP player for her team.  That’s my girl!

Abigail was also asked to join the varsity team for the post-season playoffs.  The playoffs lasted for weeks.  Not necessarily because the team was one of the strongest, but because they gave the schools several chances to continue – losing didn’t necessarily mean you were out it just moved you to a lower place on the bracket.  Abigail didn’t get a lot of play time during playoffs but she enjoyed being with her friends. 

Couple pics from the season:

On their way to an early morning tournament    

   

Playing with Varsity during postseason    

Other October

Conference Weekend cinnamon rolls.  Plenty of goodness to share with a few families as well.  Yes, they were frosted before consuming.

Snoqualmie once again made it onto the list of safest cities in Washington.  This year we topped the list. 

Carly’s friends came up with a fun idea for the stake dance.  They all picked a different fruit and created t-shirts.  Carly was a kiwi.  So clever.

Another gorgeous fall forecast.

Our ward youth created some fun Mormonads to display in our church building.  These are the two that Carly is in.

Just some spooky Halloween fun with my boy

Halloween 2018

I volunteered to help at Drew’s Halloween party at school today.  I ended up manning the pumpkin bowling activity, which required my crawling around on the floor organizing paper towels pins over and over and over again.  Man, I’m getting old cause my knees were not happy with my service.

That evening I went out with Jason, Katie and Drew – Abigail and Carly were off with friends.  Katie shook things up and wanted fall back to the ole witch costume – another oldie but goodie. 

Drew wasn’t as cooperative about getting his picture taken, but I actually think his stubborn little face is adorable.

Trick-or-treating was quite successful although without Abigail or Carly we ended up with our lowest stats yet.  I shouldn’t complain, 20+ pounds of candy is still a decent amount.

Ward Halloween Party

Our annual ward Halloween party was on Saturday, October 27.  Katie dressed up as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz – we’ve cycled both Abigail and Carly through this costume, but this is the first time we’ve actually had red slippers.  We found them on clearance when a nearby shoe store closed and couldn’t resist.  And with some matching red lipstick – such a cutie!

Drew squoze into his Mickey costume for the third year and Jason was a penguin – again.  Clearly Halloween isn’t a big deal for us around here – at least not enough to drop any unnecessary cash.

The primary was once again in charge of planning the Halloween activity and we stuck to the traditional format of dinner, trick-or-treating around the church to the rooms decorated by the youth and then carnival games in the gym.  Easy, simple and fun.  I was in charge of purchasing the candy and there was PLENTY to go around.  Let the candy fest begin!

Phoenix, Arizona {Oct 23-26}

Justin was able to attend a second work conference this year (the first was Boston in April).  I was able to arrange, quite easily, to again accompany him.  Having older, responsible kids is pretty sweet.  I hired a college student to come over early in the mornings when the girls needed to leave for seminary and she helped get Katie and Drew off to school.  Abigail and Carly handled everything else.

DAY ONE:

Our original flight plans left Seattle around 7-8am; however, when I heard that Becky Higgins was hosting a launch party for her new podcast (Cultivate a Good Life) in Gilbert that morning we arranged for an even earlier flight so I could meet Becky in person. 

Our first stop was breakfast at a Snooze an A.M. Eatery.  It was delicious!

Next up was meeting Becky Higgins!  I’ve followed Becky for over 20 years.  She started her career in scrapbooking and I loved her simple, clean style and mimicked her layout ideas in my own scrapbooking.  She’s since expanded her reach and influence beyond scrapbooking by encouraging others to “Cultivate a Good Life and Record It”.  When social media became a thing I followed her on Instagram and appreciated her openness about her faith and family.  I’ve purchased many of her “BHFavorites”, I love her notebooks and stone wrap, her podcast is uplifting and inspirational… she’s an amazing woman and I was looking forward to meeting her and her fabulous team. 

I’m not sure I’ve ever met someone “famous” before.  After 20+ years I KNEW Becky.  The crazy part is that she doesn’t know a thing about me.  That felt bizarre, but not weird enough to not go through with it.  The event was held at a soda shop and was actually much smaller than I expected.  Justin was the only dude there.  She was as lovely as expected and her team was so friendly.  We chatted with a few of them for several minutes.  It was totally natural and I just know that if we lived in the same area we’d be best of friends (I realize I sound like a total fan girl by saying that).  I really, really, really wanted to have a one-on-one pow-wow with Becky regarding my own scrapbooking dilemmas (and why I’m 10 years behind when it’s something that is so important to me).  We were just about to get into it when someone was leaving that Becky hadn’t chatted with yet and because she’s so sweet she couldn’t let that happen.  Drat.  Such a fun experience though!

Molly from Becky’s team recommended a couple hikes for us that afternoon.  Justin had to be back at the hotel by early evening for a meeting so we only had a few hours.  We decided on Camelback Mountain via the Cholla Trail. 

The landscape is much different than what we’re used to up here in the PNW. 

   

It was a hot day and the last half of the trail was bouldering up the mountain.  It was a good workout for sure.  We didn’t have much time at the top before we needed to head back down.  Going down was equally difficult.

After Justin’s meeting that night we headed to the Phoenix Temple.  Our temple was closed for several months (Aug-Nov) so it was great to be back in the temple.  Turns out we showed up for a Spanish session.  Ha!

DAY TWO:

Justin was in meetings all day today.  I slept in as much as I could and then hit BoSa Donuts as recommended to me by my donut-loving friend, Andrea.  I thought the donut case was beautiful!  The donuts were yum!

I spent the afternoon at the pool.  Our hotel had a full on waterpark with lazy river; however, sadly it was only open on the weekends this time of the year so we weren’t able to enjoy that perk.  Instead I sat poolside and read, listened to music and simply relaxed in the sun.  I took a little poll on Instagram stories when faced with seemingly opposite reading options.  I went with the votes and read Dark Matter, which I enjoyed.

Justin texted me mid-afternoon thrilled to announce he’d won tickets to the Suns vs. Lakers basketball game that night.  Sweet!  And Suite!  We were supposed to be getting together with Justin’s family that night, but thankfully we were able to shift things around and attend the game.

We were lead onto the court and sat on “the bench” as the teams were warming up.  Very VIP. 

We had seats in a large upper suite area complete with food, personal TV screens and a waitress.      

The food was good and the game was fun.  We also attended an NBA game while in Boston this year and I remember feeling like it would have been much more fun if we had a team we were cheering for.  This game was pretty similar.  Justin was super excited to see LaBron James play, but we both felt pretty indifferent regarding who we wanted to win.  A fun experience though.

Something that really stood out to me tonight was how much space there is in Arizona.  Parking near the game was easy and cheap.  There was little to no traffic getting out afterward.  It’s funny how little things like that stand out when visiting places away from Seattle. 

DAY THREE:

Another full day of meetings for Justin today.  I once again treated myself to breakfast – T.C. Eggington as recommended by Trip Advisor.  It was also good, but nothing unique about it.

I did some shopping after breakfast and then I’m pretty sure I was back at the pool in the afternoon.  We met up with the Biddulph’s that evening for dinner at Culinary Dropout – a fun outdoor/indoor restaurant with games and billiards.  It was so great to catch up with them.  I see Tracy at least once or twice a year when she visits Seattle or on the few occasions we meet up for a girls trip; however, Justin and I hadn’t seen Bryan for several years.

DAY FOUR:

No pictures today?  How did that happen.  I hit up Kneaders this morning for all you can eat French toast.  Can you tell that food is a major part of any travel experience for me?  I also returned some of the clothing I’d purchased the day before – cause that’s also how I roll.  Justin was done with meetings around noon and we headed down to Gilbert to see his sister’s new house.  They moved to Arizona this summer.  Justin’s mom was also there visiting.  We had lunch at a BBQ place and then spent a few hours at Tami’s house visiting before heading to the airport homebound.

Such a fun trip!  Sunshine, food, friends, family and lots of relaxation!