Fun Stuff in October

October always has the very best weather of the year, so we tried to do lots of fun stuff outside this past month. We headed to the zoo with the Nelsons since she had free tickets... what a treat! It had been a while since we'd gone on an outing with them.

I love this picture of Ezra. I don't think he realized he was making the same face as the elephant!

Take a good look at this picture. Nice. Nolan and I had a good laugh. Then he told me to crop him out, but I just can't. We have to save some pictures like this to show his girlfriends when he gets older. 

For playgroup, Ezra had a tour of our local grocery store. The kids were so well-behaved. Ezra only had one sulky moment. Success! Their favorite part was receiving a one-dollar gift certificate. He and his friend, Spencer, both chose gum. Such fun to buy your own treats!

Nolan has been busy with soccer practices and games. He seems to enjoy soccer, but he isn't all that aggressive on the field. He typically plays defense, but is always happy to be the goalie, too. That doesn't always end up well for his team (he always lets a few slide by), but he gets better and better and we're just glad that he is having fun. There have been two or three times when the ball got kicked right into Nolan's face and that was pretty upsetting for him. He would storm off the field toward the van and say, "I'm just going home!" We didn't let him go home. But other than that, he had a good season. Justin says that he plays just like himself when he was young. He kind of does a side gallop around the action, then he gets in a good kick or two, and then he let's the others take over. 

In the spring, he will be playing soccer again instead of baseball. Kind of sad to see him give that up, but he just couldn't get the hang of catching. Sort of essential so I can understand why he wouldn't love the game.

While we waited for Dad to get home from singing in the Conference choir, we headed up the canyon to see the colors. Turns out the colors weren't really out too much, but we still had a good time outdoors. Lucy was just learning to walk at the beginning of the month. I love her little wobbly legs!

Sampling the dirt.

Nolan really got into the spirit of the photo shoot! Work it, buddy!

On a Monday afternoon, we decided to head to Red Butte Gardens. We surprised Nolan and excused him an hour early, and even Dad took the afternoon off of work. The gardens were so beautiful! The kids area was really fun, with lots of places for the kids to explore and play. It felt good to relax, especially for Justin since he had had some busy weeks with work, travel, and choir practices. At one point, Nolan lost his shoe in a little pond where he was going across some stepping stones. He refused to reach in and try to find it. It was a lush, little bog of a pond. I tried to poke around but was pretty fearful of the muck myself, and what could be hiding in it. Dad saved the day and rescued the shoe!

Lucy discovered corn on the cob and the joys of licking the beater! And Dad also introduced her to a family favorite... Creamies!

Ezra had a preschool field trip to Cornbelly's. It was the most beautiful, warm day and I even took Nolan out of school so that he could join us. Well it turned out to be a pretty frustrating day for me. I ended up losing Nolan twice! I wasn't too worried about his safety (since he's not as young as the others), I was just so annoyed that he couldn't stay with me. I spent nearly an hour of our time just searing for him. There were some really fun moments, like playing in the giant corn "beach." Nolan managed to find some girls that were willing to bury him. Ezra loved dumping it on his head. Lucy was content to just dig around in it. It was good to go to Cornbelly's for only $3, but it was frustrating that there were big signs that would say, "Not included in field trip admission." So I had to explain to the kids that we weren't allowed to do some of the funnest activities. Overall, I decided that Cornbelly's is not for us. Last year it was extremely difficult to keep track of the kids as well, so I think we won't be going back. 

 Toward the end of the month we had our ward Halloween party. This is always a fun night as many people wear costumes. When it was time for treats, Nolan brought over a large plate filled with goodies that we could all share. Well, it turns out that Lucy could not be stopped from eating and eating more treats! She went nuts! At one point, we took the treats away and then she wandered away and found a cookie on the floor. We stopped her just before she took a bite. I even talked Justin into wearing a hilarious mullet wig. He paired it with his Dad's old fraternity shirt. It was pretty funny!

Dad's MoTab Experience

This past October General Conference, a combined choir from our area got to sing in the Saturday afternoon session. Justin was chosen to be in the choir and he went to many long practices and worked hard practicing at home for the big day. They were very strict... he had to have wardrobe approved, couldn't use gel, had to powder his forehead, and was required to part his hair (we joked about his comb-over, but he looked pretty handsome anyway). They were instructed not to touch their face or cough. During practices they would have a camera person walk around and project people onto the big screen so they'd get used to being recorded. There was even an article in the newspaper about it. Justin looks like a real MoTab member (a young one).

He was so excited for the big performance and said he had a wonderful experience. The best part is that he was able to sing at all! He had had a terrible cough that week and thought he'd be having to mouth the words because singing would instantly bring on a coughing spell. But he sucked on a cough drop between songs and said that he was able to sing as good as he ever. What a blessing!
We loved watching Dad on TV. It made conference really entertaining for us. Justin got lots of screen time and was even on during the entire rest hymn! The boys said, "Dad makes lots of funny faces!" I think he looked great! It was extra special that Justin could wear his late Grandpa Moulton's suit, and the final hymn, "Abide with Me 'Tis Eventide," was sung at his funeral.

Dad of the Year Award

I've always known that Justin is a wonderful father, but a few weeks ago he really went above and beyond. I was shopping for couches with Ezra and Lucy when I noticed that we no longer had the ONE LAST binky from the hospital. Lucy insists on using the hospital binkies because they are green, and softer and smell like vanilla. I have bought other Soothie binks in pink and green, but she knows the difference... big time! I knew we either lost in at IKEA or the Draper RCWilley - only the two largest stores in the valley. So I was feeling a bit worried that we were being forced into prematurely weening Lucy from the binky. My blood pressure was starting to rise just thinking about the terrible nights and nap times ahead of me. Well, Justin said he would call the hospital and ask about where to get the exact same binkies. A little while later he said that he had to run an errand and that he'd be spending some quality time with Lucy. What? That's odd. Usually he takes the boys places but not little Lu. He said as he went out the door, "We're just going to go spend a little time at Lucy's birthplace." 

Well, it turns out that he went to the hospital and the nurses gave him 3 binkies! They were so nice. Justin asked to pay and they said, "That's okay... but you should have brought us some chocolate!" I am still planning on taking the nurses some chocolate. They saved the day... and so did Justin!