Thanksgiving

As usual, we had a large crowd for Thanksgiving this year...we had the Morrills, Richard's Parents from Taos, NM, the Ures, and the Oldhams. There were 27 people total. We all started out the day with a little exercise...Brad, Karina, Janae Oldham,and I ran in a 5K Turkey Trot and boy was it COLD! Into the third mile, we got warmed up...finally! Our times weren't too impressive, but, hey, we at least earned a piece of pie (we won't talk about the gravy, yams, etc!!) Kent and Kimball played in the annual Chatfield Ward "Turkey Bowl"...there was quite a turn out. It was a beautiful day, overall, with so much to be grateful for. Family, friends, faith...we truly have it all and are so very grateful!

Happy Halloween!

The kids all got quite creative this year and it seemed I was running all over town for this or that to complete the costumes. Brad went as Willy Wonka (we've had more fun out of that $5 garage sale tux!) Karina and 5 of her friends made their own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle costumes (which were a nice departure from today's teen "slutty stripper" costumes that were everywhere!) Kimball was an "Aquabat" (they are a Ska Band we knew from Huntington Beach and have been seen on the new psychadellic kids show "Yo, Gabba, Gabba") Lela and Lindsay were about the only "normal" costumes this year...they went as Elphaba and Glinda from the broadway play, "Wicked" (otherwise known as the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the good witch). As usual, it got really cold on Halloween night, but that didn't stop the kids from making a haul! Kent and the kids have learned how to hide it all from me so I don't just throw it out. It is such an uphill battle from now until Jan. 1!

I LOVE Fall!

When it gets to be fall, my spirit is strengthened. I always try to take a few "fall walks" because this season just speaks to me! The colors, the cool, crisp air, and perhaps the anticipation of the Christmas season; I love it all! It is as if God has taken out his paintbrush and "wow's" us with each scene. That is definitely how I felt earlier this month when I drove from Denver to Farminton, New Mexico to the Cherish Bound Annual Convention. I drove with my good friend, Janae Oldham, and my new friend, Opalanaga (a professional storyteller). We drove down the western slope and used the "million dollar highway", with its narrow, very curvy roads, no guard rails, and about a 10 inch shoulder! The views were AMAZING! We were audibly "oohing" and "ahhing" at each turn in the road. The colors were stunning and we stopped as often as we could to take pictures. We passed through this quaint town called Ouray, which is near "the Colorado Alps." It was so beautiful. The interesting thing, though, was coming back the same way...it snowed and we saw a completely different landscape! The snow mixed with the colors, the moisture made the colors all the more dramatic, and we were amazed!
As for the Convention, I was inspired there, as well. We spent an entire day at the Four Corners Story TElling Festival and heard both children and professionals share their varied stories. We sat under huge, white tents outside and listened to people share fiction, personal anecdotes, tall tales, and poignant stories. I LOVE what I do...sharing with people the power of stories in their lives! Each time I get my own books back, I LOVE to watch my children look at them, share them, and take such joy in our family's story. I've published well over 20 books for my own family and have a huge list of other books to write "when I have the time". Anyway, the whole weekend was inspiring and uplifting...all two days of the convention, and all 21 hours of driving!

Sports, Sports, & more Sports!

I remember the days my mom complained about all the "taxi driving" she had to do. I thought I knew what she was talking about, but now I am living it! I have to say, with all the kids involved in different things, it makes me realize how nice it was when we lived in California and ALL 5 kids were on the same swim team...the meets were long, but all in one place and on the same day! This year, Brad jumped into tennis completely blind...never having picked up a racket before. Karina jumped right into cross country, and Kimball decided to give Lacrosse a try, after two years of football. I guess it is a year of "firsts" in the sports arena! They are all enjoying their respective sports and they keep me running around like crazy...I filled the car with gas twice this week! Yesterday was particularly exciting as we watched Karina run in a cross country meet and she ran a 5K in 25 minutes (her first time this year was 36 min!) All week she was psyching herself up for 27 minutes and lo and behold, she ran 24.5 minutes!! Her coach was blown away and recognized her in front of everyone. I even have a picture of her coach "hi-fiving" her...I LOVE the expression on her face! It is truly a thrill to see the kids trying out new things and enjoying success! I'm so proud of each of them for just trying something new (makes me wish I hadn't been so self-conscious in High School and had just TRIED something else...I was just too worried I'd make a fool of myself!) As I get older, the only fools I see are people who are unwilling to TRY anything new or make attempts at change! Thanks, kids, for your examples!

Homecoming Dances - They're growing up!

Wow, it seemed it took me forever to finally get caught up on my blog! Those Europe pictures took a lot of time (and I haven't even started my book yet!) The past few weekends were pretty fun as we watched Karina go to her first homecoming with a group of girlfriends (no dates, yet, she's still only 14!) The night before the dance, there was the homecoming game, and as you can see by the pictures, they had a lot of school spirit (considering we completely LOST the game). We had 30 kids over to our house AFTER the dance and they all stayed until we kicked them out at about 12:45 AM! (They never want the party to end! At Brad & KArina's homecoming, Brad didn't ask anyone, but went "stag" in his circa 1960's madrigal choir tux that we bought for $5 at a garage sale this summer (with the ruffles, velvet bowtie and his VANS). Amazingly, he can actually get away with such a stunt without being beat up! The following week-end, Brad was invited to their rival High school's homecoming and as confident as Brad comes across, he was NERVOUS! It was his first "official" date. He and his date, Taylor, looked stunning and had a great time. It is amazing to see these kids growing up so fast!

Days 18 & 19 - London, England

Days 16 & 17 - Copenhagen, Denmark

Day 14 - Stockholm, Sweden

Day 13 - Helsinki, Finland

Day 12 - ST. Petersburg, Russia

Day 11 - St. Petersburg, Russia

Day 10 - Tallin, Estonia

Day 8 - Lubec & Schwerin, Germany

Day 7 - Kiel Canal, Germany

Day 6 Dover, England/Ship

Days 4 & 5 Belgium

Days 2 & 3 - Paris, France

European "Dream" Vacation, Days 1-8

Whew! We did it! Nine European countries in 19 days!! Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Bevan...they were brave (and generous) enough to take all 7 of us on a GRAND, go, go, go, don't stop and rest, highly-charged educational trip (I wouldn't call it a vacation, per se) to Europe. On our way there, we had the amazing good fortune of getting upgraded (all 9 of us) to business class, so we arrived somewhat rested, which was nice! We spent our first 2 days in Paris. THe kids immediately had to try the escargot (and they even liked it...ALL of them!) We saw the Louvre, Notre Dame, the Eiffle tower, and Monmartre as well as an upper-deck bus tour of the highlights of the city. Then, we took a high-speed train to Brussels, Belgium where we visited my good friend Veronique Godard-Artigas and her family for two days. WE spent the first day in the Grand Place and at Veronique's beautiful country home. The next day we spent at Waterloo and then beautiful Brugges. Then we got on a ferry boat in Callais, France to the White Cliffs of Dover, England, where we boarded the "NCL Dream" cruise ship. Our first day was crossing the Kiel Canal in Germany (didn't know there was a canal there!), the next day was at sea, and our first port was Rostock, Germany where we rented a van and drove to Lubec to meet old (Virginia) friends, Fran Kennedy and her son, Trent (Brad's good friend when he was 6-8 yrs old). Crad Kennedy is in Hamburg working for the US Consolate, so they drove 1 1/2 hours to see us and it was fun to have someone who sort of knew their way around (and a little German, too). GRandpa drove our Mercedes 9-passenger minivan on the Autoban and Kimball could be heard in the back seat yelling "Come on, grandpa, let's see how fast this thing can go!" Any of you who know my dad know that we still didn't top 70mph...maybe next trip! After Lubec, we went to Schwerin to see an absolutely charming castle and enjoyed the beautiful, lush green countryside on our way back to the ship!

Lindsay's Baptism

This post is a bit late (3 1/2 months!), but we wanted to share the pictures and news! We enjoyed a great week-end with Grandma & Grandpa Bevan and Aunt Coco and Uncle Travis. Lindsay is the last in our family to turn the magic age of 8 and be baptized. It was a beautiful service and it was so fun to have family here. Uncle Travis performed the baptism and Kent confirmed her and we had a nice open house luncheon afterwards!