Oct 2022

Our good friend Sarah and her daughter Aleena visited us for a few days. We did ALL the things. We went to Buc-ee's, the Stockyards, the Fort Worth Water Gardens and the Texas State Fair. Seriously, we did ALL the things. 

We take ALL visitors to Buc-ee's, especially if they've never been. It's a must. This was the first time that we've been to the water gardens. It's a park in the middle of downtown Fort Worth. They have some nice shade and fun water features to explore. We lucked out with weather that was almost too warm. We also visited the Stockyards for the first time. It was so fun! We loved exploring all the fun, unique shops. We lucked out on an event day and got to see a fun parade with lots of swag! 

 

All the kids sat on the big, beautiful and calm Longhorns. Bucket list opportunity for sure! 

Grayson blew a bubble that was just a tad too big. We had a hard time keeping the kids out of the bulk candy store. We spent WAAYYY more than expected. 

 

Grayson had a butterfly land on him and he felt soo special! 

I don't know how these kids do it, but they seem to leave us adults in the dust and always needing a nap! We took this weekend to decorate pumpkins together. Fun fact: They rotted in like two days. I guess now we know to wait a little longer. 

We unlocked a new core memory at the Texas State Fair. Kenney likes to tell us about Big Tex, the state fair mascot. We finally got a family picture with Big Tex! We picked a VERY busy day to go. It was soo packed and busy! SOOOOOOO many people. Everywhere. We will definitely pick a different day to go next year. Everything in Texas really is bigger. Especially the $$$. This place was huge and we would have struggled to see everything.  

I was so excited to see the Budweiser Clydesdales, they are just beautiful. In my opinion, the horses at the Eastern Idaho State Fair are better. There, I said it. 

Before we knew it, the weekend was over and Sarah and Aleena had to leave. 

Grayson was also picked as Maverick of the week for his class. It does my momma heart good to see them working hard and settling in at our new school. Moving is hard, but these kids make it look easy! 

The kids found a snake and really enjoyed trying to convince me to keep it. Spoiler alert: we did NOT keep the snake. 

Tyler went with the youth in our ward to a local airshow. He got to explore some cool planes and see a fun flight show. 

The temperature dropped for like a week and we were really cold. This is also the point in the year where I started working on getting the pool "just right" to winterize for the season. It took FOREVER to get it right and closed. It took us like a month to get everything squared away.

Our school here didn't allow the kids to dress up for Halloween. Or have Halloween parties. It was the weirdest thing ever. We went to the school trunk-or-treat and hit up our neighborhood. Let me tell you. We trick or treated for less than 2 hours and my kids got the most cany than any past Halloween. This is also the first year that we got full size bars. It was an easy and fruitful Halloween! 

In October the kids had their Primary Program. I am the music leader and this was my first Primary Program as an adult. The Primary here is huge and they worked so hard. They bring such a special Spirit when they sing. I love this calling and was very fulfilled in being able to experience this with my children! Annnd, I didn't get a picture, so there's that. 

Up next, let the holidays begin! 

Until next time... 

Sept 2022: Things Calm Down

 In September, things calmed down and we got into a school/home/play routine. It's still warm enough to swim, so swim we shall! 

We've been watching more than our fair share of Bluey. It's hilarious. Lots of parent jokes that make me LOL. I also love that they are super short episodes. If you know, you know. 

Grayson has a very sweet teacher who loves him. We also found out that he's reading ON GRADE level for the first time in his schooling! 4th grade work seems very hard. A big shift from 3rd grade. BUT! He knows how to work hard. He is keeping up with the work and being a great school citizen! He finally asked me to meet him for lunch and we got a cute pic. 

Our school does a student of the week starting in September. Nolan and Lyla were the 1st students of the week for their classes! It makes me happy to see that they are being great school citizens and helpful, hard working students in their classrooms. They are also excelling in their classes and starting to find some new friends. It makes my momma heart proud to seem them care about succeeding in school! 

One day, Lyla turned around and it looked like she stepped right out of a 90's movie. She was lookin' and feelin' sooo cool. Sometimes I'm a mean mom and say, "no device day". There is moaning, but then the kids play so well together and create lots of fun things. We really love our magnet block set! 

Picture day came along and all these kids wanted to look nice! Lyla even asked me to curl her hair. She HATES having her hair done so it was a big deal that she asked. They all looked great and I can't wait to see what shows up. I don't usually buy them. I tend to do our family pictures myself. And I have big plans for this spring. Say it with me, "BLUEBONNETS". Cliché? Maybe. Stereotypical? Possibly. Do I care? I do not. I have wanted family in the bluebonnets pictures since I have learned of their existence. Good vibes toward this endeavor are appreciated. 

We are really enjoying our ward. The boys get to have activity days twice a month. The most recent activity was a favorite. The sad little girl without a Shield of Faith, can't wait to start activity days like her brothers.  

 

A ward member found a free ticket code to Seaquest here in Fort Worth. It would have cost us $70 to go, but with a code it was free! Good thing, too. It was "fine", but definitely not a $70 adventure.

The rays definitely know who their master is.... it's Aquaman. Tyler wanted to be known as Jason Mamoa. 

Tyler always convinces the kids to act out ridiculous pictures. They are getting more and more creative with it. 

There was a huge pond FULL of huge koi. It was interesting and a little bit gross as the same time. 

Everything was fine until.... it. was. not. fine. This picture will forever be Lyla blackmail. We zoomed in for better viewing pleasure. 5 seconds later she was right as rain. Girls, man. Girls. 

Lyla had to have MORE teeth work done. She was so relaxed that she actually fell asleep half way through. It was crazy. She has one more appointment to go! This year Tyler's plant had to have an "unannounced audit". This means the auditor can show up any day, any time between June and October. He's been stressing and preparing all summer long. The Auditor finally stopped by and his plant passed with an A+. AA is the the highest possible score. An A+ for his first Audit with Tyson as a manager is something he should be proud of. Now, he knows how and where to keep elevating his QA department. 

Until next time...

P.S. Tyler and I have been working to get the cars registered here in Texas and get new driver's licenses. Oh. My. Heck. Talk about a headache. You can't get a license until you have your car registered and I almost had to give them my first born child because they needed so many identifying documents. We registered that cars then found out the driver's license dept is by appointment only. That's fine, but the appointment are 3-6 months out before there are any openings! We were shocked. Hopefully We have it all squared away by November. Finger crossed.