The last few days, weeks, months have slipped away. I cannot believe we are 20 days away from Halloween and the end of October. The weather is letting us know Fall is upon us and Winter is just around the corner. I honestly don't know where August, September, and October went. Here are some of the highlights of a few of our adventures.
COVE FORT DAYS
We spent some time in Cove Fort visiting Grandma Darla on her Mission. The girls were in Heaven: horses, wagon rides, chickens, oxen, and hugs from Grandma Darla. I think the most memorable portion of our trip was MacKenna screaming during the whole tour of the Fort. The second favorite was being sprayed by the firehose on our wagon ride.
SCHOOL STARTS
Bethany started all day 1st Grade, Isabelle is in Preschool 5 days a week, and I'm back to teaching high school. It has taken us a few weeks to adjust to the busy life of school, spelling words/tests, show & tell, and homework, but we're getting there.
CASSIE GETS A CAR?!
I think NOT! Cassie will turn sixteen in December (stay off the roads!). Grandpa Jones decided she needed to practice driving before she takes/finishes Drivers Ed. and gets her license. He also decided that Aunt Tara should be the designated "adult" sitting in the passanger seat while Cassie practices driving (oh help me). He purchased a Beautiful Big Blue Buick, otherwise lovingly known as the BBBB or Old Blue.
4-WHEELING WITH GRANDPA
For Christmas one year my dad gave Bethany & Isabelle each their own 4-wheeler. These little 90s ride very smooth & fast. The girls are wild on those things. My dad thinks we should be a 4-wheeling Family so he is trying to teach
me to 1) ride a 4-wheeler, 2) enjoy 4-wheeling and 3) to safely enjoy the 4-wheeling adventure. I'm getting good with the enjoying and working on the safety portion. He has taken us on several adventures. Our last one was to Mount Trumbull Schoolhouse near St. George. My favorite part of the trip was watching Darren try to teach my Dad to use the GPS and my Dad showing Darren the old fashioned reliable MAP reading system :)
FALL LEAVES WITH GRANDMA SHIRLEY
Grandma Shirley spent the HOT summer in Phoenix and has now returned to Utah for the cool Fall (hmm doesn't she have that backwards?). We took her on a drive up the beautiful canyon to see the fall leaves. The girls loudly entertained her in the car for the drive up the canyon and the long drive down the canyon. She said she loved it all, but I'm not so sure :)
PARTYING WITH GRANDMA DARLA
Grandma Darla has extended her 6 month mission to an 18 month mission. As a result, she got to have a week off to move her trailer home and move into one of the Cove Fort cottages. We had a dinner party with her so she could hangout with her grandkids and enjoy all the noise :)
NICE "EASY" HIKE UP THE CANYON
Darren decided for family night we should drive up the canyon and take a little hike. I thought that sounded nice- a drive up the canyon, a WALK around Silver Lake, a photo opportunity. This is what we ended up HIKING... 
ISABELLE'S PRESCHOOL FIELDTRIP
I was able to take MacKenna & join Isabelle on her fieldtrip to the Engh Gardens. We had a great time. Pirate Ron told us stories, we went on a treasure hunt, climbed on a pirate ship, and got to pick a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch. Very fun times.
FALL MEANS FOOTBALL
Anyone that knows our family knows we know nothing about sports. My cousin Morgan has given me grief for years that we don't even know what a "ball" is. HA--- we fooled him this year. We surprised Morgan & Sommer by going over to Juan Diego and watching their son Zach play football. We even joined their family & Aunt Marilee for lunch. It was really fun. My girls thought it was great times to see Zach make a basket, I mean hit a homerun, or is it kick a goal... oh come on, I know it's a touchdown!
We've been on a few other adventures. I'll save those for another post :)
Darren & I celebrated our 9 year Wedding Anniversary on the 13th of November. WOW! I am amazed at all that has happened in a short/long nine years. We've purchased two homes, had three adorable girls, finished a MBA, been to too many funerals, and a few other wild adventures. Darren always says, "we deserve each other". I think that means that we are able to love each other and be annoyed with each other and still make things work. I love Darren with all my heart. He is the rock that keeps me focused. He makes me crazy sometimes (a lot of the times), but we're always able to make it work. Yes, we banter (way too much), we argue in public, we torment, and we love. It may be a crazy way, but it works for us :) Our relationship summed up: Somedays we love each other, somedays we like each other, and somedays.... 
