We had Fall Break last week.  It's always a welcome three days off school. For the first time ever, Scott decided to take two days off and take Susanna and Talmage down to the San Rafael Swell.  They drove to Cleveland, Utah (no stoplights) and then went on dirt roads for about 30 miles through the Buckhorn Draw where they saw some pretty cool petroglyphs. Then they drove a little farther and arrived at the San Rafael Bridge campground where you get pit toilets and no water or other services for $6 a night (or $5.43 in Scott's case because that's all the cash he had.) They hiked up the San Rafael River for 9.6 miles on Thursday and then hiked 5.3 miles on Friday.  They saw a lot of beautiful scenery. Meanwhile, on Thursday, I took the youngest two to visit "This is the Place" Village with Grandma and some cousins and spent several hours doing activities there, includingwaiting half an hour for a two-minute ride on the tired

Today our miracle baby turned ten!  Here are ten things to know about her: 1.  Chocolate can always motivate her.  A few chocolate chips are magical.  The fun-size candy bar works wonders. 2.  She loves to watch movies.  The Toy Story movies used to be her favorite, then Mega Mind, now she says it's Sleeping Beauty. 3.  She loves piggies.  And pandas.  Last year she was a pig for Halloween; this year she's a panda. 4.  She loves to read comics and comic books.  I had to hide all the comic books in the house because that was all she was reading. 5.  She loves anything that is very soft and fuzzy, like my pajama pants. 6.  She loves pizza with cheese and mushrooms. 7.  She tries really hard in school even when it's hard for her. 8.  She is working on drinking all her fluids every day--76 ounces now. 9.  We are enjoying reading the Laura Ingalls Wilder books together--right now it's The Long Winter . 10. She loves to make cards for people.  Recen

The mountains are beautiful right now.  As I drive north towards my house, there's a tapestry of colors covering the foothills and mountains.  The trees are starting to turn in the valley and I'm really enjoying looking at all the beautiful colors where I live even if I'm not loving the cool temperatures.  I think we skipped the 70's and 80's completely this year and went straight to the 50's and 60's. My daughter and son recently competed in Region cross country races.  My daughter took first for the Varsity girls from her high school and the team qualified for state which she was really happy about.  My son was happy to finish the race and be done with the cross country season which he did not really enjoy. I had a really cool experience recently.  My son is serving a mission in a country that I'm not going to name since I'm not supposed to say anything on social media due to strict privacy laws in eastern Europe. Here