General Conference
We started October with our church's General Conference which is broadcast over a two day weekend. It is always a special time for us and both Loren and Phillip came home from BYU to be with us. It is always wonderful to hear wise counsel from our Prophet Gordon B. Hinckley and the other general authorities of the church. The little boys spent Saturday night with Grandma and Grandpa and we all got together the next morning for the traditional sour dough pancake breakfast. Good food is always an important part of any family tradition -- don't you think?
All the fourth graders at school are required to rent violins for six weeks while a couple of very daring and brave teachers undertake the task of teaching 65 or so students how to play about six different pieces. Elliot was a participant this year and did so well with his playing that they put him on the (ooooh) front row of the group for the um...very short recital. You can only stretch "Twinkle Twinkle" type songs so far! It's a great program really though, because it gives all the kids a taste of what learning a musical instrument is all about and at least gives them an appreciation for those who have taken the time to learn to play an instrument.
The soccer season ended prematurely with the last game of the season being cancelled due to all the snow we received. However, Madeleine and Clark played great and I actually remembered to take the camera to the last game Clark played so I could get a few pictures of him this season. I never did get to take any of Madeleine this year - too busy trying to take volleyball pictures!
Madeleine's team finished up the volleyball season by taking 2nd place in her regional tournament. It was very exciting - they actually got a trophy!
Tess's team (Waterford JV) finished up undeafeated and all the Sophomores on the team were invited to go with the varsity team to the State Tournament where they were seeded first place for their region and actually came away with a 2nd place victory!
Halloween is always fun, but I don't know that I ever remember taking the kids trick or treating while it was snowing. We probably got 6 inches or so and it was very cold. We felt like we should be caroling instead of trick or treating. Phillip and Loren came home for Halloween which was fun -- they helped their little brothers carve their pumpkins -- important brother bonding time! In the spirit of the holiday, we had hot dog mummies for dinner and after the trick or treating excitement, we all headed down to the basement to watch an old movie called Blithe Spirit, starring a very young Rex Harrison.
Alan's personal excitement for the month has been spending two nights sleeping at the sleep clinic at Alta View Hospital. As it turns out, he has severe sleep apnea and is going to try sleeping with a CPAP machine to see if he can get a better night's sleep. He took the camera with him the second time because he knew he would make such a fine picture all hooked up to the machines. I was tempted to put it in with the Halloween pictures!