Fall Break in Cali and Saying Goodbye To My Childhood Home

 October was a busy one.  We went and saw Uncle Gordon, Dustin had a work conference at the aquarium, Ryan recently started a job and is working a couple of days a week as a server in a Senior Living Center.

Avery's friends from Enumclaw, Washington, came to visit for General Conference weekend and they stayed with us.  It was so much fun to have them here!  I got to practice my Spanish, and Bertha got to practice her English, haha!  Ever and Ricardo joined us a day later.  We had so much fun talking and playing games and laughing a lot.  

On Sunday, Avery came  up to watch Conference with us and we hosted a dinner in the backyard with many of her mission friends, plus our Washington friends.  It was so fun to have everyone here!  What a great group of young adults!

Ryan had a choir concert.

Grant answered his date for Sadies, and a couple of weeks later, Ryan answered his date.

Cross Country wrapped up.  Both boys did great!  I'm proud of them for doing hard things!

Grant had a band concert.

I hosted a lunch for Ryan's friends.  One of my friends organized this, and every Friday one of the mom's feeds the boys at their house.  It is fun to have their friends over!

We have had such a beautiful fall that our garden produced well into October.  We finally harvested everything and the water got shut off and it eventually cooled off outside.

Enjoying our backyard and the wonderful Fall temperatures.

Avery did an awkward photo shoot with her friends.  I'm glad she is having so much fun at college!

Maren got a fun surprise on her mission!  Our besties, the Colemans, were heading to Oregon on a trip, and the day before, Jenn and I were walking and she mentioned they were going to attend the Feather River Temple, which is in Maren's mission!  When she learned that, they decided that they would attend church in Maren's ward (since they had to go to church somewhere...).  They showed up, out of the blue, and gave her such a shock!  They loved seeing her in her element, doing her missionary thing.  And she told us later that she loved seeing them and feeling a piece of home.  They sent us a bunch of pictures and videos afterward and it was so fun for us to see her with them!  What amazing friends!!

We carved pumpkins one night.

Dustin had another fun work event, this time riding horses along one of his new trails.

And he had a birthday!  The big 47!

Because we love him so much, we gave him a special dinner and cake, Halloween themed, of course.  (and with lots of gummies decorating it, of course).  We are pretty lucky to have Dustin!  He is the best husband and dad!

The next day was the start of our Fall Break!  We decided to visit Arie in California.  We stopped at Santa Monica Pier first and then went to the LA Temple to do baptisms for the dead.  We got to Arie's later that night.

The next morning we got up bright and early and went to Universal Studios.  The last time we came here, it was kind of a bust, and I had had so much fun with my sisters a couple of months ago (plus, I had a free day from that visit), that we thought we better give it another try.  And, it was much better this time!

We ate lunch at the Three Broomsticks in Harry Potter World, and while we were there, we met up with Avery's old mission companion, Hermana Grosscost, who just happened to be there visiting as well!  We went on one ride with them after that and then didn't see them again until a couple of days later, when they came to Arie's ward for church.  Hermana Grosscost served in Arie's mission and was even in his ward for a time.  So that was a fun coincidence to be visiting at the same time!

We got done that night and instead of going back to Arie's, Dustin and the boys went to Six Flags to ride roller coasters for a few more hours.  Avery and I were tired, so we went home and went to bed.  Six Flags is very close to Arie's house, so Dustin and the boys didn't have far to travel when they were done, but it was still around 2:30 A.M. when they got home!

The next day we visited Santa Barbara and walked along the pier and then we found a fun beach where the kids played and we watched the sunset.  That night, we drove on to Solvang, and walked around for a bit before going home.

The next morning was church and then we started back for home.

The kids had Monday off, as well, so we stopped in Cedar City for the night and then finished the journey the next morning.

A few days later, I met Nicole, Flora and Avery in Provo for lunch and then took Nicole to the airport to fly home.  She had driven with my parents back from California and spent the week helping them begin the process of packing up their stuff TO MOVE!!  It all happened so fast, but they found a house up in Farr West that fit their needs really well.  They put an offer on that very day, it was accepted by that night, and they were moving just a couple of weeks later.  We are so excited to have them closer to us!! 

I picked Monica up from the airport and we drove to Cedar for the weekend to continue with the packing.  We also canned some grape juice...

Our wall of heights.

Monica and I had so much fun finding treasures while we packed!  (And we ended up listening to a lot of Kenny and Dolly and Air Supply while we did it!)  We found so many good treasures that we ended up saving some for Jen to give to her for her birthday the next day.  That's just the kind of good sisters that we are.

That Sunday we went to my parent's ward for the last time.  It was a little sad, saying goodbye to some of the people who helped raise me!

Julie and Aaron came by to say goodbye, too.

Monday morning we drove a trailer to their new home and unloaded it, with the help of lots of strong cousins and Uncle Steve.

A little pantry surprise for them from their children.

They stayed for a couple of days, long enough to have a turkey dinner, with the turkey cooked by yours truly, after my dad thawed it and didn't want it to go to waste.  Then they headed back to Cedar with Monica to finish packing before the final move a few days later.

Dustin had another fun work event, this time teaching a class at UVU, so he got to go to lunch with Avery.

And then it was Halloween!  I was a pineapple for Preschool.  And later that night I was a witch, with my friend Jenn.  She asked me to help her serve dinner for our husbands and a few others.  She had created a whole menu full of fun Halloween foods for them to choose from.  It was a lot of fun!  The kids were off having fun with their friends.

And the next day Grant and I drove back to Cedar to help finish my parent's move.  This time, Chad and Lynnette and Lili were also there, plus Monica and lots of ward members.  We got the majority of the stuff loaded by Friday, and then we spent Saturday morning finishing up and cleaning and painting and taking pictures and feeling nostalgic.

My two childhood bedrooms.

For some reason, saying goodbye to the chicken coop made me the saddest of all!

Goodbye beautiful home of my childhood!  Even though it was sad to say goodbye, we reassured my parents that the reason we loved our home so much is because of the wonderful memories they created for us there!  It really is about them, and not the house, and we are so happy to have them closer to us now!