Halloween

 It was another fairly low-key Halloween this year for our family. We went trick-or-treating this year (whereas last year we took the girls shopping for candy rather than having them go door-to-door during the peak of COVID), but we didn't go to any parties. (We did introduce the girls to Ghostbusters, Corpse Bride and The Addams Family.) Regardless, it was a fun holiday.

Winnie playing Twister at the Thunder Ridge Carnival on Monday, October 25. She begged us to go, and where Fairview isn't holding a carnival any more, we got suckered into it. (None of the other girls wanted to go.) Obviously the Thunder Ridge student council had put a lot of work into it, but they could have learned a thing or two about ticket sales, managing lines and spreading out games. It was a bit of a madhouse.

Bekah and Ana carving pumpkins on Friday, October 29.

Family photo with our jack-o-lanterns.

Silly family photo.

All lit up. Winnie's Black Swan design (from Keeper of the Lost Cities book series), Rebekah's homage to The Shining, Miriam's Neverseen design (from Keeper of the Lost Cities) and Ana's cute bat and star design.

Winnie's long exposure and color changing light picture.

The girls dressed up. Bekah as Kermit. (We got the costume all ready for her to wear to school on the Friday before the holidays, and then she didn't wear it. Since I had put the time into it, I made her wear it for the picture.) Ana as a purple crayon. (Her three other friends were dressed as other colors at school.) Miriam as Animal from The Muppets. (If we had had an occasion to dress up this Halloween, Seth was going to be Kermit, and I was going to be Miss Piggy. Miriam wanted to be a Muppet, too. Then neither Seth nor I had a reason to dress up, so Bekah borrowed the Kermit elements.) Winnie as a unicorn. (No surprise if you know her.)

Some ballroom

Ana dove head first into ballroom, and it has kept her busy. She's had her share of early morning practices and afternoon rehearsals just like Rebekah with her marching band. She has also had her share of performances. So far she has danced at a football halftime (September 24), an orchestra concert (October 21) and Festival of Trees (November 15). And there will be many more performances and competitions to come.

Dancing to "Get Ready" at halftime.

This number features all of the BHS ballroom dancers.

Performing "Thriller" at the concert.

Not so much a partner dance, but fun all the same.

Performing with gold team at the Festival of Trees.

With her partner.

Trying to fall down at the end of "Get Ready" at the Festival of Trees held in the Elks Lodge. Their stage area is much smaller than what the team is used to.

Marching band

 The season is practically over (the banquet is the week after Thanksgiving), but it's safe to say we all survived marching band this year. Rebekah served as a drum major, and she took her job very seriously. Between early morning rehearsals, after school rehearsals, football halftimes and Saturday competitions, she didn't have much time to spare during the first trimester. 

The team competed at four invitationals: in Rupert, Logan, Pocatello and Rexburg. The people who usually pull the trailer full of equipment to the competitions weren't available for Pocatello's, so Seth and I got to fill in. That meant we met the team at the school at 6 a.m. on a Saturday, attached the trailer, pulled it to Highland High School, detached it, spent a few hours shopping at thrift stores and CAL Ranch, then returned to Highland in time to see Bonneville perform. The kids loaded the trailer back up, and we reattached it and returned it to the high school. Bekah and the rest of the band didn't make it back until they had watched the other schools perform and found out the results of the competition. 

Here is a sampling of photos from the events:

Rebekah playing with the pep band at the beginning of the football game on September 24.

Conducting the band with the head drum major.

Playing a trombone solo.

Waiting in the rain for the show to begin on October 8. I swear that, although it had rained earlier that day, it went away for almost all the football game ... except halftime. It rained all during halftime.

Ana cheering from the stands.

Cameron (percussionist and vocalist) and Rebekah during "Fever."

Rebekah conducting the band at the Madison Invitational on October 30.

Seth and Winnie directing with Bekah on Wednesday, October 27. The band director invited all family and friends to watch the band perform during their last regular Wednesday afternoon/evening rehearsal. They ran through their entire program once, and then the director encourage everyone to come to the field and follow their band kids around. I feel like Seth and Winnie were the only ones to really get into it besides the one dad who relentlessly followed his kid around with his phone and mugged for the camera with her.

Winnie "playing the trombone" with Rebekah while Seth records her solo.

Winnie is 9!

 Due to scheduling conflicts, we divided up the family birthday festivities. We hosted the Grovers for a birthday dinner on Sunday, October 3. Then we had the Scotts over on Sunday, October 17 for more birthday fun (and apparently I didn't take pictures that day). We also had a Yellowstone Bear World coupon that needed to be used before the end of the season, and since Winnie didn't have school that day, we went Monday, October 5 and counted it as birthday festivities as well.

Winnie opening a unicorn slap bracelet from her parents.

The family watching Winnie open presents. She also got a giant Star Wars popup book and cash from Grandma Susan and Grandpa Dennis and a Rainbocorn from the Wildes. (She also received Milky Ways and Milk Duds from the Scotts and a children's novel signed by the author from Grandma and Grandpa Scott).

Winnie's reaction to the Rainbocorn.

Breaking open her pinata.

The colorful abstract cake Ana decorated for Winnie.

Winnie and her cake.

Winnie opening her big birthday present from the family: a hoverboard. She paid for half of it.

The hoverboard. It has a Bluetooth speaker and lights up, so Winnie wheels all around the kitchen/living room listening to her music.

Andrea and Winnie on the Ferris Wheel at Bear World.

Winnie and Miriam posing on the bear bench.

Winnie petting the pigs in the petting zoo at Bear World.

Miriam and the doe in the petting zoo.

Hike #12: North Rainey Creek Trail

We were supposed to be checking out a new trail. We accomplished that, but not the trail I had planned on. 

I asked Grandma and Grandpa Scott to accompany me on a hike to Spencer Peak on Friday, September 24. Instead of hiking the 5.3 miles out-and-back to a summit, we hiked over 5 miles along the North Rainey Creek Trail. It's tricky because there isn't one trailhead at the parking lot. There aren't two trailheads at the parking lot. Apparently there are three. And the turnoff to Spencer Peak is kind of hidden. So while we didn't make it to the top of anything that day, we did enjoy a trail and honed our creek-crossing skills.

Mom and Dad at the trickiest creek crossing. It looks like this trail is often used by horses. The horses would have no qualms with crossing this creek. We had to go off-trail a little ways to find a good place.

Eating lunch and enjoying the view.

Group selfie on the way out.

Hike #11: Lower Palisades

The kids were in school. Seth was at work. My parents were working at the temple. But I had a whole day with nothing on my schedule, so I brought Peach and my bear spray with me to hike the 9 miles to the lake and back on Wednesday, September 15.

With one ear bud in to listen to my book, a schedule to keep (I wanted to be home before the girls got there) and no one to adjust my speed for, Peach and I made the hike in 3.5 hours. We didn't eat lunch at the lake since it was close to 10 when we got there, but we did take some time to eat a few snacks and get in the water (Peach, not me).

Creek selfie.

Peach at the lake.

Puppy kisses at the lake.

Peach headed up the trail with beautiful fall foliage in the foreground. For most of the hike back, Peach let me lead.

Hunting camp

We weren't able to spend our usual Labor Day weekend at hunting camp. Me catching COVID put a big ol' fat damper on that party. So we took it easy at our house instead and went to hunting camp a couple of times to try and make up for it.

First trip: September 10-12

On Friday, September 10, Seth, Miriam, Winnie, Peach and I drove the trailer up to camp. Bekah and Ana stayed for the homecoming football game. (Rebekah didn't have a choice in the matter since she was performing at half time.) They joined us in time for lunch on Saturday. We had camp all to ourselves that weekend. Then we drove home Sunday, September 12 in time for church.

Miriam playing checkers with Andrea in the trailer after getting it parked and set up on Friday, September 10.

Winnie climbing in the quarry on Saturday, September 11.

Four girls at camp and a fire on Saturday.

Ana getting ready to drive on forest roads.

Three girls and a dog headed out on a road hunt.

Seth and Bekah geared up for the evening hunt on Saturday.

Second trip: September 17-18

Seth and Rebekah headed to the forest for a quick weekend of hunting while the rest of us stayed at home and tended to some responsibilities here.

Bekah and Seth on the hunt on Saturday, September 18.

With some more arrowheads.

Third trip: September (20-)25

Seth spent the week of September 20 at camp with his dad, and the rest of us joined them that weekend (hence the parenthesis in the heading).

The bear print Seth found in the snow while hunting on Tuesday, September 21.

Seth and his parents out on the hunt on Thursday, September 23.

Seth and Bekah getting a bow ready for shooting. Seth took the entire family on a stump shooting expedition.

Ana getting an arrow.

Bekah right after shooting her bow. Notice the white line on her cheek from the string.

Miriam shooting rocks. Miriam's bow turned out to have some issues, so she switched to the wrist rocket.

Checking out the target to see how everyone did.

A nice grouping.

Winnie and her BB gun. 

Bekah and Peach napping.

The fire in camp.

Seth, Ana and Bekah on the evening hunt.

Our family didn't harvest an animal, and we didn't get to partake in Grandpa's famous Labor Day weekend Dutch oven feast, but we made the most of the time we had there.