Grandpa and Grandma's Visit

 It's already been several weeks, but the last weekend of October, Grandpa and Grandma came to visit. The girls had some time off school for Parent-Teacher Conferences so it was the perfect time to come. 

The weather was predicted to be cool and rainy, so we came up with a few indoor activities to do while they were here. On Friday, I ran to school to finish up our parent-teacher conferences and then we had an early lunch and headed to Abbotsford to mini-golf. We found a fun indoor mini-golf course with an underwater theme. It was pouring rain, so we were very glad to have something fun inside to do!

After golfing, we headed back home. Friday was Halloween, so we got dressed up and headed to church for their annual Trunk-or-Treat. Thankfully, the rain let up and it actually turned into a nice night!

Chips and Salsa

Mira, from K-Pop Demon Hunters

Peanut Butter and Jelly

Milk and Cookies

Saturday was nicer than we were expecting, so we headed out to Aldergrove Regional Park for a nice walk before going 5-Pin Bowling. 

We finished up the day with a tasty dinner at The Rusty Wagon!

On Sunday, we went to church and spent the afternoon at home. My parents, Thane and Elias came over for dinner (Kim wasn't feeling good and Kelsey and Ben had church.) The girls had school Monday and Jay and Kelley flew home Monday morning. We had a great time! The time always goes by so fast, but we are always grateful for every visit!

The rest of October

 Here are some of the pictures from the past few weeks. 

We wrapped up cross-country and jumped right in to basketball season. Volleyball finished last Saturday. And we had a day off of school last week which meant lots of cousin time to hang out, drink caramel macchiatos, and carve pumpkins.

I'm not sure when they all decided they liked coffee drinks, but with enough milk, caramel, and whipped cream, it's hard to not like them!

Annaliese and Grandpa...Grandpa is her faith mentor this year!

8th Grade

6th Grade

3rd Grade

I'm learned to crochet amigurumi patterns...this little pumpkin is my first project!

It's definitely getting colder outside...we find the cats curled up in the funniest places to stay warm!

Elias, Owen, and Lydia...hard at work!

The finished jack-o-lanterns

A little of this and a little of that

 The past few weeks have passed with the regular routines of the first month of school. Annaliese has had cross-country every day. Haleigh has had a volleyball game every Saturday and Lydia has fit in a playdate or two with friends. 

They had the jog-a-thon at school a few weeks ago. They all had different time slots, so I spent most of the day at the track and was able to run quite a few laps with them. Here's a few pictures from the past few weeks, in no particular order.

Lydia (who did not want me to run with her!)

Haleigh and Mallory

Haleigh's sixth grade homeroom

Annaliese and Emma

At Birch Bay (while Haleigh was at a volleyball skills clinic)

Running at Peace Arch Park

Midway through September

 School has gotten off to a good start and we are all settling into the new routine. This year they've implemented 'late-start Tuesdays' so school starts an hour later than normal. 

Kyle and I were in Iceland for the 'meet your teacher' orientation days, but I did get this picture from Auntie Kelsey.

And we made sure to do the traditional first day of school pictures!

We decided to take advantage of that time by scheduling piano lessons for Tuesday mornings! I drop Lydia and Annaliese off for their lessons and then they walk to school. It's been great! 

Annaliese is running cross-country this year, which means she has practice every day after school. Her first meet was last week and it sounds like she did great! Kyle and I both had to work, but Auntie Kelsey, Grandma, and Grandpa all showed up to cheer her on!

Haleigh decided to try volleyball this year with LYS. Her team is called the Purple Pickles. It's been quite the learning curve for all of us, but she is having a lot of fun! We even set up our own net in the backyard so she can practice at home.

Haleigh is in the middle.

Here are a few other pictures capturing the past few weeks.

We had a bunch of friends over for a Twister Tournament!

After two years, the braces are off!!