This whole past week has been fall break and it’s been nice to have the girls home. The boys still had school because of their late start and didn’t get fall break. We got a chance to work a little bit on our garden spot as well. The new hospital has a garden box area where people can grow whatever they want. Since we didn’t have a back yard, we got a box and have had some success (although we planted late).
Happy 20th Birthday Sarah! It’s hard to believe that we have a 20-year-old! Yikes! She’ll hit number 21 as she’s out on her mission, but will be home shortly thereafter! Time is really flying!
This morning, we all got up early and went to a benefit 5k for a little girl named Presley who has cancer and is fighting it. The turnout was really great! Brittany and Kirstyn helped with the logistics, and Angela, Zach, Ben and I ran the 5K! Yes, I actually ran the race! 🙂 Angela and Zach stayed together and I ran with Ben. He actually did really well. He was totally worn out by the end, however. 🙂 It was really cute to watch him.
After the race, we went back home, got showered and dressed and then went with Mom and Dad over to the Marching Band Competition Brittany and Kirstyn had all day. It was again at Sports Authority Field in Parker. They did really well! We didn’t get any pictures because Angela and I were down on the field helping with the pit. For the preliminaries, the band placed #2 overall in their division and got to go to the finals. While waiting for the finals, Angela and I, Grandma and Grandpa, and the boys went out to dinner and to thaw out. It was brisk!
The band performed well in the finals but with the harder competition and judging, they didn’t finish in the top 3, but that’s OK. They sounded GREAT and they got to go to finals which was awesome!
We’re VERY tired now after a long day so we’re going to bed! My legs are killing me from the run! 🙂
Today Mom and Dad Halliday arrived! We really love being out here closer to family because we have had so many more opportunities to see them! They came to see the girls play their halftime show and to go to their big competition on Saturday!
Yesterday Brittany and Kirstyn had MB competition. It was cold and windy! They sounded really good but were the first ones to go when it was so cold. They placed next to last of 12 bands. Band director obviously not happy, but they learned a lot. All of us parents thought they sounded awesome! 🙂
Mom and Hobbs are here as well and it’s great to have them staying with us! General Conference was this weekend as well and Dad got to come to Priesthood Session with me. Even though it was broadcast on BYU TV this year, we still went to the church.
Homecoming for Thunderridge High School was last night and Brittany went with Taylor. She looked really pretty. I’m trying to find a picture but since it wasn’t here, we didn’t get any. She had a blast and when she came home, she talked and talked, and talked! Those two are becoming closer and are almost at boyfriend/girlfriend status, although Angela and I keep saying their just friends. 🙂
Today we watched General Conference together and between sessions, we took a leisurely stroll up Castle Rock with Mom and Dad. It was a gorgeous day and it was nice to get out and get some fresh air. Brittany was a really tired from the late night last night (and a tad grumpy because of it) so she slept in the van and missed out. 🙁
We came back, watched the second session of Conference, and then had a yummy grilled meal out on our newly poured patio! 🙂 The rock and sod and fence are not in yet, but things are looking good! This week they should finish up!
Today Brittany received her Patriarchal Blessing! She has been looking forward to and preparing for this for quite some time and was totally ready. We went to Patriarch Graves’ home and met with him for a wonderful chat before the blessing as well. The blessing was wonderful and very inspired. Brittany was very touched and has a lot of things to think about. She’s excited to get the printed version of this in about a week so she can read and study it often.
We’re so proud of you Brittany for taking this great step in your life and know that this will help you throughout your life no matter what challenges may come! We love you!
This morning Brittany had her final ACT test! She was really nervous but thinks she did OK. Best of luck Brittany!
This morning they also started landscaping our back yard! Yipee!!!! We couldn’t be more excited (and we think the neighbors are pretty excited to see the weeds and such gone too)! 🙂
They started with the patio which is really big and then will move on to the sprinkling system, rock, edging, and sod last. We can’t wait for this to be done. The only craziness is that this is costing us about $17,000 to complete. I know it’s not near what some others have paid, but it’s a lot for us to shell out! We got one of the best guys out there (many have told us he IS the best), so we’re really happy!
Tonight, Angela and I went to Maggiano’s Italian Restaurant on a triple date with Terry and Bonnie Liddell, and Jason and Emily Morris.
We had a BLAST! We ended up getting the family style dinner which is much more expensive than the regular meals, but it’s all you can eat. The waiter was AWESOME and brought out TONS of food, even though we hadn’t finished yet. By the time we were done, we had 3 full bags of take-home boxes to split up. We laughed and had a great time together. We love spending time with these two families!
Today the girls got surprise flowers from one of the guys on the drumline (Zane Cartwright) who is also in the ward next to ours. 🙂 He brought Brittany a bouquet and Kirstyn a single red long-stemmed rose. It was very sweet and it made the girl’s day!
Tonight the girls had a marching band performance at the football game and did a great job as well!
At the end of the day, the girls were pretty happy with their flowers AND their performance! 🙂
Brittany got a job! She started today at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory! Yea! A fun source of income for college for her!
She’s really excited to be working there and Sarah will be very excited for her as well since she worked at RMCF also before she left for BYU! I guess chocolate runs in the family!
Way to go Brittany!
Zach and Ben joined their first club at school today! They are doing a version of cross country running! The group is called Landsharks and they meet to run every Thursday! This is part of a larger organization that helps kids love to run.
They are going to be doing a bunch of these types of things at the school to help the kids understand what extra-curricular things they might be interested in doing in the future. Both of them really enjoyed it and like running (I guess they get this from their Mom)! 🙂 Unfortunately, we found out that all of the meets/competitions are on Sundays and so the boys will get to practice but not compete. We let the teacher know. She wasn’t happy about having them all on Sunday and said that will change next year. 🙂
Happy Labor Day! Can’t believe it’s September already! Today we had a great BBQ at our friends the Liddell’s. He got a new grill and was excited to use it! 🙂 We love hanging out with them and we always have such a fun time!
Today Angela ran a 5k with some of her friends and they had a blast. It’s called a “Color Me Rad” run and everyone throws colored powder at each other and gets as crazy as they can with it. She came back completely covered from head-to-toe but had a blast!
She’s excited to do that again next year! 🙂
