Playing Catch Up

I can’t believe it’s been over two weeks since I last posted. The past couple of weeks have been crazy! Here’s a brief recap:

Friday, October 2 – We had our family pictures taken at Murray Park. Jes Myrick, a friend of Frances’ family, is a professional photographer and took them for us. She did a great job. Here’s one of them, but you can check out the rest here.After our pictures, we went out for my birthday dinner at Tucci’s. We had so much fun playing with the girls. They are so hilarious now, and really kept us entertained. I also enjoyed a wonderful “birthday cannoli” for dessert, complete with a candle and Italian opera version of “Happy Birthday.”

Saturday, October 3 – Sunday, October 4 – We enjoyed staying home and watching LDS General Conference on TV. Ryan loved doing his packet (see previous post). We also moved Ryan’s room around a bit. We took his “little boy” toy bins downstairs and put Grandpa Jensen’s desk in Ryan’s room. He has his laptop, lamp, and Venus Flytrap on it, and is so grown up sitting there doing homework!

Monday, October 5 – I started two new courses in my PhD program, which explains why I’m behind on the blog, as well as everything else in life! I have Processes of Instructional Design and Designing Online Instruction. They both look like they will incorporate a lot of hands-on projects, which is both exciting and scary at the same time. Although, this blog started two years ago as a hands-on project for a class!

Tuesday, October 6 - Ryan's school had "Crazy Hair Day." I don't think I need to say anything, just take a look at the picture.Wednesday, October 7 – My birthday! My Visiting Teachers brought me some Cavanaugh’s chocolates. Yum! Ryan had a soccer game that night, and it was very cold! So after the game, we went to Rara & Papa’s for Marie Callendar’s pie and hot chocolate to celebrate my birthday.

Thursday, October 8 - Ryan and I went straight from swim team to Cub Scout Pack Meeting. Nothing like changing clothes and eating dinner in the car between events! We were extremely pleased that Ryan earned his Bear! He has also worked hard enough to earn one gold and two silver arrow points! Here Ryan is pinning my "Mother's Pin" on me.

Saturday, October 10 – Ryan had a swim meet in West Jordan. We had to be there at 8:45 am for warm-ups, so we got up at 6:30 am! Let me say that again. Ryan and I got up at 6:30 am on a Saturday morning! He is such a good kid! He swam three events – Freestyle, Backstroke, and Butterfly. We are still awaiting the official times and results, but we know he came in first place in his heat in Freestyle. We think he was third in Backstroke and Butterfly. I’ll post the official results when we receive them. Here are two fun pictures from that meet:

Thursday, October 15 – Ryan had his first Jr. Jazz game! Although his team lost, he had a great time playing. He is excited for the season to continue.Friday, October 16 – You’ll all be glad to know that Ryan and I both got our flu shots. Actually, shot for me, mist for him. That night (after swim team), we had an evening out with Marc & Frances. Rara & Papa tended Alice & Claire while Marc, Frances, Ry & I went to see “Where the Wild Things Are” and then grabbed some yummy cookies after. We had heard some negative reviews about the movie, but we really enjoyed it. There were some very young kids at the movie, and I’m sure they had no clue what was happening in the movie. But Ryan was able to discuss some of the underlying themes and understood all of the ties between things that happened. We had a great time all hanging out together.Saturday, October 17 – Due to our upcoming trip, Ryan played his last soccer game of the fall season. The team has two more games, but he will miss them. Just to make sure he went out with a bang, he scored a goal! He came very close to a couple more. He’s a great little player!

That brings us current, at least with the most exciting happenings of our lives. As we leave on our trip, I’ll try to post pictures and updates as often as possible. But since I’ll be there for a class, I may not have time for updates until we return home.