In September I flew to San Diego to attend a Jody Moore workshop with my good friend Adrianne. It was so fun to hang out with one of my favorite people and learn from one of my favorite teachers! We learned a ton and had a blast exploring San Diego.

When I got back from San Diego we celebrated Rock’s birthday. He made another beautiful pie! Caramel Apple Sage!

Reagan flew to North Carolina to look at flight schools in September. He’s decided that’s what he wants to do next! He got to fly this airplane-with the help of an instructor. 😉 He ended up choosing a flight school in Utah because it was cheaper and he had more friends and family there. He ran into a bit of a snag with his plans, though, and will have to wait 18 months to really start the process. There are lots of stupid hoops to jump through for the FAA.

He was still in Texas on his birthday so we sent him to Red Lobster for a birthday dinner and then we played Hot Seat over Zoom with he AND Cade, cause it was Cade’s P-day. It was really fun! I can’t wait till all my kids are home at Christmas!

In October Cade broke his right pinky for the SECOND time doing the same thing as last time; playing basketball. It was so bad that he had to have surgery! He was able to have the surgery in Wyoming, rather than coming home, but being in another state when your child has surgery that ends with pins in his hand and the only person taking care of him afterward is a brand new 18 year old missionary, is not an experience I would like to repeat.

He got the pins out this week after 6 weeks in a sling/brace and is already trying to play the piano again. Hopefully that, combined with PT will get him almost back to normal by Christmas. The Dr. seemed to think it wouldn’t take long. But he also told Cade NO BASKETBALL!!

Levi went to Homecoming in October with a friend from his cross country team. He dressed up like a gangster to ask her because they were in Portland and according to Levi there are a lot of gangsters there. Don’t ask me to explain the sign. 😉

I am really glad Levi has such a good group of friends.

Halloween came and went this year with the least amount of attention we’ve ever given it! Levi had the state cross country race 5 hours away the next day so we were driving on Halloween. First time in 25 years that we didn’t get to pass out candy to trick or treaters. 😦 But, we did manage to get some pumpkins carved. Did not, however, get a picture of them lit.

Lastly, I would be remiss if I did not share the amazing lengths to which my awesome brother in law goes to to show loyalty to his team on game day.

But it totally paid off this time cause he got this!

I might frame this one, it makes me smile every time I see that face! At the very least his wife should frame it. 😉

Our last few days in England we saw some pretty awesome stuff. First, was Blenheim Palace, pronounced like Blenem, not Blenhyme.

This is one of the biggest houses in England. The website claims it is England’s greatest Palace. Having never been in Buckingham Palace, I don’t know if that’s true, but it is certainly more grand on the outside. Winston Churchill was actually born here and spent much of his youth here as well. It was fun to learn more about him as we took the tour. Again, no pictures were allowed inside, but it was truly stunning. Think-Versailles-but less ostentatious-more reserved, more, well, English. I will need to use pictures from online to show you what it was like. They were restoring the whole front entrance so I couldn’t get good pictures anyway. Just the ceiling mural was beyond incredible. It was lowered down because of the restoration work and we got to see it up close. But this picture is what it looks like normally.

The grounds were amazing at Blenheim as well. Lovely trees and ponds and lakes that went on for miles.

Two British men stopped and asked us where we were from at this pond and we had a lovely conversation about the relative ages of our country’s histories while watching the swans.

From the above bridge you can see a creepy old tree that was used in a one of the Harry Potters.

And yes, there was also a Mission Impossible scene filmed in the courtyard of Blenheim.

Tower of London

On our last day in England we went to see the Tower of London. “This imposing castle, located on the banks of the River Thames, has served as a royal palace, prison, mint, and stage for political intrigues for over 900 years.”

It was interesting to wander around this place and see all the history and hear about all the gory details of life in a palace/prison. The crown jewels were fun to see too! They had crazy security, which, after the Louvre theft recently, I understand. You couldn’t even stand next to them, they moved you by on a moving walkway.

Honestly, though, even more than the Tower of London, I loved the Tower Bridge. I didn’t realize last time we were in London how big it really is. It’s an amazing bridge. Far more exciting than the London Bridge. lol.

The next day we said goodbye to this wet, green island. We had such a “lovely” time and have more we want to go back and see! Till we meet again, England!