A fun weekend!

We had a wonderful weekend with Grandpa, Grandma, and John!  It is always so nice spending time with them.  They arrived Friday and we had a nice evening relaxing; Rand and Ella always prefer Grandpa and Grandma to read their bedtime stories.  On Saturday morning they got to come out and see our new riding program.  John helped brush Hershey and did a great job riding and clean stalls.  In the afternoon we went to Papago Park for a hike on the red rocks, followed by a delicious dinner at Claim Jumper, and then Dad installed a new door in our laundry room. 

On Sunday, John and Grandpa did most of the work putting the pool cover on before heading back home.  We always love seeing them and appreciate all of the home improvements that they leave us with!   

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!  Ella wanted to be "Izzy" from a kids' TV show and Rand decided that he wanted to be Dragon Knight, a video game character from a game that he and Werner play together.  Werner was up for the challenge, and they spent a week working on a helmet, sword, and shield.  Both kids were thrilled with their costumes!  We had a fun Halloween party at their school, and on the actual day of Halloween we managed to go to our church's trunk or treat, the Awanas' church's harvest festival, and trick or treating.  

Pumpkin carving!  Rand and Ella drew the faces on their pumpkins and I helped them carve the pieces out.

This is very serious work.

Just in case you need a hint, Ella's is a sad pumpkin ("because it didn't want to be picked"), and Rand's is a surprised pumpkin with a goatee ("like daddy!").