August Wrap Up

Austin bought a giant ice cream cone from Macey's and was so happy. 

The kids playing with the dominoes (and the domino stacker). 

Shantel let the kids build a giant fort in the familk room and do a sleepover in it. 

The kids had one of their cooking competitions when they were at Grandma and Grandpa Walker's house with the Haderlies. Lydia and Jason were teamed up to make a delicious dessert. 

Caleb lost his first tooth and was so excited. 

Shantel helping the kids with Monday morning jobs. Monday morning is our big cleaning day where the kids have to get their rooms fully clean and do a few other bigger cleaning things. 

Shantel and the kids building with the magna tiles. 

Fall Soccer (Lydia, Austin, Caleb)

The kids played fall soccer this year and having three kids in soccer makes for a busy couple of months, but we are glad for the experiences that the kids had. They learned new skills, increased their endurance, and benefitted socially by learning to play on a team. 

Lydia had practice on Tuesday nights with games on Wednesday nights. 

Austin had games on Tuesday nights with practice on Wednesday nights. 

Caleb had games on Tuesday nights on a different field, but at the same time or immediately before or after Austin's games. 

It was a wild ride, especially because for part of that time David was out of town, and for two full weeks we only had one car because our van was in the shop. 

But again, a good experience for the kids. We enjoyed the fresh air, cheering them on, and participating in an organized soccer league. 

Austin

Austin's favorite thing about soccer was "everything." He said that he liked the games better than the practics, but that he liked it all. I was really proud of him because he really was constantly working and chasing and working hard. I thought he did a really good job of getting in front of people and stopping the ball. It was funny because, in the last game or so, he figured out that one of his best tactics was to get in front of people and kind of push them off the ball and out of the way, but sometimes you could tell he was not really going for the ball as much as the player. He is smaller than most of the other kids, so they did not call a foul on him, but it made me laugh. He worked really hard and put in a lot of effort. 

Caleb

I asked Caleb what his favorite thing was about soccer and here was our conversation: Me: What was your favorite thing about soccer? Caleb: Winning Me: Did you win any games? Caleb: Nope Me: So your favorite thing was winning, but you didn't win any games: Caleb: Yeah. So funny, this had us really laughing. Especially because his team got crushed every week. Later I asked him and Caleb said his favorite thing was kicking the ball. I think his real favorite thing was the snacks. He loved the treats at the end of the team that his team got, but then he also started making his own "snack" for when he sat on the sideline. His favorite part of the game was making his snack beforehand and then when it was his turn to sit he came over and enjoyed his orange, sandwich, chips, and whatever else he brought. 

Lydia

Lydia liked learning how to play the different positions this year. Her favorite positions were either mid-field or defense, but probably mid-field because you get some of the action, too. She had a great team and improved a lot. We were proud of her for playing when it was really hot and when it was rainy and cold. 

Dread Penny Society

I had the MOST FUN experience this month and I am struggling to narrow down the pictures, so I may just include them all because I love them so much. 

Background information: My current favorite author is named Sarah M. Eden. She writes historical fiction/romance and my favorite series of hers is the Jonquil Series. It's just so clever and well-written and fun. Each book follows the story of one of the brothers, but the entire family grows and evolves through each book and it's just so great. Even though that series is my favorite, I love all of her books. 

She announced that she would be releasing the final book in her Penny Dreadful series, which I have also really enjoyed, and that she was going to host a themed event to celebrate. 

Amy reached out and asked if we could get a group together to go, so I asked Jenna, who has read all of her books, too, and Melissa who has read the Jonquil books. Eventually, Brooklyn got pulled in and we booked our tickets! But then we started to look for costumes. My neighbors across the street are incredible costume designers and I won a custom costume at our ward's youth auction last year. I reached out and asked them if they would consider outfitting me and my sisters in Victorian costumes instead of making a dress for me. They said "We only have Victorian ballgowns, would that be okay?" Umm... yes! We had such a fun time being fitted for our dresses and attending the event. 

Dress Fittings

Robin and Roxanne had a rack of Victorian ballgowns and they basically just went down the line from smallest to largest. I ended up in this beautiful pink and cream dress - which is easily the most gorgeous dress I've ever worn, even more lovely than my wedding dress. 

 I especially loved this dress because Robin herself wore this in one of her Opera Productions and it was just so neat to share this dress with her. 

DREAD PENNY SOCIETY 

The night of the event, we met up to do hair, then went over to Robin and Roxanne who helped dress us and get us on our way. My ONLY regret of the night is that I didn't hire a professional photographer to take pictures for us. I thought about it over and over but I just wasn't sure what the timing would be like and talked myself out of it. I really wish that I had, though. That aside, we had such a fun night. 

The event was held at the McCune Mansion in SLC. Our dresses were amazing and it was so fun to arrive at the event all decked out in our finery. Rubbing shoulders with the Upper Crust of society. 

We entered through the front door, receiving a penny bracelet to represent the pennies of the "Dread Penny Society" from the book. Each room had a story and something relating to one of the characters that you had to figure out. 

The ballroom was located on the top floor of the home and it was breathtakingly beautiful. That's where we met the Author, Sarah Eden, and she signed our brand new books. After that, we exited the building through a fun back staircase to a garden area where there were fancy refreshments and tables to visit around. As I was walking past, I heard my name and saw two of my friends that I hadn't seen in a really long time. Sarah and Michelle had been in the group right after us and it was fun to run into them and discover a shared love of Sarah Eden. 

 

These pictures ended up being my very favorite, even though the picture quality isn't quite as good because it was so dark outside. I love them. 

I loved going to this event with my sisters (all of them). Dressing up, being in a fancy house, doing something unique. This night was completely just for fun and I am grateful that I was able to experience it.