Tidbits of Fall

For all its craziness, life in the Wheeler home is rarely dull.

Sometimes it's the random sights that make me feel the happiest.  Take this mess of books.  At first I thought they'd been dumped, but it turns out Annika counted out precisely one hundred in honor of the first hundred days of school.

Or check out this Magnatile tower.

Truly a toy for all ages.

This stacked washer and dryer may seem pretty random, but this picture makes me really happy too because it means I no longer have to do the splits to move the laundry forward.  Next step is rebuilding the wall.

Good thing I married such a handy fella!

Here's Brooklyn at Utah's Day of the Girl, an event where they connect older Girl Scouts with leaders in the community.

Her friend Tanya was able to attend as well.  I'm proud of these future leaders.

After three years, Talia got her braces off!  Isn't she beautiful?

Of course, she was pretty stunning with them on as well.  Talia drew this lovely self-portrait in her art class.

This fall Brooklyn started private cello lessons with this amazing woman, Dr. Lauren Posey.  She truly has a gift for teaching.

Even better, Brooklyn upgraded to a full-size cello of her own.  We're hoping this beauty brings her decades of musical joy.  Brooklyn's worked really hard and made a ton of progress.  Just today we found out that based on her jury performance, she's been invited to play at the GMS (her music school) Honors Recital.  Great job, Buttermilk!


Here she is again performing with the Youth String Ensemble.


Talia is also progressing fantastically on violin.  Here she is with her studio pals at the fall recital.  We are so sad that her teacher, Caryn Bradley, is leaving the music school, but we are happy for her to spend time with her new baby and three year-old twins.


Both girls got to sing "If the Savior Stood Beside Me" at the Assembly Hall with the Young Women during stake conference.

Meanwhile, Eli and Annika did a great job with their parts in our ward Primary Program.  They were pretty excited about the Salt Lake City Temple cookies they received for their efforts.


Speaking of the temple, we spent a lovely Saturday morning doing baptisms with our friend Hannah, followed by french toast at Kneaders.


Here's Brooklyn singing the national anthem at a Grizzlies hockey game along with A'Cappella, her school choir.

Annika liked the hockey, but loved the cotton candy.

We finally got around to planting bulbs.  Hopefully we will have tulips and daffodils come spring.

Naturally Annika gravitated toward the wildlife.

Thanks to the  inspiration of our neighbor Yangsuk, our kids got to learn the joy of service by raking leaves at different homes throughout October. 

Sometimes they came home a bit messy after jumping in the leaf piles.

October' is Uncle Justin's birthday month.

Ruby prayed that all his birthday wishes would come true. 

Annika enjoys some afterschool trampoline time with a friend.

In November, Eli earned his Arrow of Light.  This boy loves scouts.

The Stake Presidency came to support.  On the far left we have President Brown, the man in the suit is President Pickett, and next to him is President Ernsten.

Back to our Arrow of Light scouts...

...they came up with their own troop name--the Lightning Spiders.  Their adorable leaders drew this for the boys.

Well-done, Eli.

He was also recognized as student of the trimester at Emerson for demonstrating leadership.  His teacher talked about how he is willing to be flexible and do what it is best for the class even when it is not most convenient for him.  What a great quality.

Jason and Justin did some brotherly bonding over microwave installation.  With tile to be cut, it was serious business.

Yasss!  Success.

Now for Brooklyn's new passion.  This girl loves, Loves, LOVES Ultimate Frisbee!  She's learned so much and made such great friends.

Darting around as Dorothy at the Halloween Hat Tourney.

Brooklyn and her best throwing buddy, Jasmina.  These gals get together to play every chance they get.

The Krakens B Team at the state tournament.

Cheering from the sidelines.

Grandma Susie and Grandpa Charles drove down from Logan to help cheer.  We love the support!


Go Krakens!

As for Annika, I got to accompany her cute class on a field trip to the Natural History Museum.

How many first graders fit in a dinosaur footprint?


Her teacher, Ms. Blank, is a teaching Superhero.  Seriously.  I've never seen a person manage a classroom so lovingly and effectively

Plus, they make the most adorable projects.

That digestive tract must be working well because Annie really needs to go potty.

Annika did a great job singing in her school Veterans Day concert.

Plus, she lost her first tooth!  She was SO excited.  Apparently she bit into something really hard during her school lunch and it came right out.  I asked her what it was, expecting her to say an apple.  Nope.  It was a stale cookie.

Okay, more randomness.  Brooklyn and Talia were thrilled to go to a book signing with Shannon Messenger and Brandon Mull.  Currently they are obsessed with Keeper of the Lost Cities and continually argue over whether Fitz or Keefe is better.  Eli recently joined the craze as well.  Surprisingly, Keeper of the Lost Cities is the first book series he's really gotten excited about.

Speaking of Eli, his class recently took a field trip to the Utah Museum of Fine Arts.  So does shipping a glass box around the country and watching the cracks appear qualify as art?

I'm not completely decided, but this certainly does.  This was Talia's submission for the PTA Reflections Contest: Look Within.  It's certainly a reflection on the quality of Salt Lake's air.

But there is so much beauty here as well.  This picture was taken at Red Butte Gardens.

Last but not least, wrapping it up with one final picture of Annika spontaneity.  Because every pet needs a tissue paper blankie--naturally.

Whew! There you have it--all the random tidbits of fall, courtesy of the Wheelers.  You're welcome.