Outstanding October

This week I started my last semester of nursing school.  I've been assigned a clinical capstone in Labor and Delivery, which is super exciting.  I anticipate it will be mostly night shifts which is less exciting.  Plus, I've been assigned Block 1, which means I need to get all 100 hours completed before February 20th.  Yikes!  Time to start burning the midnight oil.  Except, I haven't been assigned a preceptor so I can't move forward yet.  Patience is never easy.

In the meantime, I'll focus on what I can control--like catching up on this blog.  Here are snapshots from October in no special order.

Nothing says  like colorful leaves!  Here are Eli and Anders hiking up City Creek Canyon.  Callie, Eila, and Annie joined the fun too.

At frist glimpse I thought we'd worn Annika and Eila out, but then I realized Annie just needed to tie her shoe.

I think Eli's overtaken Callie in height.  Way to go, son!

Rounding off our hike with a leaf toss.

City Creek was so pretty that I decided to make attempt my annual run to the top.  It gets harder every year! I'm really glad I did it though because the top of the canyon is going to be closed for several years due to a major reconstruction project.

Hiking up near Red Butte Gardens with Adam and Anders.  We sure love living close family!

Next up, a short hike with Talia up by the Emigration Canyon Miners trail.  Next fall we'd like to do some longer hikes together, like Rim 2 Rim.  :)

Now for a hike with Annika on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail.  Annie wasn't sure she wanted to come but had lots of fun once she decided to pretend she was a camouflaged cat.

One afternoon in October, I headed out to the gardens at Thanksgiving Point for their scarecrow festival.  Snailor Swift was pretty creative.

The golden leaves are stunning, but sometimes you don't have to go any farther than your front yard to find color.  These pictures are looking directly across and down the street.

Back at home, Annika kept us entertained with her stylish outfits and snazzy tunes.  She made the rainbow skirt in her sewing class.

At school, Annie had a marvelous time attending Junior Achievement with her fifth grade class.

Here she is getting a loan from the bank to help run her business, Rocky Mountain Power.  She got to be their CFO for the day.

As for me, I got to oversee a fun group of kids in their efforts to run Chic-Fil-A.  I love the professional attire!

My all-time favorite moment was when this kid came by to change the air filter for our business.  I love how Junior Achievement teaches kids all the complexity and services that go into making our communities work.

Speaking of heroes who change air filters, all my thanks to this handsome gent for helping our home run smoothly.  I love how he's snacking on a giant piece of celery; I would do well to follow suit.

More snippets of every day life.  Talia, making bracelets for herself and Brooklyn before going to see the Taylor Swift movie.  If I had a magic wand, I'd get that girl tickets to the Eras tour  Like much of the world, she is obsessed!  Also, you can see she's wearing her volunteer shirt.  She still volunteers every week playing violin at Primary Children's Hospital.  I love it!  

Sleeping pics are the cutest.

This photo is all Eli.  He organized all of his Harry Potter Lego figures by character and set.

Speaking of Eli, here he is at a Halloween party with some classmates.  Seated on the couch next to him are Asher and James.  I'm pretty sure the girl next to him is Evie.

It looks like Annie's drinking a beer, but not to worry--it's just Liquid Death (aka still water.)

They carved squirrel  pumpkins while they were there.  What a fun idea!  You use a drill to make holes, fill them with peanut buter, then put them out on the porch and let the squirrels do the rest of the work.

The solar eclipse felt right in line with the spooky Halloween theme.

A cute photo of Jason and Annie while waiting for a cardiology appointment.  They are experts at those.

Next lovely moment--visiting Brooklyn at BYU.  This gal is so very happy! My heart is so at peace as well knowing how much she is thriving.  She shines!

Plus extra bonus, she used her dining dollars to buy me lunch at the MOA, after which we saw the most beautiful exhibit.  Wish I could quilt like this!

Rounding off with random marzipan.  Because what's more fun than edible play-dough?

Playing games, both in the Wilhoit's backyard and at home with our friend Jane.

Other October happenings: Jason went to Chicago for a work conference.  Great time of year to visit the Windy City and fill up on deep dish pizza!

He enjoyed visiting Ben and Christy's old neighborhood, especially haunts like the Medici.

Even better was catching up with friends like Rose Fellow Dan Splaingard.  Years pass, but these two are timeless!

More on the work front: ASSIST is designing a park in Springdale and has had multiple meetings with the community to get their input on how to use the space.

Personally, I feel like it would be hard to go wrong with any park in this gorgeous location.

Hard to go wrong with cute Violet pictures as well!  This adorable gal makes everyone smile.

Thanks to Justin and Brianna for having us over for dawgs!  Plus, we got to hear all about their recent adventures in Hawaii.  Ruby collected all the colorful resort wristbands.

Last but not least, Dean Lewis!  Jason took Brooklyn and Talia to a concert and they had so much fun.  I wouldn't have seen a thing over the crowd, so I was very happy to cheer them on from the comfort of home.

So there we have it!  Busting through October.