On October 3rd we celebrated my birthday. Caleb was so excited for it and was counting down the days for me. He loves birthdays. We had the rare event in that no one had anywhere they needed to go in the evening, so we could all be together at home and enjoy a nice dinner and evening together. Neal gave me a nice camping chair. Caleb gave me a candy bar he had received as an award at school. He was so kind to share with me. The kids were happy and we enjoyed the evening. I am thankful for my kind family.
I have also been working on photo books. I am trying to get caught up on my projects of recording pictures. The kids enjoy looking at them and remembering times past. They love seeing themselves when they were little. They bring fond memories for me too. I also finished a sewing project I started last Halloween. I remember cutting all the little triangles out on Halloween and thinking it was funny I was working on a Christmas project. I made a quilt out of pieces of fabric I had from other projects. I learned a lot about piecing a quilt. I have only done squares and rectangles before, so this was new to do triangles. I think it turned out nice. The first week end of October I had a friend post on Facebook she had grapes a plenty on her vines and didn’t want them this year. She is preparing to move next year and didn’t want to bottle any grapes this year. Spencer, Caleb and I went to her home and picked grapes. The following week I borrowed a steam juicer from another friend and bottled 14 quarts of juice. We have drank some of it and it is delicious.
In the boys train club they had a party this month to celebrate 5 years as a club. One activity they had was a load competition. They needed to make a load for a train to pull. They could do this in HO scale or Lego. The boys worked hard on things, then they realized there was a conflict. Andrew and Spencer decided to do the camping trip to White Sands and missed the train activity. I took Caleb to the train club meeting. We brought the other boys loads. At the meeting they judged the loads. Caleb won a prize for his Lego car carrying tires. He had done things in good dimensions and made it life like by tying down his tires and separating the hubs. Andrew won an award for his log load, it was very life like and beautifully down with real wood. The judges loved it. Andrew was also praised for his scrap metal load and would have won a prize for that, but, it exceeded the weight limits. He will try reworking it and getting it to the right weight for the next competition in February. Spencer did a fun Lego load that was praised for his creativity. He did an observation gondola train car, making the people the “load.” He did a good job with it.
We enjoyed General Conference. The kids built some little forts or “nests” to listen in. They liked getting comfy with blankets and pillows. It was nice to sit together and listen to our church leaders. The Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta was also at the first of October (that is why we had fall break, they always have a couple of days of no school during the fiesta). At the elementary school Caleb, Neal and I went over and saw the balloons they brought to the kids. We enjoyed seeing them from our house every morning and watching some of the fireworks in the evenings. We have a pretty good view of the valley from our back yard, although it is distant, we can see a lot.
The little dots at the hot air balloons
Ruth had a busy month. She decided to ask a friend out to the church sponsored Homecoming Dance. She asked Eric, he is in our Stake but she really knows him from work. They have been working together for over a year on Saturday afternoons. She was brave and asked and he accepted. Ruth and some friends got a group together and had a wonderful time last Saturday. They had dinner, that the girls all helped make, and then went to the dance. Ruth enjoyed her first date.
Another thing Ruth had this month was earning an Academic Letter from the high school. She had to have her GPA at a 3.5 or higher for four semesters to receive this, then she had to fill out an application with teachers comments on it. She did great and earned it. I went to the ceremony with her to watch her receive her big E (for Eldorado). Ruth and I attended a BYU admissions meeting. It was good to review what she needs to do to apply next year. She still has BYU as her #1 school choice. I think she will be a good fit for it and I hope she gets in. Only one more year and she will be applying to universities! Ruth is loving her AP Psychology class and tells us things she is learning about the brain and why people do what they do. She is working hard with school and keeps her grades up.
Andrew has worked hard with band this month. They have had a busy schedule. He plays at the football games and has after school rehearsals. Three Saturday’s in October will be taken up with band competitions. On the 5th they went to the Valencia Classic competition in Los Lunas. Last Saturday they participated in the Zia Competition at UNM. At that one they received 3rd place over all, it is a state competition. (I didn’t hear their ratings for Valencia.) This next Saturday will be the Pageant of Bands for the school district bands and others from around the state. It should be fun to watch. Neal went to see them perform at Zia, I plan on going this Saturday to watch. Andrew also had a band concert two weeks ago. They did a good job playing their concert music too. Andrew is managing things well and even with all his time spent on band and scouts he is maintaining all A’s in his classes. He works hard. (I guess Andrew is so busy I didn't manage to get any pictures of him this month. I do have the goal to take pictures of the band this week and try to get him in his uniform. The band leaders keep the performance shirt, so I don't have a picture of him in it.)
Spencer had band concerts recently too. He started jazz band this fall. He enjoys that. Last night at the jazz band concert he played a little solo and did an excellent job. Spencer received straight A’s on his first term report card. He is organized and does his work well. He enjoys walking with Jonathan home from school, and sometimes he walks to Jonathan’s home instead of ours. He always calls and tells me where he is though. I am glad he has a good friend. In his social studies class they are studying New Mexico history and his teacher gave out some recipes to try for the Day of Dead celebrations that many do. Last week end Spencer and I made the bread. He did a lot of the work and it turned out great. He enjoys cooking and helping in the kitchen. I enjoy working with him and talking to him about his ideas. He is creative with his Lego play too. I am always amazed at what he comes up with. He has a good mind for how things work.
When downloading pictures I found a lot of Lego pictures, I believe these
are things that Spencer has made.
Caleb had fun going to the zoo with the cub scouts at the end of September. I went with him and it was fun. I hadn’t been to a zoo for a long time. Caleb went to a Halloween party his friend Asher hosted. He had fun with the other kids. Asher is new to our ward and Caleb has enjoyed getting to know him. During our fall break at the beginning of the month I took Caleb to the Hinkle Family Fun Center. We played mini golf together. He did really well and beat me by 2 points. Then he did the bumper cars and had fun with that. It was nice to do something with just him. Last week I took Caleb to his school’s fall carnival. He had fun playing games there. He is working hard at school too, just like the others. He likes numbers still and can add them so quickly. He also likes making up songs on the piano. He decided to do a song for the Reflections program this year, especially when we noticed it said the elementary kids didn’t need to submit written music, they could just do it as a recording. He loves his music.
Caleb with friends at the zoo
Caleb loves his puppies
Caleb in the bumper cars
I am thankful for my wonderful family. I hope this finds you all well.
