I LOVE YOU, ETHAN!
I brought Claire and Ethan new puzzles and here they are putting them together. I actually had a little surprise for them each day I was there. It was fun for me and for them!
Here is Claire modeling her Halloween costume.
Ethan goes sooooo fast on this little bike - it's very amazing! When it got dark, Holly rigged Claire and Ethan's bikes with a flashlight on the handlebars and we went for a night ride (we walked and the kids rode). We couldn't keep up with them, but the kids were great at stopping at each corner to wait for us to catch up.
Claire is super fast on her scooter too.
Here's Holly. After Claire came home from school, we enjoyed sitting out on the front lawn. I meant to get a picture of Claire getting off the school bus - her bus stop is just past the mailbox in the background of this picture, so Claire doesn't have very far to go.
Claire is reading her book to Ethan and me.
Ethan decided it was time to mow the grass.
The first night I arrived, there were 2 events. The first one was Ethan's soccer game. He is on the sideline in this picture trying to decide if he wants to play. I begged and bribed him, but it was a no-go. However, he did play for a few minutes the next week - too bad I missed it!
The other event was Claire's fall festival at school. They had games, food and it gave me a chance to see Claire's desk and classroom.
The next night was free carousel ride night at the mall. So Holly and I each took a turn getting dizzy on the carousel. They have an ice skating rink in their mall and it just so happened that the Hawkeyes were playing a hockey game that night, so we got some dinner and watched the game.
We got to watch her play at lunch recess for a little while.
And then it was time to line up to go back to class. As soon as she heard the bell, she immediately ran over and got in line. She didn't want to be late.
After Claire got home from school, we went to Wilson's Apple Orchard. Claire, Ethan & I are enjoying some delicious apples. You can pick them and eat them for free. They also have delicious apple turnovers that they sell there. Ummmm. Delicious!
Holly, Claire and Ethan are ready with their basket to pick some apples.
They also sell pumpkins at the orchard. We couldn't resist the pumpkin picture!
There is a very quaint German town named Amana that is pretty close to Holly & Jeff's house. We spent a couple of hours walking through the shops and enjoying the atmosphere. It was a beautiful day. We missed Claire, but we were glad our little buddy, Ethan, was with us.
Speaking of Ethan, isn't this a cute picture of him with his bottle of root beer?
Later that afternoon, when Claire got home from school, Holly had a meeting, so I dropped her off at the meeting and the kids and I went to a park where I got some cute pictures of them.
........then we went to Claire's dance lessons and I was able to watch her dance through a very small crack in the curtains while we waited for her.
Ethan had fun jumping in the foam pit, jumping on the trampoline, etc.
And then that night was Claire's soccer game. She did a great job at her game and is quite an agressive little player. I was proud of her.
Our real estate brokerage is called LRA Real Estate Group. We found some balloons that fit just right. How did they know?
We live in the Superstition Springs community, with about 2,200 homes. This is our opportunity to build a Facebook page to give our friends and neighbors updates on what homes sold for right down the street last month.
I mentioned in an earlier post that I needed a picture of the prize my brother, Dave & I won as the Rook Champions. Dave just sent this to me and I had to post it right away. Aren't these the coolest glasses you've ever seen? We wear them proudly!
As we got close to the Grapevine, we saw this truck on fire. You can't see all the fire trucks, but they were blocking that entire side of the freeway. Traffic coming the opposite direction was completely stopped and backed up for miles. We commented that we were glad we weren't going north!
Then, a little while later, about half way up the grapevine, we saw this ahead!
And it started coming closer to the road we were on. We were thankful to get through this before they shut down this side of the freeway.
Then just as we were coming off the grapevine, traffic did slow down, but not for long because this accident had just happened - the emergency vehicles had just arrived. We felt so bad for these people and hope everyone was okay.
It all ended well and we actually did make pretty good time. And when we got to Blythe, look at the beautiful clouds we saw. We were thankful to get home safe and sound last night. 
We had a fabulous weekend visit to California and loved spending time with Michael, Mallory & Madie. What a little sweetheart she is! It was so much fun watching her and playing with her.
Here is Papa reading her a story - you can tell she's really interested in it!
Cute picture of Michael, Mallory and Madie at the park.
Madie loves to swing!
And she crawled in the grass for a few minutes, but it wasn't her favorite thing to do.
And here's the cute family in downtown Livermore. We fell in love with the downtown area - they have cute shops - sort of the European, outdoor eating and living lifestyle. It's funny because all the years we lived in California, we only drove by Livermore on the freeway, but never stopped to see what a great little city it is. We're glad M,M & M can live in such a beautiful place. 
We had lunch on the Monterey Wharf - we got our clam chowder bread bowls - ummmm!
And look who joined us for our anniversary dinner - THE BIRTHDAY GIRL! Yes, Madie was born a year ago on our anniversary - what a great present that was (and is)!
It's always a beautiful day in Monterey - even when it's overcast and gray. However, the sun came out for about 2 hours while we were there, which makes it even nicer.
After Monterey, we drove along 17 mile drive into Carmel. We got this picture of the Lone Cyprus, but I didn't get any pictures of Carmel for some reason, but it was beautiful and quaint as always. 
What a great way to spend our anniversary (and Madie's birthday!).
Here are Sadie and Sophie at the water balloon toss. They're so cute and just the same size. 
We roasted marshmallows and ate smores.
Sorry, Melissa - I couldn't resist - this picture was just too good not to post.....
Took turns going on canoe rides.....
ate blue candy......
ate other yummy food.....
enjoyed visiting....
and played some Rook, of course.....
Okay, and I guess I have bragging rights! I won the Rook championship for the 3rd time in a row. The first 2 years Tyler was my partner and this year my brother, Dave, was my partner. I wish I had a picture of the great prize I won - can anyone send a picture of that along to me?
It was so much fun and I love my family! Thanks, Dave & Ruth for a fun reunion and a HUGE thank you to Mom for making it all possible.
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The next weekend we had Bryan's family reunion. We learned about Bryan's Grandpa and Grandma - Arthur Vivian and Andrea Rich Watkins. We went on a treasure hunt around different parts of Orem - a home they lived in, the cherry farm they owned, the Scera Theater (Bryan's Grandpa was the 1st Stake President in Orem and helped start the SCERA), and we ended up at the cemetery, where Bryan's nephew and wife made an appearance dressed as young Vivian and Andrea. Here is a picture of Chris & Kareena at the cemetery with Bryan's Dad and his 2 sisters. And below that are the pictures they used to find their outfits. Amazing resemblance!
