Halloween, and November

We got home two days before Halloween.  The kids had a great time carving their pumpkins and trekking around Glenwood Oaks for trick-or-treating.  As usual, once we got home they watched Garfield's Halloween Adventure while they inhaled as much candy as possible.
    

Left to Right:  Elise, Corinne, Connor, Celeste, Evan

Three Grim Reapers, a Chicky, and Supergirl

  
Ryan and I took the older two kids to go see a performance by the LA Philharmonic that was a combination of music and scenes from A Midsummer Night's Dream.  It was better than I expected, and the kids really enjoyed it.
    

They thought it was funny that the violinist was sleeping.

  
Our remodel continued.  I spent a lot of time researching how to soundproof the wall between the new toy room and the living room, so we could have a second piano in there eventually.  That or watch movies while kids sleep.
   

  
Connor played his concerto at the CAPMT Piano Auditions festival in mid-November.  He had worked really hard, and got a "5" rating on the piece.
    

  
We continued working on homework and schoolwork and family devotionals, which we did outside as much as possible in the nice weather.  There was a hawk that kept sitting in our big tree and watching us read aloud.
    

Connor's "Trees" Assignment.  He had to separate pigments from different kinds of leaves.

Latin Lesson

  
Connor and Elise competed in the "Best of the Best" Tae Kwon Do tournament.  It's a forms-only tournament, which my kids like (sparring isn't their favorite).  They both ended up taking first place in their age groups!
    

  

    

During the past several years, we've taken Christmas card photos with our friends the Kennys, but they moved to Utah last summer.  This year, Braden Barty was kind enough to borrow a camera and take some shots of our family at CV park.
   

Melissa Walch traditionally does a "turkey shoot" singing time in Primary before Thanksgiving each year.  Usually, the kids either miss, or knock the turkey off the table to select the songs.  When it was Corinne's turn this year, she got a perfect bullseye.  Then she spent the rest of the activity giving people advice like, "Hit the turkey right in the middle!"
   

  
I was blessed to get to be Primary President for the past 2 1/2 years.  This calling came just as I was beginning to struggle more with anxiety and depression (particularly after Celeste was born), but it also really helped me to grow as a leader, a teacher, and as a person.  I love Primary, and especially love teaching, but being an administrator and directing other teachers is really stressful for me.  So, when I was told that I was being released, I was simultaneously sad and relieved.  I'll miss being in Primary (I've been there for over 10 years,) but I'm excited to teach the 12-13 year-old Sunday School class and try attending Relief Society for a change.
      

Here are some random silly pictures from early November:
     

Arctic the Beanie Boo

Elders' Quorum

Celeste can put on underpants! (Even though they're not hers.)

Elise's Drive-Thru

My Current Screensaver

Somebody took the phone from her.

Choc. Chips

She loves the bunny pen.

Couldn't Find the Baby

On the Monday before Thanksgiving, we drove up to spend the week with my mom.  On the way, we stopped and hiked around Kolob Canyon for a little while.  After we arrived in Levan that night, Celeste recovered from the long drive by shampooing her hair.  And clothes.
    

Gettin' Clean

  
We spent the first part of the week hanging out with family, baking treats, and shopping.
   

Sticky Buns

Connor really wanted a Nintendo Switch for Christmas.

  
Kevin and Liz had some scheduling issues with their new jobs, so we planned to have the family Thanksgiving meal that weekend.  On "Official Thanksgiving", we brought Grandma Cloe over, had some food, and played outside a lot.  It was very relaxing.
   

    

We had a chance to visit with the Kennys a little on the day after Thanksgiving.  We didn't get any Black Friday deals this year, though.
    

  
On Saturday, we had "Fake Thanksgiving" with our extended family.  As always, the food was amazing.  We thought about Chuck a lot, but my mom seemed to be in pretty good spirits nevertheless.  After the meal, Kelli did an adorable "Transformers" birthday party outside for Lincoln.
   

I couldn't decide which of these was my favorite.

Optimus Prime Cake

   
I'm assuming we drove back to California sometime the next day, but the only photographic evidence of the rest of November is these glamorous pictures somebody took of Celeste: