Happy Halloween

 With COVID cases surging, Halloween changed a little.  The school had their Halloween parade outside and only one grade was allowed to go at a time.  I was able to still go in and help in Taner's class for his class party.  (Shantelle and Mylissa couldn't go into the schools for parties).  Tanner wanted to be Ironman again.  He was Ironman last year but the gloves were really big on him.  So he wanted to be it again and have the gloves fit better.  The costume fit him perfectly!  

We were busy laying Sod and wrapping up some yard projects on Saturday so I felt like the day flew by.  Tanner really wanted to carve pumpkins so Bridger quickly cleaned out two pumpkins.  Tanner drew the face on his pumpkin and then Bridger carved it out.  I had Tanner quickly go change into his costume.  The stake decided to cancel the Trunk or Treat at the church because of COVID.  Our neighborhood told people to park on our street so we could still go trick or treating.  We were one of the few people to wear masks but we wanted to stay safe.  Bridger stayed with the candy and handed it out.  The weather was perfect.  It was one of the warmest Halloweens I can remember.  Matt and I walked Tanner down one half of our street and then I took Tanner down the other half while Matt handed out the candy.  Bridger invited a few overs to hang out.  Chase was hanging out with Kyzer and Raden.  Tanner held my hand as we were walking back.  It was one of those magical moments where I wanted to freeze time.  Tanner came back and counted his candy.  He had 130 pieces of candy!  I would call that a successful night of trick or treating! 

Grandpa Taylor would love this!

 Our neighbors the S's, invited us over to ride their horses.  They know that we don't have animals and that Bridger and Tanner love animals.  After walked Bridger around on the horse Juke, they asked him if he wanted to try it by himself.  He said YES!  They worked with him in learning how to use the reigns to guide the horse.  Bridger really enjoyed it!  They put Tanner on their other horse.  Their son walked Tanner around for at least 15 minutes.  It's nice that we can enjoy our neighbors animals!  We have the best neighbors!

Oops!

 Matt was taking some sod down to his parents so he had the trailer hooked up to his truck.  He was parked in front of the trailer.  Last night he told Chase,  "just be careful backing up because I'm parked there.  Don't hit my truck!"  Well, Chase was in a hurry the next morning and backed into Matt's truck. He walked back into the house and said "I hit dad's truck!"  I took a few seconds to compose myself but I didn't swear at him.  He looked so upset.  I went over and gave him a big hug and said that I knew it was an accident.   Luckily it wasn't too bad.  It scratched Matt's truck front bumper.  Most of the damage was to Chase's car.  It broke his right back tail light and then made several scratches to his bumper and bent it a little.  We figured that if we fixed it, then someone would hit it in the high school parking lot.  So Chase will drive around with a few scratches.  

Bridger's New Hobby

 In Bridger's FACTS class, he had his sewing unit.  He made a drawstring bag.  His teacher asked him to grade it and he gave himself a B.  When the teacher looked at it she told him it was almost perfect.  She was very impressed with his sewing skills.  She gave him an A!  

More Grass!

 Matt has worked so hard getting the section just north of our house ready for grass.  We ran out of steam when we did grass two years ago.  Ardell needed some sod for his yard so it pushed Matt to finish this project.  We had 13 palettes of sod delivered on Thursday.  Matt and I started it that afternoon.  Friday we were busy with Bridger's basketball games.  Saturday morning at 9:00 we hit it!  Our sweet neighbors, the S and Candice S came over to help us and our neighbor Luke.  We were done within an hour!  What great neighbors.  Chase's friends Kyzer and Raden showed up just as we were finishing the sod.  But they were so sweet to help us even the grass up and collect all of the pallets.  The grass looks so good!!!  It's nice to have this finished!

Tanner and Mack

Tanner's little buddy, Mack broke his foot in a really bad place.  He has to be non-weight bearing for 6 weeks.  The school has a wheelchair that they let him use instead of his crutches while he's at school.  So every morning, I drop the boys off.  They go into the office and pick up the wheelchair.  Tanner has been so sweet to push Mack around and help him out.  I'm so grateful they're in the same class.  They're such good buddies.  I think it's been good for Tanner to show compassion and help Mack out.  

Halloween party at the R

 We were hesitant to have a family party because of COVID but at the last minute, we decided to have a family Halloween party at Mom's house.  We strongly encouraged everyone to wear masks.  Most of us wore masks.  Mom said she was going to keep it simple with just a potato bar.  But we had chili to go with it and a whole counter full of food.  The kids were so happy to be together.  We carried on the tradition and did the costume parade.  Shantelle started it off with being Princess Leia.  She came out and said "Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope!"  We had the best laugh!  We love how Shan gets into Halloween.  The C's had a Star Wars theme.  Lily was BB8, Aliyah was Ray and Hazel was Chewy.  Robby held up a red solo cup and said he was "Han Solo."  Tanner came out in his Ironman costume.  Caleb was the Mandalorian.  Julie was piglet.  Bridger and Chase dressed up as moody teenagers.  

Chase's Halloween Dance

 Chase's friend Kelby invited him to go to the Halloween Dance.  Chase was really happy because his friends Kyzer and Raden were in his group.  They went to a Haunted House for the day activity.  On the day of the dance, his buddies came to our house and then the girls picked them up at our house.  Everyone in his group went as boxers.  Chase and his date were in Silver.  For dinner they went to Buffalo Wild Wings.  They waited for over 90 minutes!  They got to the dance and when the next song started, the principal stopped the song and turned on the lights and ended the dance.  Some students weren't abiding by the rules so they shut the whole thing down.  Chase was disappointed.  They went back to one of the girl's house and hung out til 12:30.  Chase said he had a fun time.  

Fall Break in BL

 See BL Journal for Fall break

Bridger's Soccer Season

Bridger's soccer season started off really rough.  They lost their first three games but then they were able to turn the corner.  They won their last five games and played really well as a team.  I'm so grateful he has his close friend Bentley on the team.  They are teased mercilessly at school for playing soccer.  But they stick together and love it!  

 Bridger had a game in K town so the Grandpa and Grandma R, Marilyn and the W's came to watch him.  They were so sweet to support him.  Just as the game began, the winds picked up.  It got super windy and really cold.  We ended up huddled together in my van.  Bridger really appreciated everyone coming to support him.  Aug 31, 

Bridger made the top CVE basketball team!!!

 Bridger decided that he wanted to play basketball again with CVE.  His awesome coach, Dallin has been coming over once a week since this summer to work with Bridger to improve his skills.  His shot is looking really good!  CVE had a two day tryout.  Bridger was thrilled when he learned that he made the top team (black team) again!  We were so relieved when his friend Kolton also made the team so that helps a ton with carpooling.  We know a few of the kids from last year but it looks like it's going to be a great group of young men.  We're thrilled that Dalln, coach Malm will be coaching this team again!  He's such great example for the boys and he's wonderful to build them up.  

Tanner's Fall Soccer Season

 Tanner loved playing soccer this fall.  His best friend Mack was on the team.  He had a couple of other friends on his team too.  His coaches were so great with the kids.  He tried to teach them offense and defense instead of all of the kids swarming around the balls.  They moved this age group up to the bigger goals so Tanner thought that was awesome.  He had games on Wednesday nights and Saturday morning during the month of September.  There was one game where Tanner wasn't playing very aggressive.  The other team was killing us.  We were down 1-5.  They did 6 quarters during a game to help trade off kids.  Right before the last quarter, Matt asked Tanner "do you know that you're losing?"  Tanner went out and score four goals.  His friend Boston got a goal and they were able to win the game.  It cracked us up how competitive Tanner is.  

Tanner loved having his older brothers come and watch him.  Grandpa and Grandma A were able to make it to a game.  

Bridger's CO2 Car

In Bridger's Construction Tech class, he made a CO2 car.  He worked on this car for a few weeks.  He had to design it, cut it out of wood, sand it, paint it, seal it and then put the wheels on.  They did a race day where his teacher set up a fancy track.  They attached CO2 cartridges to their cars and then raced them.  Bridger's car did really well.