Toot Toot Chugga Chugga Big Red Car

We love our big red car. We have fondly nicknamed it "The Beast" and we have had so many fun adventures in this car. It has all sorts of interesting quirks that come with a car that is 14 years old and has over 250,000 miles on it. One of these quirks happens to be the gas gauge. When The Beast is full of gas, the needle on the gauge stays past the full mark for a very long time. Then, it suddenly begins to drop. Once it hits the half tank mark, it bounces between half and empty depending on your speed and terrain. You never know for sure how much gas there really is in the tank and there is no warning when you are close to being out of gas, it just dies ... Then you pray you can stop safely somewhere without crashing due to the lack of power steering! Needless to say, we've learned to watch it carefully and when the bouncing stays closer to the empty side of the gauge, we know it's time to fill it up.

We don't actually drive The Beast much. It mostly just sits in the driveway or garage waiting for Sunday or a family outting. With the price of gas being so high, driving it as little as possible was a necessity. $150 for a tank of gas is just too much.

Last Saturday, we had to fill The Beast. The needle had been bouncing around the gas gauge for several days and we didn't want to run out of gas going to or from church. Gas prices have gone down, but I wasn't expecting this:




$74.82 to fill The Beast!?! I know gas prices are even lower in other parts of the country, but this is the first time we have paid less than $100 to fill this car with gas in a couple of years!

We're Moving! (and some other stuff)

We pondered. We prayed. We discussed the pros and cons. We prayed some more. In the end, we decided it is time for us to move west - most likely somewhere in Colorado. We haven't really decided where yet ... Don grew up in Colorado Springs and has siblings there. I grew up in Loveland and I have a sister there and a brother in Pueblo. We lived in Ft. Collins prior to moving to New York 10 1/2 years ago and we have some good friends there that we think of often. So, we'll see where we end up. We're planning to put our house on the market in March. Hopefully, it will sell by the time school ends in June.

The kids had tons of fun on Halloween - although you really can't tell from this photo taken the day after. L and J1 went to Halloween parties that included trick or treating and a sleepover. J2 went trick or treating with around the neighborhood with one of his friends. That left Don at home passing out candy and me with A1, Z and A2. They made it up and down our street and half way around the block and then announced they were tired and done!! Strange kids - warm weather, free candy and they wanted to go home and play gamecube!

I went with L and several of the YM/YW in our ward to the Amazing Maize Maze at Long Acre Farm on Saturday. It was cold, but fun. I warned my partner when we went into the maze that we would probably be the last ones to make it out ... and we were. The bishop and all the other youth cheered when we finally made it out after about 45 minutes!

The Calm Before the Storm

You know something big is coming when life with 6 kids is quiet and calm.

The kids decided to help rake the leaves. I think they had more fun playing, but hey ... what are leaves for?

L received her patriarchal blessing last Sunday. That was a very special moment for her and us, as parents. She also participated in her last 2 cross country meets - both in pouring rain and one in freezing temperatures.

J2 tried out for a part in his school play, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

A2 has been enjoying Storytime at the Library. She absolutely loves books!

It was a very quiet week here. The calm before the storm. Big changes are just around the corner for our family.

Cool Halloween Balloons

Yesterday, I was walking around Greece Ridge Mall with A2 and we found this wonderful carousel made of balloons. We also found a haunted house that they were assembling entirely out of balloons. It was amazing!

New York

There are a lot of things about New York that I really don't like. The taxes, the crazy liberal political views, the never ending winters and grey skies, Hillary Clinton ... just to name a few. However, at this time of year, I cannot complain about the scenery.

When the leaves begin to change colors, I am awed by the beauty of God's creations!

Constant Competition

I think a good description of my boys would be constant competition. They are always competing against each other ... ALWAYS. Two years ago, A1 learned to ride his bike without the training wheels. J1 was disappointed that he wasn't first, but he was better on the scooter, so it didn't really bother him too much. However things changed this summer when Z decided he was done with training wheels.

Once Z set his mind on riding a "2-wheeler", he never stopped trying. He was very determined to ride around the block before summer was over.

J1 started feeling a little left out and decided to put some effort into learning to ride a bike. He couldn't let both of his little brothers be better than him! It didn't take too long before he was cruising the neighborhood as well.

A2 decided she wanted in on the action as well, not wanting to be left behind when everyone else took off on their bikes. So, we put the training wheels on a bike for her and away she went.

Now, everyone is ready to ride. I took the kids (except for A2) for a ride on the Erie Canal between the Saturday Conference Sessions. We had a blast even though we only made it half way to the village. Next time, we hope to make it all the way into Fairport and enjoy some ice cream at Lickety-Splits!

Just Another Saturday

It was supposed to be a simple cross-country meet. It was being held in Rochester at Seneca Park by the zoo. I decided to take the kids to watch L run in her race, and then we would go to the zoo for a couple hours. Then, we had planned to go into the village and see the Scarecrow Festival and visit the Open House at the Fire Hall, where Don was helping out with the other fire fighters.

We made it to Seneca Park just in time to see L's race start. Unfortunately, things did not go as planned. The parking lot at the park was full, so I decided to park on the side of the road. That turned out not to be such a great idea. It was muddy on the side of the road - very muddy. So muddy the car immediately got stuck. In fact it sunk up to the top of the front wheel well.

Needless to say, we didn't make it to the zoo or the Scarecrow Festival or the Open House at the Fire Hall. We did see L's race and the kids enjoyed playing around the park, but the only animals we saw looked something like this:

Don came to our rescue and pulled us out of the mud. We returned home and the kids and I enjoyed a quiet afternoon around the house while Don helped a friend redo his roof. While our previously planned day probably would have been a lot of fun, getting stuck in the mud was really a blessing in disguise. Our lives on Saturdays are always so busy - overbooked. It was nice to just throw all the plans out and just hang out together around the house.

Wind in Your Hair

Don't you just love feeling the wind in your hair? Growing up I always liked to ride in the front of the boat because I loved feeling the wind in my hair. I think that's why I like to ski and run and do anything that allows me to experience that feeling.

Evidently I'm not alone. I've been driving Don to work every day for the past month or so. One day, Don took pity on our dog, The Cuteness, and let him come along. At first we left the windows closed and The Cuteness would whine and bark the entire time. So, we opened a window for him and he was in heaven! Now anytime we open a car door The Cuteness is the first one in the car!



Don snapped a few pictures of The Cuteness on the way to work today. A2 thinks he looks like a rat when the wind is blowing his hair back.
(He really needs to visit the groomer!)

Dreaming of School Days

When school started for us on September 4, A2 was delighted! She had uninterrupted access to everyone's toys ... as long as she was careful and put them away when she was done playing with them. This was a great relief to me. I thought she would be following me around all day begging me to play with her since all of her "playmates" were gone to school.

Unfortunately, the novelty has begun to wear off. She still entertains herself most of the time, but now she has started asking the question that signals to me that she is growing up, "When do I get to go to school?"



A2 found J1's old lunch box the other day and adopted it as her own. She does everything with it, even sleep. She says she getting ready for school!

A Lazy Summer Evening

In August, we were invited with several other families to spend Family Home Evening with an elderly sister in our ward. We enjoyed sitting out in her garden by the creek, relaxing and chatting while the kids played around the garden and in the creek.

Everyone had fun!