The Calm Before The Storm

The ground is covered in snow now and it is cold outside. Winter came all of a sudden after some of the most beautifully warm fall days. It was gorgeous here and we enjoyed it until the bitter end. Until the storm came that brought in the snow and cold of winter. 

Evan spent the day here one day. When we went to pick up Brielle from school we also picked up Halloween decorated donuts and I brought along thermoses of hot chocolate. We went up into Millcreek canyon for our "after school snack". (Evan took most of these pics.)

 

I make some mean Swiss Miss.

Look at the expression on that face! Ha!

Zachary, about to make the biggest jump of his life!! So very brave.

 "Uncle Evan!!" That is what we hear every time he walks in the door.

 Zachary "fishing" with a tiny little twig down at the river. Scared me to death.

 Evan teaching Brielle how to whistle in the reeds.

 Ava and Zachary "fishing" on their boat in much safer "waters".

 We took a long walk through the woods to a bridge where the kids could threw leaves off (and Zach could step right into dog poop). It was so nice to have the kids running around in the leaves, climbing on trees, stomping in patches of snow and Evan and I could have a good talk.

 Kater all cuddled up.

Before the storm . . . . we also got to join our friends (Jeni, Ethan, Sara Katherine and Elyse) at Gardner Village to see the witches. We go every year and I'm glad to report that we are getting better and better at finishing the witch scavenger hunt. We found them all. 

 The final witch!!! We found her! She is promoting hope for a cure for breast cancer. This lead to a lengthy discussion on the car ride home about breasts and cancer. Perfect.

 And then . . . the day before the big snow storm came . . . . it was really warm and quite windy. You could tell a storm was brewing. On a day like that I get this really anxious feeling like I have to be outside enjoying the last minutes of warmth and fun before the winter comes and we are inside. Soooooooo, on this day we picked up Brielle and her friend, Brielle, from school on their early day. We drove through the Sonic drive thru for slushees and tater tots and then went to a new park. It was a perfect last day of fall.

The kids were so excited about the new, really cool toys at the park. They played and played and only stopped for a drink of slushee and a quick "hi" to me and Kate.

 

Then we pulled out the two kites I brought and went out to the grass field to fly them in all that wind. I only wish we had nicer kites. It was the perfect kite flying day.

Kate watched all the action from the side lines. 

 Ava was soon called "the professional kite flyer" by Brielle. She could get the kites up and flying every time. I love this picture.

 Brielle's kite flying high.

 Good bye to fall. The next day came THE storm and all of this was covered in 21 inches of snow!