Halloween

Kiersten was sick the entire week before Halloween with a cold and a nasty cough. I was hoping she would be better in time to go to her class party and parade, but she really wasn't.

Brittany came into town for the donut fry on the 30th, and her dad took her and Kiersten shopping at the mall on Saturday. They had a great time and got back just in time for Kiersten to go trick-or-treating. She had wanted to be Jack Sparrow for her costume, but because she was sick all week she hadn't really made much progress getting that together. She really didn't care, either. So she threw on a princess dress and we went to about 12 houses. Then she said she was ready to go home.

All-in-all, a very low-key Halloween.

Pumpkin Carving!

We carved pumpkins the same night after Mark's procedure. Kiersten did a mummy.

Tanner was trying hard to finish his math so he could get his pumpkin carved.
This is the one I did because Jared didn't want to do one.

The finished product!

Mark's Neck Procedure

Mark has been having a lot of pain in his neck for a long time now. He had an MRI that didn't really show anything wrong, so he ended up going to see a pain specialist. They decided to inject his C1 and C2 joints bilaterally with steroids. They put him under for it, and when I went to pick him up he was feeling really good! We iced it all day, but when the pain meds wore off, he was in a fair amount of pain. It was getting better gradually, but the next day, he got the hiccups. And I mean he really got the hiccups! They were loud and constant all day! Finally in the afternoon, we were getting donuts ready for our donut fry, and he just about couldn't breathe. I called the doctor and they prescribed some Valium. My mom and dad were here for the donut fry and they were so good to run to the store for us (twice including getting the prescription filled!) The Valium, Pepsi and a heating pad on his stomach helped. He was much better the next day. And his pain is much reduced because of the steroids! Yay!

Apples!

My good friend, Fawn, had told me she and her girls were getting carmel apples from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory (which is right near our old house in CA) and I was jealous, so I made my own!! They are really easy to make and soooo good. We've made them a few times now.

I got the apples from a friend in our ward who has an apple tree and was trying to get rid of some! I also canned some apple pie filling using these apples, yum!

The Great Pumpkin Was Killed Last Night

We are so sad! Our great pumpkin was killed last night. Someone rolled it down the stairs and partway down the street. It is smashed to smithereens in front of our neighbor's house.

We got so many comments about it; we even have one neighbor who wanted some seeds from it so she could grow one.

Homeschool

So I took Tanner out of three of his classes (English, Pre-Algebra and Science) and am having him do the K12 program online. It is great! He actually takes a little longer to do the work, but he says he doesn't mind because he is comfortable. The office was a little cold today, so we turned on the space heater, and he can lay however he wants on his chair or the desk (or the floor) and he can wear gloves, and he is happy. I like it because I can see he's learning something. He also is very grateful when I say we are done for the day or if I shorten any of his assignments a bit, so that's a nice attitude!! Next semester we hope to have a more consistent schedule with the junior high so it's not as hard to figure out when he's supposed to be there and when I'm supposed to pick him up. It's different every day because of the A/B day schedule.

Garden is Done

We had our first frost last week, and the zucchini looked like cooked spinach on the ground. Today I got everything pulled down and out; feels really good! Hopefully it will dry up enough to till soon. Jared is going to get it all in the trailer and take it to the dump. We will have some nice cornstalks left drying for porch decoration!

Conference

Conference was great! As always. But this time I was really asking for some help with receiving personal revelation. It seems to me like all the "usual" things are not quite the answers I need for my unique situation. So I was listening very carefully, and of course, the very first talk was about personal revelation!!! And no fewer than three talks were on the same topic! Heavenly Father definitely does hear and answer prayers.