Tuesday, October 21, 2025

A Hodge-Podge of Fall

 

A little while we had our first family book club-- we read "The Witch of Blackbird Pond".  We wore witch hats while we discussed and then played a card game we enjoy-- "Salem".  
Next month's book is Ender's Game
Sleepy little sweetie love birds.  This semester Faith's clinicals are  Fridays from 7 pm to 7 am.  So she just doesn't sleep.  Then, rather than coming home and immediately crawling into bed, she goes to teach swim lessons Saturday morning.  So this is how we usually see Faith on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.  Missing a whole night's sleep sounds like complete torture to me.  I think nurses are made of different stuff than I am.
Little Charlie is the sweetest!
HE LOVES HIS MAMA!

Clark organized a siblings corn maze night.  It makes me so happy to see them choose each other.  From left to right-- Faith, Landen, Elinor, Hunter, Brianna, Clark, Ben, Bethany, Cannon, Rachel, Cannon's friend Sterling and his date (I don't remember her name)
Meanwhile we had a night with the GRANDS!  
A night at the theater to see Sister Act.  Here's kind of a fun thing.  The guy on the far right (Devon) is Andrea's cousin.  The guy next to him is a delightful Frenchman named Jerome.  He also happens to be a dress designer who was off the next week to London to do fittings for  costumes he made for a West End production of The Greatest Showman.  He has also created pieces for the show Guilded Age.   
I mean, come on-- that's just cool!  We've played games with them on another evening, and they are a lot of fun and very nice.  
Greta hosted a little Halloween craft party with friends.  She made and delivered her own invitations.
Nine year-old girls are so much fun.  They aren't quite tweens, but they aren't little kids who need a lot of help and supervision.

We've been enjoying some beautiful fall weather.  I mention it every year, but once again, I declare October to be the BEST month of the year!  Last Friday we had Daniel with us for the day, so we went on an adventure to the Scarecrow Festival at Thanksgiving Point.
I love this picture!  


I'll admit, it's more fun to be a grandparent when the grandchild doesn't live with you.  It's special and fun and you really can spoil them and then send them home.  It's a pretty great gig!
The Frog and Toad scarecrows were my favorite.  George loved Frog and Toad as a little guy, so of course we needed a picture.
I bet you didn't know that K Pop Demon Hunter scarecrows are all the rage these days.  True fact.
A Twilight scarecrow.  What they won't think of next!
People are so clever
After Thanksgiving Point we went to visit Landen at work and get some yummy Chubby's food.
Friday night Abe and I took Peter and Greta to go see The Addams Family at the Draper Historic Theater.  I hadn't ever seen the show and I was planning to go anyway, but when I found how the guy playing the part of Gomez was the husband of the friend who introduced Abe and I at BYU, we were for sure going to go.  
It was a great production, but Gomez (Brett Haymond) was particularly fantastic!  
I quite liked the music.  There is a song called "Full Disclosure" where the characters are supposed to share something they haven't told anyone else (sounds naughtier than it is in the show).  I had to chuckle because it was so much like our family tradition of "Camp Fire Confessions"

A Mish-Mash of Fall

 There used to be a children's show on PBS named "Nature Cat".  To be honest, I hated this show-- it was too overstimulating and annoying for my taste.  

But you know what I do like?  NATURE GRET!

Greta, the naturalist, made herself acorn and mini-pinecone earrings.  
You might notice the redness at the bottom of her ear lobes.  The bobby pins she used to clip them to her ears necessarily pinched a little.  
The day after Elinor and Hunter's wedding we decompressed by taking a drive along the Alpine loop.
We live in such a beautiful place!

To see how much my girls love their babies makes my heart so happy.  And to see how much Daniel loves Charlie is adorable!
One of the Madrigals annual events is "The Ice Cream Sing".  Each member performs a number-- can be a solo, duet, group, etc.  This year Cannon and friends planned a little something special.
Introducing Riverton's own Backstreet Boys performing "I Want It That Way"
So silly:)  

A visit to the witches at Gardner Village.  This is often "the family" these days.  Faith lives at home-- but between being engaged to Landen,  nursing school and I-don't-know-how-many jobs-- we see very little of her.  And Cannon is a senior, so he still lives at home.  But between seminary, choirs, MTech, and ballet, we see very little of him as well.  So this is kind of the gang at home.  

Peter is 11 and growing like a weed
She's growing up a little too quickly for my taste
How can George already be 15?
Cannon had his fall choir concert a couple of weeks back.  Cannon is the far left side

I'm not too happy that Cannon is a senior.  I'd kind of like him to stick around a few more years.
Grandpa duty is Abe's favorite
Elinor's best childhood friend, Ben, got married last week and Abe and I were so happy to get to be a part of it.  The Johansens have been long time besties of ours since Ben and Elinor were about 4 years old.  
My friend:)

Friday, October 10, 2025

Elinor and Hunter's Wedding Dinner


Elinor and Hunter decided to do a wedding dinner the night before rather than a luncheon in between the temple and the reception.  This was in an effort to conserve Elinor's social battery on the day of the wedding.  And I have to say, I really liked this arrangement.
Grandma and Grandpa Cannon
Clark and Brianna
George and Greta
Charlie with his Grandma and Grandpa
Ben and Bethany
The dinner was in a private room of Archibalds Restaurant at Gardner Village.  It was perfect!

Peter with Sawyer and Ariel (Hunter's nephew and niece)
Six of the nine Fox siblings
Faith, Landen and Charlie
Another view of the room.

Tiffany, Katie, and Lori
It's always a loud party when the Fox siblings gather

There were speeches and when I get them uploaded I'll share them:)