Homeschool Halloween Party

Last Friday Macy and I picked up the kids from daycare right after lunch. They were excited because they got to miss "Quiet Time". We went to Riverton Park and they changed into their costumes in the car. One of the moms in my homeschool group organized a Halloween party that was really fun. There were crafts, games, candy, donuts, and apple juice. Plus the kids got to play on the playground. They had a fun time.






Afterwards, they all promised they would be good as we went to Office Max. I wanted to buy some legal size file folders so we could start making "Lapbooks". They are a record of topics you learn about. I figure that even though we don't have the kids all the time we can still learn about things together when we do have them.


Their reward for being good in Office Max was to go to a pumpkin patch and they each got to choose a pumpkin. We took them back to my parents' house and painted them. They turned out pretty cute. We had pizza for dinner, then went over to the new house we're renting. After I helped Rob bring the beds in we read a couple of books about pumpkins together. On Sunday we spent some time working on a lapbook about pumpkins. I'll post pics of those later.

Poetry

Robert has published some of his poems on a separate blog. See them here.

Anxiously Engaged

On September 19th, Robert called me and invited me to come over to his house. He had prepared a nice dinner of spaghetti and garlic bread, complete with peanut m&m's. We ate and talked at a beautifully laid candlelit table while listening to soft music from his laptop. Robert reiterated all the reasons why he loves me, why our relationship is so wonderful, and why we want to spend our lives together. Then he came over to my chair, knelt down, and read me a short, but sweet poem that he had written as he slipped the ring over my finger.

To Thee My Love

To Thee my Love I promise this
with each and every tender kiss,
Thy burdens shared and thy heart uplifted
Thy fears repelled, my comfort gifted.

A thought too sweet for the Heart of man,
to hold, to kiss thy delicate hand
My Love, My Angel Divine
to hope, to pray. Wilt thou be mine?

He softly said, "Kayleen will you marry me?" and I said, "You are my way back into love. Yes I will marry you." Then he pulled me to my feet and we slowly danced and kissed for a little while. The apartment was a good place to get engaged (even though I can't wait for him to move out of it... lol) because that was where we first met, first hugged, and first kissed.

Below is a not very good picture of the ring. To see a better one, go to www.callacut.com , click on "Collection" and look for the first ring on the second page. We will not be adding the wedding band to it right now- just the engagement band.

The wedding is November 9th at 6:30 pm in Herriman. We are so excited to begin our life together and look forward to all the blessings that a happy, satisfying, complete relationship will bring to us!

Cascade Springs

This afternoon we took a beautiful drive through American Fork canyon. The kids enjoyed listening to Primary songs and looking at children's Bible storybooks in the car. Elise and Kaleb told me all about their Primary Program today- they were both very pleased with themselves for how well they did, and they both knew the songs quite well.



Cascade Springs is apparently an aquifer- or an artisian well. The water comes up through the ground- there is no visible inlet to the lake and the springs. A gentleman that was also visiting there told us all about it. Rob was able to get a close look at part of the area where the water bubbled up from the earth. He describes it as a patch of ground about 3000 square feet- much bigger than he expected. The rest of us walked through this "lake", but didn't pay too much attention to where the water was coming from. The many small waterfalls or springs are very beautiful. We all enjoyed walking along the trails. We got some pretty cute pictures too. Enjoy!




What a cute little family. =)

When we left his hair was stylish and cute. HeHe. "Look daddy a bridge" -Isaak




This is next to a bridge with rushing falls. Quite pretty and somewhat Romantic if it weren't for all the bugs!!

Cascade Springs - about 8 inches deep on average. cascading down over layers of fractured limestone.




I don't know how anyone can sleep this way. Apparently he was REALLY tired.

Macy - "a cute little monkey"




Elise isn't actually standing in the water. There are wooden walkways that take you through the park that are about 4' wide

The Snaggle Tooth Kaleb.




Macy and Elise by a waterfall.

Another picture of the Beautiful Cascade Springs water system.

More Cave Pics

Here are a few more pics from our trip up Mount Timpanogos. There are actually 3 caves all by each other- Hansen Cave, Middle Cave, and Timpanogos Cave. There were lots of cool formations to see. It was just amazing. I haven't been there for about 16 years, so it's nice to have new memories. If you look carefully in the first pic below you can see a camel... (head on the left, followed by two humps). The third pic looks like a St. Bernard. One of the guides said he could tell the St. Bernard was drinking whiskey- cause it looked stoned. (Ha. Ha.) We hope to start a family tradition of hiking and visiting National Parks and Monuments together. It's nice to have fun and educational things to do as we bond as a family.

Children's Museum

Macy and I went to the Children's Museum in Salt Lake with Emily and Rachel. The girls had a lot of fun playing together and were sad when it was time to go. Thanks to Emily for inviting us to go as their guests! Hope we can go again soon. There are so many fun things to do there.

Timpanogos Cave

*PHEW* We made it! Yesterday we hiked up to Timpanogos Cave. It took us about an hour and 20 minutes to get to the cave entrance. We kept thinking, "Okay, we're almost there"... and then it would get steeper. The kids all did a great job. Isaak got tired, so Rob ended up carrying him most of the way up and down. Macy hiked all the way up by herself, and I held her twice for a total of about 10 minutes on the way down. Kaleb didn't complain once, and Elise only complained once. They were all great little troopers. I think the kids especially liked seeing all the formations in the cave. The cave tour is about an hour long. So, our total hike was about three hours. When we got back to the car we ate lunchables, and then we took the kids to the Peppermint Place Candy Store in Alpine. They all got to choose a special candy. It was a fun adventure.