Oct- Week 1- School Pictures, Gen Conf, Delivered Suitcases, Meet Baby Charlie

We got the kids' school pictures back!  Cute cute faces that I love so much! 

Saturday morning Dan and Ben went to help uncle Sam and Adam with some work stuff.  They got some Krispy Kreme donuts and found a lightning McQueen car.  At home we made french toast and started listening to the first session of General Conference.  The kids did silly dress-ups to help keep themselves entertained and they are pretty funny!

In between the two sessions Dan took the older three kids for a walk.  I worked a lot on laundry and tidying up after being gone for a week.
When conference was done, we decorated for Halloween, kids had showers and baths, and then we headed up to Grandma's house for soup and donuts while the men were at the Priesthood session of conference.  It was Reed's first time! My brother also attended with Dan.  

Sunday morning my sister babysat while Dan and I attended the morning session in the Conference Center.  I ran into and got to chat with some dear friends, President and Sister Dudley from Virginia! Grandfather gave an amazing talk about JOY!  We got home in time for lunch with the kids.  During the afternoon session McKenna and I planned her 8th BD party.  After conference we watched a little bit of the movie "17 Miracles" which McKenna now loves! Then we went to Dan's parents' house for popcorn and conference re-cap.  We love this time and are so thankful for the amazing messages that strengthen us and encourage us to be better!   

That evening after the kids were in bed, we looked at Halloween costumes for the kids and continued to get organized for our week back to real life.  

Bethany giving that cute baby in the mirror kisses! 

Monday I went to read with students in Ben's class, went grocery shopping, and got back into the swing of HW, piano, and carpools.  

Tuesday I went walking with my friend Rachael.  In the afternoon I finally got to deliver the missionary suitcases we put together during our stake girls camp over the Summer.  The amount of humanitarian work these African sisters do is astounding!  It was amazing to be a part of! 

Loving snuggling this little lady!  And she loves selfies! 

This picture was taken one evening after Dan got home from work.  Everyone loves when daddy comes home!  

Wednesday Ben didn't have school due to parent teacher conference so Henry and Desi came over to play.  Ben also started his first day of gymnastics.  I attended a training with Ben's teacher for parent volunteers.  That evening my sister babysat while Dan had meetings and I went to a craft night with some friends from our stake girls camp committee.  

Thursday we attended Ben's parent teacher conference.  Mrs. Thomas had wonderful things to say about Ben!  My van got new tires and brakes that day also.  In the afternoon we went to DI to look for items for McKenna's Halloween costumes.  Later, we attended McKenna's parent teacher conference and again, Mrs. Sonntag had wonderful things to say about her.  We feel so blessed to have such smart and good kids!  

Friday afternoon we had Whitney, Katie, Taggart and Jordan over to play.  That evening we finally got to meet and snuggle baby Charlie! 

Dan and I had a stay-at-home date that night with a movie and ice cream.

Sept- Week 4- Kids at Home, Anna Letter Dd Preschool, Ben Native American day

Anna learned about the letter Dd in preschool.  

Drums!

 Dress-up and taking their dolls to the doctor!

 Pretending to be dogs and duck lips.

 Dinosaur puppet shows and digging.  

 Dinosaur dig and going for a drive

Native American Day

Friday morning, we packed up and left our room by 8am.  We had a lovely breakfast then sat on deck 9 for a while and got caught up on our phones.  We disembarked around 10am then walked 30 minutes to sit and chill at a park by a lighthouse!  :) 

We did more catching up on our phones and found out that a new nephew was born while we were gone!  Baby boy Charlie Stewart!  We caught an Uber ride to the airport and arrived in SLC and home to our house by 4:30!  

We hugged and snuggled the kids and talked with Joana about how the week went.  I still felt like I was on the boat and felt like I was rocking, not just for a day or two, but almost a whole week!  

We had a pizza dinner and then gave the kids their souvenirs.  We showed the kids our pictures then put the kids to bed.  Unfortunately we kind of had to re-sleep-train Bethany.  For the first 4-5 nights she would cry and cry for at least 15-20 minutes when we would put her down for naps and night time.  Bethany also started pointing to things she wants.

Sept- Week 4- Cruise Part 2- Ensenada, McKenna Cross E Field Trip, Day at Sea

Back home, McKenna had a walking field trip to Cross E Ranch.  Thankfully, her chaperone took some cute pictures.  

 She loved the corn pit! 

 Wednesday morning on the ship, we didn't really get up till 9ish.  We had omelettes for breakfast, changed into our swim suits, then got off the boat in Ensenada!  Before we even left on the cruise, we planned for Catalina to be where we spent the most and did lots of excursions.  And then in Ensenada, we would just chill on the beach.  So, we asked for a map and a guy told us the beach was only about a 20 minute walk.  Well... not quite!  Good thing we wore our tennis shoes because we walked for a good 40+ minutes to the closest public beach.  But the good news was, not a single soul from the whole cruise ship had the same idea as us.  We had the whole beach to ourselves!  

We laid out, hunted for shells, and we're pretty sure we witnessed a thief running away with someone's bag.  We stayed there from 11:45-2pm.  We walked back towards the ship and stopped in a cultural center.  They used to have dances there.  Gorgeous ceilings!  

After that, we did our souvenir shopping.  I had probably my first experience with real bartering and I did not like it.  I hated how desperate it made the shop owners seem and it made us seem mean and stingy if they didn't go low enough for us.   We got some fun things for the kids and I got my nativity!  We were back on the boat by 4:30.  We showered and headed to dinner, where Dan tried frog legs! 

(The top two pictures are from the morning.  I ran into a door handle the night before and it bruised my arm.  And a picture of our ship docked at Ensenada.)

That evening we went to an improv comedy show and a "live" game show.  We walked around the ship for a bit and found they were showing the new live action "Jungle Book."  We stayed and watched but I was SO tired I didn't make it through the whole thing.  

Thursday was our day at sea! We ordered room service breakfast (which unfortunately wasn't very good), but then I went back to sleep after eating it, which was awesome to be able to do!

Around 11 we headed up to watch an ice carving demonstration.  Very cool!  Then we thought it would be fun (and a little crazy) for Dan to enter the hairy chest contest and I volunteered to be one of the judges.  There were 6 guys total and Dan was one of three eliminated after the first round, thankfully!  It very much turned into who could be the most provocative.  Funny, but definitely not Dan's style.  ;)  We ate some delicious "Guy's Burgers" for lunch on the Serenity (adults only) Deck.  We read our books, napped, then went to the upper deck for more reading and chilling.  It actually got a little foggy for a bit.  We also decided to try the water slide.  It was fun but I didn't end up going very fast.  

Here's Dan's medal for participating in the hairy chest contest.  After chilling for most of the day, I was feeling pretty antsy, so I went to the work out room and ran two miles while Dan enjoyed the hot tub for a bit.  We both showered and got cleaned up for dinner.  Someone who sat nearby and apparently injured herself and needed to be in a wheel chair.  Some jokester had scratched off some of the letters in "Carnival" so the wheelchair only said "anal Inspiration."  Also that night at dinner, Dan tried escargot.  I could only eat a small nibble of it if I told myself it was a mushroom. :)  There was a beautiful sunset that a picture didn't really capture.  

Also, for the last night of dinner, our severs performed for us!  It was Gangnam style, so I had to get up and dance with them!  After dinner we went to the final singing and dancing show that was 70s themed.  As we got to the theater, they asked if we (meaning I) wanted to participate IN the show.  I said sure!  Why not?  

So I got to get up and dance on stage! Do the Hustle! I loved striking a pose at the end.  

After the show, we played mini golf and ping pong and had some pizza on the Serenity Deck.  

We were back to our room by 10:15 and packed to disembark the next morning.  :( 

Sept- Week 4- New Bishop, Cruise Part 1- Long Beach and Catalina, Fancy Night

Thursday I went visiting teaching.  We spent a good chunk of the day organizing and de-cluttering.  Dan and I had a temple date in the evening while my mom babysat.  

Friday my visiting teachers came over.  McKenna got to go baptism dress shopping with Grandma and Whitney.  

 They had some yummy bread at Great Harvest afterwards.  

Instead of camping (due to impending snowstorm) Dan and the Teacher's Quorum made dutch oven pizzas and enjoyed a movie night. Meanwhile, I cleaned bathrooms to get ready for us leaving for our trip.  

Saturday my mom packed up and went home to Florida.  Dan and I started packing for our cruise.  I got a new haircut.  Dan helped our neighbors with a roofing project.  In the evening I attended the General Women's meeting with these lovely ladies!  

I gave Dan a haircut that night as well and I continued to clean the house as much as possible.  With Joana coming to stay at our house and babysit, I didn't want to be embarrassed.  :) 

Sunday was a very memorable day for the Webster family.  The important news we shared with both my parents the previous week was that Dan was called, sustained, and set apart as the new Bishop of the Orchard 7th Ward! His counselors are David Turley and Keith Koehler.  Both men are in their 50s and 60s and their youngest children are in their 20s,  

Dan's dad (our Stake President) had struggled for a long time to extend the call to Dan.  For many weeks and months, he didn't even consider Dan.  He said, "You don't do this to someone you love."  But in the end, he knew this call didn't come from him.  It comes from the Lord and is approved by the First Presidency!  Our ward members were so supportive and had many kind words and comments!  

Sunday evening Joana came to spend the night since we had to leave early the next morning.  We spent the night at Dan's parents house.  

Early Monday morning we flew to Long Beach, CA.  We had a lot of extra time before we needed to board the ship, so we rented a car for a bit and drove to Balboa Island.  Dan has a mission buddy who has family living there.  We borrowed their bikes and had fun riding around the island.  We even took the little ferry.  

Look at that cute green baby seat on the front of Dan's bike.  We ate lunch at a really good Mexican place then bought me a new outfit at another shop.  We just HAD to get a famous Balboa Bar too. YUM! And check out that fancy golf cart decked out to look like a Hummer.  

 We returned the rental car then caught an Uber ride to the cruise terminal.  That day in Long Beach they happened to have record heat!  Super hot!
And there's our ship!  We boarded, rested a little in our room, then did the safety drill and headed to dinner.  After dinner we found our first towel creature.  

We also got this sweet picture from Joana and the kids back home! 

After dinner we showered and got cleaned up from our hot sweaty day.  I was feeling the boat rocking quite a bit and was concerned I'd start to get motion sick so I took a second Dramamine (I took the first one on the airplane earlier in the day).  Well, apparently the "less drowsy" formula didn't hold true.  The second pill made me SUPER sleepy!  I could hardly stay awake for the "Welcome Aboard" show (not surprising, but still!), so we went to bed fairly early...but good news, no motion sickness! :) 

The next morning we were in beautiful Catalina Island!  We ate our breakfast on the deck of the ship. 

We changed into our swim suits and took a tender boat to the island.  I forgot sunglasses so we had to buy some.  Then we headed to our first excursion- Parasailing!  There were two other pairs on the excursion with us, but we went first!  I really wasn't too nervous even though people kept telling us we were brave!  

It was so cool to see the line get longer and longer!  I only freaked out a little when I saw how HIGH we were and that the line had slack in it.  Then I remembered if we fell, we would fall slowly because we had a parachute attached to us. ;)  

We sailed for a good 5-7 minutes.  As they reeled us in, the driver knew how to drop us down just slow enough that he dipped our feet then he pulled us right back up.  So fun!  

The next excursion we went on was a 1 hour golf cart self-guided tour of the island.  We took turns driving and loved seeing all the cool houses.  The overall state of the island was brown, pretty dry, and dessert like.  But still pretty in it's own way.  

Some of the views.

More views.

Our last excursion at Catalina was renting a double canoe for an hour.  It was so hot outside the cold water felt so nice!  We mostly paddled around the harbor.  

We even found this LIGHTHOUSE!  :)  We had nachos and ice cream for lunch. Then we got back on the ship around 3pm.  We facetimed the kids then we showered and got cleaned up for dinner.  

That night was the fancy "formal" night.  So fun to get dressed up and the food was great!  

Our dinner mates were named Brent and Erin Landsem from Oregon,  They don't have any kids and have a dog.  

After dinner we changed into more comfortable clothes and watched two comedy shows.  We went and bought candy then headed back to the room.  I was SUPER tired again and watched "St. Vincent."

I should also mention our stateroom attendant was named Muhammad Ali.  You could tell he was still learning English because we used a lot of the same phrases over and over again.  Our favorite saying he said a lot was "Party Harrrrd!"  :)

Sept- Week 3- State Fair, Dan's Bro-cation, Condies, Ensign Peak Hike, Last Soccer Game, Silver Lake

Thursday morning I went for a 2 mile run.  I babysat Clara, then after lunch the kids and I went to City Creek with my mom and dad to run a couple errands.  My favorite Clarke flip flops BROKE! Because they are SO good, I went to their store to see if they had any sort of warranty or guarantee.  They don't really, but the clerk was nice enough to let me basically EXCHANGE them!  I got a brand new pair of Clarkes for only $10!

Anna learned about the letter B at preschool and loved playing on Grandpa's phone.  

That evening we went to the Utah State Fair with my parents and sister.  

We love the pretend farmer display.  

The kids were also spoiled this year and got to ride the ponies! 

We loved seeing the animals, arts and crafts (Ben especially loved the Legos) and of course the butter sculpture.  The highlight of the night was definitely when we got some fried treat samplers.  

Fried oreos, twinkies, and cheesecake.  By FAR, the fried cheesecake was the favorite!

Friday Bethany did some bonding with my mom.  :)

The kids had friends over for play dates, then we took Dan to the airport for a quick weekend get-away "Bro-cation" with his mom and brothers to San Jose and San Francisco.  

 They copied our girl pictures from our last Girls trip.  

 They even made on the TV!  

 Friday evening, the kids and I went to Davey and Mary's to hang out with my Grandma Jeanne.  It was the first time I saw my grandma with a babydoll that she mostly understands is not real, but she still loves holding it and taking care of it.  She had a hard time understanding that Bethany was MY baby and not hers.  

Saturday I went for a 2 mile run, eat breakfast with this kids, shower, then take the girls grocery and BD present shopping for Brinley. 

  That evening my parents got all dolled up for my mom's 40th High School reunion!  They had such a great time they didn't even get home until 11pm! Party Animals! 

 Sunday after church we went and visited with the Condies and had Pizza for dinner!  Then my dad headed back home to FL while my mom would stay for another week.  

Monday I went visiting teaching, did laundry, drove carpools, and in the evening we had a quick FHE about how we need baptism and other ordinances to help us return to Heavenly Father.  That night we told my mom about some exciting news... (More on that later)

 Tuesday Anna had preschool at Holley's house learning about the letter Cc.  I also went walking with my friend Rachael for 2 miles.  

That afternoon, my mom was nice enough to babysit Anna and Bethany for me so I could take Ben on a little hike to Ensign Peak with Meg Miles and her "Momstrong" group.  

It's not a very long hike, but it sure is steep.  As soon as we got to the top, Ben asked where the Utes stadium is.  Such a dedicated fan! Also at the top, Meg Miles gave a quick lesson about healthy eating tips! 

 When we got home, I made Ben take a nap so he would have some energy for his soccer game that evening.  We also squeezed in one last swimming session at the Winegar pool.  

 Go Voltage! 

 We loved being able to play with one of his best buddies, Henry Alexander! 

 A FUN season for sure!  Way to go Ben and Coach Dan!! 

 That night we Facetimed my dad about our big news... (still, coming later)

Wednesday, right after picking up Ben, I drove the kids up to Silver Lake up Big Cottonwood Canyon.  The leaves were gorgeous and we even saw a deer and lots of squirrels and chipmunks.  The visitor's center was pretty cool too. 

 We were supposed to meet Swa and Lara up there as well, but we couldn't make our timing match up.  Oh well, the kids did well and enjoyed the beauty! 

We rushed back to pick up McKenna and then I headed to the dermatologist to have him freeze a little something off my face.  That evening we had a nice dinner at the scout court of honor.