Happy Halloween!

This year Halloween was on a Sunday.   We felt kind of weird about trick-or-treating on a Sunday, so we went out of our way to do several other Halloween activities so the kids wouldn't feel ripped off.   We went to the National Honors Society sponsored party at the high school (Hayley was helping), we went to the indoor trick-or-treat at CSU, and we went to a ward trunk-or-treat party.   Funny thing, by the time Sunday evening rolled around, I didn't think it was such a big deal anymore and I let the kids walk around the neighborhood.   I didn't drive them around and they were just with each other (instead of partying with friends), so it made for a fun family activity. :)

A Perfect Day (or Date)

On a lovely Tuesday in mid-October, Neil took a day off and we went hiking while the kids were in school.  Just the two of us.  No whiners allowed!   We hiked to Gem Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park.  It is a hike that we have attempted twice before with the kids.  The first time we got distracted climbing the big boulders; the second time we got caught in a downpour.   It was a lovely day for a hike.   Enjoy the pictures.  I really want to do it again!

A Few Fall Snapshots

Hayley's first date dance!  She went to homecoming with Brady Mossbrucker.   He is a FCHS star football player and an all around nice guy.  



Here are a couple of tough Lambkins getting ready to cheer on the football team!




We spent every Saturday in September and October at a football game for Mark and a soccer game for Jeffrey.   They were on opposite ends of the city and usually at the same time.




Neil and Jennifer had the rare opportunity of singing in a Larimer Chorale concert together!   Neil joined in the larger community chorus to sing African American spirituals with guest conductor and composer, Keith Hampton.  A very memorable experience! 



Happy Birthday Mara!



Mara's 12th birthday fell on General Conference Sunday this year.   It was fun to spend the day making Mara's favorite foods and just relaxing while enjoying General Conference.  



One of Mara's favorite foods is butter!  We had a butter-filled dinner with artichokes dipped in butter, and fettucine Alfredo made with lots of butter and cream!   It was delicious!!!



One thing we love about Mara--she  knows how to have a good time!  She also knows how to dress for an occasion!

Do you think she got what she wanted?

We love you so much Mara!   Thanks for making us laugh and for your kind and generous heart. 







Libyan Lamb

This weekend we had a very cultural experience.  Neil has the opportunity to work with several students and visiting scientists from the Middle East.  

This is Hamdan. He is from Oman--a very nice man. We met his lovely family a few months ago, but they have gone back to Oman.

This is Soheil from Pakistan. He was visiting for 6 months and is going home next week. There are also several Libyans in the department who like to have parties. They hosted this going away party at the park for Soheil. Neil warned us before hand that there would be some very interesting food to try--and lots of it! He also asked the men several times if the entire family was invited. "Yes, yes! Bring your wife and children!" But when we drove up we saw only men and a few kids. No wives to be seen. "They are at a different party" we were told. Oh well, we just decided to hang out anyway and see what happened.

It turns out they had an entire lamb to barbecue!   One of them had gone to a feed lot earlier in the day and slaughtered the lamb himself (a ritual required in Islam).  This is only a small part of the meat that was to be grilled and consumed!   There was also a heaping stack of chicken that I was looking forward to trying.

 The roasted vegetables were very delicious.  They had green peppers, hot peppers, tomatoes, egg plant, and whole onions on the grill.  When they were cooked they pureed them in a small food processor.  It was like a salsa that we dipped french bread in.  Yum!

As you can see, there were varying reactions to tasting the lamb.  Emily never could quite get herself to taste it.   It is understandable though.  The Fort Collins High School mascot is a Lambkin!   It just seemed a bit cannibalistic or something!  It was very tasty meat though--if you could get over the fact that the lamb had been "frolicking early this morning" (according to Emily).   

Do you think Mara is just posing?  You'll have to ask her!

Jeffrey made some new friends.  These were about the cutest kids we had ever seen!

Mark missed out on most of the meat controversy.  We were right next to the skate park and he loves to skate!

Jeff made some new friends of a different sort at the skate park.   He just blows our introverted minds sometimes!  On the way to the car he said, "Did you see that one dude?  He was wicked crazy!"  Looks like he picked up some jargon too. 

We never did get to taste the chicken.  It turns out that they have to cook the entire lamb (organs and all) before they can cook the chicken.  No meat mixing I guess.   When it appeared that they would be grilling their savory meat well past dark, we decided to call it a night.  A very interesting one at that.

BYU vs. Airforce

On September 11 we drove to Colorado Springs to watch BYU play at the Airforce Academy.  This is a fun way for us to watch our Cougars play in a great stadium with great fans (read No Alcohol Allowed!).   The patriotic pageantry is awesome too.  

The cadets rush off of the stands and do push ups every time Airforce scores a touchdown.  We got to see them do this quite a lot unfortunately.

Hayley and Emily had fun meeting up with some EFY friends at the game.  They went to EFY in Fort Collins this summer and got to meet many fellow Coloradoans.

I love this picture.   Jeffrey started cheering for Airforce around the 2nd quarter.   Good choice Jeff.

Horsetooth

On Labor Day we hiked up to the famous Fort Collins landmark, Horsetooth Rock.   This is truly where the mountains meet the prairie.  I am always awed by the view.   The first mile of the hike was a bit rough.   A couple of the kids (boys)  thought they were going to die.  Every muscle in their legs was screaming, every breath was a struggle.  Neil and I practically kicked them up the trail with threats to enroll them in boot camp and throw away the wii!   But once their bodies warmed up they were fine.   We'll have to remember the warm up period next time so we don't get so frustrated with the lazy buggers!

It was an extremely windy day.  In fact, this was the same day the fire in Boulder started burning out of control.  We could see the plume of smoke, but didn't know what it was until we got home.  Emily caught a tumble weed, named it Tumbly, and carried it to the top of the rock to be released into the wind.

 Trying not to blow away!

Jeff has very keen eyes and found this walking stick on the trail.  It looked just like a piece of dried grass.  Finding this stick made the hike totally worth it for him.  He showed it to everyone he saw, and even after releasing it he told hikers to "Be on the lookout for a stick bug!   I just let one go back there!"