Fall goings on

After a stake dance, we had a bunch of the teens over - they had a lot of laughs as they played Jackbox for a while.

Hermana Christensen! Arizona Tempe Spanish Speaking mission - with her trainer, and friend from Minnesota, Hermana Bjorkman. It is fun to receive letters from Hermana Christensen!

The boys enjoyed a late season swim.

Dani and Papa, doing their favorite thing - getting ice cream! This time, it was a Chick-Fil-A milkshake.

Dani fixed her hair a little differently and was looking super cute getting ready for church!

Conference Sunday always sees Jared hard at work making breakfast! We hosted Nana, Papa, and Beth Cowperthwaite.

Nice fall days often see the boys in the backyard playing football. Jared will join them in the evenings after work

but these three boys are often running around the backyard playing football!

The kids also spend a lot of time on the trampoline. Jared even got a picture of Kate, which she tried her hardest to block over and over!

 

LOOK! I AM MATCHING OUR PLATES

Claire had a hilarious realization while emptying the dishwasher

 

Jared and Jacob go to Portland

For Jacob's 16th birthday, we gave him tickets to the BYU Oregon game in Autzen Stadium. Which, of course, meant that Jared went too. We took a 4 day weekend and fit in as many things as possible!

Jacob wrote about the trip in his classic abbreviated style.

Flying to Oregon

Trail run with dad at Mirror lake. (Jacob won't say it - but dad more than held his own, beating Jacob up the trail!)

Trail got super narrow

Mirror Lake run with dad

Mount Hood on our way to Wilsonville

 MEGA ICE CREAM! (This was only a medium)

 

Multnomah Falls

BYU vs Oregon with the Shaffers

...unfortunately it didn't go very well

Jared stopped by Ted Jeffries house - we served in a bishopric together years ago.

Hanging out with the Schaffers before we had to leave

Last meal in Oregon, it was a good one.

Waiting for one of these in Cincinnati

Food was, of course, an important part of the trip. We went to as many of our favorite places as we could fit in just a couple days:

On the way out, we had a layover at SLC, which meant Cafe Rio.

Pork Belly Mac and Cheese at Grassa (there's a Grassa in Lake Oswego now!)

We had the calamari and cauliflower at Aji Tram. Jacob said that almost every bite, he thought it was going to be wings again and was surprised it was cauliflower.

As Jacob called it, "Dad's good friend, the Reggie Deluxe!!!" But seriously... I've missed you, Reggie!

Salt & Straw before leaving - also waiting for one of these in Cincinnati!

 

I hate homework

We are not nearly far enough into the school year to be having strong feelings against homework from our new 2nd grader!

 

Fall Sports - part 1

Cross country with Josh and Luke

Claire's friends Maddie and Ellie were at the Loveland meet.

Kate's team was the Cookie Monsters. She had a great coach and they played well.

The fall schedule is a busy time - Jared and Dani coordinate schedules and make it to as many meets as possible. 

Jacob had a challenging season - he was hoping to break some of his personal best times. He worked toward it until his last race when he finally did by 2 seconds - 18 minutes 54 seconds at the GMCs at Voice of America Park.

Claire's team has a great culture! Their season includes a campout and a trip to Cedar Point. We are so glad Claire is part of the team.

Torin following a game against his buddy Brady.