Playing in the Leaves

I noticed that our leaf collection was growing, so when Owen got home from school this afternoon, we decided to do something about it.  First we raked the leaves into a big pile.

Then Owen showed his sisters how to jump into the leaves.  MayLynn caught on quickly, but River had more fun just watching the other two.

Then the girls discovered how much fun it is to throw the leaves in the air and watch them float back down.

But mostly, it was fun to do some work and have some fun on a sunny autumn afternoon with my kids.

2A State Tennis

Last Friday we had the opportunity to be able to go down to Salt Lake City to watch my baby sister play in the 2A State Tennis Tournament.  She played very well and took 2nd.  Here is a picture of Mary sporting this year's silver accent, and a picture of Mary with Nita - who has coached her all through high school.

And just because it's easy to take lots of pictures with a digital camera, here are some pictures of her playing tennis and strutting her stuff.

Supermoon Lunar Eclipse

Last night was a pretty neat opportunity - we got to witness a complete lunar eclipse that occurred while the full moon was at it's closest point possible to the earth. That made it an eclipse of the Supermoon, which won't happen again until 2033.

We pulled out our telescopes to witness this event. And since the moon was already fully eclipsed by the time it rose over the mountain, we got to watch it come out of the eclipse and slowly get bigger and bigger.  I was even able to get a few pictures - although my camera doesn't do night shots very well.

The Golden Ninjas

This fall's soccer season needs an introduction.  Owen signed up to play soccer last spring, but as soccer season drew near, I received a series of emails from the soccer organizers asking for parents to coach their kids so they could have enough coaches for all of the kids to play.  At first I didn't pay much attention to the emails since I have two other small kids at home and because I knew nothing about how to play soccer.  But by the third email that I got, I started to get worried that maybe Owen wouldn't be able to play soccer this fall if they didn't get enough coaches.  So, after recruiting help (Bryce's brother Jon, who works here in Ogden), I signed up to be Owen's soccer coach.

Luckily, Ogden's soccer program is affiliated with AYSO (the American Youth Soccer Organization) and they provide online training, and then the equipment required to be able to coach.  I spent over 3 hours getting the required training, and then I was given my roster, uniforms, and equipment.  Now twice a week, at practice and games, I get to hang out with this bunch of boys as we all learn how to play soccer together.

Go Golden Ninjas!

Riding Toys

MayLynn and River love playing outside. They like to play outside with just about anything, but it's a special day when we pull out the riding toys and let them go at it.  One day I even pulled out the camera while they were busy riding.

River mostly goes backwards right now, but MayLynn has learned how pedal on her tricycle and didn't need me to push her.  She loved being able to ride on her own power. Go girls go!