La Crescenta-Hometown 5K

Running is something we used to enjoy doing as a family, but time commitments and scheduling conflicts have made it hard for us to train or run races together lately.  Hence, we decided to run a race while we were on vacation. It was actually a 'Hometown' race for Robert and I as the course ran past his childhood home and very close to my childhood home.  It was the route we traveled thousands of times during our dating years when we lived in La Crescenta.   

The big winner for the day was Lindsay!

She won her age division and came in 2nd for ALL Women by about 3 seconds.

Great job Lindz!!!!

LA Temple Stop

While we were in Santa Monica, we made a stop at the Los Angeles Temple.  This is where we were married 22 years ago.  We spent some time in the visitors center and then to the infamous 'Grand Exit' location where we came out to see all our family and friends.  This temple has such a special place in our hearts and this particular location will always be one of our favorites.  It's fun to come back and share some of our wedding day memories with the 3 younger girls.

SCREAMING Fright Fest

We love screaming on the rides at Magic Mountain, that's why we go there.  They have the fastest, most intense roller coaster rides around.

But we learned that we don't like screaming from being touched and scared by their Frightmare actors.  We have to say we'd been warned.  Friends had told us how scary it was.  The park  made multiple announcements over the PA system that Frightmare's would be starting at 7pm sharp and that no one, including children, would be immune from the 'FRIGHTS'.  We exited our last roller coaster about 7:05 pm and thought we'd hit one more before we left.  Then the MOnsters and GOblins started approaching.  HOly Moly.  We were not prepared.  It was getting dark and there were fog machines everywhere so we could hardly see.  Monsters started jumping out at us from who knows where.  They had chains and spikes on their knuckles and wrists.  Some would slide across the ground right in front of you and make sparks as they scraped pieces of metal along the concrete. This was WAY more intense than we had anticipated.  It was dark, eerie, and we just wanted to get out of there.  

We decided to get on the tram to avoid walking down the pathways towards the exit.  We had to carefully check out the whole tram to make sure we weren't going to be 'surprised' along the way.  As we made our way to the exit, our nerves had calmed and the older girls decided to take a few pics with the villains, while Brenna and I got a funnel cake.

Finally made it to the exit.  That Entrance sign above us was not kidding.  'FRIGHTFEST - Where Terror Begins'  is definitely a good description of the night time activities at Magic Mountain during the month of October.  I think next year we;ll come back in November. 

Prepping for Rodeo Drive

This trip they wanted to go shopping on Rodeo Drive and brought outfits and jewelry to wear for their shopping spree.  

More from Rodeo Drive

I think we found this picture of Audrey Hepburn inside the Tiffany's Store.  Lindz is a big fan of her style.

Coach water bottle in front oft he Gucci store

Found a Sprinkles Cupcake ATM

Great joy in order cupcakes from the street...

but we did end up eating them inside the store.  Fun Novelty!

Beach & Shopping

We spent the remainder of the day at Santa Monica Beach.  It's not one we frequent often, but it worked well for where we were traveling from this morning. 

And when you only get out here a few times a year, a beach is a Beach.  

Being so close to Santa Monica Pier brought back lots of memories of the So Cal Ragnar we ran here with our neighbors a few years back. Robert ran through this area and had to jump over homeless people sleeping on the pier.  Such a fun adventure!

From the beach we headed to dinner and window shopping at Westfield Mall in Century City.  We were super excited to eat at Shake Shack without having to travel to New York.  Love those burgers, fries, & shakes. 

These girls spent time in the Disney Store

and Lindz got comfortable in a new Telsa.  

Batmans

We had a few Batmans in the house today.  Neither of them plans to be Batman for Halloween, just showing their loyalty around the hood.

Traditions Change - Gardner Village

I have been bringing the girls to see the witches at Gardner Village for as long as I can remember.  It is part of our Fall traditions.  We walk around and find all the witches and go to the Neighborhood Bakery for a treat.  Some years we have to bundle up in tons of layers, and some years (like this one) they decide to wear shorts.  Or should I say, Brenna decided to wear shirts.  For the first time in a lot of years, it was just me and Brenna visiting the witches at Gardner Village....what happened to all the little girls, all the years of trying to maneuver strollers and try to keep track of jackets, gloves, scarves, and hats.  What happened to standing in front of the glass cases in the bakery for 10 minutes while each girl decided which treat she wanted (and often tried to change their mind when they heard a sister order something different).   Where did the time go?  It just doesn't seem that long ago that all 5 girls were here with me.  

But times change.  Girls grow up. And today it was just me and B leisurely wandering around looking to find all the witches listed on the Witches Scavenger Hunt.

This may have been Brenna's favorite this year.  Being in front of the painted flag also reminded her of taking family pictures here a few months ago.

While that may have been B's favorite witch, this was definitely her favorite animal.  She has a thing for llamas and alpacas, and this llama loved her back 

Part way through our visit, Robert came to join us, so our group of 2 became 3.  This is a tradition we hope to keep intact, just with smaller numbers.

BYU Lunches

One of the many tender mercies with Kayla's brain injury is that we get to spend a lot of time together driving to and from doctors appointments.  Without those drives, I wouldn't know nearly as much about all the fun things she is doing and how her semester is going.  It also gives me a chance to see both girls on campus periodically and take them to lunch.  I'm grateful for that opportunity, but I'm even more grateful for the time these two get to spend together on campus.  They have weekly lunch dates***, walk to certain classes together, meet up after other classes, and Aubs often stops by Kayla's apartment first thing in the morning, before she goes to work. 

***I wanted to include a little about their weekly lunch dates.  So they both have a BYU app on their phone (I don't remember what it's called).  You turn it on when you go into class and if you never unlock or open your phone during that class period you earn points.  Those points can then be used to purchase food and other things like that on campus.  So these girls are really good at not checking their phones during class so they can earn points to pay for their weekly Chik-Fil-A lunch dates.  Such a great idea!  Kudos to whoever developed that app!  

I enjoy paying for lunch when I'm there, so they can keep saving up their points.  I sure love the fact that they are both independent, responsible, doing their own things, living on their own, but that I live close enough to visit and be with them periodically.  Oh how I love these girls!

Bingham Mountain Biking

Today we went to Park City to watch 2 of our young women in a Mountain Biking Race.  This was the first high school mountain biking race we've attended and it was so fun.  It was a gorgeous day in Park City, sunshine and blue skies.  Watching a mountain biking race is similar to watching a cross country meet - you have to move a lot to watch the racers.  Cross country routes you're usually running across grass areas to catch the next glimpse of the runners you're following,   Here in  mountain biking, you are running through hills full of sagebrush and bushes to try to follow your riders.  As we bush wacked to upper trails, we were glad we were wearing long pants.  This sport looks HARD.  What athletes these girls are riding up and down uneven mountain trails.  I have a new respect for mountain bikers.  Congrats to C and K on finishing their races strong!

C

Bishop and K

Evening Hike to the Y

Kayla has an early appointment with her concussion doctor tomorrow in Salt Lake, so we headed down to Provo tonight to get her.  The weather has been so nice, we decided to take this opportunity to Hike to the Y while it is lit up for Homecoming.

Such a beautiful view of the city from the top

Every time I come down here, I am so grateful that she was able to move down here and attend BYU

 

So glad he was able to join us for the hike, or I'd of been hiking up the hill myself.  For those of you who don't know, Kayla is a speed walker, speed hiker, speed everything, so it's hard to keep up with her.  We hoped asking her lots of questions would slow her down but to no avail.  The answers we missed on the trail, we got up at the top. 

Looking down at Provo and the BYU campus from the fully lit Y

Our view of the Y coming down the trail

Success!

Boomerang? Photo

Can you tell that Robert and I did not know we were supposed to be moving for this pic?  Hello?  We thought you stood still and smiled for the camera, not danced around crazy making funny faces.  I guess we have a lot to learn from this rising generation.

P.S. This was part of a Happy Birthday video sent to Taegan who is away at BYU-Hawaii.  Love you Taegan!

Can't Reese-ist

Another late night proposal/answer for Lindsay from her Bingham Ball date McKay.  Based on the writing, the girls think McKay has a sister. 

Conference Weekend

Every 6 months, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints holds a General Conference where the prophet, apostles, and leaders of the church provide counsel and instruction to the 15+million members throughout the world.  We are taught from the scriptures and modern day revelation. It is a time to strengthen testimony's and know the things God would have us know and do at this time.  Here is a link to the General Conference Talks given this October.

Kayla kicked off the Sunday morning session of General Conference by making pancakes.  

We also had Egg Casserole and Cinnamon Rolls. No shortage of food on Conference Weekend.  We are fed well spiritually and physically.

Someone had a little nap during the talks

At Family Home Evening (FHE) last Monday night we all wrote down questions we wanted to have answered by our prophet, apostles, and other church leaders during this conference.  As questions were answered, we recorded answers below them.  We will discuss these in further detail at our family council Sunday night.

We had the Holt cousins over on Sunday, and between sessions we all wrote notes to their cousin Quinton, who attends Gallaudet University in Washinton D.C. We'll be sending him off a care package later this week. 

The post-conference crew