McAlister Matters

  Halloween came and went and it was great! The kids had a trunk or treat night at their school and a costume parade. Penny was Snow White. Paul was Darth Vader. Juni was Ember from Elemental, hence the flames on her head. Kahlan went as the 80s pop singer Belinda Carlisle (a recent family favorite). We did the annual pumpkin carving and the kids made their own original designs. We did some trick-or-treating and they got lots of candy. It was super cold as usual so they had to wear coats. It was a very warm October and is finally getting colder. We were able to go on a fun hike up to Willow Lake in Big Cottonwood Canyon with Heather and Sebastian. The fall colors were amazing. We also did a campfire with them in MillCreek Canyon and hiked to the Farmington pond. We harvested our grapes last week. The kids helped quite a bit with de-stemming the grapes. Sarah made close to 100 jars of jelly!  The kids got their school pictures taken. They are all doing well in school and enjoying it. Ka

  Fall is here and we've been enjoying the great weather. We took the kids to Cross-E Ranch this week. It's a big farm where you can see animals and do fun activities like swim in corn kernels. The kids loved watching pig races, rock wall climbing and a corn maze. Of course we all enjoyed the amazing apple cider donuts! We took the kids on a bike ride on the legacy trail yesterday. It was a bit warm but we went almost 6 miles. It was the first time we've all been able to ride our own bikes. Penny road the whole time wearing this fake mustache. It was pretty awesome! She was able to keep up most of the time which is pretty good considering the small bike. Also she still needs help getting on the bike. It was pear season again. We spent a few days canning pears and this delicious pear tart. I made quite a few batches of tomato sauce from roasted vegies. Sarah finished the Pacific Coast Trail virtual race. It was over 2K miles! Now she's working on the Harry Potter medals.

The start of the school year is here. The kids have been loving it. The parents like it too except for the part when we all get colds. Kahlan has been involved with student council and started the youth orchestra doing violin. She's been pretty awesome getting up early to practice piano and violin. Juniper was excited to be put into the DEEP program for gifted learners (like Kahlan). Paul is still a rockstar reader. The kids saved the wearing of their new shoes for the first day. Penny started her online pre-school program last month. She's been doing really well. She loves the number songs. She's also been working really hard on color-by number pictures. She's also getting better riding her skateboard. We said goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa Musser who are in Spain now serving a service mission . We had all the cousins over last weekend for fast Sunday since we won't be doing it in Farmington anymore. We did our annual back-to-school campfire last Friday. We did it

  We're proud of Juniper who decided to be baptized last week. She was very excited and it was a sweet baptism. The kids sang 'Be What I Believe'. Juniper asked Grandma Mormor and Grandma Musser to give the talks. We had donuts and chocolate milk at our house afterwards. We went to Enterprise for a few days to the Terry reunion. It was nice to see great Grandma and Grandpa Terry and hang out at the Terry ranch. We enjoyed delicious Dutch oven potatoes and amazing homemade root beer.  Kahlan turned 11 today! We had a party for her yesterday with her cousins. We set up the pool and splash pad in the backyard. It was 95 degrees. Kahlan wanted cinnamon rolls again and we had ice cream. Sarah and I were busy this week on the bathroom project. We finished all the drywall work and painting. It's starting to look pretty good. We're hoping to finish the floor this week. Sarah had a birthday last month too. 41! She decided she wanted her own skateboard and learn how to ride.

  Our trip to California in June started off great. The drive out was smooth and easy. The weather was nice. We enjoyed a week in Turlock going to parks and the kids playing on splash pads and the trampoline. Paul completed at least 20 puzzles. We visited the Modesto temple site one day with Stephanie, Milo and Orion. We visited the office and saw the model for it and met the site missionaries. It's going to look a little like a California mission and has almond blossom and waterfall elements to represent Yosemite. Friday we had a fantastic day at Pinecrest Lake up in the Sierra Nevadas. The weather was perfect and the beach wasn't crowded at all. The kids had a lot of fun. Of course we got giant ice cream cones at the end. The next part wasn't fun. On the way home from the lake our car was totaled after a car tried to cross the highway unexpectedly in front of us. We collided with the other car hard, spinning it around and into the railing. Both of our front airbags deploy

  Last Month Sarah and I backpacked for 3 days in the Grand Gulch which is part of the Bears Ears National Monument. We actually hiked through Kane Gulch, then part way thru the Grand Gulch and into a bit of Todie Canyon. It was an amazing place and a fun adventure for us.  We didn't see anyone on the trail the first day. It was surprisingly shady and pleasant in the gulch and there was a ton of shade and vegetation. We started with just 3 liters of water each. Luckily there was a lot of water available to filter this season, more than usual according to the rangers. The rock walls were beautiful and we saw a few ancient cliff dwellings and some petroglyphs and an arch. We had planned to take a lot of video but we forgot the charging cord for our phones so we only shot photos and video the first day. Click for pics

  Today was the last day of school for Kahlan, Juniper and Paul. They are all a little sad to say goodbye to their teachers. This Spring has been busy. We've been working on our basement bathroom and learning how to do drywall and demolition work. Hopefully it will be done by the end of Summer! We went to the Layton temple open-house with the kids a few weeks ago. They loved it! Paul and I got to go on another fathers and sons campout. I didn't sleep much of course but Paul had a great time sitting by the fire and got to make smores. The kids enjoyed a fun carnival at the church. We planted our garden also. Paul checks the plants every day. For Mother's day Sarah got a raclette grill. We found some raclette cheese and had a fun raclette meal with the kids. It was my first raclette meal since being a missionary in France. Sarah and I are leaving on another adventure today. We're excited to explore the Grand Gulch in southern Utah! more pics