Huntington Canyon

It's amazing what a difference a week makes this time of the year. We decided to drive home over Huntington Canyon instead of Spanish Fork Canyon on our way home on Sunday. This is the path that we drove up after Conference with Becky just a week prior. Notice the change in the colors already .... and this week there was SNOW! I think that it's beautiful, no matter what. Becky drove back home to Idaho this way too, but called it Spanish Fork Canyon. It's not -- just an FYI. Huntington Canyon, or Skyline Drive as it is otherwise known as, drives through the northern part of Sanpete Valley, just north of Ephriam and Manti, where we go to the temple. This last picture overlooks the Sanpete Valley, and is also portrayed in a mural in the Manti temple in the room representing the Tellestial World. I think it's beautiful.

The Drive home

We're used to long drives that take up the bulk of a day to make. It's always an adventure with the kids too, but they do make great great travelers. Here's a few pictures that I took while we were driving home on Sunday from Idaho. The semi was hauling Christmas trees, or so it looked like. I was bored, so Jared dared me to try and take pictures of the people in the cars that we passed by, and I don't think he thought I would do it, but this is me we are talking about. I did my best, but even my camera could not capture the other peoples' faces without a lot of blurriness, so I won't include any of them.

More pics from the Idaho trip

(It shouldn't be, but this picture of Koria pouting, and Luke sympathizing with her, is one of my favorites from the day. It's a typical scene in our house.)

Thanks again to all those who make our trips up north worth making! We love our family.

Trip to Idaho

Nicole was baptized on Saturday, Oct. 8th, so we made a quick trip up to Idaho for the weekend. We had a great time, and managed to pack in an FHE Halloween pumpkin carving activity at Wendy and Scott's after the baptism. Here's some of my favorite shots from the weekend. Congrats, Nicole! We are very proud of you.

Cleveland

These pictures were taken on the same drive. We played at the Cleveland park for a while too. This small town is located about ten minutes from Huntington and is to the northeast of where we live.

Sunday after Conference

We enjoyed having Becky here with us for Conference this year. After the meetings were over, we took a drive up Huntington Canyon and enjoyed the changing colors on the trees. Becky left for Sugar City on Monday morning, and later that afternoon, I took the kids out on a short drive to get some pictures. Here's a few of them from the two drives.

Capital Reef

On Oct. 1st, the saturday of General Conference, we set out for Capital Reef with Becky. We listened to the morning and afternoon sessions while we drove and enjoyed the drive, the messages and the scenery along the way. Here's just a peek at the road trip.

When Capital Reef was settled, it was by Mormon Pioneers, who planted a lot of fruit orchards. Today visitors can pick the fruit and take it home. We picked some apples from the orchards while we were there.

The last shot is yet another example of how family portraits go for the Black Family. I kind of like this one, to tell you the truth!

Becky comes to visit

We always love it when becky comes to stay with us ... and all of you for that matter. You are always welcome. Becky was able to come and stay with us for part of her break from school. We enjoyed the beautiful weather outside at night and during the day. Here's just a few pictures of us all playing outside together while she was here.

Pinatas, peppers, tomatoes, and you name it

The title is a good summary, although I will elaborate a bit. I made another and canned another batch of tomato sauce last week and we discovered that our garlic is nice and big in the garden as well, so we were able to make the sauce using only veggies from our garden. In some of the other pics, you will see Koria with a mask on and a bee pinata behind her. I was the "Mystery Reader" for their kindergarten class this last Wednesday and I decided to read the first book in the "Skippyjon Jones" series, about a siamese cat who thinks he's a chiuaua and speaks with a spanish accent as he enters his closet where he pretends to be the great sword fighter, El Skippito. He has a gang of imaginary friends, named Los Chimichangos, who would be my friends too, if I lived in his world. He takes on the Great Bumblebeeto (really a bee pinata) with his sword because he's been stealing all of the beans from Los Chimichangos. When he pops his belly, all kinds of beans spew out. I decided to make the Great Bumblebeeto myself, then stuff him with bags of jelly beans for the kids and a couple other treats too. Then I helped them make El Skippito masks out of felt to wear while they attacked the pinata chiuaua style. Sorry about the spelling on chiuaua. It turned out great, and NOTHING beats getting to read a book with a thick Spanish accent. Am I right, or am I right? I highly recommend the book for all of you, and the other books in Skippyjon Jones' adventures. "Lost in Spice" is another great one. Let's see ... what other pics did I put in this entry ... oh yeah, the sunrises have been spectacular the past few weeks. This was just one example.

More flowers

Just some more flowers from the garden. I took these the same night that I took the pictures of us while we were outside playing.