The Clements: November 2023

October was a very eventful month at our house. With a little bit of bad we had a lot of good as well. Here are the highlights.

The very beginning of the month was general conference. We enjoyed camping out in the basement while listening to all the speakers. Mia began her mission to make lots of bracelets for the Taylor Swift Movie.

It was crazy hair day this month. Mia really wanted to go all out this year!

Also this month we got to go on a preschool field trip to Wheeler Farm. It was the most beautiful day and lots of fun!

Just casually eating some snacks after school.

Mia got to go to a cute Harry Potter Birthday Party. She had so much fun!

Alex's rubix cube art.

There was a solar eclipse this month but this was the only picture I took. Mia punched holes in a paper to make some cool shadows.

Brandon stole Alex's bike.

We held our annual Hettinger Halloween Party on Friday the 13th this year to make it extra spooky. It was a great time as always. We ate different soups and played a candy guessing game and Halloween Family Feud.

Indy and Gus were not fans of Alex's costume.

Mia got to attend a very bougie dance Halloween party this year for Mini Company. It was super fancy and she loved it.

Checking out all her loot.

Mia had lots of chances to wear her costume this month. One of the days she even got to wear it to dance. She did her own make up and everything.

Straight from dance we got to go to a mother/daughter Activity days Halloween activity.

We had some bad luck this month as well. While taking Alex to piano Brandon and got hit by another driver going through an intersection. Luckily Brandon and Alex were not hurt nor was the other driver. Our car did not fare so well though. The front was smashed in and the air bags deployed which meant it was a total loss and Brandon will have to get a new car.

Alex had a bit of a burn from the seat belt and Brandon had a sore knee but we felt so fortunate it wasn't worse.

Brandon was very sad to have to say goodbye to his beloved green car though.

Also, just as tragically Brandon's phone was smashed in the crash. Having to deal without having a phone has been a bad inconvenience as well. He ordered a new one the same day but it will take a few weeks for it to be available.

Despite all this we had a vacation planned to celebrate my upcoming 40th birthday and were set to leave the next day. We weren't sure if we should still go with everything that happened but we decided to and I'm so glad we did. Brandon and I went to Lake Tahoe for the weekend and it was so much fun!

One of the best parts of this trip was all the delicious food we ate. Everything we tried was very good!

We picked a great time to go to Lake Tahoe. We avoided the summer crowds, the weather was beautiful and we even go to see some fall foliage. It was very beautiful there.

We decided one of the best ways to see the lake was to take a kayaking tour. It was so beautiful to be out on the lake. We took just a few pictures.

The kayaks were clear so you could see down to the bottom of the lake. They said this year was one of the clearest years because of all the snow they got last winter.

Our guide even took a few pictures of us as well.

We explored the lake some more on some walking paths.

Later in the day we hiked up to the top of this rock. It overlooks the whole lake.

It's hard to tell how high up we are but it gave us an amazing view! Luckily there were people up at the top that were willing to take our picture.

Our kayaking guide had also told us about a trail that you can frequently spot bears at during this time of year. We were excited to check it out as well. We got lucky and saw several bears up close. They must be pretty comfortable with people. This one slept the whole time we were there.

It's hard to see but there was a bear up in this tree as well.

The next day we explored another path that wound around the lake. It was very beautiful with fall colors. We didn't see any bears this time though.

The foundation of an old casino was left behind.

There were some amazing houses all around Lake Tahoe. We like this one though that had tons of Halloween inflatables out front.

Our kids got to stay with their Grandma and Grandpa Clements. They got to do lots of fun activities as well. When we got home it was just the beginning of Fall break so we got to enjoy that with our kids as well.

One morning I told the kids I was going to go for a run. They wanted to come too. Mia didn't last too long but we were able to walk to the park. Alex ran for quite a bit and then we played at the park before walking home. It was a beautiful day.

Also one morning we took a few of the young men and young women on a hike in Yellow Fork Canyon. We missed most of the yellow leaves but it was still a fun hike.

We had to make sure we made time to fit in Cornbelly's this year. We picked another beautiful day and it was lots of fun!

I can't believe they want to do these rat races. You have to crawl through the entire thing. It looks miserable but they love it.

Mia and Alex love this corn pit. It was very weird. I think they played here for almost an hour until we finally dragged them away. They were so dirty by the time they got out.

The next day we took a trip to find the witches. The kids still love doing this. I think they especially love it because I let them pick a treat at the end.

It is crazy but we finally made it to the end of the Harry Potter at the Symphony series. We have seen all eight movies with the symphony. It was sad that it was the last one. They have been so fun!

For over a month Mia has been looking forward to and planning our movie night to see the Taylor Swift Concert. She made 22 bracelets and we got matching t-shirts for the night. She even had her hair perfectly planned out. Our neighbors, the Bateman's invited us to go with them. Taylor really does put on an incredible show. It was a fun night!

We made time to pick up some pumpkins at the pumpkin patch and see the Stranger Things house in Daybreak. Mia was excited to see it this year since she has now watched all the episodes.

I also got to celebrate my birthday this month. Even though it was on a Sunday and I had a young women's meeting it was a great day!

This picture really sums up my kids. Mia is very interested in the clothes and jewelry I got and Alex couldn't care less.

I was so excited Boo jumped into the picture. Mia was sad about something but I don't remember what.

It was a great birthday!

The night before Halloween it was time to carve our pumpkins. It was a little hard to squish it in between dance and bedtime but we made it work. Mia was very excited to do almost her entire pumpkin herself this year. Alex completed two pumpkins by himself.