A New Month

We turned the corner into a new month. It's sort of deflating as you look forward all month to Halloween and then boom, it's over and November is upon us. But there are fun things ahead, as the holidays loom on the horizon. We welcomed the new month with Nana and Papa visiting. The leaves finally started falling off the largest tree in our front yard and the kids love playing in the leaf piles (what kids don't?!?!). Here's Keely, as usual being a ham and posing for the camera.
It'd be an issue if she wasn't so darn cute :)
On Saturday, we decided to go for a hike up to Ensign Peak. We've been there before with Aunt Lois and Uncle Ryan, it's a pretty easy hike since you start in a neighborhood so close to the peak. A hike nonetheless and we were off. The weather was balmy for the first day of November, in the upper 60s. Here's Nana and the kids taking a rest on the way up.
We got to the top and the views are just great, the whole city splayed out before us. I love how the roads follow the grid and they seem to stretch forever (must be the engineer in me!). Here's Nana and Papa with Quinn, with a new to the Great Salt Lake behind them.
And here's the view to the south.
We posed in front of the obelisk (now there's a fancy architecture word I haven't used since college).
And then one of the kids took this picture of James and I. It seems we hardly take pictures together anymore so it's nice to have this one and I like the way it came out. We are posed towards the southwest, with the Oquirrh (yes, that's spelled right and it's pronounced O-ker) Mountains in the background.
After the hike back down the mountain, we traveled downtown and James suggested we go to Body Worlds. This was surprising because he was adamant that he had no interest in it, and I've wanted to go since it opened. We had a quick lunch and then got on line for the exhibit. We spent about 90 minutes walking through and seeing all it had to offer. I highly recommend it, for the educational value and its fascinating bodies and body parts. Even the kids liked it, although Keely was a little young. It's a bit expensive (thanks, Dad for paying!) but I still think it's worth it. It's not every day that you get to see real bodies posed in different positions and how that affects muscles, tendons, organs, etc. I've always been fascinated by death as well so it appeals to me. I may even consider donating my body to science :)

That night we had a yummy BBQ dinner at Rib City. Keely chose since it was another birthday dinner for her (thanks again, Dad for dinner) and they even gave her a free piece of cake because I told them that when we ask where she wants to go for dinner, she says "Rib City!".

Sunday we did some shopping at Kohl's (clothes for the kiddos) and Lowe's (new storm door which I can't wait to have up!) and then had some torrential rain and in came the cold weather. Then it was time for the return to the airport and Nana & Papa's departure. It was a nice weekend, and a good way to usher in the new month!