Autumn Leaves

This fall, we have been getting adjusted to our new territory, exploring everything and getting to know new people. We love all of the walking trails all throughout our town and the beautiful fall weather we have experienced! "I hope I can be the autumn leaf, who looked at the sky and lived. And when it was time to leave, gracefully it knew life was a gift." -Dodinsky. Hope we can look to God and live and know that each day of our lives is always a gift, no matter what changes come our way. The leaves may come and go, but they always come back again. And though we think of decay, we can remember it is only this way we can get beautiful new green leaves next year. The things we are asked to pass through can be challenging, but we can come back just like those autumn leaves.

We went to Bountiful for Labor Day weekend and enjoyed hanging with our cousins, playing outdoors, going to Chuck-a-Rama with everyone, and the girls went shopping with Uncle Brian, and the kids made some silly videos. Yahoo!

The girls had a fun sleepover with Amber one night, and we went to Bear Lake to meet them and walk around a pond. We also got to play at the playground, admire the beautiful fall colors, and visit with them. We were able to go to Utah a few times for other events as well, like Grandpa Chuck's 90th birthday where all the fam was there!  We are pretty blessed to be so close. 

Speaking of birthdays, we got to go to celebrate 3 Rollins birthdays!  First, we took Amy out for her birthday for lunch. We met up in Evanston and grabbed lunch at Costa Vida, then took it to the park to eat, chat, walk and play. Then we were able to go to cute Kanon's first birthday!  What a cutie!  He couldn't resist and put his finger in the candle, but other than that, loved all the birthday fun. Then Cov got invited to Boji's first friend birthday, which was a Jazz basketball theme, so we helped and Covey had a blast! We made him a photo book of all of their memories together so far. These boys are adorable together.

We got to enjoy homecoming week. I love that in a small town, homecoming is a big deal and is for everyone! The kids enjoyed their dress up days and extra activities. We had fun at the parade where Emma played her trumpet with the band, Callahan was on the parade float, and the younger kids got lots of candy. We sat right by the hospital so Daddy got to come out and join us for a bit, too! Then we cheered on our football team in their game. And the two olders and Daddy went to a bonfire. We are KR!

We went up to Columbus mid-October to get the rest of our furniture, clean out our home and close. It was hard saying goodbye to our sweet neighbors and friends and our red home we love so much. But good thing we can keep in touch so well and will be back to visit!  Callie waited all night by the window and came out to greet us with Blake!  Saturday, Dave and I went to go get the truck and the kids played at the Haugs. We packed the truck and we visited with the Kolpins, the Scotts, the Haugs, the Ames, the Landons, the Martins, and Diane Robinsons and a few other friends throughout the day. Emma went on a long walk and talk with Emily. Levi cancelled a hunting trip to spend time with Cal. His mom, Kendra, took these cute pics with the boys. Lucy got to spend time with Maryn and Lauren. Covey got to hang out and even have a sleepover with Hunter. Sydnie spent her day with Cora, Cade, Katelyn and Aiden. Many other friends were out of town due to their fall break being then. We feel so blessed to have made some amazing friends!

The three youngers had their Primary Program at Church and it was inspiring. Sydnie sang "Jesus said love everyone/ Treat them kindly too / When your heart is full of love /others will love you." They all sang many songs together. The older kids got to speak about anything Gospel related. Covey talked about how difficult moving was but how as he prayed, he felt the love of God and peace of the Savior. Lucy talked about how we acted out the First Vision and how she felt the Spirit as we did. I'm thankful they are growing their faith day by day. Having Christ be in your life is life changing. The second picture is "No Greater Love" by John McNaughton.

Dave is getting the hang of things here at the hospital. Hard times definitely have fallen on this hospital and he's here to fix it all. He has a great staff and loves the people he works with so that helps. Lets hope for better times ahead!  He also got to go to the Wyoming Hospital Association conference in Casper one weekend. The president used to be the old CEO here so he really enjoyed connecting with him and playing golf! Things got pretty hard hit with Covid and so we went after hours and sidewalk chalked the hospital walkways with encouraging messages. Dave has also been loving college football being back, even got to go to a Ute game with Randy and Jeff but it was rained out... and he started working out at the gym again.

Mom's been busy at home getting things organized, and we are working with the PTO as the treasurer. We have been getting the finances in order, had a great Red Ribbon week that we did lots for, volunteering at events, and doing fundraisers. That's been fun to get involved. We were also invited to do some playdates at the park and with other people so that's been good to get to know others. 

The kids went back to school and most of the time are doing very well. Sometimes we have meltdowns about how they miss MT, but overall, they are enjoying things here. They've all have been busy with homework, getting involved, reading, exploring our new area, practicing and meeting new people. The three olders had their first band concert which was really good! They have a great band program here. We've been doing lots of art projects and getting outside as much as we can as it's been a really beautiful fall. We tied some quilts for a quilt drive and the kids really liked doing that!

Emma's been busy getting involved. She is going to seminary every day, joined the Interact service club and busy with homework, art, and practicing. We went to the UW Band Day and football game! Em had a blast in Laramie for the weekend and we had a blast cheering her and the football team on! We also got to see the lovely Shelly Schaef but I forgot to take a picture, doh.

Callahan played football on the OLine and the DLine (Offensive & Defensive Line), this is his second year of tackle football, this time as a Ranger. They work so hard, from the first day of school right after school until 5:45 (this kills Cal the days he also has PE and weight lifting right before practice), and sometimes even on Saturdays. He is putting in lots of effort and doing his best. We got to go to 5 games, including one in Lyman where our family could come cheer him (and their Eagles) on too. He even got named as one of the few stars of the game on the intercom announcements the next day.  He had a great season and improved a lot thanks to the help of some amazing coaches. He was a great sport for each game towards his team and the opposing teams and pushed through even when he got hurt. #60 we love you! We are KR! He had a one week break and then started wrestling. Cal has also been working hard in school. He made a brownie cell as part of a project, getting into band here though it's a lot harder, and enjoys his weight lifting class. 

Lucy has been enjoying making friends and getting together with a few. She went to a birthday party, loves going to the pool, riding on her new bike Emma won for her from the library, started playing percussion in band, which she loves. She had her first band concert and did great! Aside from that, really likes hanging out at home with her siblings.

Covey has been struggling with the move quite a bit. One of his highlights was going on a field trip to the fossil beds. He chiseled out 6 fossils that he is very proud of. Pretty cool! He also likes to put on silly dress ups still and make us all laugh. He likes having his friends come over and is making lots of great buds. He got to have a market day at school where all the kids got to make homemade goods to sell the kids got to buy with the beads they'd earned. I got to go help and it was lots of fun. He made some moving hands that were a hit (but a pain to make)!

With the kids back in school, Sydnie has had lots of quiet fun and learning time at home. We go to the parks a lot, read a ton, work on workbooks, play, clean and do lots of laundry, do some science experiments, and more. Sydnie especially loved our automatic balloon blower upper and making our own ink to dip our feather quill in to write (her idea). She is the eat a few bites of an apple and put it back in the basket bandit. We have lots of fun! Her preschool, KCDC is going great too and she loves going each day and telling us about the fun she has with her friends. She has a ball walking our neighbors dog, Chloe. She has been getting football lessons from her brother and also started up tumbling and really enjoyed that and earning her "gold medal" at the end of the program. 

Lucy put on a Veteran's day concert at school. We were on our trip back East, but Grandma and Grandpa went and said it was amazing! The kids saluted all veterans and sang all the patriotic songs, they made the art work to display and their red, white and blue tie die shirts. They had a slide show and we sent pictures in of Lucy's great grandfathers in to be in it. My mom and dad said it was wonderful and they haven't felt that patriotic in a long time. We are all so grateful to live in this nation and for all those who have kept it free! Hopefully we can show our thanks, for we owe all who have served so much! We are excited for the DVD to come out so we can watch it.

They've had some cool events in Kemmerer. There was a Health and Safety fair we went to, kids enjoyed the bouncy houses, learning first aid, riding in the fire truck bucket high up in the sky, seeing all of the emergency vehicles, and having a dutch oven lunch. We had a car show we went to on another Saturday.  The four olders and Boji got to ride in airplanes for the Young Eagles day out at our airport. Boji had a sleepover the night before and we headed there. Some were a bit nervous but the pilots were all way cool and they had the best time!  Glad they have some neat activities going on. Who says there's nothing to do in a small town?

We were busy updating our condo as we were inbetween renters. Todd helped a lot too and it took way longer than we thought it would, working on dry wall repair, paint, new trim, new carpet, new lighting, and more, but we are glad with how it turned out and our renters are enjoying it and doing well! 

Grandma and Grandpa came up for a couple of days to check out our new place and town, and come cheer Cal on in his final freezing cold football game. We always have a great time with them!