The Keyes!: Conference, autumn, apples, praying mantis, moose, Chilco Mountain (x2), and Soccer (that is a mouthful)

Conference was enjoyable and the kids did pretty good listening/doing quiet activities for some of it

Nixon and Mason taught Henry how to climb up and down the bunk bed

Last Sunday was BEAUTIFUL so we had to take an afternoon walk

Google Photos made this comparison photo of Mason for us

We had a really good family home evening on Monday discussing part of the Proclamation to the World on the Family because it answered a question Lyza asked during the week

Kim and the kids picked A LOT of apples

We also made sure the peeler is working OK because there will be lots of apple processing going on (look at Henry's face)

For work I went out to a recently completed project of a client's and on the side of the building there was a praying mantis. I brought it home for the kids

Kim went out with the girls to celebrate her friend's birthday

Lyza and Nixon had their first cross country races of the season. Here is Nixon at the start line

Nixon approaching the finish line

Here is Lyza ready to go

She met an old friend who was there who ran along with her and they caught up. I am not sure it helped her speed but there are more important parts to races than performance ;)

She had some gas in the tank for a strong finish

Henry arranged some popsicle sticks on his paper in the shape of an H and was very proud of himself

We sold our child hiking pack this year because we didn't think we would use it again. Well, Kim borrowed one from a friend so she could go hiking with Henry

He was excited to go hiking the next morning

We woke up the next morning with a moose eating our bush

This was our first moose sighting of the season

The moose got startled by a big truck and started walking toward the house (and closer to me)

I got a little too close to it but luckily could hide behind a large tree

The moose was startled but not full. It just kept on eating

It was interesting to see how it would strip the leaves off the branches

Here it is with its mouth full of leaves

Check out those bottom teeth

The moose eventually showed us its backside and moved down the street. It was a very eventful morning!

Batman was also out there watching

After all of that moose excitement Kim and Henry were off hiking Chilco Mountain, which is an hour away near Bayview

Henry started off on the ground with a smile

The hike is short (2 miles up and 2 down) but very steep so it didn't take long for him to end up in the backpack

Here he is having a bit of a meltdown

The view was worth it though (you can see the lower portion of Lake Pend Oreille in the distance)

There is a big cross at the top that looks really cool (I can't figure out why it is there)

Henry got sick of the backpack and had to be held part of the way (Kim's poor back!)

Luckily Kim is unstoppable!

Here is Kim with the three friends that went with them

Henry wasn't any happier going down...

He finally calmed down and was happy to eat some chips

A friend stopped by this week with his '65 Mustang and took Henry, Mason, and I (Nixon was at soccer) for a little joy ride

We all felt pretty cool!

The sky was clear that night so I set up the camera and took some photos. Here is a star trail photo that I made with over 500 single images

This is a timelapse video of the stars

Henry asked me to take his picture so he could see his cool T-rex shirt

Walmart has Christmas decorations out and the little boys were obsessed with this Santa

Nixon had his soccer photos this week and looked handsome as usual

Here he is with his team (one of the girls, that is also in Nixon's class, was missing)

While we were at soccer Henry was getting into trouble

Nixon got the first goal of the game and I think it was a really cool goal (with how he kicked it right over everyone)

Nixon had lots more time with the ball and had a couple of close shots too

He got this one past the goalie but missed the goal

His footwork has really improved

Kim suggested that Nixon and I also try the Chilco Mountain hike

We saw these really cool mushrooms/fungi along the trail (I had much more time to take pictures since I didn't have a huge crying toddler on my back)

We thought this tree was pretty cool (thanks for the photo Nixon)

There were lots of pretty colors along the trail

This is a view from the first lookout (looking West toward Athol). Kim said she could actually see Silverwood from this spot but we couldn't see it because of clouds