November started out with a trip down to El Capitan State Beach/Campground (near Santa Barbara) for Dylan's work campout. We stayed two nights and had a really great time. WSC is really pretty awesome because they are engineers, but they are fun, interesting, laid-back, and even cool people. Not your stereotypical engineers. So, that novelty has not worn off for me yet. They also however do a lot of drinking, so I realized that going camping with a party all night AND children up really early makes for a pretty lousy night's sleep, but it was still fun, and everyone settled down more quickly the second night. It was a really warm day, and it was the warmest I have ever slept while camping since the time I went camping in the swamp in Mississippi with my friends in high school. Oh, and I guess there was that time we slept at Zions with Dylan, me, Cami, and Katie all on one air mattress. I wasn't cold then. Oh, wait, and Dauphin Island. Okay. I take that back. It is the warmest camping night I have had in California. There, that is better.
We spent the day at the beach and did some ocean kayaking with the boys. In fact, Ethan went out into the waves in a kayak by himself (with Dylan not too far away) and courageously got over the waves and out into the calmer water. I was hesitant when Ethan asked if he could do it himself, but Dylan convinced me, and I am so glad I listened and let him go for it.
WSC brought along a photographer (who is also the boss' brother-in-law) who took some shots of everyone together and then took some of individual families. We hadn't planned on taking a family picture, so weren't really dressed very well for it, but it is the best family photo we have had in a long time, at least not in costumes. Here are the pictures. I would totally recommend him to anyone who needs some photos taken in SLO county.
As I had said in my previous post, November was also an artsy month for me. I had to make twenty handmade items to be sold at Tanner's preschool fundraiser, so I decided to make these notebooks. And then afterwards, I liked them so much, Carter made one for my mom for Christmas and I made one for my friend Chelsey. I bought the fabric at a thrift store and covered those black and white composition books. The designs are my own (I looked at pictures of dragonflies and such for reference). Anytime I do anything that had no origins from the internet, I feel pretty proud of myself.
I think it was in November that I was called as second counselor in the primary presidency, and then Dylan was called as first counselor in Elder's Quorum in December. I really like this calling already. It doesn't carry the same burden of responsibility I felt as primary president, but I get to help make a difference. I miss teaching Carter's class though. I really like teaching and never really felt like I got a hang of teaching that class before I got released. As the second counselor, I am over the cub scouts, and that's good, since I had lots of things I wanted to fix there, and now I get my chance to make a difference!
Dylan also started building a shed for the Pattersons in November. The Pattersons are the ones whose baby was in the ICU for months and Joe and Dylan are best friends. Dylan asked what he could do to help, and Joe had several projects he was doing at the house when this all happened, so he asked Dylan if he would build a shed for him. It's a pretty serious shed. Here's how it looked sometime in December.
Dylan is mostly done with it now. He took off two weeks at Christmas, and spent most of it building the shed and helping Joe out with getting his rental home ready to rent. We really care about and feel for the Pattersons, and know that they would help us out with anything that they could if we were in their situation. The boys and I have gone down with Dylan when we could, and the boys and I helped with digging and forming the footing and framing up the walls. I am no good with a hammer. I bent and pulled out way more nails than I got in.
Building it has come at a good time because construction on Dylan's big dam project stopped in November for the winter, so he has had more time. We see him in the evenings which has been so great.
On through November! The next big event was Thanksgiving! Yay! My family all came except for Kate and Logan and Soren who we missed having. It was great to see everyone. As usual, Cami brought some fun new games that we enjoyed and then got for Christmas. We also did some hikes, watched the sunset at the beach, and went on a bike ride along the coastal trail. Ammon had grad school apps that he worked on for a lot of the time, but still went on all of the adventures with us. And then the food! Always amazing when my dad is around. This was certainly the very best turkey I have ever had. I am not just saying that for effect or to be nice. My dad salted the turkey and then grilled it on the barbeque and it was so yummy. Perfectly smoked and moist. I wish I had been watching more closely so that I could replicate it. Actually, I always feel that way about my dad's cooking. Even when I am cooking in the same kitchen next to him, I taste it and can't figure out how to make it like he did.
I don't have a lot of pictures from their trip. I really am pretty horrible about taking pictures. On my birthday, we took everybody on the Garrapata State Park hike which is about a half hour south of us along the coast. You hike up away from the ocean through a canyon with cactus and sage and cross a creek a few times, and then you hit redwoods. And it is so powerfully calm and the trees are amazing. You hike up through this redwood forest and feel like you are in Rivendale. Pictures cannot capture the magic. You must come visit and I will take you. Although I will stop before the giant climb up the steep exposed mountain that we did at the end of the hike. After that, and playing in the river while Dylan took my parents and Ammon to see his jobsite, my parents watched the kiddos and Dylan and I went out to dinner and ate some yummy sushi, and that was November!
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