Smithfield Scoop

 Well, we reached some record highs this last couple of weeks.... We had the highest number of trick-or-treaters ever in our married life this year! I had to run to the store twice before we could relax about having enough treats for all the little goblins who came. And - we had the highest temperature for the particular day of the year, 76 degrees! Imagine that, for the first week of November! I don't ever remember not having very cold temperatures for Jenn's birthday. Oh, and Happy Birthday to Jenn!

We had a delightful time on our spontaneous trip to Star Valley! It was beautiful weather and we enjoyed seeing beaver dams, lovely farmland, staying in a wonderful log cabin retreat, eating at Tootsie's pizza joint and seeing a world famous geyser - the only natural hot springs geyser that is capped. It has a timer that allows it to erupt every hour on the hour. Fun spots not far from home.

This week we are learning how to deal with Covid exposure. Emma's roommates went to a Halloween party and everyone there got sick. All of the roommates who went to the party have symptoms, and all of them were tested, but only one of the roommates had a positive test. It happens that the Covid positive roommate is in Emma's room. So, Emma is now living at home. She and Dad went to get an antibody test, but the hospital ran out of tests before their appointment, so we don't know if they have had the virus before. Hopefully, they can be tested this week.

Dad and I enjoyed going to Sandy to celebrate Grace's birthday this week. What a beautiful 11-year-old! She made her own birthday cake - an apple pie cake! The report is that it was absolutely delicious. It was great to visit for a while and I loved going for a walk with Hopie, who chattered the whole way around the block while pedaling her bike! It was delightful!

We also snuck in a last hike up the canyon yesterday, knowing the snow was on its way. We wanted to find our friends, the Texas longhorns. We'd heard that they were very mild and friendly, but we still stayed on the road rather than venturing over to their pasture to pet them!

We are having fun with Emma's wedding plans. The temple and luncheon venue are reserved and hope that announcements will be ordered and delivered soon, a wedding dress will be found and fitted, and all of the little details will come together soon.

This is an interesting time and we are trying to reflect on our abundant blessings rather than on our fears and concerns. The Lord is in charge and certainly knows what He is doing. Our job is to fear not, hold on, and watch to see His hand revealed. And count our blessings!

We love you all and hope you are well and happy.

Manning Madness

 Well, Happiest of Birthdays to Jenn and Happy Halloween to everyone else. We had a pretty good Halloween. Wesley told me a few weeks ago that he wanted to be a Velociraptor for Halloween. Yikes! Then when I finally got brave enough to look up ideas online, Wesley saw some pictures and decided he wanted to be a dragon. Even better! Well, I got over the fear factor of figuring out how to do that and we made a pretty decent dragon costume. That has been the living, breathing, sleeping craze for the last few days! Chet was a kitty and they both had a blast trick or treating at Grandma Manning's neighborhood. It was nice to have a pleasant evening to do it. We got most of our yard stuff taken down and put away for winter. We had a day of snow and a few cold days and then we got back to being warm for the next week. I am not ready for the cold!

Last week, Nick and I went to a play at the school he teaches at. It was "You can't take it with you." It was very funny and kind of reminded me of an eccentric homeschool like family where each member is all in to their passion. They did a great job. Dad came down to watch the boys and they had soooo much fun! It was very sad when he left the next day. Regular old mom just isn't quite as exciting. 

Our little school is fun and is becoming less and less structured! But we do have good learning moments and the most important learning we are trying to do right now is to not throw hammers and such items at your brother, don't jump OFF the trampoline, whining drives everyone crazy and other important things. Any tips on staying sane through this stage please send them this way!

We love you all and miss you!

Flake Fiascos

 Well we started this week with a small snowstorm.  It snowed off and on all day which was fun.  Scott filled up a big bowl with snow so that Robin and Rand could play in the snow without being outside. (They have had slight colds). 

Scott took a couple of days off which was fun. We stayed home and just enjoyed being together. 

We had a ward trunk or treat on Thursday and the kids rode around in their covered wagon with wide eyes.  

The birds discovered the bird feeder that Elise and Ruth bought us and the twins have loved watching the birds come and eat. They also are enjoying the peas that are coming up in the greenhouse.

James is growing like a weed and put on about 14 oz last week!!

That's all that we have to report. Hope that you all have a great week!

Nilsson News

 Jenn, I like how your title is now Flake Fivesome.  It has a ring to it.  Right now, I am so grateful for a heated home.  This morning when I went out to feed the animals, the temp said 12 degrees and with the North wind chill it felt like -14!  Hello!  It was ultra bitter and a serious rude awakening.  I spent the next hour out there battling the huge tarp that was supposed to be covering our haystack but had blown off.  Any time I attempted to haul it back up onto the stack, a gust of wind would inflate it like a massive parachute and nearly blow me away.  So freezingly frustrating!  Tonight it's supposed to drop down to 3 degrees.

It feels even colder to Elise and I who just returned from a delightful and gloriously warm trip to Arizona where it was 80 degrees.  We both discovered how inept we are at following an atlas.  In spite of Dad's meticulous notes and directions, we somehow managed to miss the most crucial turnoffs.  The route we took was supposedly 45 minutes shorter than the other, but for us, it ended up being about 6 hours longer.  We took the very much more scenic route and enjoyed the golden leaves of Colorado  and the plain, black nothingness of New Mexico.  We learned that road signs are very important and when you see one you should follow it.  We also learned how lovely it is to have lines painted on the roads and when you no longer see lines it means you are lost.  Uncomfortably we learned that bathrooms are few and far between on the Reservation and if there happens to be a bathroom, they are closed after dark.  We made it to Snowflake eventually.

The Flakes are so much fun to hang out with.  We woke up around 6:30 in the morning and hit the ground running.  Robin and Rand had us chasing them, going on wagon and wheelbarrow rides, digging in the dirt, playing with marbles and cars and helping us become fluent in the toddler language of "Engh."  They are such delightful little people!  Baby James is adorable and so content.  We had a great time visiting with Jenn and Scott and knew we would get in trouble if we kept Jenn up any later.  We so wish they could live closer!  Thanks for putting up with us!

Garrett and the kids sounded like they had a great time while I was gone.  Garrett and Alex collaborated and had a top notch dad's homeschool afternoon.  Alex taught and had the kids reenact Paul Revere and the Battle of Lexington while Garrett taught the science section about the brain, complete with an object lesson that included smashing watermelons on the driveway.  Don't we just love the men in our lives?

It is fun to be able to officially say CONGRATULATIONS to Emma and Cam!!!!!!  We are so excited for them and glad that Cam is still going through with it even after meeting the family.

Stay warm everyone!

Millie slipped and collided with the mud.  A girl after my own heart!

Flake Fivesome

 We had so much fun hanging out with Elise and Ruth this week and we miss them like crazy!! Thanks to them there are bulbs in their ground, veggie starts in the greenhouse and our ale vera can breathe!!

Robin has recently learned how fun it is to wipe things down. She will get a rag, napkin, tissue or any other such item and wander around the house cleaning.  She (and Rand) really enjoy doing the dishes too.

Rand is getting his first molar.  We discovered it last night which makes sense because he hasn't wanted to eat much for the last couple of days. 

Scott made our wagon into a covered wagon for Halloween which is fun.

Our weather is supposed to get pretty chilly this next week - I won't say cold because I know what the temps are in Utah and Idaho right now!  

Hope that you all have a great week!!

Manning Moments

 Jenn you put us all to shame. You have three babies to juggle and always manage to write on the blog! 

I don't have much to write about. We just the last of the apples off our tree and cut down many of our plants in the yard yesterday. Our tomatoes are still going but they did get a little nip of frost. The weather has been lovely but I think that will change this coming weekend.

We have been enjoying our little school for the most part. Wesley loves his online reading program and our great brains that we do. He get so passionate for whatever he is studying. He recently has started this thing where he "studies." He will go somewhere away from the rest of us and study. He will take toys or objects and just observe for quite a while! It is very cute. I wish I could get into his head sometimes.

Chet is learning how to sleep. At least that is my perspective. His perspective is probably learning how many loops he can jump through in one evening. It is a work in progress but I think there is progress sometimes. He is really, really cute and that is a problem. He says "How about dat!" All the time. And "Isn't that interting." And "Dat's weird." He is a little parrot. He is also very good running into walls or other solid objects and throwing things.

Nick is working and seems to enjoy it ok. The masks are still hard for him to hear and understand his students but what can you do.

I think that is about all. Hope you are well!

Flake Fivesome

 This has been one of those weeks that you look back over and think, "that was THIS week?" because it feels like things happened weeks or months ago! 

The sad part of the week was saying goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa. They are being sorely missed and Robin will often hand me the phone and insist that we call Grandma. Thanks to everyone, especially Dad and  Emma for letting us monopolize Mom for the past month. And a huge thank you to Mom for sacrificing so much for us. 

James impressed everyone by surpassing his birthweight before his 2 week dr visit. He is a trooper and puts up with the constant noise, eye pokes and head pats without complaint.

Rand loves all that is water. A new favorite activity is playing in a bowl of water in the greenhouse. Then he has access to dirt and water...what more could a boy ask for? 

Robin keeps us laughing constantly. She is always pulling funny faces and what she lacks in words she makes up for in gesticulations!!

Well, that's all that we have to report. Hope that everyone has a great week.