All the leaves are brown,
and the Sky is grey…

Today was my last chance to get the yard winterized. I almost didn’t make it. I was frantically raking to get the leaves cleaned up before a storm hit when I heard a tell-tale sound that made me drop my rake and look up: the whine of an F-16. Ever since I was a little kid I have been fascinated by jets. Sure enough, a moment later a pair of Falcons flew overhead. I could also tell that they were not alone. A different, louder scream could be heard, and shortly thereafter a pair of F-22s passed by. I watched until the quartet passed from view, then, noticing that the storm was closing in I picked up my rake and began working again. It wasn’t long before the thunder of the jets approached again. Once again I stopped and watched. For fifteen minutes I stopped working each time they flew over. I knew they wouldn’t be coming back when I saw them fly over headed north toward Rice-Eccles Stadium in tight formation, for the flyover before the Utah/Air Force football game. The storm hit before I could finish my yard work, and I was soaked. But it was worth it. Fighter jets are cool.

We also got Samantha’s soccer pictures today. Her team name is ‘The Bears’, as you can see from the coach’s ball cap. The girls couldn’t agree on a team name, so sometimes they are the ‘Gummi Bears’, sometimes they are the ‘Golden Bears’ and at other times they are just ‘Da Bears!’ But after next week they will be the ‘Hibernating Bears’, since the season will end until next Spring.
And because it is Fall, we have our school pictures. This is the first time that all four kids have had school pictures taken.

Soon we will have dance pictures. All four kids are now in dance class. Yes, Patrick too. I will post a video of his mad break dancing skills soon. Speaking of dancing, earlier this week the kids were talking about a friend of theirs that has a Wii. We do not have a Wii and probably never will. Pat has one, and it is a special thing for the kids to do over at Grandma’s house, kind of like the trampoline at Grandpa Stretch’s house. Anyway, the discussion about the kids’ friend’s Wii centered on the fact that the friend has Dance, Dance Revolution and they wish Pat had that game. Kate reminded the kids that Pat in fact does have that game. Whitney replied “I thought that the game Grandma Pat had was called ‘Dance, Dance Your Pants Off’”. It seems that at some point I might have referred to Pat’s game as that name, and the kids really thought that was what it was called. Personally I like that name better…